string help!!!

[flats]

yo
i just received this bass in the mail. it's a fretless with a pau ferro fingerboard. what strings are safe to use?? i've chewed up a rosewood fingerboard with nickel rounds in the past, so please don't say "any"

are half rounds okay? or should i just stick with flats? i prefer round wound tone but seeing as i just dropped 5 Gs on this i'm not going there.

any insight is appreciated! thanks

[3234718]

Any strings will eventually cause wear, whether they're rounds, flats or tapes. If you want rounds but what to minimize wear, go with pressurewounds.

[GK Growl]

So let me get this straight....you just spent 5k on a bass, you like roundwound tone, but you haven't done the research on what strings might work even though you know that you like rounds?!? Wow. I thought I had problems.

[mmbongo]

Dang. $5k on a bass and you can't even get close to the sound you want for fear of scratching the fingerboard?

[flats]

please expand on your idea of 'research'

i can find a 'credible' source saying that roundwounds do negligible damage to a fretless fingerboard, and i can find a 'credible' source claiming the exact opposite.

knowledge is acquired through experience, and i have ruined a fretless bass with roundwound strings in the past.

be nice, i just joined TB today thinking it would be a supportive community to share ideas and help others.

i will rephrase my question:
is pau ferro durable enough to use half rounds on for long-term play?

[Stone Soup]

Originally Posted by flats

i will rephrase my question:
is pau ferro durable enough to use half rounds on for long-term play?

It is if you have good left hand technique.

I know fretless players who have played the same basses for several years and they never complain of ruts. The advice was the same from both of them. Side to side vibrato, like one would use on a fretted bass, will wear away at the wood. Don't bend strings. Use a proper vibrato vibrato technique. Don't clamp down on the strings more than you need to make the notes.

[3234718]

Originally Posted by Stone Soup

It is if you have good left hand technique.

I know fretless players who have played the same basses for several years and they never complain of ruts. The advice was the same from both of them. Side to side vibrato, like one would use on a fretted bass, will wear away at the wood. Don't bend strings. Use a proper vibrato vibrato technique. Don't clamp down on the strings more than you need to make the notes.

This.

And every "will rounds eat my fretless?" thread I've read, eventually leads to a consensus that it takes years, and years and years to affect playability if you play for hours a day, every day. But if I had a 5k fretless I'd probably use tapes on it.

[smogg]

These might do the trick;
https://www.bassstringsonline.com/Th...Set_p_239.html

[flats]

thanks so much guys. appreciate the feedback. those thomastiks are the most expensive strings i've seen. how is their tension?

[flats]

just read the reviews. doy! i'll check them out