Pardon me, you are correct. I should know this as I use them on my Cort Rithimic!
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Famous bassist strings and their gauges
- Thread starter FA108208usat2
- Start date
Pardon me, you are correct. I should know this as I use them on my Cort Rithimic!
Been awhile since anyone responded to this thread it seems.
Phil Lynott Rotosound Jazz Bass 77RS77LD Strings Monel 50-75-95-110
Bob Daisley Picato Nickel Roundwound 45-65-85-105
Phil Lynott Rotosound Jazz Bass 77RS77LD Strings Monel 50-75-95-110
Bob Daisley Picato Nickel Roundwound 45-65-85-105
Victor Wooten
DR Strings Pure Blues Bass 4 Wooten 40/95
Round core, nickle plated steel (Quantum Nickle), hand roundwound
Gauge: .040 - .055 - .075 - .095
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DR Pure Blues is NOT "pure nickel"; DR calls it "Quantum Nickel", which, as I understand it, is a type of nickel-plated steel.
Rudy Sarzo
D’addario EXL165
40-60-80-100
Paul Turner
Dunlop Super Bright Round Wound
4 and 5 string sets.
Geezer Butler
DR BKB-50 Black Beauties
50-70-90-110
D’addario EXL165
40-60-80-100
Paul Turner
Dunlop Super Bright Round Wound
4 and 5 string sets.
Geezer Butler
DR BKB-50 Black Beauties
50-70-90-110
Bryan Beller D'addario Pro Steel 130-105-85-65-45 D'Addario Strings Blog: Strings & Pedalboards with Bryan Beller of DETHKLOK!!! (daddarioinc.blogspot.com)
actually, the Rotosound website doesn't mention the musicians for the specific gauges. if you open every "Jazz 77" page, you read this:
Pink Floyd | Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Atom Heart Mother, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish you Were Here, Animals, The Wall…
Thin Lizzy | Bad Reputation
The Sex Pistols | Never Mind the Bollocks…
The Police | Regatta de Blanc, Outlandos D’amour, Zenyata Mondata
The Cure | Seventeen Seconds
Queen | A Night At The Opera, A Day at the Races, News of the World, Jazz
Elton John | Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
probably he was using the RS77LD set, which is actually a 50-65-75-105 set, as per the original specs, back when Rotosound didn't "adjust" the numbers on the packs, but labelled the strings with the actual gauge.
I have three sets of RS77LD, the standard set, and the G is a 50.
in the 50-110 set, the G is a 55 (as used by Fender in the old 850 set or GHS in the P Flat Regular set. it was common in the 60's).
just to add to the topic: in the RS66 pages you can read this:
The Who | Live at Leeds & Who’s Next
The Jimi Hendrix Experience | Electric Ladyland
Alice Cooper | School’s Out
Guns n’ Roses | Appetite for Destruction
Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin III
Rush | Moving Pictures
Queen | A Night At The Opera, A Day at the Races, News of the World, Jazz
David Lee Roth | Eat Em and Smile
Mr Big | Lean Into it
The Jam | In the City
Oasis | What’s the Story, Morning Glory
so he probably used both flats and rounds depending on the songs?
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I'm curious about Berry Oakley and Carl Radle. Does anyone have their string info?
Only, I believe, during the Wal years (Power Windows, Hold Your Fire, Presto, Roll the Bones)
Yup that's correct.
In fact his Wal's are now wearing regular gauge Rotosounds 66's 45-105.
Cheers!
Brent
I know Jack (RIP) also used Rotosound 55s (Solo Bass) on his fretless basses. His image is on the Rotosound website for those strings.
Jack Bruce
Rotosound 55 Solo Bass
45-65-85-105
I'm also going to add in one of my other favorite bassists: the amazing Frank Bello (of Anthrax). At the end of his autobiography, he thanked all of his gear companies as of when he wrote the book (among a plethora of others who have been there for him throughout his life). D'Addario was one of those companies. But he never mentioned which gauges or sets he plays in his book. I did find a video where he says that he plays NYXLs 45-105 gauge. This makes sense because he's a proud native New Yorker and favors New York City based bass gear companies. Time stamp is 1:35.
Frank Bello
D'Addario NYXL
45-65-85-105
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I use NYXL 45105s too. They're great strings.
Probably the greatest thread in forum history. Great info! 
Let's talk about my main man, Michael Anthony. I always say he's the most overlooked rock bassist on the planet thanks to Diamond Dave, Edward and Alex Van Halen. I've always loved his nasty, ballsy sound. He always gets mocked for his easy bass lines, which the songs called for in my eyes, but he does have some stellar lines too. And no, Edward didn't play bass on all those classics. He only played bass on VHIII, which wasn't nothing to be impressed with.
I'm playing in a Diamond Dave era cover band, and I've been trying hard to replicate that sound on the early albums. Got a tubed Ampeg, a Yamama BB series bass, play with both a pick and fingers like he did, I use a SansAmp to add a little nastiness, but, something is missing. Of course I'm not Michael. Does anyone know what type of strings and gauge he used in the early days? Copolite said Dean Markley. But doesn't know what gauge.
Does anyone know for sure? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Let's talk about my main man, Michael Anthony. I always say he's the most overlooked rock bassist on the planet thanks to Diamond Dave, Edward and Alex Van Halen. I've always loved his nasty, ballsy sound. He always gets mocked for his easy bass lines, which the songs called for in my eyes, but he does have some stellar lines too. And no, Edward didn't play bass on all those classics. He only played bass on VHIII, which wasn't nothing to be impressed with. I'm playing in a Diamond Dave era cover band, and I've been trying hard to replicate that sound on the early albums. Got a tubed Ampeg, a Yamama BB series bass, play with both a pick and fingers like he did, I use a SansAmp to add a little nastiness, but, something is missing. Of course I'm not Michael. Does anyone know what type of strings and gauge he used in the early days? Copolite said Dean Markley. But doesn't know what gauge.
Does anyone know for sure? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
From a quick googlance, Michael Anthony endorsed Dean Markley between the latest Nineties and the early 2010s, moving on to Dunlops later.Probably the greatest thread in forum history. Great info!
I'm playing in a Diamond Dave era cover band, and I've been trying hard to replicate that sound on the early albums. Got a tubed Ampeg, a Yamama BB series bass, play with both a pick and fingers like he did, I use a SansAmp to add a little nastiness, but, something is missing. Of course I'm not Michael. Does anyone know what type of strings and gauge he used in the early days? Copolite said Dean Markley. But doesn't know what gauge.
Does anyone know for sure? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Floating online is an earlier, 1987 Rotosound ad where he endorses lightish-gauge (40-60-75-95) Rotosound Swing Bass 66 stainless-steel roundwounds, the RS66LC set:
1987 VINTAGE 5X8 PRINT Ad FOR ROTOSOUND GUITAR Strings MICHAEL ANTHONY VAN HALEN | eBay
Already in an October 1981 Guitar Player interview did he mention using Rotos:
Van Halen Links.com - Interviews - Michael Anthony - October 1981 ::. Guitar Player
AFAIK, the variety of gauges that Rotosound currently offers dates back to the intervening period between the interview and the endorsement. During the Seventies there was only one set, the RS66L:
Back then, gauges were 46-63-80-102,
List of old sets of gauges (Fender, Gibson, Roto etc)
whereas nowadays the closest one available, the RS66LD, is 45-65-80-105:
Swing Bass 66 Stainless Steel Strings RS66LD • Rotosound Music Strings
However, you're in luck. It seems Roto covertly keeps making them in odd gauges very close to the original:
Real Gauge of Bass Strings - real gauge vs advertised gauge
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first of all, on the records (at least the first two albums), the bass he used was a Fender Precision with... flatwounds
obviously the overdriven amp did also a lot of his sound. then he switched to Rotosound 40-95 endorsing them.
I don't know if he ever recorded with the Yamaha BB3000, and he had different models, one with the standard split (as the BB3000 was) and one with reversed split coil (like the BB2000).
IMHO the Yamaha BB3000 (which I have and use a lot) sounds very different from a Precision, even using only the split coil; the sound is heavier on the bass and highs, but a bit scooped on the hi-mids, and lacks the classic grit of a Precision.
also, if your bass is not a BB3000, but one of the recent models (BB414/424 for example) the sound is also very different, they only share the look.
