What strings came on my Warwick Corvette?

mikemobility · #1 07-17-2007, 11:39 PM

Hi all,

I've got a bit of a mystery on my hands. I bought my Warwick Corvette Proline 4 and loved the sound, but after about 4 months, I was thinking it was time for a change. I loved the sound when I fingered the string, but when slapping the E and A, it just sounded too unfocused for me, and I wanted something tighter.

I thought maybe it was the string, so I decided to try something different. I put on a set of Ernie Ball Super Slinkies (45-105), and I'm supremely disappointed. The slap is definitely tighter, but I've lost that warm, middy, woody, and most importantly, growly sound I fell in love with. I'm finding the EB's just too bright and thin a sound for me. I tried dialing the zing out via EQ, but couldn't get that sound back.

I'm thinking of going back to the old set of strings, except that maybe a new set of those strings might solve my slap-sound problem...and here's where I hit a snag.

What strings came on this bass???

I could use a lot of help here from you knowledgeable folks (I'm a relative newbie on bass).
Here are the clues I've got:
- no wrappings on either end
- ball ends are
E - Brass
A - Red
D - Black
G - Green
- ~45-105 gauge
- roundwound
- doesn't look bright enough to be stainless steel (doesn't sound like it either), probably nickels, i doubt they're chromes. Could just be the dirt factor tho

- store who sold it to me (Sherwood Music in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada) told me they'd put new strings on themselves a few weeks before I bought it
- however, i played the same bass at an L&M in Toronto and it sounded the same, so I suspect they might be Warwick strings.

If any of you kind folks can help me figure out

1) what the heck these strings are and
2) what strings I should get to keep that sound, but get a tighter slap

I'd be heavily in your debt

Thanks for reading through the verbosity!

mikemobility · #2 07-19-2007, 09:24 AM

I've poked around and I'm 95% sure these are D'Addario EXL-170s. Thanks anyway!

FoHBass · #3 07-19-2007, 11:10 AM

Definitely sounds like they're D'Addario EXLs. D'Addario colors all their strings that way, even their guitar strings. You also might want to check out DR LO-riders. I use the SS set on my Corvette Std. and they sound good for slap and fingerstyle. Just a thought.

edit: If you wanna hear what the DRs sound like on my 'wick, listen to the song "Pat on the Back" in the link in my sig. The whole song is fingerstyle until the slap section after the first guitar solo.

uethanian · #4 07-19-2007, 08:15 PM

im not too sure, but those sound like black label warwick strings. they came on my fretless corvette, and they were too loose for my tastes...but that may be the extra warmth you're talking about.

bassbmx · #5 07-19-2007, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FoHBass

Definitely sounds like they're D'Addario EXLs. D'Addario colors all their strings that way, even their guitar strings. You also might want to check out DR LO-riders. I use the SS set on my Corvette Std. and they sound good for slap and fingerstyle. Just a thought.

edit: If you wanna hear what the DRs sound like on my 'wick, listen to the song "Pat on the Back" in the link in my sig. The whole song is fingerstyle until the slap section after the first guitar solo.

Very nice tone!! Definately has me convinced that Lo-Riders are going to be my next purchase.

mikemobility · #6 07-26-2007, 02:52 PM

Thanks all for the replies. FoHBass, your stuff sounds wicked, love the tone you're getting =)

I'm pretty much 100% that these were D'Addario EXL's as well. I thought about whether or not they were Warwick Blacks, but AFAIK those are SS's, whereas mine were definitely nickel.

I've got a set of DR Sunbeams on right now, but I'm still finding the sound a bit too bright/steely for me. The high's are definitely "sweet" as BassPlayer described them, but not my cup of tea. I'm finding I lean heavily towards a nice, dark, growly sound.

Do you guys have any experience with the NICKEL Lo-Riders?? Maybe those are the way I should be going??

Thanks again!

Dincrest · #7 07-30-2007, 12:33 PM

I play a Corvette Standard myself and have tried a whole slew of strings. I definitely recommend nickels if you don't want that really clanky tone. Fodera nickel rounds sound really good- smooth and warm.

http://www.myspace.com/godzillasmurfs has a live performance video of my musical/comedy/nonsense duo Godzilla Vs. The Smurfs and I have Fodera nickels on my bass. My rig was a GK400RB-IV into an Avatar SB112 cab with a DI out to the PA.

I have tried DR nickel Lo-Riders on my bass as well, and although I wasn't initially moved by them, they grew on me. My old band has some crummy recordings where I ran my bass direct; my bass had the nickel Lo-Riders on it. http://www.myspace.com/sullendoor "Old Friends" and "I Need Hope" have the most audible bass, but the recordings are not that great (rather cardboardy IMO.)

My favorite strings so far are probably SIT Silencers (I love the smooth feel, fat warm tone, and the noticeably reduced finger noise) but they're half-rounds so they may be too smooth, fat, and warm for some people. I think they complement the stock active MECs really well because those have very sharp highs. However, I recently had Duncan STK-J2's installed and the Silencers sound a little *too* tubby.