GHS Pressurewound 5 string set

[jcburn]

Hey everyone - my string choices are usually fairly boring. I like EB Slinky nickel rounds, however recently I've picked up a very sweet '09 USA Fender J 5 and I'm looking for a slightly different flavour and a little more tension on the B.

So I'm thinking GHS Pressurewounds. I play rock with both pick and fingers (primarily pick as I also sing lead vox and find playing with a pick and singing more comfortable), bit of compression, bit of overdrive - that's about it. I'd like the strings to have a slightly tighter bottom end than the Slinkies, and hopefully to have higher tension - primarily on the B and E strings.

Am I barking up the right tree? I realise the PW strings will have slightly tamer treble response - that is fine too.

All opinions, including "carrots" appreciated. Other suggestions welcome too. Tighter bottom and higher tension are my desired outcomes, and would prefer not to use flats. I've tried flats before and don't like the tone.

 

[michael_t]

So I'm thinking GHS Pressurewounds. I play rock with both pick and fingers (primarily pick as I also sing lead vox and find playing with a pick and singing more comfortable), bit of compression, bit of overdrive - that's about it. I'd like the strings to have a slightly tighter bottom end than the Slinkies, and hopefully to have higher tension - primarily on the B and E strings.

Am I barking up the right tree? I realise the PW strings will have slightly tamer treble response - that is fine too.

Yes, you're barking up the right tree.

The PWs are stiffer in feel than typical rounds of comparable gauges with a tight punchy bottom and strong mids. I use the light set (40-96) for EADG and the medium set (44-106) for DGCF.

 

[jcburn]

@michael_t - thank you for the reply.

Do you have any experience with the 5 string set. My band tunes 1/2 step down. Wondering what the B string is like?

 

[michael_t]

Do you have any experience with the 5 string set. My band tunes 1/2 step down. Wondering what the B string is like?

No personal experience with the factory 5-string set (M7200-5, 44-62-84-106-128), but I have used the ML7200 (44-58-80-102) set with the 128B on my 34" scale Yamaha for BEADG and the B seemed to do fine. It's hard to say how it would do tuned down half a step, though. It would all depend on your idea of how stiff you want it to be.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Higher tension: I don't have the actual numbers but the 5-string set definitely FEELS higher tension than an average 45-105 set. Perhaps stiffer is a better description. I normally like long scale roundwounds around 45-105 but the Pressurewound 5-string set was too stiff for me and not available in a lighter gauge. I usually prefer roundwounds with more "bouncy" dynamics and a less stiff feel though. I could never make the Pressurewound 5-string set sing. They felt a bit unresponsive to me. Great sustain but kinda flat dynamics, no "bouncy" attack. But if you like your strings a bit stiffer than an average 45-105 set they may be exactly what you're looking for.

Tighter botton: Well... I guess that depends what you mean by "bottom". The lows are defintely tight but the lower mids felt a bit bloated to me. The upper mids were a bit too clanky for my taste too. There are very mid focused strings. I've only tested them on somewhat mid focused basses though (P-basses and a Nordstrand Big Singles eqipped Ibanez SR2605) and I didn't like them very much. But lots of people seem to love these strings. I've been thinking about testing the lighter ML7200 set on a less mid forward bass. I have a feeling I might like those better.

 

[michael_t]

Higher tension: I don't have the actual numbers but the 5-string set definitely FEELS higher tension than an average 45-105 set. Perhaps stiffer is a better description.

PW 44-62-84-106 are definitely higher in tension and stiffer than typical 45-105 hex-core rounds. It's the 128B that I'm not so sure about as to how it would do for down-tuning.

Here are the actual tension figures...

PW 44-128 in BEADG:

G 044 - 43.3 lbs.
D 062 - 48.6
A 084 - 47.2
E 106 - 48.0
B 128 - 34.0

PW 44-128 in BbEbAbDbGb:

Gb 044 - 38.6 lbs.
Db 062 - 43.3
Ab 084 - 42.0
Eb 106 - 42.8
Bb 128 - 30.3

 

[jcburn]

Amazing guys - thank you.
I think I will try these at some stage. Thank you for all the opinions and information. I am happy the tension will suit me, it remains to be seen if the tone will but that's part of the journey!!