Half Round - Rotosounds v. D'Addario

Rotosound does not make any Halfround strings...

Halfrounds that are out there:

D'Addario Half-Rounds: Pure Nickel Outer Winding Half Round over Hex Core

GHS Brite Flats: Nickel Iron Alloy Outer Winding Half Round over Hex Core

Ken Smith Click Round: Nickel Iron Alloy Outer Winding Half Round over Hex Core

La Bella Deep Talkin' Quarter Round: Stainless Steel Outer Winding over Hex Core (Quarter Round only a 1/4 of the winding is shaved off)

SIT Power Flats: Pure Nickel Outer Winding Half Round over Hex Core - However these have recently changed and they appear to be more of a true flat wound than a half-round.


The Pure Nickel strings are warmer... The Nickel Iron are brighter and have more magnetic properties. Stainless is the brightest.

Since halfrounds have more mass than standard round wound strings of similar gauges the larger gauges are usually more thuddy than rounds of similar gauges. It can also depend on the amount of residue left over from the grinding process as after the strings are ground flat they are not polished, the strings are usually described as "sticky" at first but this goes away as they wear in.

 

I'm pretty sure he means Rotosound 55 solo bass strings

They sound pretty dang bright to me, but not ringy like normal rounds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjUWmiV9fw8

 

Solobass 55's are "Pressurewound" type strings... They run the outer winding through rollers before winding around the string, this gets rid of the roughness of fully round outer windings.

 

Yes, but do you know how they sound?

 

Like their rounds but without the sizzle I like to say. Warmer

 

GHS makes pressure wounds and I've had good luck with those, though I always end up going back to round wounds. The pressure wounds from GHS come in a fairly standard gauge, but are a bit stiffer than round wounds of the same size. This gives them a nice pitch stability. They also have reduced finger noise, so that you can add more treble at your amp if needed. Full on flat wounds just stick to my fingers and thud too much for me to enjoy playing them.

 

I have tried D'Addario half-round several times. They were OK but lacked the tone I was
hoping for. Went back to nickel round wound. Based on this I have never tried the other types of strings.

 

Strings for electric bass always make me feel like a happy spur-of-the-moment buy, while the need for new strings on my upright feels like an upcoming mortgage payment. In the end I have to watch out I don't spent more on useless impuls buys for the electric bass than on new Thomastiks for the doghouse.

 

+1

D'Addario has wonderful customer service, as does GHS in my experience. I had a problematic E string with their Pressurewounds and they sent me a replacement E string plus an entire new set!

 

Thanks for all the info about half rounds.

I have been using the D'Addario half rounds since I can remember - probably for around 40 years. I find them to be unexpectedly bright with more thud and less nasal twang than the sort of more piano brightness of the round wounds. I also find that when you roll back the top on the guitar the low end seems warmer and smoother than it is with rounds - but that could just be my instrument. I have been using the HR70's which are super soft with the added benefit for me - that a bass 35 years old has never needed to be refretted - as they are super easy on the frets.

I don't know about the rest of you - I mix and match and use pretty much every string available as my bass collection has grown to 16 - but I always come back to these HR 70's as my go to string. However, I didn't realize until today that there were other quality half round options.

Any D'Addario half rounders who turned into converts of another half round brand? I would like to try some others, but would appreciate some feedback before I dive in. It can be a rather laborious process to change brands, do a new set up etc etc. and any help anyone could provide would certainly be appreciated.

Best,

BassHappy
www.innertainment.net

 

I love D'Addario Half Rounds! They're very versatile strings; you can cover any sonic territory with them; they do a lot of things well.

 

My experience too! Both companies take good care of their customers!!! Kudos to them!

 

I like the D'Addario half rounds and use the 40-95 but find very little different than the 40-95 Chrome flats.