Dead rounds

[FullumMusic]

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.

That's a lot of strings! And dedication to keeping them changed, even if your time is split over multiple main basses!

And changing them every day sounds like my nightmare. I've never had a set of strings that fresh stay in tune for more than a song, and i used to dig in really really hard when i was younger. Plus i used to snap them and slap them and play extra hard to break them in right after i changed them. Usually took me 2 weeks of playing before they were in the condition i liked.

Then again, i wasn't doing 4 hours of slap bass on stage every night. Sounds like that'll break them in rather quickly.

 

[Derek Kay]

I use rounds, but I kept an old set of flats to experiment with.

With the increased interest in flats I wonder what happened to half rounds or ground wounds. I have no idea what a old set would sound like.

Do they still exist?

 

[hasbeen]

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.

I was my tech. It wasn't that bad. I'd change them in the morning. From there I'd practice a couple of hours. From there, we might have a rehearsal. By that time, they were pretty settled in for the show.

 

[michael_t]

With the increased interest in flats I wonder what happened to half rounds or ground wounds. I have no idea what a old set would sound like.

Do they still exist?

D'Addario Half Rounds = Pure Nickel Groundwound.

GHS Brite Flats = Alloy 52 half-rounds/groundwound.

Ken Smith Slick Rounds = Alloy 52 half-rounds/groundwound, also made by GHS.

 

[soulstar89]

D'Addario Half Rounds = Pure Nickel Groundwound.

GHS Brite Flats = Alloy 52 half-rounds/groundwound.

Ken Smith Slick Rounds = Alloy 52 half-rounds/groundwound, also made by GHS.

Add
*Rotosound solo bass 55 strings = stainless steel presswound/halfwound

*GHS pressurewound strings

 

[michael_t]

Add
*Rotosound solo bass 55 strings = stainless steel presswound/halfwound

*GHS pressurewound strings

Pressurewounds, both GHS and Roto, are different from half-rounds/grounwound as they're not "ground down" as such; they use a completely different process called "rollerwinding". They're also very different in terms of tonal character. Pressurewounds retain most of the roundwound tone but with a smoother feel, while half-rounds/groundwound are a lot more flatwound-ish in their tonal character.

 

[soulstar89]

Pressurewounds, both GHS and Roto, are different from half-rounds/grounwound as they're not "ground down" as such; they use a completely different process called "rollerwinding". They're also very different in terms of tonal character. Pressurewounds retain most of the roundwound tone but with a smoother feel, while half-rounds/groundwound are a lot more flatwound-ish in their tonal character.

Oh i didn't realise that. I thought though the process is different the tone is the same.