Growl, Punch, Sustain?

[jackajesusfreak]

I am looking to get the maximum amount of punch, sustain, and brightness out of my Rick. I have the stock strings on them, which I'm told are the standard Ric strings. I was wondering if I would get any more punch, sustain, and brightness from any of these brands? I don't want to go to the expense of other strings since the bass is only 4 months old, unless I get a strong consensus that I would get a noticeable difference.

D'Addario Pro Steels
Dean Markley Blue Steels
Rotosound Swing Bass 66
DR Hi Beams

Thanks in advance,
Jack

[bertbassplayer]

DR Lo-Rider Steels.

[NKBassman]

I say Rotosound, but only because I haven't ever tried the Dean Markleys or DRs, and I quit using D'Addario years ago because I felt they died too quickly.

[countrybassist]

I switch between Dean Markley Blue steel and LaBella Rockin' steel. They're both great. I like the Swing 66 Roto's too!

[jpTron]

Swing 66's from personal experience. But I also hear the DR's do the same thing you're looking for. But I do love the Swing 66 strings

[SC Bassboy]

I'm a Pro Steel man. But you really can't go wrong with any of the SS strings.

[Dooms]

Are you going for sustain for a clean sound or for an over-driven, distorted sound?

[gricko]

i do not trust SS anymore, since d'addario prism killed frets on my ric. have great experience d'addario exp. they have that 'zing', silky touch and stay alive for quite some time.

[ridgeback]

just buy a Marshall VBA 400 or similar..just rocks with a rick or a fender p imo..
joking aside i think to get the full bright clean typical rickenbacker sound you will have to think about keeping fairly fresh strings on all the time. for me 4 months is a long time for the same strings but each to their own...i love yamaha strings because they are very bright and last a while too..but again 10000000000 answers to an Impossible question..

[P-oddz]

Originally Posted by bertbassplayer

DR Lo-Rider Steels.

+1 on the Lo-Riders (or the Hi-Beams).

If this is any sort of help, check out this link:
http://www.bassemporium.com/newslett...ewsletter.html

Ed Friedland does a breakdown of the DR family, with clips (just scroll down the page a bit).

[jackajesusfreak]

Originally Posted by Dooms

Are you going for sustain for a clean sound or for an over-driven, distorted sound?

clean

[cassius987]

As another Ric bassist, on a fretted Ric I think Circle K Balanced 106 is the only way to go anymore--for me at least.

[jackajesusfreak]

Originally Posted by cassius987

As another Ric bassist, on a fretted Ric I think Circle K Balanced 106 is the only way to go anymore--for me at least.

Thanks cassius for your reply here and the PM

[darkstorm]

Dean Markley blue steels. Brightest roundwounds I know of. Rotosound are among the least trebly stainless strings Ive ever played.