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Best strings... for Fretless ACOUSTIC Bass?

The Water

The Water

May 13, 2020
28
28
33
Bristol, UK
#1
This question is very much a personal preference thing but I wanted to see what other Acoustic Fretless Bass players but on their basses. If you have an electric fretless or fretted acoustic and have an interesting experience I'll consider that input also.

I'm restringing my Crafter fretless acoustic in the search of a certain sound and feel. Kind of aiming for a double bass sound (yes I know an acoustic bass will never be the exact same) but with a bit of twang.

The bass came with bronze strings. As with any acoustic bass I always find them too clangy. Put on tapewounds in the hope it would do the trick. Was actually pretty disappointed. Quite dead sounding. Wanted a deeper tone than the bronze but they were mainly just dull and muddy. Now I have eyes on Chrome flats by D'addario. I am thinking they might hit the right spot on a fretless between the two so far. I use this bass to just practice so it doesn't have to compete with other instruments. Though I'd like it to project a bit more than it did with the tapewounds.

Anybody got a killer string/fretless acoustic combo they are willing to share???
 
#2
This comes up quite often, search the acoustic / ABG threads, but there are basically several camps here, each with their favorites - tapewounds and flats have big followings. Some folks like the typical roundwound bronze that are stock on most ABGs. Personally (and a bunch here agree with me), I find the GHS Pressurewound Bronze to be my personal favorites - all of the complex tone of the rounds, but none of the squeaks and squawks and screeches of finger noise. YMMV. But do a survey and try a set of the most recommended of each type - to get a good sense of what works best for you.
 
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#3
I've used DA Chromes on my fretless acoustic (a Breedlove) and Thomastik Infeld Jazz Flats as well. I much preferred the TI flats, but the Chromes weren't bad.

TI flats aren't the answer to every string question, but they worked really well for me on my acoustic fretless.
 
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#4
bholder said:
This comes up quite often, search the acoustic / ABG threads, but there are basically several camps here, each with their favorites - tapewounds and flats have big followings. Some folks like the typical roundwound bronze that are stock on most ABGs. Personally (and a bunch here agree with me), I find the GHS Pressurewound Bronze to be my personal favorites - all of the complex tone of the rounds, but none of the squeaks and squawks and screeches of finger noise. YMMV. But do a survey and try a set of the most recommended of each type - to get a good sense of what works best for you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. From what research on threads I did it mostly revolved around fretted ABG's. Though I'm going to take those threads into account I really want to hone in on the fretless AGB sound.
 
#5
Barton Lee said:
I've used DA Chromes on my fretless acoustic (a Breedlove) and Thomastik Infeld Jazz Flats as well. I much preferred the TI flats, but the Chromes weren't bad.

TI flats aren't the answer to every string question, but they worked really well for me on my acoustic fretless.
Click to expand...

I use TI's on my Jazz Bass now. Love them! Worth mentioning my acoustic fretless is medium scale (32") though, and I read the TI flats are pretty unbalanced with the tension with their shorter-scale strings.
 
#6
The Water said:
Thanks for that. From what research on threads I did it mostly revolved around fretted ABG's. Though I'm going to take those threads into account I really want to hone in on the fretless AGB sound.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's why I mentioned tapes and flats along with my favorite, the pressurewounds. All great for fretless, but different feels / sounds - there's (more or less) a "best in each category", maybe, but there's no overall best because it's all personal preference. You need to do your homework and figure out what works for best for what you want. (But advice from here can help narrow the field substantially).
 
#7
bholder said:
Yeah, that's why I mentioned tapes and flats along with my favorite, the pressurewounds. All great for fretless, but different feels / sounds - there's (more or less) a "best in each category", maybe, but there's no overall best because it's all personal preference. You need to do your homework and figure out what works for best for what you want. (But advice from here can help narrow the field substantially).
Click to expand...

Yeah this is my homework at this point without going out and spending hundreds on multiple brands of flatwounds. I've ruled out tapes, so it's definitely down to flatwounds at this point. But need to know which brands people use and why. And as I was discussing with Barton, TI's are great long scale but I've read questionable things on the short scale version. Goes to show you can trust a string brand on one bass, but need to start from scratch on another!
 
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#9
The Water said:
And as I was discussing with Barton, TI's are great long scale but I've read questionable things on the short scale version. Goes to show you can trust a string brand on one bass, but need to start from scratch on another!
Click to expand...
I've read these questionable things about TI flats as well, and they do not describe my experience with short scale TI flats. Yes, the E string is much larger than the other three but I've never had any issue with that. For me, the short scale worked similarly/as well as the long scale.

Just my opinion, of course.
 
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#10
The Water said:
Goes to show you can trust a string brand on one bass, but need to start from scratch on another!
Click to expand...
1) Corporate entities are not people: the day "I'm satisfied with their products, by and large" was replaced with "I trust this company" was the day 'brand loyalty' and fanboyism were born.
2) People are not oracles: if they forget adding "in my opinion/experience" and "your mileage may vary" to their anecdotes, add them yourself.
 
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#11
Hi,
Upright player here; recently put on a set of Labella Low Tension flats on my Aria fretless ABG; had black tape wounds on it for a long time; the flats absolutely emulate the sound I can get from my uprights; plenty of tension to pull with the right hand, plenty of resistance / feel for the left. Also had the bridge saddle raised for higher action; did not want non-stop “mwah” as a default set-up tone, and able to get more volume from the instrument with greater tension. Definitely noticed enhanced resonance and at least a familiarity with the sound and feel of an upright.

 

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#12
The Water said:
Yeah this is my homework at this point without going out and spending hundreds on multiple brands of flatwounds. I've ruled out tapes, so it's definitely down to flatwounds at this point. But need to know which brands people use and why. And as I was discussing with Barton, TI's are great long scale but I've read questionable things on the short scale version. Goes to show you can trust a string brand on one bass, but need to start from scratch on another!
Click to expand...
That's true, strings that don't really work at all on one bass might be fine on another.

And yeah, I commiserate about the cost of trying strings to find what you like. Folks here will steer you in the right direction, once you figure out who to listen to (that is, who has preferences that sound right to you too). :thumbsup:
 
#14
bshaw said:
Hi,
Upright player here; recently put on a set of Labella Low Tension flats on my Aria fretless ABG; had black tape wounds on it for a long time; the flats absolutely emulate the sound I can get from my uprights; plenty of tension to pull with the right hand, plenty of resistance / feel for the left. Also had the bridge saddle raised for higher action; did not want non-stop “mwah” as a default set-up tone, and able to get more volume from the instrument with greater tension. Definitely noticed enhanced resonance and at least a familiarity with the sound and feel of an upright.

Click to expand...

That's brilliant thanks bshaw, I'll be taking your recommendation into account and consider as an option!
 
#15
Richard Lindsey said:
I love TI flats on mine. Didn't care for La Bella tapes or LTF, which were the only options I tried besides rounds and GHS Pressurewounds.

As has been noted ad nauseam, the price of TIs can be hard to take, but they do last a very long time.
Click to expand...

At least with the TI's they satisfy and it's a 'one and done' purchase for a good stretch of time. Will consider the shorter scale versions after all then..
 
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