• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Hex core strings for more mids?

Dave

Dave

Jan 27, 2005
3,939
3
38
Wilmington, NC/Lynchburg, VA
www.last.fm
#1
I've got a Ash/Rosewood passive JO5 with the Fralin p/u's in it and it sounds a little too tame for my tastes. I used to have Stainless DR Lo-Riders, but that gave more hi mids and highs at the sacrifice of low to mid mids.

I want a string that is pretty flat in the low end and high end, while accentuating the full range of the mids. In messing with EQ it seems that Im missing the 750hz - 1.2Khz range, give or take (when using Nickel Lo-Riders)

I like the higher tension of hex core strings, so I'd like to stay with them if possible. I saw that Sadowsky strings are hex core, but couldn't find much info on the roundwounds, everything that came up pertained to their flatwounds.

Any thoughts/insight?
 
#2
Sit power wounds are great at the tone you are describing.

I would stay away from stainless if I was you.

Try searching around on the forum, bass player published an article that described pretty much all brands of strings, nickel, steel flats with commentaries and a bass-mid-treble diagram, I think it could help you a lot
 
#4
most of the stainless rounds have scooped mids..

D'addario XL's sounds well balanced.. and hex cores which are a bit tighter..
how about Dean Markley Nickels.. they seem to have upfront mids...
GHS Boomers also have lots of mids and bottom in them and soft treble..
SIT Power wounds have tons of mids as well
 
#5
Great guys, thanks for the info. Hadn't thought about the SITs, but according to that bass player article, they look like a great choice. Anyone know what the NR means beside some of the gauges on their site?

Funny that the stainless Lo-Riders are said on there to have forward mids. I don't really remember them being like that...

Before I make a purchase, anyone have a comment on Sadowsky's?
 
#6
I really like the Sadowsky nickels. Very full and focused with nice even mids and highs. From what I understand nickels will give more open mids vs. the stainless that give a liitle scoop. I'm about to give the Sad SS Blues a try also along with the La Bella HRS as a comparison.
 
#8
Are you playing both pickups dimed? Favor one slightly and see if you find some of those missing mids.

There are very few round core strings out there (Hi Beams, Fat Beams). So basically nearly every round wound is some sort of hex core. And they all sound different.

I am not sure that I would call 750Hz to 1.2kHz low mids but in that range that I would call high mids, I have had nice balance using La Bella Hard Rockin' Steels.
 
#9
Yea, thats the range I feel like I'm missing. The lows and low mids are there in abundance, but theres not much in the mid to hi-mids (750 - 1.2khz) with the Lo-rider Nickels that Im using now.

I usually run slightly favoring the bridge, but sometimes that gets a little too burpy. Running toward the neck gets too thick and loses some definition. I think the underlying issue is the Fralins are a little too polite sounding for most of what I do, but finding strings that compliment that is far cheaper than getting new pickups.
 
#12
Solarmist said:
Those are nice strings; they will tame. Can't you adjust your amp settings?

If you do switch from SS to nickel rounds; SIT Powerwounds are some nice warm/bright strings.
Click to expand...

I can, but I play at school a lot which leaves me running direct a lot until I'm able to rework my amp setup so that Im running the Dave Hall VT1 EQ into a power amp, but thats for another thread...

Also, its harder to eq in frequencies that aren't being produced very well and it just makes the sound direct better. And, if you can't get close to the sound you want without eq or w/e, why not?

Id though about the sunbeams, but I thought those were roundcore.
 
#14
Nope, Ive been meaning to try them out too. In researching online and in looking at the tables that Bass Player Mag put out, the three Im planning on trying are the SIT powerwounds, D'Addario XLs and Im still pretty interested in the Sad's too.

I like that the SITs and XLs are cheaper than the DRs Ive been using too.

Any comment to the XL's tension? I like nice stiff strings.
 
#15
The D'Addario's are pretty stiff. I think most hex core strings feel a bit stiff, personally. To my fingers the D'Addario and the DR strings are really close in tension/stiffness. I like the feel of the D'Addario's better, though. They don't grab ones fingers as much as the nickel Low Riders. Another nice set is the Dunlop nickels. They aren't as stiff as the D'Addario's, but close. They sound amazing on my Jazz.
 
#17
DavePlaysBass said:
Are you playing both pickups dimed? Favor one slightly and see if you find some of those missing mids.

There are very few round core strings out there (Hi Beams, Fat Beams). So basically nearly every round wound is some sort of hex core. And they all sound different.

I am not sure that I would call 750Hz to 1.2kHz low mids but in that range that I would call high mids, I have had nice balance using La Bella Hard Rockin' Steels.
Click to expand...

Well, in rehearsal the other day I thought about this post and tried pulling the neck volume back just ever so slightly and there was most of the sound I was looking for. Somehow in the couple years I've had this bass I never tried just barely backing one of the pickups, but virtually every other volume combo possible. I may still experiment with strings some, but for now, this has gotten me quite close.

Thanks :)
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back