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A choice between a mellow nickel roundwound or a bright flatwound string set.

V

Vibhas Patil

Supporting Member
Sep 9, 2010
199
37
#1
Hey.

I am about to you a Fender 50's style Precision bass that has an alder body and a maple neck/finger board. It's a bass I have heard great things about and I am certain I'm going to love this bass.

I need your help for choosing a set of strings.

I really love the old school fat thumpy P-bass tones that Jamerson, Duck Dunn got. I've also been hearing a lot of Jusin Medal-Johnson and Pino Palladino lately and I really like the tones they get out of their Precision basses.

Now, I know all of the above mentioned heavyweight cats use flats, but there is a difference in what strings they use - going from Chromes to really really old school Labellas.

I'll be using this bass in my blues-rock trio where I'll of course b eplaying shuffles and old school bass lines for which I think flats would be perfect.

But, I also will be playing some fast 16th note groovy lines ala Rocco Prestia. This is my area of concern. Am I right in thinking that flats will not be responsive enough to this style? Will they not sound right? Think of the tones Rocco got on songs like 'A little knowledge is a Dandegrous Thing' or 'What is Hip'. IS it possible to cover tones like these if playing a fairly bright set of flats like D'Addario Chromes?

Or should I instead invest in some mellow sounding roundwounds like DR Sunbeams?

Disclosure: I have been using D'Addario Nickel round wound strings for some time now and I don't mind them when they've mellowed down but I want your take on this.

Oh and by the way, the bass will be passive and I'll be playing thru an octave and an envelope filter.

I'd like to hear your take on which string set I should go in for.

Thanks.
 
#4
P-basses have an innate ability to cut really well in most situations. I think you would do fine with Chromes - or even with LaBellas - playing the way you describe.

You might consider using a small, foam mute under the strings and rolling your tone off a bit for the old-school thumpy tone and removing the mute and turning the tone back up for the faster, more articulated tunes.

You may also want to consider TI flats as a good compromise in tone between 'traditional' flats and nickel rounds. They still sound more like flats, but they have very prominent mids.
 
#11
That bass comes with two knobs. Use both of them. Rolling the volume back a smidge and rolling the tone off can get you the Jamersonian stuff and cranking the volume and tone can make it bite. And there's a lot of options in between. Strings are important obviously but not the whole picture.
 
#14
I am a steel rounds type but friends of mine here in the city that play p basses and the type of music you mentioned swear by d'add half rounds.i ve tried them, very thumpy for sure and smooth like flats but can still do the finger funk etc.. Most definately brighter than traditional flats and have the brightness of say ti with a little more sustain. Kind of like a used nickel.
.hope that helps.
 
#15
Jungy said:
Chromes would be fine for that Tower of Power stuff.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I gotta agree here. Chromes will be very friendly towards your style. I'm able to slap, tap, pick, pretty much any style and Chromes haven't complained yet.

I actually REALLY like the tone I get when slapping on Chromes. Plus, the hellishly low action isn't exactly a turn-off, either.

Definitely go with the lower gauge to start, though. The higher tension does take some getting used to.

And ignore the stickiness. It'll go away as they settle in.
 
#16
Rip Topaz said:
Yeah, I gotta agree here. Chromes will be very friendly towards your style. I'm able to slap, tap, pick, pretty much any style and Chromes haven't complained yet.

I actually REALLY like the tone I get when slapping on Chromes. Plus, the hellishly low action isn't exactly a turn-off, either.

Definitely go with the lower gauge to start, though. The higher tension does take some getting used to.

And ignore the stickiness. It'll go away as they settle in.
Click to expand...

+1 on all counts.
 
#17
Lol, I just logged on to start a thread with the same question. Here's my situation: for the last year or so I've had a set of Chromes on my P-bass and they've been fine, although a little stiff (it's a 105-50 set I originally bought with D standard tuning in mind, but then tuned up to E half a year later). Anyway, lately I've started jamming with some other people, nothing special, just for fun, but I've found the Chromes have been getting boomier and boomier (E string especially). I put a set of old Fender nickels (105-45) a week ago and it was then I realized just how tight the Chromes were. With the rounds, the bass "breathes", if you know what I mean and the strings are feather-light. But, in a band situation, they leave me wanting for that midrange punch the Chromes have.

So, my question is this: can you recommend me a set of flats that are bright rather than thumpy, but have a looser feel than the Chromes? Or should I just go down a gauge with the Chromes? They're hexcore if I'm not mistaken, so maybe that's the reason why they're so stiff.
 
#18
Roda said:
Lol, I just logged on to start a thread with the same question. Here's my situation: for the last year or so I've had a set of Chromes on my P-bass and they've been fine, although a little stiff (it's a 105-50 set I originally bought with D standard tuning in mind, but then tuned up to E half a year later). Anyway, lately I've started jamming with some other people, nothing special, just for fun, but I've found the Chromes have been getting boomier and boomier (E string especially). I put a set of old Fender nickels (105-45) a week ago and it was then I realized just how tight the Chromes were. With the rounds, the bass "breathes", if you know what I mean and the strings are feather-light. But, in a band situation, they leave me wanting for that midrange punch the Chromes have.

So, my question is this: can you recommend me a set of flats that are bright rather than thumpy, but have a looser feel than the Chromes? Or should I just go down a gauge with the Chromes? They're hexcore if I'm not mistaken, so maybe that's the reason why they're so stiff.
Click to expand...

I guess that makes me 3. I've had Fender flats 45-100s on for a few months and then just switched to Chromes 50-105. The difference in tension is very noticeable. I'm thinking of switching back to the 45s. I think you might find the 45s looser and a bit brighter (chromes or Fenders, they are pretty similar).

I know what you mean about letting the bass breathe a bit more. When I switch to rounds everything just feels lighter and I love the sound/feel for a few days then I miss flats. Around and round I go...:D
 
#19
sigmafloyd said:
I guess that makes me 3. I've had Fender flats 45-100s on for a few months and then just switched to Chromes 50-105. The difference in tension is very noticeable. I'm thinking of switching back to the 45s. I think you might find the 45s looser and a bit brighter (chromes or Fenders, they are pretty similar).

I know what you mean about letting the bass breathe a bit more. When I switch to rounds everything just feels lighter and I love the sound/feel for a few days then I miss flats. Around and round I go...:D
Click to expand...

You might try flatwound Fender 9050L's, which are gauged 40-95 if I recall correctly. I have this set on a fretless and the lighter tension is perfect for that instrument.
 
#20
to nail most of Pino's sound I'd go for TI flats, Chromes they were great.. though it gives you a brighter and a little bit of "spikey" tone.. well If i were to choose between TIs, Chromes, and Rounds, I'd pick TI's..
 

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