GHS Progressives Day! (caution...Ric content)

I've used the Progressives on my 4002 years ago,and really liked them. I've been a DR string user for the last 12 years,(mostly Sunbeams),and now my go-to roundwounds are Kalium balanced. (Thanks to you for my discovering them,actually!--your set is still on the Laredo,and still sounds great....)

 

I played GHS Progressives on my 4002 from the day they were a "new" string for over twenty years. Before "balanced" strings were "the thing," I ordered mine in custom gauges 45-60-80-105. They lasted the longest and had the best overall tone when settled in - very balanced, not too bright, not too dull. I'm playing different gigs now and have D'Addario tapes on at the present. But if I get a heavier gig, the Progressives are going right back on.

Hey - woodyng - another 4002 player with Progressives! Great!

I can't use Kalium or other pure nickel strings because my perspiration eats them and they turn my fingers black, dying a horrible death in the process.

 

Well,Former 4002 with Progressives player,Anyway! I sold my 83 4002 about 8 years ago,to start what was going to become a 4004 obsession. I have 3 of 'em now,including one that has the pickups moved to the 4002's positions, it is the one with the Kalium strings. Fortunately for me,my hands don't sweat,and strings tend to last me for years regardless of their metal content.

 

I used both Boomers and Progressives in 45-65-85-105 on a '76 4001 I had before I got the 4002. Never a problem; always sounded great. The reason I changed from Boomers to Progressives was because my hand sweat killed Boomers too soon; Progressives lasted much, much longer, and the reason I changed from 65-85 to 60-80 on the D & A strings was I liked the feel better as more consistent with the G & E.

 

iiipopes, was there a difference in tension and flexibility between the Progressives and Boomers? Also were the progs equally smooth as the Boomers? Thanks much!

 

To me, the Progressives were much more even in every way, string-to-string: tone, sustain, tension, flexibility and longitivity. Of course, I was doing the "balanced" sets of 45-60-80-105 custom ordered decades before anybody else was doing it - since the early '90's, when Progressives were a new string. My hand perspiration chemistry eats nickel, and Boomers always went thump after a weekend Fri-Sat double gig. The Progressives would last much longer; toward the end of a few successive gigs the worst I would have to do was change the E string, and that was elective. All strings have new string zing; for me the Progressives settled into that long steady-state quickly, and I didn't have to keep the tone rolled off to about 8 or 9 as long as with any other roundwounds, nickel or stainless.

I remember as if it were yesterday: I went in to my local shop, for another set of Boomers, and complained about how they died quickly. The owner had just gotten in on trial these "new" strings - GHS Progressives. Then they were a couple dollars more per set, but less on this intro. I tried them and never bought another bass string for decades. Only in the past couple of years have I put nylon tapes on some of my basses to get a different vibe for a different band, and to drop tension a bit as my hands now start to feel it after a 3-hour gig. It's not just the lesser tension; the nylon wrap is more of a "shock absorber." GHS' tapes are a version of Brite Flats wrapped in nylon, and the Brite Flats are also wrapped with "52," ground down.

Most recently, in my thread Another Cure for G-String Twang | TalkBass.com , I mentioned another experiment: a Pressurewound 44 with Progressives 60-80-105. The Pressurewound treatment tightens the wrap, taking a little bit of brightness off the string. The wrap is the same "52" alloy wrap, and after they settle in, work well together, and eliminate G-string twang.

 

Thanks iiipopes! so the Progressives are a scosche more flexible? My biggest concern is the "E" string being a saddle hugger. Raising the bridge for the E string will cause my A string to rise as well..........hmmmmm.

 

The saddle hugger part ends about where the E string saddle is. I didn't have to raise my E string side of my 4002 bridge as much as I thought I'd have to. I do admit my 4002 bridge has more of a crown radius than current RIC production, which is a little flatter.