New player looking for strings to help with full warm sound

[Rib 13]

Sounds like you are looking for classic tone.

You can get that on almost any bass and any string type. The trick is using your tone controls and pluck hand position. Plucking the bass from mid body to neck is warm with less high end articulation and favoring the neck pickup. You can shape it more with the tone control(s)....I did a video on this subject below.....to really refine it, use an appropriate string type. If you want 70s thump as you are describing and don't plan on doing a bunch of variety from different eras and genres, use flats
Imo of course

 

[buldog5151bass]

Lots of players, lots of opinions.

A new bass won't be the magic solution, neither will new strings. Play what you have, try some strings, different plucking positions, and use the EQ on your bass and amp.

I would say Precision flats. But that's just one more opinion.

 

[nonohmic]

Put on (insert brand here) roundwounds. Never take them off.

 

[Wesley R]

I love tapes. There is a fair as mount of difference in overall tones of new tapes. For a couple of decades GHS was my favorite. Currently I tend to lean towards the brand with the lions head on the cover.

 

[KevInDaBassment]

The T-40...has visibly worn flatwounds that need to be replaced. So I was thinking of changing strings to help it fill the classic rock niche.

Just my personal opinion here, but there are a lot of people who would kill to pick up a bass with already broken-in flatwounds on it, especially a great bass like that one.

Many people leave a pair of flats on their basses indefinitely (until curiosity takes over and they do a switch ), you don't really need to change them, and that's how a lot of artists got their sound back in the olden days. I'd say this puts you in a great position to focus more on your technique and amp rig to pursue the tones you seek.

Broken-in flats are as "warm and round" as it gets in most cases, but if you want to try out some other flats, it is your bass to do as you see fit. I would suggest the following though:

- Save the flats on there now, in case you change your mind and wanna switch back
- Do a recording (D.I. if possible, through an amp, soloed, and then playing along with music or bandmates) of before and after the string change. The way the current flats sound in a mix may surprise you...
- Maybe adjust pickup height too? Go crazy tweaking the EQ and settings on your amp, doesn't cost you anything! (as long as you don't crank the volume too high )


At the end of the day, you are right in saying that a P-style bass is what it is, and arguably nothing is going to sound exactly like it or a J-style bass except for themselves. The SR500 is a fantastic bass, but it never really did the vintage bit for me either. Welcome to TB and good luck in all your tonal endeavors!!!

 

[HardNHeavy]

turn the treble down

 

[Lamrith]

Wow lot of great info. By new I mean NEEWWW player, no lesson yet, watching lot of YT beginner vids, maybe spent 1-2hrs playing/practicing. These are my 1st two basses ever. I got the T40 in Oct but home project had it just sitting until the last couple weeks. The SR I just picked up 2 weeks ago, stumbled on it for ridiculous deal and grabbed it before someone else did. SR needed new pre which I installed so it is ready to rock. I have spent more time getting the T40 setup properly than anything as it was all over the place. Monster relief, suuuper high action, ski jump neck etc. I like to tinker and experiment though so "luthier" work I consider a vital and fun part of learning the instrument. Currently the action is still really high, but the neck has proper relief, and the ski jump is fixed... Probably have to shim the neck to fix action, but that is another thread...

Strings caught my eye during clean-up/adjustment as all the fret locations are super shiny and strings show actual wear from the frets. Also interesting all the recommendations for flats, I thought tapes would be warmer, but that is exactly why I asked so could learn. I will stick with the flats for now.

The T40 does not have much adjustment for actual tone with how they spin-a-split off for pickup control, but I can dial back Treb on the amp a bit. Also, I can roll for the neck pickup and use settings to mimic Pbass per the T-40 clone guide. That is sort of why I chose the T40 as the classic rock rig, it is just more adaptable.

 

[KellyC]

So stay with flats on the T40? I thought tapewounds were warmer sounding (and easier on the hands) than flats which had me thinking of changing to them.

Yeah. I grew up listening to both, their bass lines just get etched in your soul over time. So intricate and subtle yet driving of the bands melody.

You mentioned the Eagles, so I thought I would point out that the iconic “Hotel California” bass line was recorded on a Ric with flats. Same with many of McCartney’s iconic Beatles bass lines. John Paul Jones played various Pbass iterations w/ flats before moving to a Jazz w/ flats. Flats definitely outperform rounds in terms of “dark and warm,” and much of the fullness of rounds (the bright high mids) that sounds good to the ear when practicing alone gets washed out in the mix when playing with a band.

Rounds with the treble turned up are the signature sound for guys like Mike Watt, Geddy Lee, Billy Sheehan, et al. You also need rounds when you decide to learn slap style.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

It’s a good excuse to buy a P bass.

 

[Coach Rich]

Tone is so tricky. And it’s complicated. And there are hardly EVER any absolutes. In super generic terms, it’s mostly a combination of 4 things:

Strings - As many have mentioned flat wounds are warmer than the round wounds. Also keep in mind nickel strings (tend) to be warmer than steel. But there is also a variation from manufacturer to manufacturer. And if that isn’t enough of a head scratcher different strings seem to sound different on different guitars.

Tone settings and hard position- watch Rib 13’s video! As a newer player it should give you a bunch of things to play around with before even changing strings. One thing to add is when you pluck with your finger tips it’s brighter and it’s warmer using the flat meatier part of your fingers. A lot of really good players rotate within the same song to emphasize something or just as a matter of their own personal “voice” as a player.

Guitar- different guitars sound different. One isn’t right or wrong. It’s like “what’s your favorite ice cream?” However, most seem to like chocolate or vanilla just like most prefer Fender or Ibanez.

Amplification- never forget your amplifier is as much of an instrument as your guitar.

Now for the absolutely hilarious part: You, as a bass player asked “So how do I get that tone I want?” Hahahahahahahahahaha hehehehehehehehehe. Trust me, you’ll be in on the joke before long. As bass players were all tone chasers. We all have this tone, or tones, in our head that no one can hear but us. One of the biggest parts of being a bass player is the quest to pull that tone out from inside our head and make it come through the speakers. I’ve been playing for over 30 years now and I’ve only found the clean tone I hear in my head once. It was done in the studio on only one song and it was perfect. Well, perfect to only me. And neither I or the engineer remember exactly what setting was used on that take. You’ll see. Tone is a lifelong quest.

 

[JazznFunk]

Flats might get you there, but they might not. I love flats, but they aren't the be-all end-all of 'warmth.' 'Warmth' can also be achieved with rounds by not turning the tone control all the way 'OPEN' (on a passive bass).... and by playing more over the neck pickup than over the bridge. My favorite 'warm' sounding rounds are DR Sunbeams. Nickel, round core, a very smooth top end without much 'clank' right out of the box.

 

[Coach Rich]

One last thing, I much prefer roundwounds. Only until I don’t. So I keep flat wounds on one guitar and rounds on all the others cause you just never know.

 

[BassBrass]

There's also the tone knob. Roll of some highs. There was a reggae thread this year and the use of round wounds in that idiom was discussed some...rounds have a more even Attack Envelope while flats have more initial attack, so rounds are the standard along with rolling off the highs with the magic knob. As a former owner of a T40 I just think that it's a shame to not have all of it's tone shaping Power dulled by thuddy lumps, actually with a T40 you can get any kind of sound you want. I'd try DR Blues (nickel alloy dark for rounds), or EB Cobalt flats (the brightest flats). Tape wounds look cool but often are very low tension and I simply prefer the feeling of metal, not tape or gum or pudding.

btw, I Love LaBella Low Tension flats on my Sterling Ray 5, but that's because of how a Ray sounds with it's 1 humbucker accenting the mids.

 

[JazznFunk]

There's also the tone knob. Roll of some highs. There was a reggae thread this year and the use of round wounds in that idiom was discussed some...rounds have a more even Attack Envelope while flats have more initial attack, so rounds are the standard along with rolling off the highs with the magic knob. As a former owner of a T40 I just think that it's a shame to not have all of it's tone shaping Power dulled by thuddy lumps, actually with a T40 you can get any kind of sound you want. I'd try DR Blues (nickel alloy dark for rounds), or EB Cobalt flats (the brightest flats). Tape wounds look cool but often are very low tension and I simply prefer the feeling of metal, not tape or gum or pudding.

This. I keep seeing threads about always running a passive tone control 'wide open' all the time, and I don't understand it. I set my passive tone controls at 50/50 as a starting point to have room to move. Putting it wide open from the start is like turning the treble control up on an active bass all the way and leaving it there. The opposite of 'warmth' right from the get-go.

 

[HHudson]

New player here. I like and plan to learn lot of Eagles, Earth Wind & Fire, Fleetwood Mac, 70's classic rock and the like. They all tend to have what I consider a full, round, warm bass tone to them, maybe what people refer to as dark? I know T. Schmidt uses Jazz bass for the most part. J McVie has used J and P basses.

GAS has hit a bit and already have 2 basses; 1980 T-40 & 2009 Ibanez SR500.
I am hoping to get one of them to sound similar to the above artists and others of that era. I know I should just get a J, JP or P bass, but I have what I have for now.

The SR500 is pretty modern and aggressive sounding to my ear and should be a great fit for my other taste in hard rock/metal genres. It has a nice hard hitting sound to it as is. It has round wounds that are in good shape and good sound so I want to leave it alone.

The T-40 however is supposed to be the chameleon of basses and it has visibly worn flatwounds that need to be replaced. So I was thinking of changing strings to help it fill the classic rock niche. I am wondering what strings folks would recommend to help take some of the highs out and warm up the sound a bit. I was thinking tape wounds maybe? I have ready they are warmer/darker, last a long time and lighter tension might also help me play longer with my untrained fingers?

I wouldn't worry about matching all of the different basses which your favorites play, an impossible quest normally. I do not own one, but from what I have seen & heard, the T-40 is a very versatile (if heavy) bass, between that bass & your amp EQ you will have a lot of possibilities.

If you like the flats which are currently installed, you can take a picture of the strings at the head stock and at the bridge (also include a shot of the ball ends) and people here may be able to help you identify them. Even if you do not like them, you could do the above and describe what you don't like & want more or less of (tone wise & feel wise) compared to those strings, and people can then assist you in the direction you want to go.

As others above have said, wipe down & keep the old strings if you do replace them, they may be OK (flats can last 8 years to infinity ... if they intonate correctly, are not dead as a door nail, and get the sound you want, keep them on), someday you may want to try them again & be glad you did.

I agree with @4StringDave, for the players/timelines you have mentioned, the Fender 9050L flats are a good place to start. If you EQ accordingly, they can even do the Rotosound 77 thang and with a foam mute get thummpy. They are neither pure old school thumpy nor "modern" close to round wounds. Middle of the road. They are very affordable, well made (designed by a TB member here) and unless you EQ them out, as 4StringDave mentioned, have strong mids, which can help sit/cut in a band rock mix when needed. With the possibilities of your T-40 & your amp EQ, you should have a very wide range on tones to choose from with them.

Should you find them too old school or too modern (do give them a couple of months though, they take a bit to break in), well, then you will know in which direction you need to look/head for with the next set of stings.

Fwiw, I like rounds and flats, (so a 50% weirdo according to some posts above ), unless you are indoctrinated into one single genre (which you apparently are not ), having both can be very useful.


- Henry

 

[jastacey]

Your gonna find lots of great suggestions, but just keep this in mind, nickle usually has a warmer tone, and the ability to know how to adjust you mid range Eq, will go a long way in finding your tone, you just have to try a bunch of string, to find what suites your tastes ... as a side note, most my basses are strung with TI flats and Sunbeams

 

[Deleted member 271037]

If you want roundwounds the Pyramid Pure Nickels are the warmest, fattest sounding roundwounds you will ever find. They need a couple of weeks/months of playing to mellow out though.

If you want to stick with flats there are lots of VERY different sounding options. The ones you probably DON'T want are D'Addario Chromes and Roto 77s. These are both are rather bright flats (but in totally different ways).

For the absolutely warmest, fattest tone you could try LaBella Deep Talkin' flats or GHS Precision Flats. These are old school, "thumpy" flats, which may or may not be what you want. But if you don't use a foam mute they actually have better sustain than many give them credit for. These will also have a rather bright tone out of the box and may need a VERY long time to mellow out properly (depending on how much you play).

There are lots of other, more "modern" sounding flats too of course.

 

[coy garcia]

I would recommend the t40 with chrome flats stings.... I have them on most of my basses and they sound very bright for the first several hours of playing but then the settle into the nice warm sound you desire...as a bonus I have some over 20yrs old that feel like I just put them on a month ago. The T40 has great tone options in fact I just put that pu in a Pbass.

 

[BassBrass]

just chiming in again to say there is no wrong answer, anything you try will be interesting and give you experience. The T40 can cop a Ray sound, a P sound and a bunch of funky out of phase sounds and the Tone Controls are Unique. Are you aware of what positions of the control equals different pickup configurations?
I forget the details, but the info is out there.
This is my favorite T40 tone in historical recording

 

[Altitude]

This forum is a nest of flatwound enthusiasts, so 90% of the responses you get are going to be about flats.

They might not be wrong in this case - certainly McVie played flats for most of his run. The world of flats is really diverse - more so than rounds - and you can dive in to the strings forum for as much time as you have to explore. Probably fun.

Here’s a Scott’s Bass Lessons video that compares rounds, flats, and tapes in a way I found to be very interesting and informative. The takeaway for me was that I’ve been sleeping on tapes for 40 years; they aren’t what I thought they were and could be the tone goal answer for a lot of people.

Enjoy.