I'm just gonna quit messing around

[FromTheBassMent]

So I've got this Stingray 5Hp fretless that I just love. It's a truly cool instruments that looks great, plays effortlessly, and sounds excellent in just about any setting (okay, it's not really "good for metal").

But for years I've been messing around with string choices trying to find just the right one. I started out when I first got the bass with D'Addario Half Rounds, cuz I'd had good experience with those on other fretless basses in the past. But I figured, "There's got to be something better...."

I tried everything from Sunbeams to nickel Lo-Riders to Ken Smith slickwounds to Chromes to... well hell, I don't even remember. Most recently I'd been using GHS pressurewounds, and they were almost right. The mwah and zing were there, but somehow they still sounded like stainless steel, they lacked the thickness and heft that I like to be able to dial in without goosing my eq to the bejeesus belt.

So this weekend I went back to the D'Addario Half Rounds. And now I'm wondering what in the name of all that's holy I was thinking when I switched off of these in the first place.

There was the familiar "grippy" feel right out of the pack (annoying for the first couple hours of play, then it goes away). There was the perfect tension... not as rubbery as rounds, not as brutally stiff as flats. And the sound! No finger noise at all, effortless tremolo and glissandos, outstanding intonation, plenty of mwah when I dig in, but giving an overall impression of incredibly thick, chewy fatness... it's a perfectly round, warm, sexy sound with flawless balance from string to string.

So I'm back in the zone. I am reinhabiting my happy place. And I am seriously swearing off looking for "the perfect string" for this bass. I already found it.

Now if I could just find the perfect string for the Sterling.

Hey, wait a second... maybe the answer is staring me right in the eye. Anybody out there using Half Rounds on a fretted bass?!?

[darkstorm]

I tried daddarios halfrounds back in the 70's. Didnt really like there feel or sound that much. Took em off and put Rotosound swing 66's back on it. I'm sure theres plenty of others who like them though for that somewhere between rounds and flats thing they have.

[lowfreqgeek]

My fretless 4 LOVES LOVES LOVES D'Addario Half-wounds.

It's a home-built job with an extremely light, resonant alder body (Nitro), a responsive quarter-sawn maple/ebony neck (Tru-oiled shaft, bare board), and a Nordstrand MM4.2 pickup (single volume with SC/Parallel switch). I've tried a number of other strings on that bass, but the D' Addarios do absolutely everything perfectly on *that* bass.

My fretless G&L L2500 is less fond of them, though. Still sounds great, but they just don't quite sound right, and they feel a little too floppy. However, I previously had TI rounds and they sounded amazing on the G&L (including the B).

My Rick Turner is at home with absolutely any string I put on it - the BIGGEST B string I've ever heard, bar none. It's lived with TI jazz flats for the past few years. I'm too cheap to put Acousticores on it, but those are my all-time favs on that bass.

Anyway, I totally agree that the Half-rounds make a fantastic combo with the fretless MM. I've had them on fretted basses and they are great there, too. A lot depends on the bass, though. My P currently has TI flats (very bright, low tension) and I think it's gonna stay that way a while. I've put half-rounds on my Jazz with EXCELLENT results, too. Give it a shot!

One down-side to having multiple basses is finding strings they agree with.

[JimmyM]

i see no reason not to try them on your sterling. i find that if i like a type of string on one bass, i'll like it on most basses. rarely if ever does a string work out for me on one bass and not another.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by darkstorm

I tried daddarios halfrounds back in the 70's. Didnt really like there feel or sound that much. Took em off and put Rotosound swing 66's back on it. I'm sure theres plenty of others who like them though for that somewhere between rounds and flats thing they have.

Swing 66's are my new favorite. I just put my first set of them on my 34" 5 string (Alembic Epic 5), and the B is the best it's ever been.

[craig.p]

Yeah, me too, sometimes I "wander off" to try something else but always come back to those 66s. Been using 'em for 35 years.

[Ski3223]

I just put on D'Addario Halfs a couple weeks ago on my Stingray 3EQ (fretted as per your question), LOVE the sound. My only complaint is that they seem a little tacky. When I try to do a slide my fingers seem to "stick" to the strings much more than on rounds or flats. Does this happen for you? I'm about to post a thread asking this same question for the TB community at large.

[Ski3223]

Just fixed the issue.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showth...=1#post9552512

[Spino]

Try TI .