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GHS Boomers!

Vinnie Boombatz

Vinnie Boombatz

Inactive
May 26, 2010
2,640
5,402
#1
Have pretty much always had flats on my basses (2 Fender Precisions), but wanted to mix it up a bit and have one bass with flats and the other with rounds. Went through Fender 7250, D'Addario XL's and GHS Boomers.

Long story short, the GHS Boomers are my favorites. D'Addario's are too bright, didn't like the feel of the Fenders. The Boomers are surprisingly warm for a new, out of the package round wound string. Not bright like a lot of rounds when they are new. They feel good, punchy and defined but lacking the super high end crispiness that a lot of rounds have. They sound as broken in out of the pack over any other round-wound string I've tried, which is a good thing.

I used the 45-100 set.
 
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#6
Vinnie Boombatz said:
......The boomers are surprisingly warm for a new, out of the package round wound string. Not bright like a lot of rounds when they are new. They feel good, punchy and defined but lacking the super high end crispiness that a lot of rounds have. They sound as broken in out of the pack over any other round-wound string I've tried, which is a good thing.
Click to expand...

+1.

I hear the same things from Boomers that you do and that's why they're my favorite NPS roundwounds.
 
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#7
i bought a set of boomers recently my first set, got them cheap of that big corporate online company named after a long river.
i was/am very pleased with them on my fender jazz, they were brighter than i expected but have settled in lovely and warm but still have a growly punch on them, had a set of dunlop super brights on before, which i like but were too zingy and bright so i put them on my gibson EB, the boomers suit my jazz better.
Tempted to put a set on my fender P bass aswell.
 
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#8
I to recently put a set on medium gauge boomers on my P bass....my first set of boomers in years.
I really like to low/low mid forward bump and tame highs and they fit well with this p bass. Although I like a higher tension string, the mediums are a tad higher than I would like.
 
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#9
Rollin Thunder said:
Tempted to put a set on my fender P bass aswell.
Click to expand...

FirewalZ said:
Although I like a higher tension string, the mediums are a tad higher than I would like.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you should both try the Round Core Boomers for comparison.

I ran the Boomers on my P and the RC Boomers on my J at the same time for a couple of months and decided I liked the RCBs better.
 
#10
I found five-string Boomers on an on-line clearance sale (Best Buy I think), so I bought two sets, eventually installed one set on a Jazz and one on the ATK. When they broke in, they sounded just fine-- I switch basses a lot so I really didn't keep track of how much time I have on them, but I can say they've lasted very well. They're hex-core, which I prefer.
 
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#14
Linnin said:
Hex Core Bass Boomers Are Rude
Round Core Bass Boomers are polite.
GHS Balanced Nickels are perfect.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your summary of all 3, Linnin!

I like a punchy, aggressive, midrangey tone, so I'm very satisfied with the sound and feel hex core Bass Boomers. I'm going to try the BN's on my Alembic.

This being said, IMO GHS Pressurewounds are the greatest freakin' strings in the universe. At least for me.
 
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#15
Just to update, I'm now actually liking the Fender 7250M's the best. The Boomers are great strings, but I'm feeling like the Fenders are a little more complex, meaty but still defined. In all fairness though The Fender 7250M's are a slightly heavier gauge with the E and A strings being thicker compared to the 40-100's I've previously been using for the Boomers, EXL's, etc. I also went back to some D'Addario EXL170's (45-100) and although I thought they felt nice and enjoyed the tension, they were noticeably quieter than the Fenders but also picked up a ton of undesirable string noise and just had a bit of metallic zing (which I'm sure dissipates as they are played in) but also less bark and low end compared to the Fenders.

I picked up a 1990 Fender '75 Precision AVRI at a shop yesterday and believe it had Ernie Ball Slinkys on it, and I'm sure it also had a lot to do with the set-up, but that bass and those strings felt amazing. Low tension, but not like rubber bands, and played like butter (I usually do not like lower tension, but also not into strings that feel like steel cables, and hated TI Jazz Flats).

Just thought a little update might be helpful to some.
 
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#17
Not sure I’d be into tape wounds. I’m going for a punchier tone with a little growl, and have recently moved away from flats. I’ve found I can get a satisfactory thump with out the clang from not rounds just by rolling off the tone on my P bass, whereas I can’t bet the bite and growl I get from rounds out of flats. Guessing the tape wounds would be closer to flats than rounds, right?
 

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