smooth feelin' roundwounds

mrmoore · #1 08-02-2005, 04:07 PM

I'm looking for a good full-sounding roundwound that's fingercomfortable to play. I used GHS Super Steels for years and for the last 3 or 4 have been using Elixir polywebs. Yes, I'm gotten too used to the smoother finger feel. Any suggestion? 45-105. Blues and older rock music. (the key word here is "old" to match my age) Thanks,

Mark

Paul Secondino · #2 08-02-2005, 05:23 PM

I tried Super Steels and they kind of unimpressed me. I tried them on a fretless instead of the Smith Nickels I normally use. They felt rough and scratched up my board quite a bit in the one hour I played them.

So my best guess right now for you is to try Smith Nickels. So far I like them because they make the axact gauges i like 4-5-6 string and they are about as comfortable a round wound as I have tried.

Oddly enough, I don't find smooth wound much smoother . To me, I feel more surface area on smooth wounds which seems to negate the grinding down of the coils. Whereas on round wounds, the string is less smooth but less of your finger touches it. Strange I know. But I hope it helps

rsautrey · #3 08-02-2005, 06:38 PM

mrmoore, if you're playing blues and older rock music, why do you need roundwounds? You could possibly get by with halfrounds or maybe even flatwounds. I'd at least give 'em a try and see if they can do what you need them to do. If it has to be roundwounds, I'd stick to nickel or nickelplated rounds. They are much smoother feeling and sounding than stainless steel roundwounds. Hope this helps.

mrmoore · #4 08-02-2005, 07:28 PM

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I may go back to the old flat wounds, as much as I hate to..I thought I got rid of those in the mid-70's or so. Thanks again.

Mark

Budbear · #5 08-02-2005, 08:53 PM

Try SIT Silencers. Nickel, smooth feel, round wound sound (say that fast 5 times)

Affordable & long life. The more I play them, the more I like them.

UrbanAssault415 · #6 08-02-2005, 09:22 PM

Ive herd nice things about D'addario Half-wound. A mix between flatwounds and roundwounds.

Audiophage · #7 08-03-2005, 03:41 PM

DR High Beams are pretty smooth as far as roundwounds go. However they have a more aggressive sound to them.

r379 · #8 08-03-2005, 04:26 PM

For years I avoided roundwounds because I hated the roughness and the finger noise. I finally bit the bullet and switched to nothing but round wounds. I do like vintage type tones but round wounds just (to me) sound better. I've gotten to the point where the roughness and finger noise have become unnoticeable and do not bother me at all. I'm sure that some strings are rougher than others and over the last couple of years I've been using D'Addario XLs and lately TI Superalloys. The TIs really don't feel rough to me at all but perhaps that's the perspective I have these days.

Daniel Baskin · #9 08-03-2005, 05:28 PM

HALF ROUNDS! The answer is staring you right in the face. You want and old style feel but you want to keep some roundwoundness in there. I bought and installed D'Addario half rounds on my bass just yesterday. Before that, I was using some DR stainless steels. After lowering the action slightly, I was able to get almost the same slap tone as my steels. However, this lowering of the strings did not affect fret noise or buzzing because of the awesome smooth nature of the strings. They surpassed my expectations.

Beefbass · #10 08-03-2005, 08:36 PM

I vote for D'addario XL roundwounds

gottawalk · #11 08-03-2005, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanAssault415

Ive herd nice things about D'addario Half-wound. A mix between flatwounds and roundwounds.

+1 Don't know what bass you're using, but I've got a Fender Jazz with Actives, and I put the D'addario half-wound on for just that reason. Less wear on the fingertips. Sound is really great. Price is a little steep, but my wife picked up 2 pair of 5-string sets up that I ordered through a local shop, and they didn't remember the price for the pair and she quoted the price I had told her, but unfortunately, it was the price per set. Got a 2-fer-1 deal!!! (I'm really feeling guilty!, as you can guess!!!)

Anyway, they sound great. Check them out, or any other brand of 1/2 wound. Another suggestion would be GHS bright flats. Put them on my fretless and they work pretty good. Still testing out different strings for that bass, though; it's new to me. Just wanted a lighter guage for a change. (Might ruin me for the Fender; we'll see...)

Good luck!

Thurisarz · #12 08-04-2005, 03:36 AM

Sounds like one of my favourite strings, GHS Pressurewounds. Eggshaped nickel roundwounds with about 75% less fingernoise, after a month or so they start to break in and sound more flatwoundish, very nice

semborg · #13 08-04-2005, 06:19 AM

1+ Half rounds

Fuzzbass · #14 08-04-2005, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmoore

I'm looking for a good full-sounding roundwound that's fingercomfortable to play. I used GHS Super Steels for years and for the last 3 or 4 have been using Elixir polywebs. Yes, I'm gotten too used to the smoother finger feel. Any suggestion? 45-105. Blues and older rock music. (the key word here is "old" to match my age) Thanks,

Mark

So you're saying the Elixir Polywebs have the right feel but aren't "full sounding". If so, I suggest you try the Elixir Nanowebs. I have limited experience with Polywebs, but to me, the Nanos feel a slight bit rougher but also have a brighter top end. In comparison, Nanos have a smoother feel than uncoated rounds but also a bit less brightness. I actually prefer the Nanos' smoother top end on my active bass because it's bright even without treble boosted.

4Mal · #15 08-04-2005, 10:28 AM

D'Addario half-rounds are a very nice string. I have nano-webs on my Reverned PJ and they are OK. I always have fretless and fretted J's with flatwounds though. I get a lot of mileage out of them... D'Addario Chromes would be my flat of choice. I like the tonaility of the Thomastic Jazz flat as much, but I prefer the stiffer feel of the Chromes. TIJf's feel a little sloppy to me however that may be as mnuch related to my setup and technique. TIJF's are a very good string.

The new generation of flats (Chromes, TIJF's, others ?) have a lot more going for them than the old standby's of the 70's. Those old strings were pretty much dead and dull on delivery. Perfect for the 'tunable kick-drum' approach where no ringing is allowed. Where a dead string and a foam mute was the order of the day. The newer generation strings have lots's of additional harmonic content. They don't exactly ring and cetainly not like a round or half round, but they are way richer sounding with more sustain now.

If you ever want that thud - no ring sound. Fender's stainless steel flat does that after about a week of break in. If I were playing in a country root V band that's the string I'd use (god save me if it ever comes to that ...)

bassman blue · #16 08-06-2005, 08:27 AM

i've tried smith compressors, ghs pressurewounds, sit silencers, and dean markley fretmasters. always looking for a reasonably smooth feeling string, flexible, good balanced output, and sweet tone. the above strings generally met most of those points, but finally i tried a set of thomastik jazz flats and they are in my humble opinion a much superior string. the string to string balance, the feel, the useable tones throughout the range of passive tone control settings on my bass has really won me over. very well worth trying even at the higher price. as one forum member said, uncut you can easily flog them to another tb'er. but i supsect you won't.

DavePlaysBass · #17 08-06-2005, 08:51 AM

I would suggest TI flats for a smooth feel. I have a 5 string Sadowsky I keep rounds on and an old Fender Jazz I keep the TI flats on. Whenever I play the Jazz with TI flats I never feel the need to mess around with the EQ. They just sit in the classic rock mix of our band really well. They cut as good or better than the Sadowsky with rounds. And when I yank around up high, the sound is smoother and I can get away with more yanking. I have never used any other flats but many say they have more highes than most flats.

The lower tension is easy on the hands IME. Make sure to give your neck a bit of relief. If you are replacing a standard gauge of string, the neck will most likely be too straight for TI flats. TI flats need some room to breathe. Once you get some relief in the neck, I think they feel tighter and sound better.

Dave

jrock111 · #18 08-08-2005, 06:56 PM

DR Sunbeams. Roundwound nickel on a round core. Great feeling strings. They feel smoother than the HiBeams(being nickel as opposed to stainless steel). They sound a tad zingy out of the box, but mellow out nicely without losng its edge and lasts a long time. I put them on my 4003 and wiil stick with these after using D'adarrio XL's for a long time.

BudWirth · #19 08-08-2005, 09:27 PM

I've always used either rotosound or LaBella nylon wounds on my fretless. Last week I put on a set of the Thomastic Jazz Flats and I couldn't beleive the sound and also the feel. I'm missing the tip of my left pointer finger so the rough roundwounds are out of the question for me. the T I Jazz Flats will be what I stick with. Got a ton of compliments on the sound of my bass during this past weekends jams.

bassman blue · #20 08-09-2005, 08:34 AM

glad to hear the ti flats are working out for you. funny, i didn't try them sooner. guess i was sceptical. but not anymore i can't wait to try the jazz rounds i have in the mail on another one of my basses. i know ti strings are not for everyone, but so far i'm really impressed. i'd like to buy the company

i've tweaked my bass's action since installing the ti flats, and i've got the action adjusted lower than any other string i've used. no fret buzz and so easy to play.