NBD...Finally No More Whining About A 5er

[ejaggers]

After moaning and groaning for years, I finally did the 5er thing.
This bass was so cheap that I had no more excuses.

The action was so high that it was a gamble, but my tech set it up nicely.
The strings are way too bright for my taste since many of my basses wear flat,
but I’ll do rounds on this unless you talk me out of it.

I’m looking for advice on what to use,
and don’t see the need for a separate post in “strings” unless I have to.

As you know, I have LS, MS, SS, and one sub-short scale,
but a five is completely out of my comfort zone,
so trust me, we will be talking some more.

Now the onus is on me to learn to play this thing,
but I’m going to somewhat shelf it until I change strings.

So can ya’ help a brother out?....057912

 

[Snert]

Cobalt flats.

90210

 

[el jeffe bass]

Congratulations on the 5 string. When I bought a 5 string I put all of my other basses away, it was my ONLY choice if I wanted to play bass. It took about a week for me to get comfortable with it but now I can switch between 4 & 5 string with no problems. As for strings, I like the DR pure blues and NYXL. Enjoy your new bass.

 

[Al Rivera]

I like roto 66 rounds on both my 5 string basses. They are bright but cut through in a live situation and help add definition to the low B string.

 

[Geri O]

D’Addario Pro Steels for me.

All my basses are 5-strings. Except my T-40, which is a “retiree”, spending its days on a guitar stand in my office/studio.

 

[mikeswals]

Just let the strings die down if they're bright.

 

[HardNHeavy]

oh congrats, cant beat a cheap ibanez, i too am contemplating a 5er someday.

 

[G On Bass]

Congrats on the 5!. String choice depends on what kind of tone are you looking for out of it. On my 3 main 5 strings, I currently have TI Flats, Pure Blues and ProSteels, with a fretless that switches between D'Addario tapewounds and Chromes. Dunlop Marcus Miller stainless and Cobalts find their way on to a bass on occasion as well, though I don't considered stainless really ready-to-go until they are at least a month or so old. The only thing that absolutely has not worked for me are flats with a tapered B, like LaBella DTF/Sadowsky.It all depends on what tone you want.

 

[pingvuiini]

I usually have D'Addario tapes on my fretless basses to eliminate finger noise during glissandi. I installed a set on my fretted Mikro and it definitely has a toned down brightness but not a flatwound dead thump sound. I find it a perfect middle ground soundwise.

As for learning to play, initially consider the B string as an expensive thumbrest. Not sure if you intend to eventually ride the B a lot, but for me I just use it mostly for pick up notes or accents.

 

[richntiff]

Chromes are a nice compromise. Welcome to the 5 club - your extended range is impressive.

 

[Aloe]

uhm, those are fresh ss rotosounds 66, right? they're noisy and clanky while fresh. luckily, they die fast.

if you generally use flats, but want some rounds, why not some nickels? nyxl if you like them on a stiff side and super brights if you like them lighter are both solid choices.

 

[ReillyProductions]

First thing that came to my mind was some black tapewounds. Might look nice with the black finish, plus the tone could be a good compromise between flat and round.

 

[eriky4003]

I love bright strings but if want to stick with roundwounds on this bass maybe DR Sunbeams or DR Pure Blues which shouldn't be too bright out of the starting gate. They're probably softer to the touch to boot.

 

[Dbassmon]

The tone knob is there for a reason. You dial down brightness to get the sound of dark strings or open the pot up and get all the brightness the string has to offer.

 

[Low End Scum]

If you're mainly a flats guy then you might wanna just go with flats, or try some pressure wound strings as an inbetween. Personally I like Rotosound 66's, and tend to rock them well past the point of brightness. I have heard good things about the Roto 77's (flats) and 88's (tapewounds)

 

[groovepump]

I like LaBella Flats and GHS precision Flats.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I played four string for over two decades. After resisting for awhile (out of fear more than anything else), I got a fiver in Y2K.... and now I'm a 5-string guy exclusively. That's how much I love it... I don't recommend that anyone else limit themselves that way.

Congrats! I love "bass-ic black".

 

[Shoreline Gold]

If you usually play flats and are looking for something similar (which I'm kind of gathering), then you probably want to change the strings to properly evaluate how or if you like the fiver. I don't know what other flats you use, but you could opt for a five-string set of those so you have an apples-to-apples comparison. If it were me, depending on the bass, I'd probably choose D'Addario Chromes, or if too dark/"flat-ish" maybe GHS Pressurewounds. I've probably put both at various times on my Reverend Mercalli 5, and the B string in either set works well on that bass.

Enjoy!

Peace.

 

[ejaggers]

I want to thank everyone for responding,
there's a lot of good advice in this post.

uhm, those are fresh ss rotosounds 66, right? they're noisy and clanky while fresh. luckily, they die fast.

if you generally use flats, but want some rounds, why not some nickels? nyxl if you like them on a stiff side and super brights if you like them lighter are both solid choices.

I was not aware that these are 66's, thanks for letting me know.
I'm not string-smart since I don't change them often,
I made a post once asking how long rounds last if you hardly play them.

I never really got a good answer, but I asked because
I had some old short-scale 66's on my Musicmaster that sound very good,
and the overtones rang out and were easy to find.

But since they were really, and I mean really old,
I replaced them with Fender 5250XL which I don't like as well.
I do have some new 66's and I hope I can capture lightning
in a bottle again when I replace the Fenders.

@Aloe, stay safe over there and take care....057012

 

[chris_b]

. . . . I’m going to somewhat shelf it until I change strings. . . . .So can ya’ help a brother out?....

i have TI flats on my Mike Lull PJ5, and GHS flats on my Cort GB35JJ. I would recommend either of those.

I also have a new-to-me Sandberg 5 string and I'm thinking about putting LaBella flats or Black Tapewounds on that one.