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Ever hate strings so much you want them off right away?

#62
D'Addario Chromes on a P-bass had way too much of an unpleasant mid-range sound to me. They work great on a J where that mid-range compensates for the scooped sound with both pickups on full.

D'Addario Tapewounds on a J-bass just did not do anything for me. Put them back on the P where they sound fantastic.

Did not like the feel of D'Addario Half Rounds at all. Mistakenly thought they'd be like GHS Pressurewounds.

Any stainless steel round wound string I've tried in the past couple of years lasted only minutes. My jazz fusion experience ended years ago. :) Prefer the warmer sound of nickel plated rounds.

Did not like Roto medium gauge flats at all at first. Gave them a second try, and now they're my go-to flat for the P. Can simply tweak the EQ to go between old school thump and a brighter, more modern sound. Love the thump of LaBella 760FL's, but need the greater versatility of the Rotos for the music I'm playing.
 
#64
I've definitely tried my fair share of strings and I've taken a lot of the comments here on TB to heart, some of which I never should have. I tried the classic "flats on a P" but they just weren't for me. I also had the coveted TI Jazz flats on a Fender Jazz but they weren't for me either. I've used DR Red Devils, Black Beauties, Elixir Nanowebs, GHS Flats, Fender Flats, Fender Tapes, GHS Boomers, EB Super Slinky, EB Regular Slinky, EB Power Slinky, D'Addario XL, DR Hi Beams, D'Addario Stainless Steel, and probably some more that I can't remember. Of those, the DR Hi Beams and Elixir's were probably my least favorite. I loved the feel of the Fender Tapes but they did make the bass feel kind of cheap and not as responsive as I like. I've since settled on DR Black Beauties on my precision and active Ibanez SR, EB Regular Slinky's on my Fender Jazz, and EB Power Slinkys on my Ibanez SRX.
 
#65
billgwx said:
D'Addario Chromes on a P-bass had way too much of an unpleasant mid-range sound to me. They work great on a J where that mid-range compensates for the scooped sound with both pickups on full.

D'Addario Tapewounds on a J-bass just did not do anything for me. Put them back on the P where they sound fantastic.

Did not like the feel of D'Addario Half Rounds at all. Mistakenly thought they'd be like GHS Pressurewounds.

Any stainless steel round wound string I've tried in the past couple of years lasted only minutes. My jazz fusion experience ended years ago. :) Prefer the warmer sound of nickel plated rounds.

Did not like Roto medium gauge flats at all at first. Gave them a second try, and now they're my go-to flat for the P. Can simply tweak the EQ to go between old school thump and a brighter, more modern sound. Love the thump of LaBella 760FL's, but need the greater versatility of the Rotos for the music I'm playing.
Click to expand...

Weird...one of the big reasons I dislike Chromes so much is because of the scoopiness I hear in the mids. Plenty of "klang" and low end, but for me, were always difficult to cut through a mix compared to other brands like GHS and La'Bella because of this character. Tried them on several basses, always the same.

Oh, and they feel like they were designed more as bridge suspension cable than a tool meant to aid in the making of music. Funny how they are often viewed as the "introductory" flat, because they seem to be anything but and don't really cop a "classic" flat tone, IMO.
 
#68
Any coated string. Those DR neons are horrible. I also hate all the Rotosounds I've tried. They're like playing with bridge cable. I also don't like most stainless steel rounds. Way too clanky, too much fret noise. I tend to like light gauge nickel rounds with low tension and smooth as glass flats for some of my basses.
 
#72
I've experienced this thing with three strings:

first time trying Rotosound Swing 66. it was my first string's change on my first bass, and they were rough and extremly clangy. I passed days thinking of trowing them away, but not having money stopped me.
now they are my rounds of choice...

second time with Pyramid Gold flats: I bought two sets, one for my Danelectro Longhorn and one for my Mustang. I mounted them first on the Mustang, and the sound was awful... it was like playing with the amp in another room, covered with pillows...
I took them off in a second, and used the same set on the Danelectro, where they sounded amazing. (I sold the second set, unused, in a minute :P )

third time with LaBella Jamerson: I bought them for an uncoming Precision Classic 50, but couldn't wait to try them, and strung my assembled Precision with them. I hated the sound, the low notes on the E string were unrecognizable, and in chromatic passages was like playing the same note (like on cheap 5-string basses, where you can't tell the difference between B, C, C# and D).
now it's a month and an half since they are on the 50's Precision, and they sound awsome.

sometimes it's just the wrong bass.
 
#74
petrus61 said:
Weird...one of the big reasons I dislike Chromes so much is because of the scoopiness I hear in the mids.
Click to expand...

Maybe the scooped sound you're describing is from lack of low mids? What I hear is an unpleasant high-mid emphasis that sounds "gray" or to me for lack of a better term--maybe "lo-fi" is a better description.

petrus61 said:
Funny how they are often viewed as the "introductory" flat, because they seem to be anything but and don't really cop a "classic" flat tone, IMO.
Click to expand...

Chromes have a round-wound under-winding which probably explains this. At first they do have a zing almost like traditional rounds that takes a while to calm down.
 
#76
The flatwounds that allparts sells for $10. They came on a bass I bought. Hands down, the worst string of any type that I've ever played. Worse than the flats that come on fretless basses from rondomusic.
Aside from the fact the the windings were coming apart from being stretched to tension, each string felt noticeably different to the fingers, each string sounded different, but all four were dead, lifeless and sad.
Not worth $10.
http://www.allparts.com/ST-9046-000-45-105-Flat-Wound-Bass-Strings_p_3519.html
 
#77
Never liked these:

Barbed_Wire_Guitar_by_MechaTwiggy.jpg
 
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#78
billgwx said:
Maybe the scooped sound you're describing is from lack of low mids? What I hear is an unpleasant high-mid emphasis that sounds "gray" or to me for lack of a better term--maybe "lo-fi" is a better description.



Chromes have a round-wound under-winding which probably explains this. At first they do have a zing almost like traditional rounds that takes a while to calm down.
Click to expand...

That could be it...and probably explains their unforgiving (IMO) tightness. I wasn't aware they had a round wrap underneath. It's definitely a lack of the all important low mids. For me, it's La'Bella all the way these days. I was a die hard TI user for a long time and primarily used Sunbeams or Labella DTR for rounds.
 

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