Strings For A "Vintage Sound"

Omnipharious · #1 04-17-2011, 05:58 AM

I have a p-bass that I am trying to make very vintage. I have already given it a finish that I see fit, I have made the hardware look vintage how I want it. I have a vintage tinted maple lefty p-bass style neck on it, so I need new strings to fit the backwards head. I have Fender '62 pickups in it right now, and they have the sound I want, but now I need strings to match that pickups. I like that kind of dead, not too bright, but not flat sound. Something like a 60's rock sound. Something with a good bit of mid, and low, not too much high, and good for slap.

(it's not that yellow in person; and the tuning pegs aren't black, it's just the lighting)

I'm not here because I can't decide, but because I have experience with a very limited number of strings. Only the strings that came on the p-bass, the strings that were on my Jazz since I bought it (don't know what they are, but they sound nice), and D'Addario nickel wounds (they sounded kinda bland), so I don't know what companies' strings sound like what. Obviously I would like to pay $10-$15 if I could, but I am willing to go up to like $25, maybe $30. Anything above that is asinine.

AmadeusXeno · #2 04-17-2011, 09:04 AM

They are on the high side of what you are willing to spend, but I think DR sunbeams might fit the tone you are looking for. Most nickle strings might be good for what you want. The sunbeams have a round core though which seems to get a warmer tone. They are also lighter tension which is nice when doing bends. Hope this helps, and maybe someone else can give some more suggestions.

Omnipharious · #3 04-17-2011, 09:15 AM

Yeah, I was looking at the strings FAQ, and nickel does sound like what I want. Thanks for your input. If anyone else has any suggestions of brands, it would be greatly appreciated too.

Pilgrim · #4 04-17-2011, 11:23 AM

"Vintage" = flats.

Darth_Gasseous · #5 04-17-2011, 11:26 AM

check out webstrings.com and look at their Detroit Flat wounds... You can get a set easily in your price range ($16.99). They're what I use, and I get a lot of compliments on the way my bass sounds... I go for the vintage sound myself, and you can't go wrong with these.

Omnipharious · #6 04-17-2011, 12:33 PM

I heard that flats are bad for slap. I mean, I don't mind that flat kind of sound, I was actually planning on building a bass around that kind of sound soon, but I figured roundwound was how to get that 60's sound. Then again, I've never played flats. I'll check that site out. Thanks for the help! :3

BassMan4Him · #7 04-17-2011, 12:36 PM

Nice looking knife!

Omnipharious · #8 04-17-2011, 01:30 PM

Thanks for referring me to the site. Since with the shipping, it'll only come out to about $20, I'm definitely ordering from that site some time soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassMan4Him

Nice looking knife!

Thanks, mate. I always like to keep her on hand in case of a pirate attack.

sikamikanico · #9 04-17-2011, 01:51 PM

flats are slappable...

otherwise, get as much nickel as possible on the roundwounds, and play them for about a year... you will get a cool tone then :P

I would recommend Pyramid strings, but are out of your price range in the States...

DR's would be a good choice too... Maybe d'addario... I never tried roundwounds, but Chromes are cool, and bright for flats (cool for slap, imo).

But seriously, nickel and aging will get you the furthest...

or maybe half-rounds or any in-between type of string; however, I have no experience with them

Darth_Gasseous · #10 04-17-2011, 10:19 PM

If you're going for the 60s sound, then you want flats... I believe rounds became popular in the early 70s.

Omnipharious · #11 04-18-2011, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sikamikanico

flats are slappable...

otherwise, get as much nickel as possible on the roundwounds, and play them for about a year... you will get a cool tone then :P

I would recommend Pyramid strings, but are out of your price range in the States...

DR's would be a good choice too... Maybe d'addario... I never tried roundwounds, but Chromes are cool, and bright for flats (cool for slap, imo).

But seriously, nickel and aging will get you the furthest...

or maybe half-rounds or any in-between type of string; however, I have no experience with them

Then I suspect that Silvertone (the maker of my bass), puts nickel strings on from the factory, because after having different strings on the p-bass for a while, then putting on the year old factory strings, they were pretty much the exact sound I wanted.

They were rounds (and tore my fingers to shreds) but I'm looking forward to trying flats.

markanini · #12 04-18-2011, 03:41 AM

A truly vintage string like nickel flats wont do slap well. It seems our ideal tones aren't much different from each other, the best I found so far for me are GHS Brite flats, they require you to experiment with the gauge as the standard sets are kind of unblanced. Check out Abe Laboriel to get an idea of how they can sound.

thunderstation · #13 04-18-2011, 04:25 AM

I have a 73 Fender Precision - I've been using D'addario half rounds on it since '75
they're in the upper level of your price range.

Omnipharious · #14 04-18-2011, 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markanini

A truly vintage string like nickel flats wont do slap well. It seems our ideal tones aren't much different from each other, the best I found so far for me are GHS Brite flats, they require you to experiment with the gauge as the standard sets are kind of unblanced. Check out Abe Laboriel to get an idea of how they can sound.

I do like his sound. I kinda like that weird nasally sound of him slapping on the flats, and I like the more mellow sound of the finger style playing on them.

Although I'm not 100% on which brand I'm going to get, I'm definitely going for flats. I've wanted to try flats out for a while, and if I don't like them on my precision, I'll just put them on my Jazz, because she's had the same strings for about a year now too.