Flats, rounds, P basses and a Fenderbird

[Gearhead43]

Originally Posted by davelowell2

Ok, guys, which is it? Higher tension, lower tension, more, less sustain...

The answer is yes.

[Kenny Allyn]

GHS Pressurewound … used them for years, great string, much of what you like about flats with a nice grind when using a pick.

DR XL Chromes … great vibe on my P bass thump with bite, high tension so my tech suggested using 100s rather than my usual 105s (it was a good suggestion) The Chromes on my maple neck Jazz nah, just not a great match for me gonna try TI flats.

Roto flats … came off the P bass in two days, just not my string.

Fender 7150s THE round-wound sound on a Jazz but low output relegates them to use on my one active bass Jazz with an Audere pre.

D Addario nickel rounds not a bad overall string a bit “hollow” to my ear on a stock Jazz and even on a P bass.

DR Sunbeams Bud LeCompte turned me on to these, after the initial bite wears off, maybe the best round I’ve used, great on a Jazz and bliss on my Dark Star equipped LeCompte.

...

[davelowell2]

>>>GHS Pressurewound … used them for years, great string, much of what you like about flats with a nice grind when using a pick.


Kenny, I'm playing with a pick and this is good news. Crossing fingers.

[davelowell2]

Ok, update time.

I strung the modified P with the Chromes. Very pleased! For about 90 percent of what we do, these are perfect! Way more sustain to them, nice clear sound. I used to roll off a bunch of tone knob when I played rounds to get rid of all the clankityclank. Now it's just a little, and I'm also messing with DarkHorse's passive Varitone type box, so I'm letting more high mids come through. Very nice!

But, that 10 percent I'm not happy is when we play faster, more technical riffs. I think with the off week coming up, I'll try the GHS pressure wounds.

Also, we have a new song that has a few long slides, and the flats tend to get a little sticky and almost burn!

All in all, much happier with these than the DR's. The DR's were just too thumpy and not what I was looking for.

Later, Dave.

[patman01]

You string a Squier Telebass tuned CEAD...

Do you use a typical "B" string for the lowest string?...did it string through the body without modification?

Pat

[davelowell2]

patman, I did use the lowest 4 from a 5 set. It went through the body no problem with DR hibeams and hibeam flats.

Now, just looking at the Chromes B string, I think it would be a tight fit, but that's just looking. It seems the B Chrome is beefier than most. In fact, the drummer last night jerked his head at me when we were gettin down and dirty low style. After the song he said something along the lines of, what have you done differently this week? I asked if it was bad and he said, no, it's good.

[Joe Smithberger]

Chromes will get smoother the more you play them. I like to hit them at least once early on with a guitar string cleaner/lube like fastfret to get past the sticky feel.

[Darth_Gasseous]

Hi, I'm new here. For the 12 years or so I've been playing I've always played rounds. I have a Peavey Fury 4-string (basically a Precision clone) and I too was wondering if flats might be the way to go. It has a thin, jazz-style neck so I'm wondering if the tension of chromes would be too much for the slender neck design. Any advice on this would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.