G&L Club Part 7

[Jim C]

Coincidentally, I almost ordered some Sunbeams for my SB-2T just the other day. Would love to know what you didn't like about them on the SB. I do have some Fat Beams in my stash, somewhere, so maybe I'll try those.

I thought the SB2 was too aggressive for the tones I like from Sunbeams.
To me, they work best for organic, R&B / Rock material and I find my SB2 is just too much of an in your face bass for them.
I thought XL's sounded better.
Curious if you could cut glass and smash walls with Rotosounds on an SB2.
YMMV

 

[MrB64]

I thought I'd show my JB and L2K together. I just oiled the fingerboards and replaced the strings last night. It seemed like a good time to take a picture.

 

[Spidey2112]

Curious if you could cut glass and smash walls with Rotosounds on an SB2.

 

[jglunt]

I recently put GHS Pressurewounds on my SB-2. This is my first experience with Pressurewounds, and I found they are exceedingly bright on the bass. I really didn't expect that.

 

[TDR1138]

I thought the SB2 was too aggressive for the tones I like from Sunbeams.
To me, they work best for organic, R&B / Rock material and I find my SB2 is just too much of an in your face bass for them.
I thought XL's sounded better.
Curious if you could cut glass and smash walls with Rotosounds on an SB2.
YMMV

Thanks for the input. I might like the Sunbeams. I mean, I used to use Rotos on my prior SB-2. They had some crazy grind to them.

 

[Robert Booker]

I recently put GHS Pressurewounds on my SB-2. This is my first experience with Pressurewounds, and I found they are exceedingly bright on the bass. I really didn't expect that.

They start out a little brighter but mellow out nicely after some play. I have them on my Kilo and I believe I'm eventually gonna put them on my M2000 as well. I like their "feel" and their tension as well. They "fight back" just enough to allow me to run my action low without the fret clank I get with rounds that have less tension.

Of course another thing is the bass itself could also be very bright. Others seem to indicate that and I've also found the tonal range of MFD pickups to be pretty broad. At full tilt volume they do stand out. My solution has always been to cut back on the pickup volume which then dumps a bit of that high end off and gets me back where I want to be.

 

[woodyng2]

I recently put GHS Pressurewounds on my SB-2. This is my first experience with Pressurewounds, and I found they are exceedingly bright on the bass. I really didn't expect that.

I replaced the Labella low tension flats on my jb2 with a set of Pressurewounds.
Took that bass sound from From hushpuppie to werewolf. Awesomely grindy tone.
Pressurewounds seem to sound great on any bass I put them on…..

 

[Robert Booker]

I replaced the Labella low tension flats on my jb2 with a set of Pressurewounds.
Took that bass sound from From hushpuppie to werewolf. Awesomely grindy tone.
Pressurewounds seem to sound great on any bass I put them on…..

I've been playing Jazz Basses for over 50 years but with Pressurwounds only the last ten years or so and I can say from my own experiences over the years I've not found a better pairing. A JBass seems to love those strings and the way they add more dynamic range to it's tonal palette. They have a full round bottom end more like a flat with the crispness and clarity of most round wounds.

It was Jason Mendelson from Fret Nation who turned me onto them when I told him what I was looking for in the way of strings for a Jazz Bass I'd just bought. The flats that were on it weren't cutting it just like those on my '66 Jazz never did way back when and rounds always seemed too bright, thin and "zingy" to me. I've been playing the PWounds as a go to string choice ever since.

 

[Glazenn]

I've been playing Jazz Basses for over 50 years but with Pressurwounds only the last ten years or so and I can say from my own experiences over the years I've not found a better pairing. A JBass seems to love those strings and the way they add more dynamic range to it's tonal palette. They have a full round bottom end more like a flat with the crispness and clarity of most round wounds.

It was Jason Mendelson from Fret Nation who turned me onto them when I told him what I was looking for in the way of strings for a Jazz Bass I'd just bought. The flats that were on it weren't cutting it just like those on my '66 Jazz never did way back when and rounds always seemed too bright, thin and "zingy" to me. I've been playing the PWounds as a go to string choice ever since.

Could you say if there is a tone/punchiness difference between L, LM and M gauges? Which one would you recommend for a 4 strings P? For my JB-5, there is one choice only, i.e. M (medium) gauge . Thank you

 

[Robert Booker]

Could you say if there is a tone/punchiness difference between L, LM and M gauges? Which one would you recommend for a 4 strings P? For my JB-5, there is one choice only, i.e. M (medium) gauge . Thank you

I've played the M7200 44-106 set exclusively and the M7200-5 set on an L2500. Based on that I can't say personally whether or not there's any tonal differences but my sense tells me there is not. The material and basic construction of each set is much the same so I think what it comes down to is feel. I prefer a string with more "fight" to it so I tend to use larger gauge hex core strings. Others may feel just the opposite based on their personal preference.

But I know who can better answer that question for you. Contact Jason at Fret Nation and put any questions you have to him. Not only is a he a Berklee trained pro bassist himself but I've probably forgotten more about the subject of bass strings than he knows. I believe that once he understands what a player is looking for he can make the correct suggestions just as he did for me. He's extremely knowledgeable and an overall great guy.

 

[Robert Booker]

I replaced the Labella low tension flats on my jb2 with a set of Pressurewounds.
Took that bass sound from From hushpuppie to werewolf. Awesomely grindy tone.
Pressurewounds seem to sound great on any bass I put them on…..

That's the awesome thing about them. They sit close enough to rounds, which at heart they kind of are, to respond to personal EQ and attack giving you that kind of response but they're also chameleon like and versatile enough to fade back into mellower territory.

Even on my Kilo I can push it into grindy rock in series or yank it back into making it a better fit for blues and r&b just by cutting back on the volume, going to single coil mode, and playing just in front of the pickup all with the same set of strings. That's why I've called them a Goldilocks type string. They just seem to respond well to most genre and player styles. If I didn't choose to have a PBass with thumpy flats they'd work very well on it too.


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[Glazenn]

I've played the M7200 44-106 set exclusively and the M7200-5 set on an L2500. Based on that I can't say personally whether or not there's any tonal differences but my sense tells me there is not. The material and basic construction of each set is much the same so I think what it comes down to is feel. I prefer a string with more "fight" to it so I tend to use larger gauge hex core strings. Others may feel just the opposite based on their personal preference.

But I know who can better answer that question for you. Contact Jason at Fret Nation and put any questions you have to him. Not only is a he a Berklee trained pro bassist himself but I've probably forgotten more about the subject of bass strings than he knows. I believe that once he understands what a player is looking for he can make the correct suggestions just as he did for me. He's extremely knowledgeable and an overall great guy.

Thank you
I will test a M-7200 set on my JB-5 first, and then my L-2500.

 

[TomB]

Thank you
I will test a M-7200 set on my JB-5 first, and then my L-2500.

There is a whole thread on here dedicated to Pressurewounds in the string forum with lots of debate, information and opinions. It digs into the differences among gauges, among many other things. It hasn't been too active of late, but is a good place to bring questions.

 

[Spupilup]

I just picked up a Fallout Tribute to keep my L1K and L2K company. It's white but I hate the black pick guard. Is Pickguardplanet.com the place to go for a nice tort pick guard or are any of the other usual suspects offering pick guards for the Indonesian G&L's? I hate that I have to send off my pick guard to have them make a replacement. I could get a replacement for my Short Scale Stingray, no problem. I guess there just aren't enough Fallouts in the wild to make it worthwhile for these pick guard companies to be bothered.

I'd love to hear what fellow Tribute Fallout owners did to find a replacement pick guard.
TIA

 

[Robert Booker]

I just picked up a Fallout Tribute to keep my L1K and L2K company. It's white but I hate the black pick guard. Is Pickguardplanet.com the place to go for a nice tort pick guard or are any of the other usual suspects offering pick guards for the Indonesian G&L's? I hate that I have to send off my pick guard to have them make a replacement. I could get a replacement for my Short Scale Stingray, no problem. I guess there just aren't enough Fallouts in the wild to make it worthwhile for these pick guard companies to be bothered.

I'd love to hear what fellow Tribute Fallout owners did to find a replacement pick guard.
TIA

G&L offers exactly zero pickguards for Tributes in their G&L Store unless by chance they happen to have one or two laying around from something they had to trash.

Pickguardian or whatever other names they go by will do one for you but as you already know you'll be without yours for a bit and have the expense of paying to ship them yours to use in making a template. I had a local tech make one for me using the pickguard from my Kilo to make a template. You can buy the acrylic you want on Amazon or Ebay. Overall it won't cost you a whole lot less but it's not as big a hassle IMHO.

 

[Robert Booker]

Could you say if there is a tone/punchiness difference between L, LM and M gauges? Which one would you recommend for a 4 strings P? For my JB-5, there is one choice only, i.e. M (medium) gauge . Thank you

I know you've already ordered a set but I thought I'd toss this in here for everyone's benefit. Based on at least one man's opinion this may help define how the sets differ from one another tonally. This is from Greenboy whose fEARful cab designs are quite popular. He's also correct in that GHS makes Ken Smith Compressors so that are essentially a Pressurwound string.

It's been 10 times and maybe more (cue Led Zep) that I've posted about 'em in depth. Compressors and Pressurewounds are the same, with lightest sets a little closer to roundwound feel and sound, and the heaviest sets a little closer to flatwound thump. Only their B strings truly differ (one is taper, one is not).

This makes some sense to me but I also believe it should be understood as a fairly subtle difference tonally. The lighter gauge are not all zing and the heavier all thump. It's far more subtle and much like we experience with guitar strings where the heavier gauge sets have a little more bottom end on the E and A strings. Funk players who do a lot more slapping may prefer a lighter gauge string whereas players like me who are more into blues/r&b and straight ahead rock may prefer a heavier gauge set. The same for those who play with a pick.

 

[Glazenn]

I know you've already ordered a set but I thought I'd toss this in here for everyone's benefit. Based on at least one man's opinion this may help define how the sets differ from one another tonally. This is from Greenboy whose fEARful cab designs are quite popular. He's also correct in that GHS makes Ken Smith Compressors so that are essentially a Pressurwound string.

It's been 10 times and maybe more (cue Led Zep) that I've posted about 'em in depth. Compressors and Pressurewounds are the same, with lightest sets a little closer to roundwound feel and sound, and the heaviest sets a little closer to flatwound thump. Only their B strings truly differ (one is taper, one is not).

This makes some sense to me but I also believe it should be understood as a fairly subtle difference tonally. The lighter gauge are not all zing and the heavier all thump. It's far more subtle and much like we experience with guitar strings where the heavier gauge sets have a little more bottom end on the E and A strings. Funk players who do a lot more slapping may prefer a lighter gauge string whereas players like me who are more into blues/r&b and straight ahead rock may prefer a heavier gauge set. The same for those who play with a pick.

Thank you. Very very interesting.
On my SB-2 (1999, US made), I had super light gauge Chromes (ECB-80, 40-95) installed, to release the stress on a fragilized bi-cut neck (maxed trussrod, worn hex nut). I had not noticed any tone/sound/power difference with the regular light ECB-81 sets that I had before on that SB-2 (and that I have on most of my other basses). Partly because of the powerful MFD pickup, I imagine, and of the tiny gauge difference. Just a little less stiffness under my fingers?

 

[Robert Booker]

Thank you. Very very interesting.
On my SB-2 (1999, US made), I had super light gauge Chromes (ECB-80, 40-95) installed, to release the stress on a fragilized bi-cut neck (maxed trussrod, worn hex nut). I had not noticed any tone/sound/power difference with the regular light ECB-81 sets that I had before on that SB-2 (and that I have on most of my other basses). Partly because of the powerful MFD pickup, I imagine, and of the tiny gauge difference. Just a little less stiffness under my fingers?

Yup. Not so much black or white and more like different shades of grey Glazenn. You got it and you've experienced this same thing before with Chromes.

Here's the link to that massive thread on Pressurewounds if you haven't already found it.

Review: GHS Pressurewounds ~ Tangy Not Twangy

 

[Spidey2112]

(cue Led Zep)

Okay.

 

[Lammchop93]

I just picked up a Fallout Tribute to keep my L1K and L2K company. It's white but I hate the black pick guard. Is Pickguardplanet.com the place to go for a nice tort pick guard or are any of the other usual suspects offering pick guards for the Indonesian G&L's? I hate that I have to send off my pick guard to have them make a replacement. I could get a replacement for my Short Scale Stingray, no problem. I guess there just aren't enough Fallouts in the wild to make it worthwhile for these pick guard companies to be bothered.

I'd love to hear what fellow Tribute Fallout owners did to find a replacement pick guard.
TIA

@lbbc had a tort fallout guard he was going to sell me awhile back. I didn't end up buying, so it may still be for sale.