Fretless Bass Strings?

Deremus · #1 05-14-2011, 09:32 PM

Hey, I've previously done a defretting job on my jazz bass. I was wondering what are you're opinions on what are the best strings to put on a fretless bass?

skychief · #2 05-14-2011, 09:41 PM

Fender Nylon Tape Wound. Warm & velvety tone. Easy on the fingers, easy on your bass. dont use these if you need a brite, slap, tone.

Deremus · #3 05-14-2011, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skychief

Fender Nylon Tape Wound. Warm & velvety tone. Easy on the fingers, easy on your bass. dont use these if you need a brite, slap, tone.

Well I'm playing in a band that has some funk influence, so slapping is essential. Would you recommend any good ones for funk?

kesslari · #4 05-14-2011, 09:53 PM

First decide if you really want to slap on a fretless.
Michael Manring does, and does it well.
I slap pretty well on fretted, but I hate the sound of myself slapping fretless. So in my funk band I play 2 basses - a fretted for slap and my fretless for fingerstyle.

Either way - if you like roundwounds, I'd recommend DR Sunbeams or Dunlop nickels.

steve.roark · #5 05-14-2011, 09:55 PM

To my understanding flatwounds are the best as far as wear and tear on the neck. 2nd is nickel wound. Stainless roundwounds do the most damage. I use and love DR sunbeams (nickelwound) on my fretless. I use my fretless as my #1 bass so I prefer these as I can get mutiple tones out of them on my lakland.

Deremus · #6 05-14-2011, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kesslari

First decide if you really want to slap on a fretless.
Michael Manring does, and does it well.
I slap pretty well on fretted, but I hate the sound of myself slapping fretless. So in my funk band I play 2 basses - a fretted for slap and my fretless for fingerstyle.

Either way - if you like roundwounds, I'd recommend DR Sunbeams or Dunlop nickels.

Don't worry I have slapped on fretless before and the result has come out well to me.

Jazzdogg · #7 05-14-2011, 11:10 PM

I have Thomastik Infeld JazzFlats on my fretless basses and love 'em.

Prior to TI flats, I've used tapewounds, rounds, ground wounds, and several other varieties of flats.

The short answer is: use what you like, and be prepared to change your mind, and your strings, occasionally.

Good luck!