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I wish I didn't swap string brands like socks!...

#41
Geri O said:
If a string maker makes an XL (extra long?) single string, FretNation is pretty good about carrying them, or at least can get them.
With the Pro Steels, I was (or will be) ordering the 4-set and ordering a single extra-long B string to go through the body (35” scales).

(I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble, but the string-through debate can rage on without me. I like string-through and it shuts me up. What else could be better….:roflmao:)
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I’ve said it before… Mike Lull went to all the trouble of adding a B-string ferrule, it would be disparaging to his memory not to utilize it at all costs.

I’m with you on the ProSteels. And you can get them on Amazon. I checked Fret Nation and the super long Dunlop Bs are tapered. I always feel weird putting a tapered string thru the body. I’ll just stick with D’Addarios.
 
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#42
I always am going for a very neutral sound on the spectrum. My Ibanez and P-Bass have boomers for that exact reason. My Jaguar has precision flats just as part of a yearlong experiment that I am doing to I feel like fully try out using flats. Then my stingray uses the Bassics just so I can maximize the zing and brightness that I love from that bass. Took a long time for me to decide what I like on what basses.
 
#45
tb-player said:
I’ve said it before… Mike Lull went to all the trouble of adding a B-string ferrule, it would be disparaging to his memory not to utilize it at all costs. (I love this!)

I’m with you on the ProSteels. And you can get them on Amazon. I checked Fret Nation and the super long Dunlop Bs are tapered. I always feel weird putting a tapered string thru the body. I’ll just stick with D’Addarios.
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Okay, my new statement on running the B string through the body...

"Mike Lull went to all the trouble of adding a B-string ferrule, it would be disparaging to his memory not to utilize it at all costs, I like it, and it shuts me up!"......:roflmao:

Love it!
 
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#49
Geri O said:
Arrghhh...

Seems like every few months I'm changing string types.

At the beginning of the year, I was into the D'addario Pro Steels. However, I got interested in a more-in-the-middle between steels and nickels brought me to the NYXLs again (tried a couple of years ago).
So I got the NYXLs and started using them. Pretty much achieved what I was hoping for and I really like their long life.

However, early this week, I was playing a week-old set of the NYXLs and realized (through the headphones, then my small 210 combo kickback amp) that the B and E strings weren't, well, what I was used to. Not dead, but not very lively, especially with slap-style playing. Admittedly, I hardly play slap at all on gigs, but I still practice it because, well, I just like to.

This made me go "hmm...", then think back that I still had two sets of Pro Steels that I was about to give away (except that I can hardly give away new un-used strings because they are a little heavier than my other bass buddies use). So I put them on and yeah, there we go. Pro Steels are bright, but I seem to hear a little more warmth to them than other stainless steel strings I've tried. And yes, I'm loving the B and E strings with these strings. I put them on both my Jazz-style Lull and my Precision-style Lull. Same characteristics, much happier with the B and E strings.

All that to get to this point. I've been around the world with DRs, Dunlops, Ernie Balls, and other brands. Either the gauges were funky-feeling (how descriptive, I know!) or just didn't care for them. And Pro Steels come standard on Mike Lull basses. So hopefully, I'll stick with these for the foreseeable future.
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Glad you found something your like. Pretty much I use either DR Lo-Riders or GHS Bass Boomers and have for the 20 some years. A while back I bought a Mesa WD-800 which is a different animal than the Eden heads I've been using for the last 12 years. It's taken me a good deal of time do get them dialed in, but I'm be on the job this weekend with a new EQ setting and we'll see how it goes.
 
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#50
Dunlops are my flats hands down. But rounds, ugh it’s been a journey.

I love Roto Steels but keep having issues with them.

I think Fender rounds sound great but for some reason I prefer the feel of steel strings.

I think I’m gonna try Dean Markley Blue Steels next.
 
#52
Swerve said:
Dunlops are my flats hands down. But rounds, ugh it’s been a journey.

I love Roto Steels but keep having issues with them.

I think Fender rounds sound great but for some reason I prefer the feel of steel strings.

I think I’m gonna try Dean Markley Blue Steels next.
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I hate to admit it, but I haven’t heard the Dean Markley name in a long time.
 
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#53
Geri O said:
27556773[/URL], member: 249197"]I hate to admit it, but I haven’t heard the Dean Markley name in a long time.
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Yeah I only thought of them because in an older thread someone recommended Blue Steels if one liked Rotos but wanted a similar string that lasts longer.

Who knows though if the current DM incarnation is as well reputed as the old.

I’m going to take a chance on a set soon, so we’ll see.
 
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#54
Swerve said:
Yeah I only thought of them because in an older thread someone recommended Blue Steels if one liked Rotos but wanted a similar string that lasts longer.

Who knows though if the current DM incarnation is as well reputed as the old.

I’m going to take a chance on a set soon, so we’ll see.
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If possible, please relate your experience with the Markleys. Thanx!
 
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#57
Why try lots of different strings? Well....

1. If I really bond with a bass I owe it to myself to find the right strings for it.

2. It's advantageous to know a bunch of strings so that when the right strings you found are discontinued (thanks Sadowsky) you know what some of the better alternatives are.

3. Strings are a relatively inexpensive way to occupy rampant curiosity.

4. If one does get carried away a couple of thousand on strings spaced out over time may be easier to explain (or hide) than a boutique 2x12 cab.

5. What if the perfect set of strings is out there but I never find them and die not knowing?
 
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#58
Diplock said:
2. It's advantageous to know a bunch of strings so that when the right strings you found are discontinued (thanks Sadowsky) you know what some of the better alternatives are.
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that's why a couple years ago I wrote to Rotosound to ask if, in case their endorsement with Billy Sheehan would end, they'll still produce the 43-110 set :D
they answered me that "yes", they would and will, because the gauge is not "endorsed", so they can still sell that specific gauge without his name on it.

speaking about the thread, I've had years of compulsively changing strings, even during the same week, buying different sets and switching them on the same bass.

it was a real pain, in the search for the "perfect set" with an overall sound I liked, an overall feeling I liked, and I was going crazy.
only with roundwounds, because with flats I've always kept a set for years (es: TIJF344 on a P bass for 6 long years, or La Bella 52-110 on a J bass since 2016, still on today).

now it's been two years, or almost three, that I fell in love with the Rotosound BS66 and found a feeling I like so much that I'm using them on most of my basses, except for the Yamaha TRB6p with Ernie Ball 32-130 (the standard set of 6 string Rotosound it's not in my tastes, and I don't want to use singles to create a set).

sometimes I still try other strings, FE I like nickels on the Precision, so I use Ernie Balls or Fender.
 
#60
I do the same. I'll stick with a model of strings for a while, but first, I cast about and try everything, and then I'll decide on one model. Just when I start crowing about how my preferred strings are perfect (usually after I've been using them for a year or so and don't intend to change), I'll start to hear something that bugs me, and go on to something else, with lots of cul de sacs along the way.

I'd been using Fender 9050 flats for about two years when I felt the urge to switch to roundwounds. A zillion sets later, I'm mostly down to a few varieties of DR round-cores. After that, I decided that the Fender flats were too dark and got some Ernie Ball Cobalts, with mixed results. Probably going back to Fenders for flats. I'll narrow it down to one or two types of DRs for rounds. Then I'll act like I'm made in the shade until somthing starts to bug me again.
 
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