Silk colors

Could be, you can barely tell DRs and Picatos apart, just from looking at the winding.
Picatos are Hexcore and DRs are roundcore.
You need to look at the corewire at the ballend to tell them apart.

 

Thanks guys, I will do some more googling based on your ideas!

 

Hi, I want to thank Pier in particular for his expert knowledge about strings.
I was looking at the most obvious feature which was the colour of the silks but I checked the ball end as he suggested and the core is round so after a lot of googling I think only DR make flatwound strings with a round core and they are the same gauge - I have checked my strings again with a micrometer and they are definitely .45 .65 .85 .105. So everything matches and I have ordered a new set and they are arriving tomorrow.
I must say that in my 45 years of playing bass with all sorts of guitars and amps, I have never got so excited about anything as I have about this. The problem in particular for me was that, maybe I am going a little deaf with playing in rock bands all these years (in fact, I know I am), but I was losing the sound of the top notes on the G string - they just didn't seem to cut through and sounded feeble to my ears . So I was compensating by trying to get a brighter sound - turning the treble up on the guitar and amp, I tried a a thicker gauge string, different makes of roundwound, etc. But nothing really worked.
Like most people, I had not tried tapewound strings before and these came originally on a Fender fretless Jazz I bought secondhand. No problem with the higher notes I started wondering if was down to the guitar or the strings so I transferred them to my Lakland and eureka - problem solved!
So sorry to hijack this silks thread and thanks again.
Nick

 

I understand your issue, and is typical! the power is in the mid frequenies, where the magic of cutting through the mix happens. flatwound are always centered on the mids, with just the right amount of bass frequencies and not much highs.

the fact is that bass and high frequencies are covered by the other instruments: basses are covered by the kick drum and other "low register" percussions, highs are covered by cymbals, charleston and guitars, or every metal percussion like the tambourine.

once they enter the song, the bass "loses" these frequencies, and you can't hear them anymore. if you lack of mids and mid-bass frequencies, your sound is lost.
back in the 50's and 60's the problem didn't existed, because there were only flatwound strings, and the bass players seeked for a bassy sound.

in the 70's, with roundwounds and many new ideas, people started using the "V shape" equalization, and in the 80's it was hard to hear the bass in most recordings all those zingy and bright sounds...

 

Nickel (I think) rounds with yellow silks at both ends?

 

Older Fender Pure Nickel 7150, but they changed about 4 years ago. Now made by d'Addario and no silk.

 

Flats with no silks. Brass ball ends.


I was thinking maybe D'Addadio halfrounds, but I've always hated those and these sound pretty great.

 

Those look like ground rounds- GHS maybe?

 

They're flatter than pressurewounds.

I'm starting to think they might be the old D'Addadio steel halfrounds, which would be amazing. I had a set that a D'Addadio employee sent me out of his personal stash at home but lost them.

 

Not able to know from the photo if they are nickel, s/s or alloy 52.
The GHS Brite Flats are ground-rounds made the same way as D'Addadio halfrounds, but they are Alloy 52 which IME is more dynamic than most NPS I've tried,
but being ground flat, that may take a bit off the top end. I haven't tried the Brite Flats yet, so don't know if they have silks, or what the ball color is.

 

I believe these are Dean Markley 8801 Misfits Skullbusters Bass Guitar Strings

 

Looks like I'm in the same situation as some of the previous posters. Bought a PB70 from Japan and these great strings came on it. Rounds with Magenta / Pink silk at both ends. Nickel-ish ends. They have a great snappy tone and easy on the fingers. Maybe something exclusive to overseas?

 

The GHS Brite flats have blue-purple silks. They sound like clicky flats to me. They sound very nice on a P. And they indeed make the bass sound louder. Sticky because of the gaps in the windings, though. Takes a while for it to go away, even with wiping it with stuff.

 

Great pics! Thanks for sharing!

 

Hey all. I have read through all 11 pages and still no idea what these strings are. Could someone help me identify these? Roundwound with light orange silk on both ball ends and tapered ends; all are the same color. They're bright, slick (possibly nickel) and mid to low tension. I've never seen all orange silk before. Came with a used MIM fender jazz but the strings were fairly new with little play on them and shiny.
Provided photos to help with the mystery. Thanks!

2 by etherealme posted Mar 6, 2015 at 11:13 AM

4 by etherealme posted Mar 6, 2015 at 11:13 AM

 

Ken Smith something or other?

 

Anyone here know the difference between blue and red Rotosound swing sets?

 

The red silks are steels. The blue are nickel.

 

Optima strings... See the link below!

CHROME STRINGS ELECTRIC BASS

 

100% sure they are Harley Benton 45 value String. I've had them for many years, and the silk lenght is this.

Optima has the orange silk on their flats, but it's not in that lenght.