Disclaimer: It's purely a thread about my peraonal experience with some more off-base strings. I don't intend to start a troll.
Earlier this year, when I was searching about flatwound strings, I saw an ad:
"Vintage bass strings. Made in the 90s, a piece of Chinese musical history."
The asking price was ¥29 ($4 that is) for two packs. I thought, "what the heck", and bought a pair.
Initially I tried it on my Jazz Bass. I thought it sounded not bad! But it had a very low output.
Today I installed it on my Thunderbird, thinking that the hotter pickup might help.
It comes in very old vibey paper packets (which are already fragile by now):
It reads: Electric bass strings, Yingwu (Parrot) brand, Tianjin Zhonghua (China) musical instrument factory. Individual strings are wrapped in oiled paper.
The strings are well made, tightly wound (in a way that reminds me a bit of cello strings), and very flexible. Out of curiosity I measured its gauge: 36-71. Makes Rotosound Funkmasters bridge cables in comparison!
Sound wise, apart from the low output (more on this later), it sits a bit between rounds and traditional flats: the mids are quite prominent, while any zing is subdued. Reminds me a bit of Roto 77s (IIRC also low output). Palm mutes bloom with bouncy harmonics. A very usable sound overall.
It has a few peculiarities. First off, the ball ends are quite small. Fits Gibson and Fender bridges, but may not work with other designs such as Warwick. It also has long silks that sit over the saddle on a Fender or Gibson, so maybe it was designed for some through-body instrument? Luckily the tone and intonation are not compromised.
Near the ball end, I noticed that some of the winding layers actually look like copper electrical wires. The round(!) cores look tiny, too. Maybe they are carried over from cello or upright strings, and explains the lack of volume. Again, probably contributes to its unique tone.
You can see the copper windings and overlong silk here.
Overall it's EASILY worth $2 a pack I paid for. If there's another cello- or DB-inspired low tension string model but upgraded to modern output (does TI Jazz Flats count?), I'll definitely check out!
Earlier this year, when I was searching about flatwound strings, I saw an ad:
"Vintage bass strings. Made in the 90s, a piece of Chinese musical history."
The asking price was ¥29 ($4 that is) for two packs. I thought, "what the heck", and bought a pair.
Initially I tried it on my Jazz Bass. I thought it sounded not bad! But it had a very low output.
Today I installed it on my Thunderbird, thinking that the hotter pickup might help.
It comes in very old vibey paper packets (which are already fragile by now):
It reads: Electric bass strings, Yingwu (Parrot) brand, Tianjin Zhonghua (China) musical instrument factory. Individual strings are wrapped in oiled paper.
The strings are well made, tightly wound (in a way that reminds me a bit of cello strings), and very flexible. Out of curiosity I measured its gauge: 36-71. Makes Rotosound Funkmasters bridge cables in comparison!
Sound wise, apart from the low output (more on this later), it sits a bit between rounds and traditional flats: the mids are quite prominent, while any zing is subdued. Reminds me a bit of Roto 77s (IIRC also low output). Palm mutes bloom with bouncy harmonics. A very usable sound overall.
It has a few peculiarities. First off, the ball ends are quite small. Fits Gibson and Fender bridges, but may not work with other designs such as Warwick. It also has long silks that sit over the saddle on a Fender or Gibson, so maybe it was designed for some through-body instrument? Luckily the tone and intonation are not compromised.
Near the ball end, I noticed that some of the winding layers actually look like copper electrical wires. The round(!) cores look tiny, too. Maybe they are carried over from cello or upright strings, and explains the lack of volume. Again, probably contributes to its unique tone.
You can see the copper windings and overlong silk here.
Overall it's EASILY worth $2 a pack I paid for. If there's another cello- or DB-inspired low tension string model but upgraded to modern output (does TI Jazz Flats count?), I'll definitely check out!
