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Looking for a Mellow roundwound string
- Thread starter Bassworship1
- Start date
I've had good luck with Dunlop Nickels (not the Super Brights--haven't tried those yet) once they wear in.
Other rounds that are mellow:
GHS Boomers
GHS Pressurewounds
SIT Nickel PowerWounds
Dean Markley nickels
Fender nickels
Lakland nickels
DR Stainless Steel Lo Riders -- believe it or not, these are more mellow than the nickels. I absolutely hated the harsh high end of the nickels, plus the nickels lacked mids.
**If you want to kill that initial zing and clank that all new rounds have, rub a decent amount of Eucerin cream in/onto them and let it sit overnight. Wipe it off the next morning and then repeat again later that night**
Other rounds that are mellow:
GHS Boomers
GHS Pressurewounds
SIT Nickel PowerWounds
Dean Markley nickels
Fender nickels
Lakland nickels
DR Stainless Steel Lo Riders -- believe it or not, these are more mellow than the nickels. I absolutely hated the harsh high end of the nickels, plus the nickels lacked mids.
**If you want to kill that initial zing and clank that all new rounds have, rub a decent amount of Eucerin cream in/onto them and let it sit overnight. Wipe it off the next morning and then repeat again later that night**
^Yes, Chromes maybe? I've been surprised/impressed by the GHS Boomers, some brightness (compared to flats), but not D'Addario XL Nickelwound bright.
I haven't tried the GHS Pressurewounds yet but they are on my list.
Last edited:
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
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Chromes, Roto flats and Ernie Ball flats all sound like smooth and mellow rounds to me (which is why I don't use them).
I shared the same feeling you had once I installed the sunbeams. I think I'll just stick to Pressurewounds. Shocking for me to say really cause I really love the DR Pure Blues which people say it's Sunbeams but mellower.
So perhaps the OP should try out DR Pure Blues then.
- Jan 12, 2011
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Buy a new set of EB Super Slinky's and play them for a couple of weeks. At that point they become nice no longer zingy but punchy roundwonds I'm not joking. I slap and they sound great when new but after just a couple of weeks that zing is gone but I still love the fingerstyle tone they give. At that point though, slap is out of the question. Needless to say I don't buy them anymore. I do have one bass however with an old set and use that bass for some recordings
I'm not joking. I slap and they sound great when new but after just a couple of weeks that zing is gone but I still love the fingerstyle tone they give. At that point though, slap is out of the question. Needless to say I don't buy them anymore. I do have one bass however with an old set and use that bass for some recordings Another Sunbeams vote. After a few weeks of playing they really mellow and stay that way for what seems like forever. I realized that I hadn't changed the Sunbeams on my Warwick in over a year, They are close to being really dead, but sound good nonetheless.
For higher tension and a mellow sound broken in, Sadowsky Blue Labels are pretty nice. They mellowed after a month and are just perfect. A stronger fundamental than the Sunbeams, but higher tension.
I haven't made up my mind about Pure Blues. I don't find them mellower than Sunbeams. They have more mids, which can be nice.
For higher tension and a mellow sound broken in, Sadowsky Blue Labels are pretty nice. They mellowed after a month and are just perfect. A stronger fundamental than the Sunbeams, but higher tension.
I haven't made up my mind about Pure Blues. I don't find them mellower than Sunbeams. They have more mids, which can be nice.
+1 I agree. To use 'mellow' and roundwounds in the same sentence is a contradiction in terms.
Either GHS Pressurewounds or DR Pure Blues rounds. I use both and recommend them highly since I'm into a mellow and a more complex midrange with some "not too excessive" authority in the fundamental - and I don't care for a lot of top or sizzle in a bass string.
Otherwise, find a nickel string set you like.
Otherwise, find a nickel string set you like.
Chromes, Roto flats and Ernie Ball flats all sound like smooth and mellow rounds to me (which is why I don't use them).
I don't personally care for any of those for exactly the same reason.
IMO you gotta give sunbeams a few days of playing before they settle into their butter zone. But then they stay there for a surprisingly long time. But over the last year or so I've gone back to XL's. They just work, they're not expensive and you can find them everywhere. I like that. Makes me happy.
I suppose that has to do with perspective. You apparently come from the perspective of a flats player. But as someone who spent years playing Rotosound Stainless Steel RS66's, almost all nickel rounds sound "mellow" to me.
Makes sense. Roto's are probably the brightest strings out there. Don't prefer them myself but I enjoy hearing others use them.
No. It just has to do with knowing the actual definition of mellow:
full, rich, soft, and pure; not harsh: said of sound, light, and color, etc.
I remember your argument with @iiipopes about the appropriateness of using the word "growl" to describe the new Fender flats. You seem to have a little problem with people not using words the way you do...
