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Question about Fretless Strings

#3
It really depends on the player.

Dunno... my guess it may be 50/50... or 60/40: 60% of fretless players may prefer rounds.


I play fretless exclusively, I prefer rounds.
And that is because I play it exclusively... I need my fretless to do the work of a fretted most of the time.
This may be different for someone who needs a fretless for occasional use (certain song, studio work,...)

Rounds give that nice mwah.
Flats is to sound more like a double bass.

My advice is to put rounds on it.
 
#5
I use flats exclusively on my fretless basses. ( I ONLY own fretless basses). In answer to your question, whenever I get a new or used bass, I ALWAYS discard the strings and put on my own new strings, so it doesn't matter what strings were on it when sent.
 
#6
I too play fretless exclusively,and i prefer T I flats. although i had a set of DRsunbeams which i liked .I much more like the flats.still have the mwah sound but a little deeper- to me anyway. as far as which strings to sell it -i dont think it would make alot of difference -people will change them to their liking anyway.....
 
#9
Both of my fretless basses have ebony fingerboards. The mongrel Fender had stainless rounds on it for most of its life- and it started as an MIJ Fender Jazz Bass Special in 1987 ('though I didn't have the rosewood replaced with ebony until around 1995). When I got my Lakland Deluxe 4-94 fretless this past summer, I put a set of GHS Precision flats on the Fender, and the Lakland got a new set of DR Sunbeams.

I now have options, but if I only had one fretless it would have rounds- they sound right and that's the single most critical factor. Resell value doesn't enter the picture for me- I keep stuff forever.

John
 
#12
This all depends. It depends on this:
1. What do you like to use now?
2. What style do you play?
3. What type or kind of basses do you play now?

As for #1 I am sure you most likely have a preference. Could even be both.
As for #2, some types of strings are preferred for certain styles. You see flats used with a lot of roots music such as tradtional country, blues, and folk. Rounds are used in modern rock and other styles. Of course there are exceptions. The lines are even starting to blur with both used in almost everything.
#3-either can be used with any bass, while in my own ears I prefer flats on my passives and rounds on my actives. There are some types or kinds that sound better with certain basses, but this is subjective.

I use both. On my fretless Precision I have TIs, on my short scale SX Jazz I have D'Addario halfrounds, and my Carvin Bolt 5 active 5 string with Fender 7150 OEM Nickels.
I use the ones with flats for Southern Gospel and folk music and the 5 string for slower ballad-ish music where mwah is needed. That way I keep my (fretless) basses covered.

FG
 
#14
What about the string designs that sit between pure flat and pure roundwound, namely flattened round wounds (either through pressure or grinding) and coated round wounds? The number of coated strings keeps growing--Elixir, Black Diamond, DR, Ernie Ball, Aurora, D'Addario EXP, Cleartone, GHS, etc. These designs can give you various degrees of snarl, thump, and growl while going easier on the wood on the fretboard.

One of my favorite strings is the Invalid Link Removed round wound nickel string. It gives you the warmth of nickel, the snarl of the round wound, and the ease on fingers and wood of a poly coating. After six years mine finally wore out, the local supply dried up, and I've found that nothing I've tried since (Roto 88's, D'Addario Chromes) can replace them. So I'm eagerly awaiting a mail order replacement.
 

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