Do Strings Make The Bass?

[smogg]

Do Strings Make The Bass?
The short answer is...... YES

 

[BarfanyShart]

I figure it's the part your hands touch the most and the part that makes the sound, so they are pretty important.

 

[conttador]

It’s a trifecta

Woods, electronics & strings

the perfect tone is the one that speaks to YOU!

 

[GIBrat51]

I have a Sterling Ray 4HH bass. I really like how it looks and I thought I liked how it plays.

A few months ago I got a LTD B4E bass and really love how it plays.

The Sterling is currently strung with Ernie Ball 50 - 105 roundwounds. The LTD has GHS Precision Flatwound 45 - 95. I tried a set of DR flatwound 45 - 105 on the Sterling but didn't like the sound and tried the EBs.

My question, has anyone found that a particular set of strings make the bass? Or are strings simply an accessory that mildly influences how an instrument plays? I'm not talking about sound but how the instrument feels.

Okay... Sticking strictly to how the bass feels? Yes, of course they "make the bass". Some people might like playing floppy strings that feel like a wood rasp - but I certainly don't. I prefer flats over pretty much anything else. I do have one bass with rounds, but that's only because those particular rounds are the only strings I've found, that make that particular bass actually sound like a bass. And, while they feel very nice - for rounds - I'd be much happier if they were flats instead. So, yeah; I have to admit that these strings definitely "make" this bass... And, I also have one bass with tape wounds. Again, while I do like the feel of them, and the way they sound, they're on this bass mainly because this type of bass is often very picky about the strings it will tune up and intonate with. These tapes intonate perfectly on this bass, so these are the strings it wears. Again; yes, these strings do "make" this bass... As for the other 22 basses with flats I own? They have flats because, other than the tone? I've played basses with flats for 50+ years; I like the way they feel; I like the way they respond to playing with a pick; and, I especially like the way I don't have to replace the stupid things every other month or so - like a certain other string type I could mention. Trying to keep those "other" strings, on that many basses, would put me in debtor's prison quick as a bunny...

 

[QweziRider]

My question, has anyone found that a particular set of strings make the bass?

I think the bass is a sum of all its parts. Strings certainly are a part of that equation and make a difference. I'm not generally one to like flats much, but I put them on one of my Stingrays (after my daughter wanted them on hers for school jazz band) and the difference in feel and how I play that bass is like night and day. All my other basses still have rounds, but that one bass with flats? Wow!

 

[Element Zero]

Yes. They can also break it… not in a physical way lol. Case in point, one of my main 5s reacts and feels strange with Elixir strings while another 5 I own feels excellent with them. I’ve spent a stupid amount on strings in the last few years just trying different sets and gauges only to be no happier than what came on my two mains from the factory

 

[coy garcia]

Strings do matter...but it's all subjective to personal taste and style.

 

[Leonid Nidis]

All the rounds sound about the same to me,cant comment on flats dont use them.

 

[Bill Murray]

If you don’t like a bass I seriously doubt strings would improve the relationship. They don’t make much of a difference, if they did you might stand a chance at being able to listen to a song and decipher what strings the player was using, but you can’t.

The type of string (flats, rounds, tape, elixir, etc) are worth exploring as they all have slightly varying tonal personalities and feel but I wouldn’t expect any miracles.

 

[Bonafide]

Strings on an instrument have a hugely profound effect on the instrument...

^^ this ^^

And then the rest of the conversation, when all else is said and done, is just more or less dancing around this core fundamental.

 

[Hypercaffium]

Tort pickguard makes a bass.

 

[burgerdj]

Yep. I think of pickups as microphones for the strings and the eq as a palette to shade the color. Strings are one of many variables to tone, but a very important - perhaps dominant- variable.

 

[Discount Bassy]

There are strings with silks and strings without silks. Sometimes the silks match the bass and sometimes they do not. This is about all you need to know.

 

[Geri O]

I don't believe strings necessarily make the bass, but they definitely offer a personality that, combined with the pickups and preamp, along with the player's touch, make or break the tone of the bass. As an example, I was growing frustrated with the tone of a particular bass I owned and was looking at a pickup swap. My usual preference for strings has been nickel strings. I hadn't been a fan of stainless steel strings, but based on a post in the Strings forum about a particular brand of stainless strings, I gave them a try and I was pleasantly surprised at how the tone changed to the point that I stopped considering a pickup swap. I liked the stainless strings so much that I started using the same strings on all my basses. The tone on all the basses is brighter, but warmer and without the stainless crunch or brittleness.

Having said all this, it needs to be taken with the usual grain of salt. I am a believer that the big majority of the tone of a bass is indeed based on the player.

 

[socialleper]

I feel like they are icing on the cake. They don't change the inherent tone of a bass, but they can certainly accentuate or fight with certain characteristics of a bass.

 

[Ric5]

good strings may not make a poor bass great, but bad strings can make a good bass bad

 

[DwaynieAD]

It's one of the things. I have many basses with hi beams but they don't sound the same

 

[sawzalot]

The quickest way to dramatically change a bass’ tone is to change the brand/material/construction of the strings. It’s a lot cheaper than buying new basses. I have found some types of strings really work well with particular basses, for example Ernie Ball Cobalt Rounds on my EBMM Sterling bass is a marriage made in heaven—the scooped sound of the strings fits perfectly with the mid-heavy sound of the pickup in series mode. On the other hand I like the warmth of nickel rounds on my Fender Marcus Miller signature, which has that scooped 70’s jazz bass sound.

 

[Durham52]

Just try playing your bass without strings.

Or without pickups, or a neck, or a bridge, or tuners.... A bass and the sound it makes are a sum of it's parts, including strings and yes, some basses seem to work better with certain strings, (to my ear, someone else might feel differently) others seem to sound pretty good with a variety of string types.

 

[Jon Moody]

JM: When GHS is designing strings, is metallurgy and mass ever considered in terms of alnico, ceramic, etc., how the strings will react magnetically with say a Top Ten of widely used pickups, and is design ever steered somewhat by those considerations ?

For me, no. There's always more to learn, and when the wire companies have new products, they're really great at educating you about the capabilities of the wire.

But for me, the core design considerations are my fingers and hands. I can make something look good on paper, but if the hands/ears don't like it, it's scrapped.

If you could buy strings direct from the ghost of Jaco, but you still wouldn't sound like Jaco.

It's 97% the player and 3% the equipment.

I think you're missing the point of the conversation. No one is saying that the player doesn't play a role; Victor Wooten can play a Squier and sound like Vic. That's not the argument.

But you know something is different. There is a tonal change from what he's doing that's more than 3%. And while it's up to preference, I'd put it closer to a 60/40 split in terms of the player and the gear.