Lakland 44-01 Stock String Zing

jopy · #1 09-01-2009, 08:44 AM

I recently purchased a Lakland 44-01. My hands are used to the flatwound feel (started on a fretless), I like to slide octaves around, and I'm a big fan of the older soul music players like Dunn, Jamerson, Larry Graham, Bernard Odum, and JP Jones. Sounds like I'd want flats, right?

Despite this, I thought I'd try out some roundwounds on the Lakland just to see what they're like. They sounded a whole lot like the roundwounds on these clips (except I'm nowhere near as good as the bassist on these recordings):

http://www.lakland.com/ac_4401.htm

I really don't like that sound at all. It's too zingy. The playing the roundwounds on motown sample is clearly professional, but I can't abide it, whereas the playing on the flatwounds is like pure butter to my ears.

So at long last, here comes the question:

Is it the case that I just wouldn't like roundwound strings no matter what, given everything I've said so far, or does the 44-01 just come with exceptionally bright, zingy stock strings? I tried eq'ing up the mids and down the high end somewhat, but there's still that zing underneath. I do hear players who are use rounds that don't have quite so much zing, they have more mids. Are there rounds that could do the flats tone with a bit of eq and then switch to a brighter tone when the need arises?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

jopy · #2 09-01-2009, 09:13 AM

I should have added, I know part of the answer is nickle. Does anyone know of a good audio comparison of nickle vs. steel strings?

JTE · #3 09-01-2009, 09:23 AM

The stock strings are Lakland stainless strings, which are made by GHS. They may be identical to GHS Super Steels. They're a pretty bright string, and some of what I'd call "zing" is due to the string alloy. It's also due to being rounds.

So, how long have you had the bass? One factor in the sound of round is that they tend to loose a certain amount of zing as they age, and in fact I much prefer my stainless rounds after they've been played for a while. I hate brand new strings, but after a while they work great. Having said that, my Fender P bass has had the same set of Lakland Joe Osborn strings on it for at least five years. But my other basses have rounds (generally DR HiBeams or Lakland Stainless on the fretted ones and DR Sunbeams on the fretless). They fill different functions.

Another factor is that if the pickups and electronics on your 44-01 are the same as my 55-01, it does have some distinct highs. I've got a set of DR Hi-Beams on my 55-01 and I still roll off the treble on the bass' EQ a bit unless I'm after a very right sound. I generally run active basses with the EQ flat (except for specific effects on specific songs), but my default setting on the 55-01 is with the treble rolled back a little bit.

John

jopy · #4 09-01-2009, 09:26 AM

Thanks for the reply JTE; I've had the bass for about a month, I play about an hour a day most days, more on the weekends. Is that enough time to break these in?

mccartneyman · #5 09-01-2009, 10:06 AM

Lakland nickel rounds, available from Lakland, have substantially less zing than the stainless Laklands, byt they still have good treble -- so much so that you might have to dial it back on the bass or the amp. I tried almsot every brand of rounds before coming back to the Lakland nickels. I like JO Flats and also TI Flats, but some players think the TI flats are too low tension. JO Flats are a lot stiffer.

JTE · #6 09-01-2009, 10:56 AM

The problem with defining a break-in time is that I don't know anything about your chemistry. It varies a LOT. I used to manage a guitar store and we had one teacher who could utterly KILL a brand new set of strings in an hour. Others could play for months and not have noticable aging on their strings.

John

jopy · #7 09-01-2009, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTE

The problem with defining a break-in time is that I don't know anything about your chemistry.

I could send you a vial of my sweat if you'd like, I know I have one around here somewhere...

I do think that I have sort of medium grade sweat. I was playing around with a spare set of D'addario chromes I took off my fretless a while back, and I was amazed at how bright those could get with just the eq, but with no zing and no finger noise. I think this sort of clinches it for me, I guess I just don't like the rounds so much. At least now I know for sure.

Thanks again for the information guys, that did help me think this through a bit.