LOL Neither do I, guess I just have that magical Rory Gallagher sweat! Sweat that does things they shouldn't.
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In Praise Of Old Strings
- Thread starter slam dunk
- Start date
When thin sounding passive bass guitar meet a well used nickel roundwound bass string, she sound like real bass guitar should.
D
I massively prefer the tone of old, broken in strings, both with flats and rounds. Sadly there's always a point where strings become truly useless due to mechanical wear that will cause buzzing and/or intonation issues. Most strings will last YEARS (and in some cases even decades) before this happens though.
Brand new strings? Even old school flats and pure nickel roundwounds are too metallic sounding out of the box for my taste. I can't strand that metallic new string "clank". I like to dig in hard close to the neck (typically on a passive P) and with brand new strings it just gets too clanky. I play bass, not cutlery.
Not all strings age gracefully though. Some just go dead in a bad way. After years of trial and failure I've found my own personaly favourites and the number one criteria is that they must get BETTER with age (for MY taste of course). Most flats do but with roundwounds the results can vary a lot.
Brand new strings? Even old school flats and pure nickel roundwounds are too metallic sounding out of the box for my taste. I can't strand that metallic new string "clank". I like to dig in hard close to the neck (typically on a passive P) and with brand new strings it just gets too clanky. I play bass, not cutlery.
Not all strings age gracefully though. Some just go dead in a bad way. After years of trial and failure I've found my own personaly favourites and the number one criteria is that they must get BETTER with age (for MY taste of course). Most flats do but with roundwounds the results can vary a lot.
Count me as another who dislikes the new string zing thing. I use Pressure Wounds on my 4 and my 5 and both have sets that are about 4 years old. The flats on my fretless are 2 years and counting. Like the OP I can get the sound I want with technique and controls etc. After 5 or 6 years I’ll probably be ready to replace them.
I've never met a recording engineer who agrees with the "old strings are best" brigade. I spent several years playing sessions at various studios in the UK, and was told over and over that the way to get work is to turn up on time with a quiet bass with fresh strings, smile, play the dots, play the dots again when you're asked, smile again and say thank you. No engineer wants to record old, dead strings
I prefer older rounds. My Lakland Joe Osborn wears TI Jazz Rounds that are about 15 years old. Warm, but can still snap and bite if you dig in a little.
D
Pyramid Pure Nickels 45-105 are my favourite roundwounds. They age better than most roundwounds IMO and once they're broken in (which may take weeks or even months depending on how much you play) they have a warmer, fatter tone than any other roundwounds I've tried. I guess some might call them muddy when they reach this stage but for MY needs they are perfect. They don't have the tone/feel of flats but they AGE like flats in the way they just keep getting better and better.
GHS Balanced Nickels are also nice for a warm roundwound tone but they don't age as nicely as the Pyramids and the more supple round core feel doesn't work for me on all basses (particularly on short scale basses). They sound better out of the box than the Pyramids though.
Thomastik Jazz Rounds have an AMAZING warm and "woody" tone but the ultra-light tension means I always need to hold back a bit with my plucking hand so I only use them for studio work. On gigs I want to DIG IN and have fun.
I use other (and brighter) types of roundwounds too but I keep coming back to the Pyramid Pure Nickels. They are a bit on the warm/mellow side for some styles of music but for ME they're usually the first choice. When I want to go brighter it's usually Roto 55s/66s or Thomatik Infeld Superalloys. They will need a couple of sessions to get rid of excessive zing before I really enjoy them though.
When recording I actually use flats more often than rounds, unless the song really calls for rounds. Flats often sit better in the mix in my experience. LaBella DTF 760FL for old school thump. Thomastik Jazz Flats for a more "modern" tone with more sustain (the short scale sets are horrible though with an INSANE jump in tension between E-A). Pyramid Gold for "that" 60s tone but only with short scale basses, I don't like the Pyramid Gold long scale sets. The E-strings gets too extreme, thumpy to the point of being completely dead.
For reference (as I think this is crucial for any meaningful context):
I mostly play fingerstyle close to the neck and like to be able to dig in hard without sounding like an avalanche of scrap metal. Hence my preference for warmer sounding strings. My "reference tone" is a passive P with the tone rolled off a bit, just to the point where the tone starts to thicken but the upper mids are still present. I never use bridge pickups or blend pickups, that's just not my kind of tone. With two pickup basses it's neck only for me. I only use vintage tube amps, mostly with a "British" voicing. I use modern cabs but never Ampeg 810 if I can avoid it, I can't stand the midrange honk in those cabs. My favourite cab is a Bergantino 2x12. I mainly play 60s/70s/90s inspired rock (yeah, I bypassed the 80s, lol). Psych, prog, "alternative" rock. Sometimes heavier stuff.
IME, not all rounds age the same, and some sets sound like a wet bag after their initial settling in period. For example, I love Ernie Ball’s when they’re new, but they do nothing for me once their initial zing is gone. By comparison, I’ve had my DR Pure Blues on my bass for probably about 6 months now, and they still sound fantastic.
I never change strings (unless one of them break, obviously) and I hate wholeheartedly the sound of new strings. The older, the better.
Years ago I had a '63 Jazz with the original flats on it. I used to play with a pick and bridge mute with my right hand. Finally in '82 the E string rusted through and broke at the bridge. I was living in South Florida at the time and I'm sure the high humidity was a contributing factor. I was bummed because they sounded great. I was way more bummed when I went to the music store in Palm Beach and found out they didn't even carry flats!! Reluctantly, I put on a set of Roto-Sound rounds. BOING!!!! I hated them, but was stuck with them until I could find some flats. Now I run flats on all my basses and like you, never change them. They sound better and better the older they get! I guess we all have to chase that sound in our head and each to his own!!
I use flats 90% of the time in all genres I've needed to play (active PJ5s) and they always sound right according to me and band mates. Pedals offer variety on the fly. The newest flats are probably 4 years old, the oldest over 10. I do keep one bass strung with stainless, but I don't play it out until the strings are at least a month or two old. FWIW, I don't slap or play genres that require that ganky fret-noise zing-y tone.
Well, it depends. In all the session work I've done in LA, for the most part no producer wants to hear new string "zing" or clank. They all preferred broken in flats or rounds. Obviously it all depends on the genre/style of music. Of course, the bass has to be set up and intonated properly before a session even with those old strings you've had on forever. Some folks forget to do that!
Yep. I can leave Nickel LoRiders on a bass for years and they sound just right. To me they behave like Labella flats in that once they "settle in" they stay great sounding indefinitely.
Some people buy strings that are just bright enough for them when new but complain that they sound dead after 1 week. I prefer to buy strings that are too bright when new but sound right for a year or two after they've been played in. Too radical for some, I know.
I have saved thousands of dollars by using flatwound strings but that's not why I use them. We've all got to use whatever tools to help us to accurately express ourselves.
