Dead rounds

[soulstar89]

Maybe use some kind of hand cream on the other strings if one dies long before the others? I get the tone you're describing. I think rounds that have some miles on them do not sound exactly like flats. There is a little difference. I think a mute would be further than you're looking for. Curious to follow this.

funny you suggest using cream. On my rotosound swing66 strings I costed them with Vaseline when I first got them to help reach that worn in tone. Many people do this with flats.

 

[hasbeen]

On my fretted basses, I change the strings about every 12 hours of play. If I want less highs, there's a knob for that. Fretless strings go to about 36 hours of play.

 

[FullumMusic]

On my fretted basses, I change the strings about every 12 hours of play. If I want less highs, there's a knob for that. Fretless strings go to about 36 hours of play.

Are you changing strings every other week?

 

[2thAche]

I let a set of rounds go dead on my Ray34, just playing it unplugged in front of the TV. Took it on vacation with my brother who also plays bass, plugged it in, and it was just a dead, lifeless sound with no good qualities. Not like rounds or flats. Especially the E.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

"Dead" roundwounds is my favorite tone and probably what I use the most for recording. On gigs I prefer "semi-dead" for a little more bite/attack when I need to hear myself in (often) less than ideal conditions.

Some roundwounds definitely "die" more gracefully than others though. Your favourites, EB Slinkies, do not go "dead" in a nice way IMO. They just go DEAD in a bad way and get very dull/muddy. They would be near the bottom of my list for a nice, "old roundwounds" tone.

My two favorites for the old roundwound tone are:

-Pyramid Pure Nickels. These start out relatively warm/mellow for roundwounds but need some time to REALLY mellow out properly and get rid of the "clank" in the upper mids. They just get better and better with age. Once they're "broken in" they deliver the warmest, fattest roundwound tone you'll ever find.

-Roto 66 steels. These start out VERY bright of course but they mellow out relatively fast. Once they're broken in (or "dead"...) the unique, fat sounding Roto-mids become the main focus of the tone (rather than the out-of-the-box "zing" that lots of people seem to buy these strings for).

So yeah, some roundwounds definitely age in a nicer way than others. Some develop a wonderful warm/fat tone, others just get dull/muddy. The initial "out of the box" brightness clearly has very little to do with the end result as my two favorites start out at completely different ends of the tonal spectrum (pure nickels vs stainless steel).

Of course, lots of people prefer brighter strings with lots of zing. One man's "broken in" is very often another man's "dead". There are many musical genres where the "old roundwound" tone would be totally wrong.

...and no, simply rolling off the tone won't give you the tone and the response/dynamics of old roundwounds. It's a totally different thing with a totally different "feel".

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I was going to comment saying rotosound swingbass 66 sound sweet dead.

bass player paul Jackson (RIP) preferred them. He used those strings on all the headhunter songs both just headhunters and with herbie.

I like roto swing66, d’addario XL nickel and DR string (steels) dead.

Definitely! A "dead" set of Roto 66s is a really cool, unique tone. Gorgeous mids!

I think the wonderful tone of "dead" Roto 66s is a bit overlooked because so many people buy them for the ultra-bright "Chris Squire tone". I guess it may also seem a bit counter-intuitive to buy one of the brightest strings you'll ever find (out of the box) if you're looking for a warm, mellow tone. But one of the main complaints I hear about Roto 66s is that they go "dead" too fast, and to me that's a GOOD thing!

 

[soulstar89]

Definitely! A "dead" set of Roto 66s is a really cool, unique tone. Gorgeous mids!

I think the wonderful tone of "dead" Roto 66s is a bit overlooked because so many people buy them for the ultra-bright "Chris Squire tone". I guess it may also seem a bit counter-intuitive to buy one of the brightest strings you'll ever find (out of the box) if you're looking for a warm, mellow tone. But one of the main complaints I hear about Roto 66s is that they go "dead" too fast, and to me that's a GOOD thing!

I couldn’t agree more. I really love the worn in sound of roto swing 66.

I’ve never tried pyramid pure nickel rounds before. Would you say the worn in tone is similar to a flat. That was the first thing that popped into my head when you described them.

I’ve a set of d’addario nickels I’m working in atm.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I couldn’t agree more. I really love the worn in sound of roto swing 66.

I’ve never tried pyramid pure nickel rounds before. Would you say the worn in tone is similar to a flat. That was the first thing that popped into my head when you described them.

I’ve a set of d’addario nickels I’m working in atm.

D'Addario nickels are another type of strings I really like when they're "dead" (but I absolutely detest their "clanky" tone out of the box, which needs a relatively long time to mellow out so I rarely go there).

The Pyramids... I guess you could say the tone, purely based on frequency content, gets closer to flats than most roundwounds but they will still have more midrange presence and better clarity than flats (at least if we're comparing talking about "old school" flats like GHS/LaBella). They're definitely smoother sounding than "dead" Rotos though. Rotos will always have a certain heft/aggression in the mids, no matter how "dead" they get. That's what I love about them! The Pyramids are far more "polite".

The dynamics/feel of the Pyramids will still be completely different from flats though. They have a totally different attack/sustain and overall better clarity than most flats. They're very much roundwounds, but VERY mellow sounding roundwounds. Over time they develop a fat/warm tone that doesn't get overly muddy like many "dead" roundwounds do. I love them! But it's a very different tone from "dead" Rotos. Maybe more like a warmer, fatter, more mellow variety of what you get with VERY broken-in XLs?

 

[soulstar89]

D'Addario nickels are another type of strings I really like when they're "dead" (but I absolutely detest their "clanky" tone out of the box, which needs a relatively long time to mellow out so I rarely go there).

The Pyramids... I guess you could say the tone, purely based on frequency content, gets closer to flats than most roundwounds but they will still have more midrange presence and better clarity than flats (at least if we're comparing talking about "old school" flats like GHS/LaBella). They're definitely smoother sounding than "dead" Rotos though. Rotos will always have a certain heft/aggression in the mids, no matter how "dead" they get. That's what I love about them! The Pyramids are far more "polite".

The dynamics/feel of the Pyramids will still be completely different from flats though. They have a totally different attack/sustain and overall better clarity than most flats. They're very much roundwounds, but VERY mellow sounding roundwounds. Over time they develop a fat/warm tone that doesn't get overly muddy like many "dead" roundwounds do. I love them! But it's a very different tone from "dead" Rotos. Maybe more like a warmer, fatter, more mellow variety of what you get with VERY broken-in XLs?

That’s a very detailed evaluation.
You are right d’addario’s do have a clanky sound. I’m still trying to get past this stage. I was thinking of putting Vaselineon them but I have found it slightly changed the tone of my roto’s.

I’ll pick up a pair of pyramids. I love the thump of flats but always miss the characteristic of rounds.

 

[Tommy Sparks]

Around 12 years with 66 strings on a P and I love em.

 

[soulstar89]

Around 12 years with 66 strings on a P and I love em.

Wooooow.

Has the red silk come off?

I think due to me removing them often my red silk on the E string has become very loose. I’ve only had this set three months. Not that it bothers me tbh.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

That’s a very detailed evaluation.
You are right d’addario’s do have a clanky sound. I’m still trying to get past this stage. I was thinking of putting Vaselineon them but I have found it slightly changed the tone of my roto’s.

I’ll pick up a pair of pyramids. I love the thump of flats but always miss the characteristic of rounds.

Be aware that the Pyramid Pure Nickels will need more time than Rotos to completely mellow out. They don't start out as bright as Rotos but even so, they still need more time. The Pyramids will have a phase where the initial "zing" is gone but a kinda "tinny" sounding upper midsrange will still be present. They won't sound particularly great during this phase (although not nearly as clanky as XLs). But once you get past this stage they're probably the warmest/fattest sounding roundwounds you'll ever find. At least without your tone turning completely into mud.

 

[SteveC]

I don't think I could play rounds until they were flats. When they die they don't hold pitch at all. I know I've gone too long with rounds when they won't stay in tune.

 

[pcake]

i hate the brassy sound of new nickel rounds, love nickel rounds the rest of the time. i consider them dead when they become clunky and less responsive - more of a dull thud than a bass sound. on a long scale bass, it takes years to get there where we live, but when the strings are less responsive and dull, i replace 'em.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

For a couple of minutes from 9'43" John Taylor talks about rarely changing strings .... but he doesn't mention whether he's referring to rounds or flats or both

 

[Seth DuSith]

One thing I enjoy about dead rounds is there isn't any worry of "losing your sound" the way it is if you dial your tone to new strings. I find once you accept the dead strings and dial a tone accordingly, it stays nice and consistent


I like new strings but I don't wanna pay 100$ per bass, a month, for the sound. It's not practical for my financial position

 

[TwototheValley]

Definitely! A "dead" set of Roto 66s is a really cool, unique tone. Gorgeous mids!

Supposedly the strings Freddie Washington used on his P Bass to record the legendary bassline for Forget Me Nots.

If so, showcases the character of what I assume were “dead”-ish Roto 66’s beautifully.

 

[Aussie Player]

Ok, with all the talk about rounds and flats here this may be something different. I've always been one that fancies the brightness of new nickel rounds. EB slinkies have always been my go to strings. Baseline every bass I've every owned with these strings. Every now and again I get the itch to put a set of flats on one of my basses and get infatuated with it for a couple of months but always go back to the nickel rounds. I started thinking today that the one thing I've never done is let my rounds completely die. I know some folks actually prefer dead rounds to anything else. So, question is, why do you like dead rounds and if so what brand string has died and left the most pleasing sound in your opinion. I'm imagining that some rounds die and are worthless and some may die and have a more desirable dead roundwound sound than others? Carrot's? Not worth discussing?

The E string maintains a bite, or growl a flat can never deliver and the string even out nicely for volume snd tone.

I prefer Fender Std nickels on Fender basses and SIT medium nickels on everythig else.

 

[hasbeen]

Are you changing strings every other week?

There about. It depends on how many basses I'm "rotating". I have three "main" fretted basses: a 4, 5, and 6.

This is crazy: When I was on the road in the 80's with a funk and R&B band, I would change my strings every day. An hour or two of individual practice and then four hours on stage doing LOTS of slap bass really killed them.

 

[soulstar89]

There about. It depends on how many basses I'm "rotating". I have three "main" fretted basses: a 4, 5, and 6.

This is crazy: When I was on the road in the 80's with a funk and R&B band, I would change my strings every day. An hour or two of individual practice and then four hours on stage doing LOTS of slap bass really killed them.

OMG.

Now you say in the 80’s you changed every night on the road, it makes sense. Your tech must of loved you having to change your strings every day lol.