New String Day - Rotosound BS66 Billy Sheehan

[bassist4dalord]

Full disclosure- I have heard of Mr. Sheehan, and I’ve listened to a very small amount of his stuff with Mr. Big. That’s about the extent of my knowledge of his music.

Okay, now that that has been handled, on to the strings! I will have to update this thread with my thoughts over the next few weeks. I bought these on a whim today as my local music store had them for $22.99.

They have been installed through the body on my Schecter Raiden Special-4 (first time in probably six years that I’ve strung through-body) in standard tuning. This bass has been BEAD or DGCF with various string sets for the last two years or more. I’ve just recently decided that I wanted to get back to EADG. It’s refreshing and it’s what I’ve spent most of my years playing. This is my first set of Rotosound strings since I bought some RS66LDN Swing Bass Nickels in college back in 2010 for a Squier P. Before that I had a set of RS665LD Swing Bass Steels on my Squier Affinity Jazz V in 2009. I don’t recall loving the Swing Bass Steels at the time, but my string tastes have changed since then and I’m eager to give them another try.

I have rehearsal at church tomorrow, and then I play at church this Sunday and next Sunday, so I’ll be getting some play time with them. I will update you all with my thoughts!

 

[blr2]

These have been my rounds of choice recently. I have them on my J and Yamaha BB434. I like the tighter E, balances very well against the 80 A.
Just stocked some more:

 

[Flatwound]

View attachment 5351674

Full disclosure- I have heard of Mr. Sheehan, and I’ve listened to a very small amount of his stuff with Mr. Big. That’s about the extent of my knowledge of his music.

Okay, now that that has been handled, on to the strings! I will have to update this thread with my thoughts over the next few weeks. I bought these on a whim today as my local music store had them for $22.99.

They have been installed through the body on my Schecter Raiden Special-4 (first time in probably six years that I’ve strung through-body) in standard tuning. This bass has been BEAD or DGCF with various string sets for the last two years or more. I’ve just recently decided that I wanted to get back to EADG. It’s refreshing and it’s what I’ve spent most of my years playing. This is my first set of Rotosound strings since I bought some RS66LDN Swing Bass Nickels in college back in 2010 for a Squier P. Before that I had a set of RS665LD Swing Bass Steels on my Squier Affinity Jazz V in 2009. I don’t recall loving the Swing Bass Steels at the time, but my string tastes have changed since then and I’m eager to give them another try.

I have rehearsal at church tomorrow, and then I play at church this Sunday and next Sunday, so I’ll be getting some play time with them. I will update you all with my thoughts!

I’ll be interested to hear your report after church!

 

[bassist4dalord]

Rehearsal went well tonight. Roughly 90 minutes of playing and my fingers are just fine. I had played for about 30 minutes on my lunch break.

The sound in my in-ears was very good. This bass is naturally very hot and can tend to be pretty warm in tone; the SS helps the bass be a little more present. I was also able to tame it very nicely by rolling back the tone knob. The feel of the strings is great. I also never found myself worried about the rasp/zing sound that can come with new rounds, particularly SS. These strings seem to have a nice, meaty fullness to them when I was listening to my IEM mix. After Sunday’s service I’ll watch the live stream with headphones on and see how it sounds (or sort of how it sounds) in FOH mix.

So far, so good!

 

[bassist4dalord]

Man, these things are so great! They inspire me to play in ways that my flats and alternate tunings never did. They’re snappy and they feel incredible. I’m sold. I can definitely see buying these again when the next string change comes around.

 

[Pier_]

I love this set, I'm using it since 2021, when I started learning the three finger picking, and I wanted to try them just out of curiosity, but I was sold.

I've used the RS66LD set for many years, finding the G being too tight and the E too floppy for my taste, so I imagined that this set would cover this kind of problem, and it actually did.

I use them on most of my basses, except the ones with lighter gauges or flats, or the 6-string.

I love how the Rotosound 110 E string drops to D, but I also love it tuned to E, it matches perfectly the set and makes the string tighter.
the G is easier, similar to other brands due to the fact that it's actually a .045, where the "45" of the standard set is a .48, so I can get a similar feeling compared to other 45 sets on other basses.

the only thing I hate of this set (and the strange fact is that it happens only with this one, and not with other Rotosound gauges) is that the silk at the headstock is uneven the D string always have longer silk that doesn't match the other strings.
I've been using Rotosound since 2008, and some unevenness has always been, but this set sometimes has the D with 1cm more than the others.

with strings like GHS it never happens, they break the millimeter in evenness.

 

[ajkula66]

These were my "go-to" strings when they first became available, 35 or so years ago. Loved the sound, not so much the longevity or lack thereof...

Would love to re-visit them, but I only play short scale basses nowadays so that's not a viable option.

Play on!

 

[thrashingbass]

Just love them, re-strung my "cheap" P bass with it just a few days ago. BS66 is my roundwound love (I do not mind the uneveness of the silks!)

 

[bassist4dalord]

Update- I’m sold. These strings are simply perfect for my Schecter. I haven’t put a sticker on any of my basses since high school but these Rotos have changed my bass-life. I love them so much that I got on eBay and bought a 5-pack of assorted Rotosound stickers. I just put one on the backside of my bass and I’ve got one on my bass case and one on my Bluetooth speaker.

I’m going to stop by my local music store this week and see if they still have these priced at $22.99. If so I’m going to grab another set or two. They are that good.

 

[bassist4dalord]

Well… Two months after installing the BS66 strings (which I still love) I bought some Rotosound RS77LD Jazz Bass flatwounds.

I have a bit of bass string ADD. I’ll be playing at church on Sunday. I’ll probably come back here with updates. Still love the BS66 set!

 

[michael_t]

View attachment 5426911

Well… Two months after installing the BS66 strings (which I still love) I bought some Rotosound RS77LD Jazz Bass flatwounds.

I have a bit of bass string ADD. I’ll be playing at church on Sunday. I’ll probably come back here with updates. Still love the BS66 set!

RS77LD (45-105) = 214.41 lbs. in total tension.
BS66 (43-110) = 178.29 lbs. in total tension.
SM77 (40-100) = 178.57 lbs. in total tension.

Any specific reason why you chose the heavier set of 77's?

 

[bassist4dalord]

RS77LD (45-105) = 214.41 lbs. in total tension.
BS66 (43-110) = 178.29 lbs. in total tension.
SM77 (40-100) = 178.57 lbs. in total tension.

Any specific reason why you chose the heavier set of 77's?

I didn’t realize the tension difference! My initial impression is favorable, though. I was able to get the action very low without buzzing. So far, I like that.