hollowbody bass strings

[Scarla O]

Hi,

I have a fender coronado in need of a string change - can fellow hollow-body bassists tell me what their preferred strings are? I like my tone clean and acoustic-y.

[Phalex]

I like LaBella tape wounds on my acoustic.

[Scarla O]

Thanks Phalex.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by Scarla O

Hi,

I have a fender coronado in need of a string change - can fellow hollow-body bassists tell me what their preferred strings are? I like my tone clean and acoustic-y.

I've used the LaBella tapewounds and find the tension very high making the strings very stiff to play. I don't care for their sound much -too honky in the midrange for me. A lot of guys here like them though.

I'm a bit spoiled as I've been using Thomastic flatwounds for over 6 years now and nothing else sounds as good to me or feels so nice to play. Very rich and musical sound. I like an acoustcy sound too.

The Coronado is a bit unusual sounding to me. I tried one for hours in a store when they first came out but could never get a sound I would use out of it. That was back in the days when the Fender P was the sound to use. If I recall correctly, the bridge saddles on the Coronado were made of some composite which seemed to kill the sound. I loved the looks of it and really wanted to buy one, but just couldn't justify it based on the sound. You may love it though.

By the way, I just bought a beautifol Ibanez Artcore AGB 140 and it plays and sounds absolutely wonderful even taking into account the factory supplied strings. I'll switch them out for Thomastics this weekend when I get a new set in. I can't stop playing it. Great bass for $495 Canadian. Looks like it would cost over $1000.

But the Coronado is a collector's item now. I hope you can get it sounding good.

[*smb]

Originally Posted by 62bass

I just bought a beautifol Ibanez Artcore AGB 140 and it plays and sounds absolutely wonderful even taking into account the factory supplied strings. I'll switch them out for Thomastics this weekend when I get a new set in. I can't stop playing it. Great bass for $495 Canadian. Looks like it would cost over $1000.

I've got one too - the stock strings (at least on mine) were D'Addario roundwounds which were my string of choice already. Fantastic bass for the price. What strings do you think would best suit it though? I wanted to try some flats on it but I'm not sure what would suit it best. I think anything honky sounding would be nasty on this.

[bigtexashonk]

+1 on the TI Jazz Flats.

I've got GHS Brite Flats on a Lakland Skyline Hollowbody. Higher tension good sound, although not quite as "vintage" sounding as the TI's.

I used to run Markley Blue Steels on my Casady. Great "piano" type tone. Good for Entwistle type sound.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by *smb

I've got one too - the stock strings (at least on mine) were D'Addario roundwounds which were my string of choice already. Fantastic bass for the price. What strings do you think would best suit it though? I wanted to try some flats on it but I'm not sure what would suit it best. I think anything honky sounding would be nasty on this.

My choice is the Thomastic flats. I have a set arriving hopefully by Monday or Tuesday. I'll put them on as soon as I can. One thing I've heard with the Thomastics on the Artcore is the E string winding comes up about 1/8" or so short so you have to peel off about that much of the silk wrap so it doesn't sit on the nut. This can be easily done with a sharp razor blade. Thomastic does make a 36" scale flatwound but the bass is designed for longer winding 34" scale strings. The guage on the Thomastic 36" strings is different. If you can wait until then I'll let you know how it goes.

[Scarla O]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Originally Posted by 62bass

The Coronado is a bit unusual sounding to me. I tried one for hours in a store when they first came out but could never get a sound I would use out of it. That was back in the days when the Fender P was the sound to use. If I recall correctly, the bridge saddles on the Coronado were made of some composite which seemed to kill the sound. I loved the looks of it and really wanted to buy one, but just couldn't justify it based on the sound. You may love it though.

Hello 62bass.

The neck pickup and the neck&bridge combination produce a clear woody tone which suits me nicely but I find it sounds best with as little gain as possible...i've found that some bass amplifiers do this guitar an injustice.

I've heard people mention the bridge saddles on the coronado before but the ones on mine seem like plain ol' steel.

[*smb]

Thanks 62 - I'd really like to hear how that turns out!

[62bass]

Scarla, I'm glad you have a good bridge on the Coronado. It sounds like you're going to enjoy the bass a lot. I certainly liked the looks and the necks were easy to play on. When I tried the Coronado it was through a big Gibson bass amp that was just out then and not a great sounding amp to me. I'm sure a better amp would have improved the sound. That's interesting about the gain.

SMB, I'll report on the Thomastics on my Artcore as soon as they arrive. I expected them yesterday but I think delivery is slow right now. I'm getting anxious as I love the Artcore so far, even with the factory D'Addario roundwounds.