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Identify strings on an SG bass I recently bought
- Thread starter sgiacomo
- Start date
Assuming there is no silk at the ball end, they look like GHS Boomers, except those look like the "long scale" set put on a short scale bass the way quite a bit of the non-silked part of the E string wraps around the post and the start of the silk on A and D is way up there close to the posts.
I asked about the exposed core at the ball end on the E because the silk in your pic looks more like burgundy to my eyes than the crimson red the Boomers come with. My initial thought was they looked like the old version of GHS Progressives, which are Alloy 52 (nickel-iron) roundwound. But both B and E were exposed core.
EDIT: By the way, the Progressives came with silver-colored ball ends, not brass.
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Most Ken Smith strings do come with purple silk, but with silk at both ends. Boomers only have silk at the tuner end.
EDIT: @sgiacomo, do they have silk at both ends, or at tuner end only?
Yeah, Ken Smith Compressors and Slick Rounds have similar color silks, but apparently have silk at both ends?
Google found some old threads here: Ken Smith silk/thread colors
Google found some old threads here: Ken Smith silk/thread colors
Sounds like GHS Boomers then. If so, I know who'd know for sure - paging @Jon Moody
Sure would be nice if string mfgers got together and made a "strings decoder" page, each showing their own colors.
I do remember reading, also, that a bunch of mfgers had to suddenly change silk colors during the Covid supply chain issues, fwiw - older strings might not match current colors.
Sure would be nice if string mfgers got together and made a "strings decoder" page, each showing their own colors.
I do remember reading, also, that a bunch of mfgers had to suddenly change silk colors during the Covid supply chain issues, fwiw - older strings might not match current colors.
This is true. I just got a set of Ken Smith Compressors and looks like there are three different shades of purple in the same set.
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Yeah, more purple than I remember, but the 2nd from left (D string) is the shade I'm remembering, I think. Freaky they're mixed in one set.This is true. I just got a set of Ken Smith Compressors and looks like there are three different shades of purple in the same set.
View attachment 5022158
Just another indication GHS is in fact the manufacturer behind Ken Smith strings. I do remember seeing a thread about GHS Precision Flats with the same mixed shades of purple.
- Sep 9, 2007
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- Endorsing Artist: Eventide, GHS Strings, G&L Guitars, NS Design, Tsunami Cables
E was always available as a regular string in singles, under the PRR moniker (instead of PRB).
If I had to guess from the image, my first thought is that it's an old set of the B52s, which had burgundy silk like Progressives and brass ball ends like Boomers. They also had a 36.5" winding length, which would match up with how the strings are sitting on the headstock.
TALKBASS... the NCIS of string identification.
Why does it look like the G is a plain string? At first I thought it was a flatwound but it looks plain.
My last set GHS P flats had mixed purp.Just another indication GHS is in fact the manufacturer behind Ken Smith strings. I do remember seeing a thread about GHS Precision Flats with the same mixed shades of purple.
