Quote:
Originally Posted by Mastermold  Bumping this thread, curious if anyone's done a recent comparison? |
Irony of ironies, but I'm bumping this thread because I've done a recent comparison even though the request for a recent comparison is now quite dated.
In any event, I've now compared the two.
Quick background - I've had my first Stambaugh for almost two years now. It's a fretted 4 string with an Audere pre and Nordstrand Fat Stacks. I've always dug it but I've been looking for the right set of strings for it forever.
It came with SITs (Rock Brights maybe?) which I didn't care for and then I went through Slinkys, Hi-Beams, Roto 66s and then Sunbeams. I decided to try flats on it and being a big DR guy, I tried their flats. Now I've got some TIJFs on it just starting to break in.
I generally try a few different sets on every bass until I find just the right strings and the TIs are THE string for this bass.
As for the DR Hi-beam flats - they are super thumpy. Thumpier than the Labellas I have on my P-bass (well it might as well be my old guitar player's P-bass at this point since it lives in his studio) and I'm considering trying them on that bass just to be sure. But they don't have a lot of character beyond that. Unlike the LaBellas or TIJFs which settle as time goes on, the Hi-Beams have a very old school sound right out of the box and haven't changed noticeably in the time I've had them on (a few months).
As for tension, based on some comments here on TB I was afraid both might be unplayable - the DRs because the tension was too high and the TIs because the tension was too low. I've come to realize that tension just doesn't seem to matter too much to me.
The DRs might have more tension than the old LaBellas on my P-bass but they are more flexible in terms of bending etc, at least to me, possibly because of their core. And again, the TIs aren't (at least to me) the "rubber bands" that people make them out to be. Each requires a slight adjustment in technique, but going directly from one to the other didn't seem like a big deal at all.
The DRs are absolutely the "smoothest" strings I've ever played and it makes quick runs almost effortless. But ultimately, they just didn't have a "rich" enough tone for me.
The TIJFs on the other hand, are somewhat thumpy but have a lot more going on in terms of tone. They also are much higher output. I guess the string composition makes a difference, because my bass is noticeably louder than when I played the DRs.
Having gone from Sunbeams to DR Flats to TIJFs I can say that the TIs are very different from the DR Flats and are actually closer in tone to the Sunbeams, but still distinctly different. They are really even sounding from string to string and still have more "heft" than rounds.
I haven't tried them on any other bass, but they are absolutely perfect on my Stambaugh which is used primarily for dub, funk and some jazz-pop stuff. I really dig them.
