Best Growl for fretless?

[gmsbass]

I'd like thoughts from the group on the strings that will provide the best "growl" sound on a fretless.

I have a fretless Stingray 5, right now with Ernie Ball Steels. I can get some decent growl out of them but I love that sound and I am looking for the most I can get.

I tried Ernie Ball flats but I really did not like the sound. It was a very focused fundamental thump, without any twang or growl, and a very fast decay. Slides sounded dead. So, this isn't the way to go for me. I'll sacrifice the neck for a better sound.

Thoughts?

GS

 

[fretlessguy]

I don't know if I would go stainless steel route, especially with their reputation for eating frets. Imagine what they would do for fingerboards...On the other hand, they sound really cool on a fretless.
I have always liked the sound of nickel rounds on a fretless. DR Sunbeams, Fender 7250 and 7150 Original Nickels all sound good to my ears. Also, lighter gauges do seem to bring out the best growl and mwah, at least in my experiences.
If you want a deeper sound, but are not a fan of flats then I'd try GHS Pressurewounds or Ken Smith Compressors. The deepness of a flat, the mwah of a round, and they are a little kinder on the fingerboards (and frets for that matter). A little less brite, though.

 

[darkstorm]

Reputation for eating frets? Lol. must be some rather soft frets. Youd have fretboard marking long before any fret wear imo. And thats not going to be from the strings being stainless steel, its gonna be from rough feeling strings and fretting in a manner conducive to fretboard wear imo. Anyway my suggestion is for Ernie Ball strings if your wanting a bit more crunchy as way to get more growl out of it. If crunch factor is where you want it and just want growlier otherwise, then Rotosound or GHS would be my suggestion. Warwicks strings could be another choice. But to me theyre bassically just a variation of rotosounds and the latter are little nicer overall to me. However both rotosounds and warwicks are among the roughest feeling strings your gonna find. So heavy as in pressing hard, fretting is gonna cause more wear to fretboard as a result esp if you do lots little bends etc. If your fretless has rosewood fretboard then halfrounds or smoother feeling roundrounds would be better choice for fretless. If it has ebony or wenge fretboard it wont be as much of an issue since these fretboards are much tougher.