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Help wanted - im just a regular guy...

M

Mr pickelz

May 11, 2011
15
0
#1
Howdy all!

I've been looking through the threads all morning for a solution but nothing came up - I'm looking for a new set of strings, I used to have a set of rotosound roundwounds on my passive jazz bass, they were ok for a while but the tone is well and truly dead.

I literally play all styles of music (I'm a big believer that you should learn the instrument not just the style) so it means I do alot of slap but also alot of finger style, the strings I guess need to have a very bright and clean high end but with u punchy clean low end,(I know alot of this can be to do with the amp) the problem is that I think just about every set of strings claims to have this!

I looked at DR chromes but apparently they loose tone too fast

EB Cobalts are too 'tinny'

(please correct me if I'm wrong)

So is there anybody out there who's in a similar situation or can help me anyway? :)
 
#3
Chromes are flats, so they are by design going to have a totally different tone than rounds. They do not "lose tone too fast", unless somebody thought they were going to sound like roundwounds.

When you say the Rotos "were OK for a while", that sounds like normal. Bright strings do not retain that zingy tone for long, and some people change strings once a week, once a month, or whatever it takes to keep the "new string zing". You'll find threads on here about boiling the strings and all kinds of other attempts to make that bright tone last longer. It's an uphill battle. A lot of guys end up using an overdrive pedal to give them a bright cutting sound even when their strings are not so bright anymore.

I'd say stick with whichever stainless rounds appeal to you, and read up on whatever tips and tricks people use so they don't have to throw away strings every couple of weeks.
 
#4
Soaking round wounds in denatured alcohol overnight will "clean" em & bring em back to 95% of that "new"sound. I find it works about 4 or 5 times per set.
Why not try both/either a set of 1. Coated round wounds. 2. D' addario tape wounds.-which are rounds covered in a nylon black tape. They're brighter than flats &I find slap ok as well as having a great punchiness
 

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