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Most positive string surprise ever - whats yours?

#41
TI flats! I have never felt or played a flat wound string like TI's. I don't play fretless anymore but if I still did they would be my only string of choice. Dunlop round wounds of any kind are a great deal for the money and since my hands don't really sweet they last forever. I find them maybe second only to DR sunbeams (and not by much as I find they last longer). They are now pretty much all I use.
 
#44
I agree. These strings blew my mind 7 years ago. Have a set on my fretless for 7 years. The sound just as good as when I put them on.
My go to string. They are worth every penny. In the long run the have saved me money.
GregT said:
Thomastik Flats. I would have never believed they were worth that much more, but they are. I use them on every bass. The low B on my Jazz is great even. And they last forever in my world.
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#45
DR Lo Beams are my brand. Tried pretty much all of them over the years. Taught lessons for a store, and could get strings at wholesale +10%, so I was able to try a brand, if I didn't like it could switch to another, then another Tried them all, Boomers, D'Addario, Dunlop, Fender, Ernie Ball. Was playing Boomers for a while then got turned on to DR electric strings (Lite 'N Tite .10 - .52), haven't broken one yet, and decided to give their bass strings shot.

Haven't looked back, and I'm seriously considering moving away from Martin phosphor bronze acoustic mediums and try DR's acoustic strings. Probably next time I order strings online I'll pick up a set just to try.
 
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#46
image.jpg
 
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#48
GHS Precision Flats. The only flat that out of the pack sounds exactly as I expect a broken in set of flats to sound. I love Chromes and Labella for different reasons, but when I think FLATWOUND, these have it and I was pleasantly surprised to find them.
 
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#52
MJC Ironworks

yes I use super brights they sound good and are cheap but to me lack something in the low end. SUnbeams have been my favorite all around string and they have a mid warmth and zing that sounds amazing together.

I just put a set of MJC's on my Streamer a few days ago. Simply they are incredible.

MJC Ironworks | We make strings.
 
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#54
Snaxster said:
Steve, Thank you for mentioning the Pyramid Gold strings' "dead E".

Recently I strung a nice Fender Precision Bass with Curt Mangan flatwounds and noticed the set's relatively dead E string, amplified or not. But I liked the strings very much overall, so I stuck with them. I had heard bad strings (that were truly dead and/or could not be intonated) and this was not that. This sounded different, but natural.

A few days ago I plugged that bass, with its Curtis Novak pickup and the Curt Mangan flatwounds (yes, two Curts), into my Kern preamp and just started playing. A few minutes later I stopped and smiled: I had achieved one of the classic Precision Bass sounds. It was as if I was listening to someone else playing. Fingerstyle or palm muted thumb picking, the sound was so canonical that it felt hyperreal as I heard myself play it.

Though I started playing bass guitar in 1979, after my first bass (a clean 1967 Standel hollowbody), I think I had almost no basses strung with flats. Halfwounds, yes, but not flats. So I never learned the nuances of flatwound strings.

Now I am completely into it. Not that all makes and models of flatwound string sets feature normally relatively dead E strings, but I am even into those that do. These Curt Mangan flatwounds are keepers.

Thanks again.

Snaxster

View attachment 669372
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Cool story. I think the tone balance between strings moderates with time and varies by bass and string set. In some cases the E,A and D are alike but the G is too zingy. One trick that can remedy that is a tiny paper shim under the string at the saddle. Can be done at the nut too. P basses with the traditional Fender offset can worsen the issue whereas a reverse P can help. One thing I have noticed is that the brighter flats like Daddario, Roto, Ernie Ball, etc tend to be very tonally balanced between strings. The thumpy ones not so much, at least not until they are broken in (Pyramid, GHS and sometimes LaBella).

The LaBella 1954's are somewhat thumpy and are generally quite well balanced, especially the 5 string sets. I think that's because the B is tapered and the A is huge (.95) so the B, E and A play well together. The D aligns well too....and I don't use a G string but if I did the paper shim trick works pretty good.
 
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#56
mmbongo said:
BSO is right in your back yard, too. Hit the 'submit order' button and walk out to the mailbox. They'll be there!

He also has a discount program for TB users, just register on his site and send him your TB username and you'll get special pricing. Sale items like the Dunlops probably don't get further discounts though...but everything else is fair game! Even amps/pedals/accessories and stuff.
Click to expand...

How would I go
About getting special pricing? I've been ordering from BSO for years and I've been a TB user for a long time as well
 
#57
Snaxster said:
Steve, Thank you for mentioning the Pyramid Gold strings' "dead E".

Recently I strung a nice Fender Precision Bass with Curt Mangan flatwounds and noticed the set's relatively dead E string, amplified or not. But I liked the strings very much overall, so I stuck with them. I had heard bad strings (that were truly dead and/or could not be intonated) and this was not that. This sounded different, but natural.

A few days ago I plugged that bass, with its Curtis Novak pickup and the Curt Mangan flatwounds (yes, two Curts), into my Kern preamp and just started playing. A few minutes later I stopped and smiled: I had achieved one of the classic Precision Bass sounds. It was as if I was listening to someone else playing. Fingerstyle or palm muted thumb picking, the sound was so canonical that it felt hyperreal as I heard myself play it.

Though I started playing bass guitar in 1979, after my first bass (a clean 1967 Standel hollowbody), I think I had almost no basses strung with flats. Halfwounds, yes, but not flats. So I never learned the nuances of flatwound strings.

Now I am completely into it. Not that all makes and models of flatwound string sets feature normally relatively dead E strings, but I am even into those that do. These Curt Mangan flatwounds are keepers.

Thanks again.

Snaxster

View attachment 669372
Click to expand...

I had a deal with them for a while. But I kept snapping them like twigs. They sounded fine but broke really easy.
 
#60
two fingers said:
Every time I try something else and go back to regular D'Addario XLs I am peasantly surprised and wonder why I ever tried anything else.
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I'm kind of like that myself, but with DR Sunbeams. I go on a string bonanza every few months and try something new, but it always seems I come back to Sunbeams because I know they just work with my bass. When I bought it used here on TB, I pm'd the original owner and asked if the strings it came with were Sunbeams (its easy to spot DR's because of the tighter windings) and he confirmed.

I also go long periods where I use flats and I always come back to Labella DTF 45-105's after much experimenting. I just ordered a set of GHS P-flats because I realized they're one of the few sets that I haven't put on this particular bass yet, but I've always liked them-particularly the 5 string set. I'm interested in trying the new EB Cobalt flats, but I loathe everything about EB strings so far so I'm I little reluctant.
 

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