Rock / Metal Strings without the Noise??!

::Saint:: · #1 02-04-2007, 07:28 PM

Hey, can anybody reccomend a good set of ground-wound / semi-flat strings for a 5-string bass that would be good for alternative rock and metal styles?

I tend to produce a lot of string noise and would like to reduce it - as well I prefer a more mellow sound rather than bright and tinny which you get with round-wounds.

I'm having a lot of trouble finding ground-wound strings for a 5-string, aside from D'addario which has a couple of sets that seem limited to Light or Super Light gauge, which I don't want (would prefer medium or even slightly heavy, I think).

Reccomendations please!

Jazz Ad · #2 02-04-2007, 07:36 PM

Have you tried a mute, such as a cloth under the strings near the bridge ?
It may not be the answer you expect but they do wonders to fix this kind of issue and get you a thicker, punchier tone.

#3 02-04-2007, 10:25 PM

Rotosound RS-77's

::Saint:: · #4 02-05-2007, 10:16 AM

Jazza Ad: A cloth under the strings at the bridge.. now how would that work and what kind of material would I use? Is there a diagram somewhere you could direct me to that might show me how to go about doing that?

Tired_Thumb: Thanks for the reccomendation - I see those are flatwound, not ground - you think they will be bright enough for alt rock styles? Flatwound seems common enough among metal bassists, but I'm not sure about rock - worth a try I guess!

#5 02-05-2007, 10:17 AM

Steve Harris uses them, and especially live he has one of the brightest bass sounds I've heard, brighter than a lighter up your @**.

::Saint:: · #6 02-05-2007, 10:19 AM

Another question I would pose - about those Rotosound RS77's - I see on the Rotosound Website they are RS775LD - any idea where I can buy a set of those? MF doesn't seem to have any..

sunbeast · #7 02-05-2007, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ::Saint::

Another question I would pose - about those Rotosound RS77's - I see on the Rotosound Website they are RS775LD - any idea where I can buy a set of those? MF doesn't seem to have any..

You can find them from various places on the internet- I like seller "mymusicstuff" on Ebay- I've ordered that exact set from him before. He is fairly cheap and sends the strings usually the same day you pay him! (He lives in Colorado, as do I- I usually get my strings the next day!).

Karl

::Saint:: · #8 02-05-2007, 11:59 AM

The bass guy at my music store reccomended Thomastik-Infeld flat wounds - the only set that I can find on their website are the Jazz-E-Bass strings - anyone tried these?

::Saint:: · #9 02-05-2007, 12:18 PM

Or the Ken Smith Compression Series?

::Saint:: · #10 02-06-2007, 10:11 AM

Well, after reviewing all the options available to me, I am going for the RS 77's. It was a brief, but enlightening decision-making process, during which I discovered that locally the Rotosound's and Thomastik's were pretty well the same price - in fact the Roto's were more, at about $80 (Canadian), while the Thomastik's were $75. I had been going to try the Ken Smith Compressions because they were much more affordable (around $45 for the 5 string set), but they had none in stock, and as my bass guy said "With Ken, you never know when you'll get more stock - it's basically him and about ten other guys, so sometimes he'll get you strings in 2 week, sometimes 6 months."

Then I looked online and noticed that the Thomastik's were not much less on eBay, MF, HC, etc (Like $60 or so, plus about $9 shipping), while the Roto's are going for under $35! So that has pretty well made my decision for me, in combination with the fact the the RS 77's were voted Bass Player Magazine's favourite Flatwounds.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

DavidRavenMoon · #11 02-06-2007, 02:55 PM

Another string to consider are LaBella Deep Talkin' Bass, stainless steel flats. They aren't dull and thuddy, and I had a set last for two years... until I broke one. They sound a lot like the Rotos, but they last longer. You can even slap on them! They are like round wounds without the ringing top end.

::Saint:: · #12 02-07-2007, 11:15 AM

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone! I've got a ton of stuff to eventually get around to trying out.. hopefully I'll have the opportunity to find out which is my favourite, but for now I've just bought my first set of RS 77's. I hope they don't take too long to ship from the states (I'm in Canada).

Thanks for the tip on your ebay seller, Sunbeast, I just bought them from him!

Now I just need to try out some TI's, Ken Smith's, and LaBella's

Dincrest · #13 02-18-2007, 08:15 PM

SIT Silencers. I've tried all kinds of strings on my Warwick (which is notorious for fret noise) and the strings that best counteracted the noise in my experience were SIT Silencers. Imparted a really fat, smooth sound to the naturally sizzly hi-fi tone of the bass too. Last a good while also; IMO they sound really good when they're a few months old.

Great value for the money too. $20 a set or something and I leave them on for 6 months at a time.

I recommend against Ken Smith Compressors. They're needlessly rough for pressurewounds (the SITs are smooth) and impart a really twangy nasally tone that did not complement my bass at all.

Aussie Mark · #14 02-20-2007, 06:21 PM

The Steve Harris Rotos have the tension of railway lines, be warned. For rock I really like D'Addario Chromes.

::Saint:: · #15 02-22-2007, 03:02 PM

I still haven't gotten my Rotos, but I'll post an update once I do

bassbully43 · #16 02-22-2007, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dincrest

SIT Silencers. I've tried all kinds of strings on my Warwick (which is notorious for fret noise) and the strings that best counteracted the noise in my experience were SIT Silencers. Imparted a really fat, smooth sound to the naturally sizzly hi-fi tone of the bass too. Last a good while also; IMO they sound really good when they're a few months old.

Great value for the money too. $20 a set or something and I leave them on for 6 months at a time.

I recommend against Ken Smith Compressors. They're needlessly rough for pressurewounds (the SITs are smooth) and impart a really twangy nasally tone that did not complement my bass at all.

Yep..what he said.

::Saint:: · #17 03-03-2007, 01:37 PM

Well, just installed my rotosound 77's and they seem nice to play so far - I'm anxious for them to darken down though, but I can hear the flatwound thud, and I like. They are still brightish though, but we'll see how they are in a week or so. They don't seem overly tight to me, though I can tell there is more tension than my rounds had.