Slickest-Feeling Strings?

[miskha]

Hello,

I once read that Mr. Jameson (I've also heard a version that said it was Jaco) used to eat greasy chicken before playing, and not wash his hands. Obviously since I heard this through unverified channels, I'm not presenting it as a fact. But I do get the idea behind the action, and I like the concept!

I love roundwounds, so I'd really like to know which type, in your opinion, have the slickest feeling to them when playing; I'm talkin' 'bout melted butter on teflon here. I want my fingers to feel like they've got the freedom to slip and slide on the strings as opposed to getting hindered by friction more. If that makes sense. I'm sorry for the rambling, it's sort of late. Thanks in advance for your opinions!

[73jbass]

Elixirs. I've been using them since 2006. nice and slick under the fingers,last forever,and sound great.

[Chopshonky]

Elixirs peel after a while, and they are expensive, and people who like them (because they ARE great) happen to be the type who like fresh strings. But I agree they feel slick. round wounds have less friction than flats btw you are already on the low friction ground. Nickels are a little softer than steels, but don't stay bright as long. suggest you choose string more for sound than feel. if the feel allows you to get the sound then yeah cool, but if they are fighting one another, go with sound. I use Orange or roto-sound never had a bad set yet

[mat gregory]

I'd avoid stainless steel strings if I were you, try Nickel wounds, Ernie balls are my favourite

[Lonesomedave]

rotosound 99 piano strings!

/s/ Dave

[TL5]

chrome flat wounds

[jmbjandfam]

Definitely Elixir's, have played them on almost all my basses. Very slick feeling.

[Frankjohnson]

Fender 9120 - Nylon wrapped -
Nuff said

[miskha]

You guys are awesome! Thank you so much for the replies!

Those Elixir's have been tempting me for awhile.

I just made the switch from 4 to 5 string (and 34'' to 35'' too!) and the strings that came with my new bass were nice, but felt a bit "sticker," for lack of a better term, than I'm used to. So I was just curious was was out there on the other end of the spectrum. Very cool!

[Zapp]

Which of the standard nickel rounds are the tightest/smoothest?
I don't want to go flats... been there. don't want to go halfs.
And, I'll be going for heavies... minimum 110, better 115
Ernies? GHS Boomers? Rotos?

[john grey]

GHS (IMO) are most likely the slickest and go flat the fastest. They will also come back to life very easily but they have some quality that allows them to deaden quickly. But once they are off the bass for awhile - & cleaned; they appear to come back on bright. Rather odd but true. They also are frequently on sale so buy two (for $9 each set) use one / clean one.
However you'll always get string noise doing something with a round-wound that are designed for flat wound..... Sliding on a round wound string with no noise is asking for pigs to fly.

[Sparkdog]

You might try a set of tapewounds and see how those work for you.

I recently bought a set of D'Addario tapes (more out of curiousity than anything else) and they are the smoothest strings I've ever felt. There is like literally NO friction and you can slide all over them without any audible string noise.

They are brighter than flatwounds, but not quite as bright as nickel rounds to my ears. Tension is also an acquired taste with these, it's really low.

I decided they're not for me on my gig basses (Jazzes) but I bet on a fretless or hollowbody they would be really nice.

[IotaNet]

Are you talking Rounds or Flats?

LaBella Deep Talkin' Flats can be as smooth as glass under your fingers if you pick the right version. The ones with Red Silks are great!

[Zapp]

WHICH GHS? and, when you clean them, how? I don't mind spending on good strings, but if they are prematurely thrown out due to my ignorance, I'd like to make a correction!

Originally Posted by john grey

GHS (IMO) are most likely the slickest and go flat the fastest. They will also come back to life very easily but they have some quality that allows them to deaden quickly. But once they are off the bass for awhile - & cleaned; they appear to come back on bright. Rather odd but true. They also are frequently on sale so buy two (for $9 each set) use one / clean one.
However you'll always get string noise doing something with a round-wound that are designed for flat wound..... Sliding on a round wound string with no noise is asking for pigs to fly.

[john grey]

Originally Posted by Zapp

WHICH GHS? and, when you clean them, how? I don't mind spending on good strings, but if they are prematurely thrown out due to my ignorance, I'd like to make a correction!

Your mileage may vary on this (YMMV) as I wrote a little post some time back that instead of boiling with water I tried various solvents. In fact acetone BOILS at only 56C (128 F) which is no hotter than a automobile in Summer.
What I wanted to do was remove all the crud from a set of strings and not alter their temper. Solvents certainly can do this. Obvious fire danger exists and that's another story; considering we are adults; appropriate care would be a no-brainer. The solvent must not be dilute (some alcohols have a percentage of water) this makes the process much less effective. What worked VERY well was acetone with methanol being 2nd. Toluene and xylene were less effective (solvents not water mixable) but did remove crud.

What I found was very interesting. Certain strings (round wound) are apparently wrapped under tension. When strung upon a bass they obviously stretch in two ways. The metallic properties will always stretch with a degree of permanence.
But the wrapping MAY stretch and come back to a tighter level of wrapping IF the particulate matter in between the coils are removed (the crud). The results from various solvents were promising. A polar solvent (one that will mix w/ water) appears best. Acetone, ethanol, methanol, isopropol, etc provide a very effective means of doing this and can also reach a boiling point (care taken: no flame) FAR below a temp that may alter temper of the steel. The strings very often came back with a fresh, new quality that appeared to last.
problems occurred from silk wrapping obviously, but in general it's a method far superior to boiling water to make expensive strings last quite some time.

It will work with some (strings) better than others & will work IF there is no rust or permanent issues with the string. If the particulate matter is skin cells and minor debris, you MAY find it very promising....Note: this was simply an experiment which yielded some results; not the Word From on High. On the other hand you might just be very happy w/ the results!
The GHS I used in one instance were some $9 sale strings from GC which happen to have a smooth wrapping coil (& therefore built up less crud than those built like a rasp).

[Zapp]

a set of "rasps" came on my VMJ ! lol

Originally Posted by john grey

The GHS I used in one instance were some $9 sale strings from GC which happen to have a smooth wrapping coil (& therefore built up less crud than those built like a rasp).

[Grateful]

Originally Posted by Zapp

Which of the standard nickel rounds are the tightest/smoothest?
I don't want to go flats... been there. don't want to go halfs.
And, I'll be going for heavies... minimum 110, better 115
Ernies? GHS Boomers? Rotos?

You might try Circle K strings. They feel great, sound great, and apparently last a very long time. I've only had mine on a couple of weeks, but I have heard people prasie their longevity. Plus, you can get whatever gauges you want. I highly, highly recommend a balanced set.

Circle K Strings - Circle K Strings

[Zapp]

you that have used Ernie Ball strings... have you used the "power slinky"? comments?

[markanini]

Originally Posted by john grey

Your mileage may vary on this (YMMV) as I wrote a little post some time back that instead of boiling with water I tried various solvents. In fact acetone BOILS at only 56C (128 F) which is no hotter than a automobile in Summer.
What I wanted to do was remove all the crud from a set of strings and not alter their temper. Solvents certainly can do this. Obvious fire danger exists and that's another story; considering we are adults; appropriate care would be a no-brainer. The solvent must not be dilute (some alcohols have a percentage of water) this makes the process much less effective. What worked VERY well was acetone with methanol being 2nd. Toluene and xylene were less effective (solvents not water mixable) but did remove crud.

What I found was very interesting. Certain strings (round wound) are apparently wrapped under tension. When strung upon a bass they obviously stretch in two ways. The metallic properties will always stretch with a degree of permanence.
But the wrapping MAY stretch and come back to a tighter level of wrapping IF the particulate matter in between the coils are removed (the crud). The results from various solvents were promising. A polar solvent (one that will mix w/ water) appears best. Acetone, ethanol, methanol, isopropol, etc provide a very effective means of doing this and can also reach a boiling point (care taken: no flame) FAR below a temp that may alter temper of the steel. The strings very often came back with a fresh, new quality that appeared to last.
problems occurred from silk wrapping obviously, but in general it's a method far superior to boiling water to make expensive strings last quite some time.

It will work with some (strings) better than others & will work IF there is no rust or permanent issues with the string. If the particulate matter is skin cells and minor debris, you MAY find it very promising....Note: this was simply an experiment which yielded some results; not the Word From on High. On the other hand you might just be very happy w/ the results!
The GHS I used in one instance were some $9 sale strings from GC which happen to have a smooth wrapping coil (& therefore built up less crud than those built like a rasp).

That's interesting. I've tried combining solvent soaking and ultrasonic cleaning lately and found results were very good. I used Isopropyl as a solvent. It made me a bit cautious that that solvent went lukewarm rather fast and I let cool of for 60min after running it for 7 min. I considered Naphta and dentartured alcohol but wrote them of thinking naptha would be rather flammable and denatured alcohol being impure. Acetone would have melted the plastic in the small ultrasonic cleaner I figured.

What do you figure is a safe and effective solvent for my ultrasonic process?

[markanini]

Staying OT, coated strings would be worth considering. Another type of string worth considering is compressionwound where the outer wrap has an oval shape.

Here's a list of compressionwounds:
Alembic CX-3(Nickel-plated steel)
Dean Markley Fretmaster(Stainless steel)
GHS Pressurewound(Nickel/Iron alloy)
Ken Smith Compressor(Nickel/Iron alloy)
LaBella Quarter-round(Steinless Steel)
Rotosound Solo Bass 55(Stainless Steel)
SIT Silencer (Nickel-plated steel)