Strings w/Darkstar pickup

[twobit]

For all you Darkstar users, what strings are you all using? thx

[raytsmith]

Got D'Addario Chrome XL's on mine, medium gauge. Sounds great.

[twobit]

Thanks for the reply! Those are flatwounds correct?

[raytsmith]

Correct, they are flatwounds...

I've been tempted to try other strings, but these have such a nice sound that I can't bring myself to take them off.

I've got 5 other basses with a variety of Fender, Basslines, Fralin, and Bartolini pickups, strung with everything from TI Powerbass to DR to Ken Smiths. The bass with Darkstars and Chromes is my favorite sound right now. Very nice tone. I don't know how much of the tone is from the strings, but I'm not messing around with it...

[twobit]

Do they have a break in period?

[saltymonkey]

My Darkstarred Lakland came with TI Flats on it. Really nice old school thump but with plenty of variance to the tone. Recently I switched them out for a set of TI Powerbass rounds just to try them out. Bright mean and punchy as hell. Great for rock. I'm enjoying them just as much in an obviously different way.

[twobit]

Nice looking Lakland.

[raytsmith]

Originally Posted by twobit

Do they have a break in period?

I guess so, buts its a subtle change. I liked them new and still like them 6 months later...

The TI Powerbass are my second favorite string right now, but I haven't tried them with the Darkstars yet. Powerbass strings have a really good sound and feel without getting loose and floppy like the TI flats. The D and G strings are well balanced and cut through well, which is one of the things I like about the Chromes too.

I wanted to like the TI flats but they flopped around so much I never knew where they would be when I went to grab one. I like a string to always land on the same part of my finger, and with the TI flats I was always grabbing too deep or too shallow. That was too much of a distraction for me.