I went into a guitar store to look at the basses and when I played them the strings felt like regular guitar strings. Are they supposed to feel like that?
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Are bass guitar strings supposed to feel like guitar strings?
- Thread starter epsonecotank
- Start date
Yes. You are feeling round-wound strings. These are similar to guitar strings…just bigger.
Flat-wounds are mostly all very smooth…like glass. There are also tape-wounds, half-wounds, pressure-wounds, ground-wound, etcetera.
Flat-wounds are mostly all very smooth…like glass. There are also tape-wounds, half-wounds, pressure-wounds, ground-wound, etcetera.
^^THIS^^ Although, since I'm a 50+ year long flat wound fanatic, even the few guitars I have wear flats (yes, they do make them)...
"Feel" in what way? Texture? Sure, if you're using rounds. But I get a lot more calluses playing guitar than playing bass - those skinny wires bite into my skin much more than thick bass strings. So not in that respect.
I tried flats on acoustic…didn’t work out. I’d imagine they’d be awesome on an arch top or electrified. I did have flats on a resonator that seemed to work really well. Now I just use TI Plectrums/Spectrums. Supposedly one set has a flatwound in there somewhere but I’ve yet to find it. Feels like rounds to me.^^THIS^^ Although, since I'm a 50+ year long flat wound fanatic, even the few guitars I have wear flats (yes, they do make them)...
All of my guitars are electric; 2 hollow bodies, one chambered semi-hollow (old Rick 330), and 4 solid bodies; one of those is a baritone. All of them but the bari wear Dogal Evolution flat wounds, in various gauges. I haven't really ever looked for baritone flats, but if I find some? That's what it will wear, too...
D'Addario Chromes for guitar are wound to about 38" and don't taper until that point, and they were plenty long for my string-through-body 30" bari. Widest gauges are 056, 065, 075 and 080 (below the 56 they have everything, with intervals of .002"-.003", until and including 020). The 065 worked well tuned to A in my case (didn't try tuning it to B). You could try getting the 7-string set (ECG24-7) and tweak from there with singles (both that set and single Chromes can be found on FretNation).
As far as I know, GHS guitar strings are about that long as well; if you think 056 can work as your lowest, their Precision Flatwounds could be an alternative (singles available on JustStrings).
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What were you expecting them to feel like? Serious question, here.
(Now, I'll go read the posts in the thread, just wanted to get that question out of the way).
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I had the baritone out last night (Eastwood Sidejack); and... boy, did I knock over a can of worms. This is a really early Sidejack. They were only made as Baritones at the time; the body is not basswood (mahogany, I think); and it's MIK, too. But, looking at their website, it bears little resemblance to a modern Sidejack - guitar or baritone. The guitars are listed as 25 1/2" scale; the baritones as 28" scale. I measured mine 4 or 5 times, with several different scales/steel tapes. Result? It's a Gibson scale guitar; 24 3/4". The stupid thing isn't a baritone guitar at all...
Still, it sounds like one, with the 13-72 Slinky Baritone strings it's wearing at present. I could try the 7-string Chromes set when these new-ish Slinkys wear out, I suppose. But, D'Addario polishes their strings with something that irritates the dickens out of my hands. Really time-consuming to clean; uses nasty chemicals; and is wicked hard, too. The results might be worth it, but honestly? I'm tempted to just put a set of 11-52 Dogal Evolution flats on it, and let it be what it is; a regular guitar...
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