Strings for John Wetton's tone

[easternbull]

I've done some searching and I think rotosounds swingbass66 sound like a contender. But steel or nickel?

I've pretty much nailed the tone already with my hiwatt derivate ashdown lb30. Tried switching to dean markley blue steels like i use in my downtuned ATK, but they seemed transparent but a bit harsh for my squire jaguar.

Any other roundwound string recomendations?

Just to clarify things I'm after the tone he has during his King Crimson days.

[easternbull]

bump,

rotosound swingbass66 vs bluesteel for Wetton's Crimson tone, any comments?

[fretlessguy]

The Rotos would most likely fit the bill. In the mid 90s he endorsed Stadium Elites (?) but my mind is foggy on that.

[7flat5]

Originally Posted by easternbull

bump,

rotosound swingbass66 vs bluesteel for Wetton's Crimson tone, any comments?

Aah! Wetton's Crimson tone. I wondered which of the 40 years of tones you were referring to. Now, we have narrowed it down to 2 years.

I think his Crimson tone was a result of amps and bass, and had very little to do with strings. He used roundwounds in that era, I believe. Any given metal roundwound string will do, and rotos very likely, on a P, with overdriven tube amplification, played louder and louder as the year goes on.

Edit: and, no tweeters. They didn't do those back then.
Edit 2: I missed the LB30 reference. You need a BB400, and some 8x10s to get the right feel.