Don't like your sound?

[Gizmot]

It took me a number of years to throw out the window things I thought I knew. I used to laugh at people who used flat wounds! Now - that's what I use 90% of the time. I used to think that guys that played with a pick were lazy - now, that's what I do the vast majority of the time.
I don't think that picks and strings can make as big a difference as some speakers, but it all adds up

 

[frankie5string]

I've loved my sound more than ever now than at any time in my career. Mostly because I'm a better player

So you play for folks over the phone when you sell cable services? ;-)
Buy service, get a bass solo?

 

[PrairieThunder13]

Yeah, absolutely - strings make a huge difference. Changing brands has swung me to keep things a few times. Changing picks for those of us who use them also makes a pretty considerable difference. Cutting my nails is another thing that makes me feel universally happier with my sound when i play with my fingers, too.

 

[chris_b]

IMO strings are an important part of the signal chain, but I don't go swapping them around to get different sounds. I've had a set of TI flats on my P bass for about 6 years and have used NYXL rounds on my Jazz for about 5 years. I switched from from DR to NYXL because they sound good, sound brighter for longer and don't cost as much. I didn't notice a huge difference when I switched either bass from one string to another.

I like my sound, but on certain stages and in certain rooms I find the sound changes. When that happens, maybe an EQ adjustment will help, maybe it won't. IMO if I'm getting a sound I don't like, it's 99% going to be the room. I'll also ask someone in the band if the sound is OK where they are. It might not be exactly what I want, but I know I'm not going to sound terrible, so I just do the gig and move on. Next time it will be OK.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I am finding more times than not, that trying different sets of strings on my basses will change my decision about trading.

Swapping strings helps me discover a character to a long time owned instrument that I didn't know it had.

Curious if others find that to be the case for them.

No, but messing with my EQ, I mean hours of study will uncover a lot of character. Some great that that will be the hero of your band, and some that need to be locked up for a very long time.

 

[WestyBassBob]

Swapping strings helps. I’ve found playing with a band helps too, my tone kinda sounds like crap on its own and makes me want to twiddle knobs. Then I play with a band using the same old settings I always do and it sounds just fine.

Yup. Bass isn’t a lead or solo instrument. I find my tone almost always sounds like crap when I’m playing solo. Put on the recording and play along and suddenly it sounds much better.

 

[MVE]

I tend to try a few different strings when I get a new bass, once I find a string I like on a particular bass, I stick with them as changing to a different string at that point, changes the established character of the instrument too much.
This is what I tell my wife anyway. It sure makes trying new strings expensive and fun.

 

[kmon]

AGREE 110% - Strings change your sound FAR MORE than anything else you can change on your bass. 10x more than changing pickups. Based on my experience, you may need to go through a half-dozen different kinds of strings to find that "magic" set that just works so well with that instrument.

I really didn't need to read thi$.

 

[Merlo79]

Swapping strings helps me discover a character to a long time owned instrument that I didn't know it had.

100% this. Once or twice I even bought an instrument that sounded amazing with the strings it came on and when those lost all their sound and I could not find out the brand, no others ever sounded anything like them.

Not only this, I also find that when playing an instrument for a while I can utilize a slight tweak to my playing technique and a specific sound setting to get a sound I like a whole lot and that I never would have guessed was possible when first trying it out.

 

[40Hz]

I’ve got a different set of strings on almost every bass I own. I’m totally convinced that there’s a perfectly matched string set for every bass.

 

[brianrost]

I'm lazy and have never taken a deep dive into string swapping. One problem for me is that I like to leave strings on for a while.

I change my rounds after 6 months of gigging, New Year's Day and Fourth of July. Trying out a new set means gigging it for a few months before I can decide

Flats stay on until they break, so that really makes comparisons tough

 

[micguy]

I build my own basses. The first set of strings I'll put on a new bass are Boomers - middle of the road strings. For some basses, they work great, but others will tell me that they want brighter or duller strings, and I will adjust accordingly after a decent break in period. Finding the right strings for a bass is part of dialing the thing in to me.

 

[Ellery]

Yes, absolutely I have found fresh rounds make a huge difference, enough to make me keep a bass I was getting bored with.

 

[TrevorG]

I'm nowhere near as forensic about sound as many which makes my life easier but strings are an interesting alteration. Been on Pure Blues for a long time but bought a Fender Jazz a couple of months ago and realised I quite missed Fender strings (I know!!) They were really bright (I thought they were steel at first) and not too taught. I'm sure it's just a fad but it helps keep me interested.

 

[Ron Berenato]

I am finding more times than not, that trying different sets of strings on my basses will change my decision about trading.

Swapping strings helps me discover a character to a long time owned instrument that I didn't know it had.

Curious if others find that to be the case for them.

I was getting bored with my Washburn AB 32 acoustic bass. Then I tried a set of D'Addario coated phosphor bronze strings and WOW! It's a whole new playing experience.

 

[coyote1]

I am finding more times than not, that trying different sets of strings on my basses will change my decision about trading.

Swapping strings helps me discover a character to a long time owned instrument that I didn't know it had.

Curious if others find that to be the case for them.

Works for some instruments, not for others. For my TB10 and the upright, it has indeed made an enormous difference. Yet a German Warwick Corvette fretless sounded very similar with three different sets of strings. Even changing rounds for flats.

 

[GTHintz]

One thing I can definitely confirm is that strings make a difference. Some basses really change tones relative to what strings they are running. Even among different brands of the same type. Rotosound will be definitely different from say Ernie ball or DR.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I am finding more times than not, that trying different sets of strings on my basses will change my decision about trading.

Swapping strings helps me discover a character to a long time owned instrument that I didn't know it had.

Curious if others find that to be the case for them.

Absolutely. I’m a big proponent of trying new strings before listing an instrument. By extension, try the instrument in a live setting before listing, too.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

A new set of another type of string is like getting a new bass. And it's interesting.

 

[ThingsAbove]

Yup. Bass isn’t a lead or solo instrument. I find my tone almost always sounds like crap when I’m playing solo. Put on the recording and play along and suddenly it sounds much better.

100%
A bass in a mix and especially live never sounds the same as when solo'd at home. The enhanced mids from thuddy flats sit in a mix in a lovely way that sounds boring by itself. By the same token some clanky, trebly rounds that sound awful on their own work great in a band with a heavy handed keys player.

Personally, I love the sound of scooped mids when soloed but in a 4 or 5 piece band my scooped sound seems to disappear to the point that I can't hear myself.

I don't play a 5 string much anymore but when I did it was so dependent on the room that sometimes I had to totally avoid anything below the 5th fret on the B or it lost all definition as it bounced around the room. Now days it seems most FOH guys always run a high-pass on the bass so that usually helps but it doesn't sound like it does in the practice room vibrating the nails out of the walls through my amp.

The only 5 string I own now wears a set of light gauge strings and the B is totally clanky. It sounds terrible on its own but it works okay in a dense mix.

At present, half my basses wear flats (different brands) and half wear rounds (different brands). I'm too lazy to carry 2 basses to gig so I decide what I want to sound like ahead of the gig.

I doubt any of this matters to an audience. As long as the bass isn't droning mud to them I doubt anybody in the audience gives it a thought. They just pay attention to the singer, the lead guitarist and the theatrics of the drummer.