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I hate strings

#41
I don't have an upright, but I have gone through some strings in order to find the ones I like. Right now, I'm really diggin' the TI Jazz Flats. I also like DR Lowriders too.

I think I'm at that place where I'm content. I wish the OP the same thing.
 
#42
Same here. I have enough trouble affording pedals and the like, let alone experimenting on different bass string sets at the price they go for per set. I really like the flatwounds on my Marcus Miller (Picato 45-105) but I am not sure whether I could do with a little more tension. Which makes of flatwounds would you consider to have a pretty high/very high tension? I obviously may not be looking for anything tendon-wrenching, but I've found that I normally like my string tension pretty stiff...
 
#44
Funny ya'll should be talking about this... I too am getting sick of messing around with strings ;).

I just went back to my daddario flats on my L2500 this morning. I had been waiting for my exl 170 rounds to die out, but they just won't calm down and give me a good thump/pop.

Am now aiming for this tone or close to it:



I can get close to this on my L2000 with rounds on it, but those strings are 5 years old. Don't want to wait 5 years for my L2500 to break in.....

Did my setup again this am, had to lower action and go tighter about 1/4 turn on the truss rod. We'll see how things sound in a few days....

LS
 
#45
sockdeluxe_mike said:
Which makes of flatwounds would you consider to have a pretty high/very high tension? I obviously may not be looking for anything tendon-wrenching, but I've found that I normally like my string tension pretty stiff...
Click to expand...
The D'Addario Chromes .50 - .105 set is pretty darn stiff. And they sound great, lots of mid punch.

LaBella 760FM set (.49 - .109) is also said to be good and stiff, have not tried those myself though.
 
#46
dannster said:
The thing I hate about strings is silk. I don't want silk on my strings and It is nigh impossible to find easy info(i.e. listed online in the description) on weather a string has silk or not.
Click to expand...

Oo that's a good point...I have a set of Rotosound SS swingbass on my fretted jazz (and on my fretless jazz), and they came with no winding on the part of the string that crosses the bridge saddle. Weird right? I swear they stayed brighter than usual.
For me, I always come back to the rotos, love the feel and the sound, wish they lasted a little longer though. I like that stainless steel right out of the package sound.
I love the sound when other people play flats, but I have yet to like the feel of them enough to really start going through sets of flats. Tape wound strings have me intrigued though....
I was very impressed with a couple of sets of TI strings that I tried, but I found out that I really don't like nickel strings.

So Jimmy, what strings do you enjoy tolerating the most?

shawn
 
#47
stewart8980 said:
A nice set of Dead Rotosound SwingBass 66s work wonders on my jazz bass. Warm when you need them, and snappy when the time calls.
Click to expand...

+1

Jimmy, have you ever given them (more than a brief) a shot? FWIW, I run two "ancient industry standards"

  • DB: Thomastik Spirocore
  • EB: Rotosound SwingBass 66

and I'm totally happy with both of them. Just go with a mainstream solution, adapt and overcome ;)
 
#49
Just to put things in perspective, I play harmonica too. It's a cheap instrument, but the way I play it (bad technique?) I go through reeds like crazy. Once a reed is gone it's time for a new harp. If I was playing it full time instead of bass I'm sure I would spend a lot more than I do now on strings.

I guess I'm stuck either way until I'm playing a real harp with the angels after I die. Of course, I may be going in the opposite direction ... what DO they play down there (I know the devil plays a fiddle)? :rolleyes:
 
#50
Hmmmm....Yes, I see.
Since turning 49 a couple of months ago, I have come to the point in my life where I seem to be satisfied with what I have. I used to really searched for that perfect string or gauge, and actually find (and still do) that changing strings and doing set-ups to be quite....stress relieving and enjoyable.
I now have settled on Fender 7250 nickel strings to be my go-tos for rounds, and GHS Precision Flats and TI Jazz Flats to be what I like in that category. I will probably keep the rounds on my Carvin 5 strings (which I primarily use for recording) and use the TIs and Precision Flats on everything else.
I still do string changes and set ups on my friends' guitars and basses, which are very theraputic at the end of a stressful day of teaching, and find discussions about strings to be enjoyable.
 
#51
Jimmy have you tried LaBella 760FLs? I love mine. And I've done alot of string experimenting too.

The LaBella 760FLs sound excellent after they lose their initial zing (goes away after about 10hrs). They also are super smooth, and while not super low tension, they are fairly combfortable to me.

Others I have tried:

Chromes - too much treble
Ti J44 - Weird sounding... very middy and zingy
Pyramids - I still own these but I am annoyed when the E is way fatter than the other strings. This is the case here. Pretty dead sounding though.
Fender flats - Medium gage. Okay sounding, a little dull for my taste. Dont like the feel. Too sticky.
LaBella Jamersons - Played these for quite awhile. Pretty high tension. One day I just swapped for the 760s I had lying around and never went back to the Jamersons after that.

All I play is flats. I'd like to try Roto 77s as I've heard alot of good things about them, but I've had my Labella 760s on for about a year and they sound great.
 
#53
I also hate strings. I keep flip flopping and swip swapping. The frustrating thing for me is one day I feel like the only string for me is a super light gauge roundwound. That was yesterday. Today I seem to only want a medium gauge flatwound, so I swapped out the D'addario xl220 for a set of labella fl760m. I love the sound of the labellas right now(holding bass as I type). But I am willing to bet that tomorrow I will want nothing to do with them.
 
#54
Wow, I never knew how many of you hated strings as much as me. The posts mounted up while I was gone. Sorry I can't answer them all individually but that's a lot of posts.

Know what really bugs me? Guitarists can get strings in any gauge they want. But bass strings are almost all sized in increments of 5 thousandths. Well maybe I think that .040 G is too light and the .045 too heavy. Maybe I'd like a .042 instead. Or even a .043. A guitarist can darn sure get a .042 or .043 if he wants one. Yeah, I know...(insert favorite obscure $50 brand of strings here) makes them. Eh...why doesn't everyone?
 
#56
oh god, Jimmy. I guess it would be nice to have more gauge choices...but that might just add to the frustration of trying to find one's personal best strings. I have spent enough money already only to find out that I have no clue what I want out of a string. If I had endless gauge choices, I would need a completely different plan of attack as to how to find the right strings for me.
 
#57
Poor Tom said:
I also hate strings. I keep flip flopping and swip swapping. The frustrating thing for me is one day I feel like the only string for me is a super light gauge roundwound. That was yesterday. Today I seem to only want a medium gauge flatwound, so I swapped out the D'addario xl220 for a set of labella fl760m. I love the sound of the labellas right now(holding bass as I type). But I am willing to bet that tomorrow I will want nothing to do with them.
Click to expand...

Well when I do this, it usually means I'm playing or practicing too much and my hands are so beat up I can't get a good sound on anything in my room ;).

I'm doing the flatwound thing again mostly for mechanical reasons. on my L2500 the rounds I was using also really did have a problem with the sound - they were just too freaking bright and the B string was nuclear weapon louder than the other strings.

But rounds are absolutely shredding my fingerboards. I couldn't believe how much grooving there already is on my L2500 after only having it for a few months now and my L2000 is getting kind of scary.

As for the sound, I'm not really good enough for different strings to really make much difference unless there's really a problem like with my exl170's. And unless you're playing something that sounds awful - I gigged for years with a rick 4003 and it just sounded terrible no matter what strings I put on it or what amp I plugged it into - it ultimately isn't going to matter too much once you crank the amp up.

I mean unless you're a really good player which I'm not.

That keeps the OCD down for me. I just put the basses down and do something else for a while. After my hands/arms have rested, my basses all go back to the same mud when I pick em up again and my OCD is cured for the time being....

LS
 
#58
Well, I got hold of the board tape of the Bowzer shows I did this week where I brought a few different basses and switched too much. Funny how these "glaring" differences in tone and feel that annoy you so much when you play seem to get minimized into not much at the end of the day. So I'll be sticking with my little baby extra light roundwounds because they sound the same on tape, even if they don't in a live setting ;)

I did find a store nearby that carries D'addario Chromes and Half Rounds in an extra light gauge 40-95. Just put the Chromes on my P Lyte...so far so good...nice and slinky and they're built like they'll deaden nicely in time. Having a hard time deciding what bass to put the Half Rounds on. Might put them on my Turser Beatle Bass. I don't like the Rotosound flats on it. I also have an SX I might like to try them on. Tried them 30 years ago and didn't like them, but that was back when I was into rounds only. But I figured I'd give them a chance again since they weren't too bad in price.
 
#59
I spent near $700 on strings for my Jazz bass, tasting just about everything I could get my hands on. You think, thats alot of strings. For guitar, crap thats over 70 sets easy. Bass? 25-30 depending on the price.

I've had just about everything I could buy in town, and for me if I'm going to put it on my basses, it has to be from the following short list:

Labella 760FL (fat and round sound)
Fender 7250ML (fat and bright sound)
DR Highbeam Medium (more sizzle)
 
#60
I've settled on Elixirs, but I don't mind looking around. I definitely like the Elixirs on my SX, but I've played other basses where they just don't sound too hot. I want to try the Sunbeams and get another pair of Fender strings that shipped on my Squier P Bass.

Great string if I remember right, but I tear through a set now faster than I did then. My last set of Elixirs only lasted me 4 months.

Then again,
$10 a month... not bad.
 

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