Kinda dead roundwounds, anyone like 'em?

[BusyFingers]

I don't mean dead as a doornail, but just a bit dead. You know, the zing is gone, but they aren't quite lifeless. They are a bit subdued, but not completely crap yet.

Does anyone like this phase before they go belly up?

 

[Stumbo]

I have dead half-rounds on my Ibanez Musician PJ. Been there since the mid-nineties. With 3 band active eq., palm muting, pick or pluck, a variety of tones are accessible.

 

[Callused Finger]

Nope. That's why for me Dr Hi Beams are the greatest string since.. Strings.
If I want dead I get EB Cobalt flats.

 

[warrplayer]

The main reason I own multiple basses is so I don't have to constantly play one with brand new strings the first few weeks after I change them.

 

[DeliriumTremens]

Nah I hate dead strings. If I want a more subdued sound I'd rather use pure nickel wounds or new chromes

 

[ThudThudThud]

I have a JJ bass (Precision-shaped slab style body & baseball bat neck). It sounds great with older rounds on it. Thump, a little growl, and smooth response.

 

[dreamadream99]

I only replace strings when one breaks.

 

[CoarseBass]

I like strings best on Day 2; bright but not antiseptic sterile squeaky.

I also like a good beaten in round, too, but more for messing around then 'my sound'

 

[Maxdusty]

I don't mean dead as a doornail, but just a bit dead. You know, the zing is gone, but they aren't quite lifeless. They are a bit subdued, but not completely crap yet.

Does anyone like this phase before they go belly up?

Some of my basses sound better and are put to better use with such strings for a more jazz/blues kind of tone. Some are better suited for newer strings so I often save strings when I change a set on these and put them on the ones that sound better with the older strings. Hand me down strings.

 

[GIBrat51]

While I prefer flat wounds or tape wounds on most of my basses, I do have a few that , to me, sound best with rounds. My T-bird, for example; and my Rick 4003; and the Kramer Duke. I prefer to think of the strings they currently wear as "nicely broken in". When they get to the point of "Dead", I replace them; put my shooting ear protectors on; and play them until that nasty zingy-ness is gone... When I get the urge for twang and zing, I play this Rick 330 (with EB Cobalt 11-48s). Through that old Rick amp, that's about as much zing and twang as any normal person can stand...

 

[bikeplate]

Nope. New as possible

 

[elgecko]

Years-old SS DR Lo-Riders are my favorite roundwounds.

 

[CryingBass]

66’s. from 66 I think. Just breakin em in

 

[ThudThudThud]

Nah I hate dead strings. If I want a more subdued sound I'd rather use pure nickel wounds or new chromes

Weirdly, the JJ hybrid bass I describe above sounds "okay" with new rounds, "alright" with Chromes, and "fan-bloody-tastic" with worn in rounds. I guess it's a case of finding the true voice of the individual bass. This bass has those weird passive EMG p'ups, and a very hard/dense body. That might be a factor.

 

[Jackcrow]

Yes, I like them after the initial brightness has worn off a bit. Then I use them for a couple months.

 

[micguy]

It depends on the strings and the bass. I’ve had strings with very little zing that I loved right out of the package, but a month later... yuck.

Most strings, though, I have to play at least a week or two before I can gig ‘em - those will make it 6 months to a year before I have to change ‘em, with a good, long happy period. All these times would be much shorter if I only had one bass...

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Years-old SS DR Lo-Riders are my favorite roundwounds.

I just put some on. I'll know next Halloween if that works for me as well.

 

[Axstar]

I've found that once Dean Markley Blue Steels and Rotosound 66s go dead there isn't really much going on there. Too much of the integral character of those strings comes from the fresh zing. The Marleys didn't have a lot of mids going on, on my P bass at least, so once the zing was gone there wasn't much left.

 

[mexicanyella]

I only own one bass, which I bought about ten years ago. I restrung it (Squier Affinity P) back then with a set of Dunlop nickel-plated steel roundwounds, .045-.105. I only got it out occasionally back then since I didn't really play bass yet. But in the last few years bass playing has eclipsed guitar playing for me, and now I'm doing weekly band practices with it, still on the same 9- or 10-year-old strings, and I like how they sound and feel.

I don't much like how new rounds I've tried sound. When I started out I thought I wanted that new-string piano twang, but I've evolved into a guy who plays fingerstyle, pretty softly, with a pretty loud and slightly dirty amp, and deader strings sound better to me in that scenario.

I'm thinking of trying chrome or cobalt flats whenever these strings give up, hoping to bypass that new zing and enjoy a long period of tonal usefulness.

 

[Kevan Campbell]

I personally love ‘em! I call them “zombie strings” at that point, simply because it’s fun to say.

My favorite is just-beyond-broken-in Sadowsky Blue Label Nickelwounds on my Sadowsky 5’er, and adjust hand positioning and the VTC to taste for any specific timbre and zing.