gah... string hunt begins anew

Just when I thought i had it all figured out... I got a new bass. After an exhaustive search for the string that best suited me on my P bass last year I finally settle on regular old medium gauge daddario nickel roundwounds. Getting to that point I tried slinkys, roto SS, half wounds (gross!), a handful of flat wounds (TI, webstrings, Labella), strings of various gauges, and a few others. The daddarios just worked best overall for me, though if i were gonna do some recording with flats I'd probably opt for the Labellas (saved em just in case...).

So i just assumed i'd be all set ordering daddarios for the rest of my life, moron that I am. Recently picked up a Peavey T-40. It shipped with some mystery strings, they were half dead already, and i didn't really think too much about them, but i completely fell in love with the tone thinking to myself, man this thing can really get into ric territory! So after a few weeks of playing on the mystery strings, they completely died, and last night I went to throw a set of my trusty daddarios on there.

First problem: the e-string isn't long enough. The taper starts about 1/8" short of the nut, causing some rather nasty rattling at the first fret. Hmm. Plug it in, and the rattling isn't audible through the amp, whatever, i can deal.

So, an hour later I head to practice ready to rock the new strings and enjoy that short lived new-string brightness... I fire up my rig and start strumming away (I'm a pick player, after all) and... murky turds come thundering out. Where's that glorious high end? And then a painful realization hits. I look down at those new calluses on my fingertips... start to remember that the mystery strings did feel a little harsh, but i casually dismissed that as the strings were just old and maybe a little rusty.

Clearly, I was playing on stainless and didn't realize it, and that's the tone i fell in love with... they just seem to bring this bass to life. So the string hunt must begin again!

I've played rotos in the past and found them to be too harsh... but I think that's the general tone I'm looking for... kind of bright in a chris Squier way, not necessarily bright in a funk or modern metal kind of way, if that makes sense. I ordered a set of medium gauge DR Lo-riders last night... i've got my fingers crossed! Anyone have recommendations for less painful roto-like strings that would hit the tone I'm looking for? Thanks y'all!

 

Ha, my hands can take it if they have to. For my most recent recording session I decided i would record one track with a Ric... turned out it was strung with heavy gauge rotos... 4 hours tracking with that beast did a number on my sissy nickel-calluses, but i came out an awful lot tougher i think. Hopefully my frets can survive the upcoming SS ordeal, ha!

I just wish I could figure out what came on my bass... the store I bought it from had it on consignment, so they don't even know. No silk wrap, no colored ball end... just a dark (almost black, but not quite) ball end and no other adornment. Definitely SS. It's a mystery for now...