Recommendations - Need treble/punch

Hippos Melas · #1 05-30-2010, 12:43 AM

Time to restring my Sterling. I'm looking for strings that give me tons of kick on the D and G strings. I've tried nothing but DR High Beams and Slinkys on it. Suggestions?

maturanesa · #2 05-30-2010, 01:17 AM

I would try any 40-95. Always the G and D string have more tension than E and A, but in a 40-95 is more

Hippos Melas · #3 05-30-2010, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maturanesa

I would try any 40-95. Always the G and D string have more tension than E and A, but in a 40-95 is more

So anything really light gauge? I think my current Slinky set has a 45 as the G string.

DavePlaysBass · #4 05-30-2010, 03:51 PM

IME, light gauge D and G do not sound as full and have less of what I consider punch. I usually think of punch as low mids. But not all definitions of punch may be equal. The whole gauge conversation has many proponents on each side. You need to find what works for you given your unique combination of input variables.

Tons of kick on the D and G might lead one to nickel rounds wounds like D'Addario XLs or TI Superalloys. I have always noticed a real "bark" and pop from the D and G with a fresh set of DA XLs (45, 65). When new the XL D & G are almost angry and harsh but cut well. I think the D & G from the TI Superalloys may be a tad "thicker" than the DA XLs but also a tad darker. Assuming a mid hump, I think the TI Superalloy hump may be a little lower in the mid range than the D'Addario XL hump.

A steel string that emphasizes low mids might be found in DR Lo Riders.

Hippos Melas · #5 05-30-2010, 04:34 PM

I should probably clarify what punch means to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6q_ZosDwRY

That's me playing the same bass I'm talking about (everything's stock on the bass and the EQ is flat). Fast forward to 4:40 and don't mind all of the suck. You can hear though that the bass has a sort of kick on all of the popped notes. I'm just looking for that again.

The ironic part about all this is that the Sterling I'm playing there has the stock set of strings that came on the bass. I put the same gauge and type of strings back on again (Slinkies item number 2834) and I just don't get the same sound, even with EQ tweaking.