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Change your strings, not your bass - a cure for GAS?

ItsmeSantiago

ItsmeSantiago

Nov 23, 2015
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#1
My favorite bass was strung with La Bella LTF for about a year and while I love those strings and the sound, the bass was calling for rounds again. My secondary bass had Cobalt rounds on it so I did a string swap and it gave new life to both basses. I needed to be reminded how much I love my P bass and the string swap did just that. The other P bass hadn't seen flats before and I actually prefer the LTF on that bass over my favorite bass.

Anybody else have this experience? I wasn't interested in a new bass necessarily, but I was feeling a bit stagnant and uninspired and sometimes we bassists decide a new bass is the answer.
 
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#2
100%. I've been experimenting with various sets of flats on my main Fender P4 for 5+ years now, but I feel that it's calling me back to rounds at the moment. I've tried playing some of my other basses instead, hoping it would scratch that itch, but I just want to have rounds back on that bass. Probably will go with GHS Pressurewounds, if I can find a pack stashed away in the closet somewhere...
 
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#6
ItsmeSantiago said:
My favorite bass was strung with La Bella LTF for about a year and while I love those strings and the sound, the bass was calling for rounds again. My secondary bass had Cobalt rounds on it so I did a string swap and it gave new life to both basses. I needed to be reminded how much I love my P bass and the string swap did just that. The other P bass hadn't seen flats before and I actually prefer the LTF on that bass over my favorite bass.

Anybody else have this experience? I wasn't interested in a new bass necessarily, but I was feeling a bit stagnant and uninspired and sometimes we bassists decide a new bass is the answer.
Click to expand...
Yep, after a dozen years I finally discovered that TI Jazz Flats were just not my thing on one particular bass. It took an eventual pickup change too to make that bass a longtine keeper though, but changing strings was a big push in the right direction.
 
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#10
I keep one of my basses with pressure wounds instead of the flats that are on the others, just for this reason. It's nice to hear the zing from time to time. Wish my old fingers could hear it more often, but thin skin now keeps me away from rounds.

Just changing basses, going from fretless to fretted, J to P to SRs, keeps me away from the SW order entry screen. Well, that and a limited amount of closet storage space.
 
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#11
Yes, new strings can be a cure for GAS, at least for a while.

Some time ago I changed the pickup of my 2017 Am. Prof Pbass, Original 62 instead of the stock whatever it was, and it sounded immediately better, namely funkier and more aggressive, perfect for funk and post punk.

But, there was something still missing - the right strings. And the right ones for me were/are the Rotosound Swing Bass 66, the SS and the nickel plated ones. You just have to keep them fresh, and they deliver! Crunchy tone for days.
 
#12
I keep a good variety of strings in stock specifically for this purpose - can be transformative. Great example is my model 012 (stingray type electronics), i recently swapped the cobalt flats i put on it when i built it last September for some EB slinky rounds and it finally has the zing i wanted all along. No idea why i stuck with the cobalt flats so long lol
 
#13
ItsmeSantiago said:
My favorite bass was strung with La Bella LTF for about a year and while I love those strings and the sound, the bass was calling for rounds again. My secondary bass had Cobalt rounds on it so I did a string swap and it gave new life to both basses. I needed to be reminded how much I love my P bass and the string swap did just that. The other P bass hadn't seen flats before and I actually prefer the LTF on that bass over my favorite bass.

Anybody else have this experience? I wasn't interested in a new bass necessarily, but I was feeling a bit stagnant and uninspired and sometimes we bassists decide a new bass is the answer.
Click to expand...
+1. I've always been amazed with what a string change can do. :cool:
 
#15
I posted this about a similar experience I had, almost exactly a year ago...
groovaholic

Thread '"Moody" Ears?? Also, string changes...'

Is it just me, or is it common to frequently have "what was I thinking?!?!?" feelings about your tone?

Based on the ubiquity of GAS and how busy the Classifieds section of TalkBass is...I'm guessing that the answer is "yes"

Sometimes when I plug in, my bass+amp sounds like a thunderous chorus of angels to me - other times the sound of the same gear just grates on my nerves.
This has led to MANY instances of buying & selling gear and regretting those transactions within a few short months.

I currently own, objectively speaking, gear that ranges from solid to fantastic...
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#16
Years ago I bought a Mex P Bass that had rounds on it. I wanted flats for it and tried some Dunlops. I tried for a while to make myself happy with them but they were just too bright sounding. I put LTFs on it and simultaneously Bob became my Uncle...
The Dunlops were too new to just ditch, so I held onto them. A couple years later I acquired an Ibanez 5. The Ibanez neck was short enough that the Dunlop set I got for my P bass worked. I ordered a B string and now that bass rocks. The brightness I didn't like on the P bass worked great on the Ibby...
This is kinda ancient history b/c the LTFs on that P bass are around 5 years old and the Dunlops on my Ibanez are probably 3-ish years old.
 
#17
Cure for GAS?

I say "not quite", simply because I'm a notorious string-GASer. String-GAS is a thing! Like Pokemon "Gotta try 'em all."

That said, I always say that a different set of strings is the easiest, cheapest, and most reversible "mod" that can make the most dramatic change in how your bass plays, feels, and sounds.

People always say that Bartolini MK-1 pickups are meh, that Ibanez preamps are meh, and that said combination is double meh. I once had a Soundgear with MK-1s and an Ibanez preamp... and it growled like a beast with a set of DR Fat Beams! So it's like... save yourself some money, don't gut the electronics, and try some different strings.
 
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#19
Not exactly a cure for GAS imho, but definitely a worthy mod/change/upgrade given the cost of strings vs. cost of new pickups, pedals, a new bass, etc..

Sadly, it took me many years to realize this.

Also, changing the string gauge - in my case, the first time I moved from a heavy (50-115ish) set to a light (40-95) set - was life changing.
 
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#20
I've been doing a bit of this recently trying differenty strings or setups on my menagerie of basses. Going from a really dead set of rounds to a fresh brite set really breathed a new life into my favorite #2 bass that I had old strings on for a more vintage P-ish tone. Now Toney is a Brite slapper bass. Taz keeps giving me the side eye wanting a fresh set now.
 

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