John Entwistle created one of the most iconic and heavily used bass string sets, the Rotosound Swingbass, but got disgusted with the company he created them with and abandoned them once they started releasing signature sets from Billy S and others:
John Entwistle Gear: Strings, Picks & Action | John Entwistle Bass Gear | Whotabs
From November 1975, Guitar Player interview
What type of strings do you use?
Rotosound. I
have to use them — I designed the flaming things! Poor Greg Lake, Chris Squire [laughs]. I was looking for bass strings which vibrated properly, and I couldn’t find a good
E and
A string on any set at all, except maybe for LaBella — they weren’t too bad. But I wanted a round-wound string. I was approached by Rotosound, and they said they’d make some strings for me, exactly what I wanted. So I went to the factory, and they brought out a set of their round-wound and asked what I thought of them. The
E and the
A didn’t vibrate properly, and the
D and the
G weren’t heavy enough. So I sat there all afternoon while they made me strings with different cores, and different gauges, and different types of wire, and finally got through the
E, A, D, G, and got a balanced set. And I said, “they’re fine, make me as many sets as you can.” They started making them and said, “look, we’ll put your picture in the string sets, and we’ll put these strings on the market.” So they issued them as “Swing Bass,” and they’ve been out ever since. A lot of people use them and get the same sound as me. I wanted to get a sound like a piano, which is why I wanted round-wound strings; I found that I could play chords and get a lot more sustain out of wire wound, so that’s really why I set out to get the strings done.
From the August 1989 Guitar Player
The big news is that Rotosounds will not be accompanying the Buzzards on their transcontinental flight. After pioneering the development of roundwound strings with that company in the ’60s and in the process becoming virtually synonymous with the name and the sound, Entwistle has switched to handmade Maxima gold-plated strings. “They sent me a set to try out, and I really liked them. I found that with the proper action on my basses, I could tune the
E string as low as an
A and still achieve a true tone. I tried to get Rotosound to explore that direction a year ago and they ignored me, and then came out with a set specially gauged by Billy Sheehan that will tune down to a
D! So I got fed up. Billy Sheehan and Mark King can sell Rotosounds; I’m very happy with Maximas.”
He at least got free strings out of the deal and how many millions of sets have the Talkbass community gone through?
