Slap bass strings!

[aurian4parker]

I play a lot of stuff kinda like the chili peppers.

I was wondering....rounds or flats?

[LightGroove]

UM...UM...UM....Rounds my friend....Just installed a set of DR nickel lo-riders and they do the slap thing well.

[kesslari]

Rounds.

[P-BASSLOVER]

DR FatBeams or the GHS Flea Boomers. If you slap like a maniac like flea, I suggest the Boomers because they are much stiffer. Even stiffer than DR Lo-Riders.

[gnome_hunter]

ive heard alot of bad things about the flea boomers. i heard they loose all of their tone after a few days.

My preferance is the Dean Markley Blue Steel Xtra-Lites.

[funkboy5]

Try some Carvin Stainless Steels roundwounds .040, .060, .080, 100, 128. A very nice set, priced right, feel good to the touch and last a long time. I think they're are made by D'Addario for Carvin. Good luck.

[varunkapahi]

rounds totally nickels and stainless steels

[pedalguy1]

I've used Rotosound funk masters and was pleased, its a smaller guage string so notes are more crisp.

[capnsandwich]

Sadowsky stainless steel round wounds. I have yet to play a set of strings with a better slap tone, all IMO mind you.

[session man]

I ordered some Sadowsky strings and tried them for slap nothing matches them. Having the right eq and compression also helps to enhance your bass. I will be ordering more again shortly.

[ausf]

Labella Slappers were great for RHCP on my P. So are the Sunbeams I have on it now.
I'm pretty sure the Boomer Flea set has a monster E string compared to the others, the Labellas have a lighter D and G (so by ratio, the E is heavier).

The Sunbeams have a great punch on the E, so the percussive mutes come through nicely.

I tend to like nickels for flex and playability, if you don't want SS, give one of those two a try.

[Liko]

Oh, definitely rounds. A new set of nickel rounds (I use D'Addarios XLs on both my slappers) has no equal for slap. Stainless CAN work, but you tend to get a very bright sound that, coupled with the zing and pow you get out of thumbstyle, can be grating. I've also found all-stainless sets to be very scooped-sounding; lotts highs, good lows, no mids. Even though some slapmasters scoop their EQ, you need SOME mids to define the sound. Don't believe me, try slapping with the tone control off; it's just a bunch of mud. Add treble to that and you have unpleasant mud.

Now, that unpleasantness changes after the bass has had its strings on for about a year. Good all-stainless strings last a VERY long time before dying completely, and when they dull slightly you get a great groovy sound that slaps far better.

[woody357]

Does anyone here use Ernie Ball Slinky Nickel Round Wound?

[Liko]

Originally Posted by woody357

Does anyone here use Ernie Ball Slinky Nickel Round Wound?

I used to; they're fair strings, but I found D'Addarios to have more bite when you slap em, and last a bit longer. Nothing wrong with Ernie Ball (they also make the Music Man, so they know a thing or two about slap), just not for me.

[Turkeybasster]

I use strings commonly found in stores like Ernie Balls. Special strings sound good but I like only paying 20 bucks for a set of Ernie Rounds, 40 - 100s. Especially nice if you prefer to change strings often, or happen to need a new set of strings 10 min before a gig...

[Willy2911]

I never use Flats for anything, I would go with some Stainless rounds.

[chrism2sych]

rounds........boomers plain they are probably a six month string depending on how much and how hard but nice and bright to start, good slap tones

[Ewo]

Roundwound stainless, IMHO. I've been using Mike Tobias's MTD brand for the last 6 months or so. They're worth trying, to see if you like them. The tension is nice and even on a 5 string set, which matters to me.