HELP ME GET A BETTER B STRING..

[bubinga5]

I have a UK built Sei jazz 5 with Bartolini's and a John East U Retro..(not pictured)

at the mo i have DR MM's on it..i know these strings have a round core and are very flexible....the B is very floppy and a little mushy sounding unless i roll on the bridge pickup..then the tone becomes more focused..i dont want this bridge pickup sound all the time

.DR strings are known for there good life span i know, these are about 5 months old, but the bass has been in a studio for 4 of those..could it be the strings have gotten dirty in this time inside the case its been in..?

Do you think a hexcore string like the DR Lowriders may give it some zing and punch.and maybe a bit more tightness....its a fairly dark, woody sounding bass so i need a bright string like the LR's...

its an incredible instrument but it sounds like it needs to be brought to life...could a hex core string give a bass more B string focus...

any B string advice?

 

[David Jayne]

...its a fairly dark sounding bass so i need a bright string...

You may find a LoRider works better, but can tell you from painful experience, when a bass is generally dark sounding to begin with you are fighting an uphill battle that you probably won't win. I wish you luck.

 

[spade2you]

Did you like how the strings sounded new?

 

[Edwcdc]

I tried LowRiders once and had to take them off after the first set because they were too stiff. I find new HiBeams to be pretty good for B string. I have two basses with B strings and the one with the longer scale has the better B.

 

[OOZMAN]

d'addario stainless steel wound .135

 

[bubinga5]

ive got to be honest it was quite a while ago...i have DR's on my Fender and they are superb..

I remember quite liking the tone on the Sei, but i hadnt had the bass that long so didnt know the pre that well.. the B was floppy i remember that...

Dmusic..do you think the bass is dark from the rosewood..it has a swamp ash body so it shouldnt be dark surely..

 

[Eric Boyer]

I'm having the exact same problem!

I've had Fat Beams on my 4 string jazz for years because I love 'em.

So when I got my 55-02D I naturally put Fat Beams on it. Sure enough the E, A, D and G sound great but B is floppy and undefined.

The stock Fat Beam B is .125 I'm thinking of getting the set with the .130 to see if that helps any....?

I was going to order a set tonight, but I might hold off and see how this discussion turns out...

 

[David Jayne]

Dmusic..do you think the bass is dark from the rosewood..it has a swamp ash body so it shouldnt be dark surely..

There's really no way to know. I have an all-maple, neck-through Pedulla with an ebony board. Must be really bright sounding, right? It's the darkest sounding bass on earth.

 

[Eric Moesle]

If you are finding your B string to be too floppy, I'd first try a thicker guage B string, I suggest a .130

If that doesn't do the trick, yes, a hex-core string will be tighter and will reduce floppiness. DR Lowriders are very, very tight strings with a hex core.

 

[bubinga5]

There's really no way to know. I have an all-maple, neck-through Pedulla with an ebony board. Must be really bright sounding, right? It's the darkest sounding bass on earth.

???...strange...the thing is there are so many variables on an instrument you have to be a luthier to pinpoint the problem!!

its all a learning process if not an expensive and frustrating one...

Im going to try some Low riders...EricBoyer.. i think the prob may stem from the fact that DR Fatbeams are constructed on a round core so there ist the stiffness that Lowriders can give you...im speculating here.. ?

Eric M..thankyou for confirming what i thought..

 

[bubinga5]

just a thought how about putting a 4 string set of Marcus Millers on the E to G..then a Low rider on the B..????

i like the feel of the Fatbeams on E to G, maybe dont want them to tight...

 

[lowphatbass]

How long have you had the bass? If you didn't put the strings on yourself or get to play them fresh out of the pack you should start fresh with a new set.