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Growly Strings Suggestions?

PaulMacCnj

PaulMacCnj

Aug 9, 2004
1,518
52
New Jersey, U.S.A.
#1
I currently have a set of La Bella flats on my Spector Euro 5 LX. Great strings, great sound, but I miss the growl that I used to get from roundwounds. I'm looking for strings that have plenty of growl, but don't feel too coarse.

I checked the string reviews on the BassPlayer website. In searching for Nickel roundwounds, 4 different strings sets were described to have growl:

1) Dean Markley Nickel Steel, Feel: Medium - I tried these strings a year ago. I liked them when I first put them on the bass, but I found that they went dead very quickly.

2) Fender 7150M Nickel, Feel: Medium - It appears that these are only available for 34" scale basses. The Spector is 35".

3) Mike Lull Nickel Plated Stainless Steel, Feel: Medium - These might just be the ones to try.

4) Warwick Yellow Label Nickel, Feel: Medium/Coarse - I do like the growl of Warwick basses and their website says that these are the strings used on all new basses. My concern is the "coarse" feel, which I didn't like on a set of Ernie Ball Super Slinkys that I tried before.

Any comments, especially on the Mike Lull strings, and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul Mac
 
#2
D'addario Pro Steel have a bucket full of growl, but are very corse on your fingers. Try their nickel wound, really great tone. Alternatively why not try Ernie Ball nickels? I have only ever used D'addario and Rotosound.

One piece of advice, NEVER use rotosound. They just suck all over, I will never waste my money on them again.
 
#4
I like the DR Lo-riders but they tend to be still abit bright (but much better than the Hi-Beams).

Strings that are never talked about are the Zon strings... I really dig them, especially the Link Removed.
I recently setup a Warwick Thumb 6 with a set of their regular gauge... very nice, much better than the warwicks, IMHO.

You can order them direct from Zon, I think Bass central carries them as well.
 
#8
Thanks for the suggestions. I listened to some recordings of jam sessions from when the Spector was first purchased last year and it had the factory strings. The growl is there but I didn't like the crispy top end. The same can be said for the Ernie Ball's that I tried. The Spector has plenty of top end and I want to keep that tamed with not-so-bright strings. With that said, do you think that the DR's are still for me?
 
#10
DR lo-riders. They're growly, have a nice tight feel, and are nice on the fingers. I don't play anything else, except for flatwounds on my semi-hollow body Univox because I actually want a mellow, boomy sound out of that one. My other basses are nothing but growl and punch with the lo-riders.
 
#11
PaulMacCnj said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I listened to some recordings of jam sessions from when the Spector was first purchased last year and it had the factory strings. The growl is there but I didn't like the crispy top end. The same can be said for the Ernie Ball's that I tried. The Spector has plenty of top end and I want to keep that tamed with not-so-bright strings. With that said, do you think that the DR's are still for me?
Click to expand...

I couldn't tell if the strings that came on my euro 5 LX were Spector or not, but I did like them alot. I wish there was a way to tell but after I boiled them after changing to D'Addario Nickel Wound mediums I noticed that the strings that came on the bass looked alot like warwick strings that I have on some of my other basses. Does anyone have a clear picture of Spector strings?
 
#12
PaulMacCnj said:
I currently have a set of La Bella flats on my Spector Euro 5 LX. Great strings, great sound, but I miss the growl that I used to get from roundwounds. I'm looking for strings that have plenty of growl, but don't feel too coarse.

I checked the string reviews on the BassPlayer website. In searching for Nickel roundwounds, 4 different strings sets were described to have growl:

1) Dean Markley Nickel Steel, Feel: Medium - I tried these strings a year ago. I liked them when I first put them on the bass, but I found that they went dead very quickly.

2) Fender 7150M Nickel, Feel: Medium - It appears that these are only available for 34" scale basses. The Spector is 35".

3) Mike Lull Nickel Plated Stainless Steel, Feel: Medium - These might just be the ones to try.

4) Warwick Yellow Label Nickel, Feel: Medium/Coarse - I do like the growl of Warwick basses and their website says that these are the strings used on all new basses. My concern is the "coarse" feel, which I didn't like on a set of Ernie Ball Super Slinkys that I tried before.

Any comments, especially on the Mike Lull strings, and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul Mac
Click to expand...

Ernie Balls are not especially rough strings , unfortunately it is just a characteristic of roundwounds that they feel rough , ,my advice would be definately to go for nickels if the coarse feel of rounds is a concern to you
 

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