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question for strings winery

panzerfaust

panzerfaust

May 24, 2018
389
323
33
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
#1
i knew some of you here treat strings like wine,....and never change it for years or even for the rest of your life.,....

i knew how does it feel and i love to,...i mean i love the tone of crunchy dark roundwound that sounds like alcoholic warm,.....

but i have a question ,....

what should i do if the strings lost its tuning consistency.,...out of tune in several fret,....
and now ,..a classical music player invite me for jamming that occured on next several weeks,...i dont have to explain how authoritarian they are if they talk about tune,...

so.,...what should i do,...? should i simply change to new string ?
 
#3
panzerfaust said:
i knew some of you here treat strings like wine,....and never change it for years or even for the rest of your life.,....

i knew how does it feel and i love to,...i mean i love the tone of crunchy dark roundwound that sounds like alcoholic warm,.....

what should i do if the strings lost its tuning consistency.,...out of tune in several fret,....
Click to expand...

Flats = fine wine = improves with age.

Rounds = champagne = once the sparkly bubbles are gone, time to open a fresh bottle.

Tuning and intonation issues are a sure sign of wear.
 
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#8
CallMeAl said:
If you like the tone of broken in rounds, I'd look into Pressurewounds
Click to expand...
michael_t said:
I'm not suggesting you should switch to flats necessarily. All I'm saying is once a roundwound wears out to the point of not tuning properly, there's not much you can do. You simply can't treat rounds the same way you would treat flats.
Click to expand...

how about pressurewound or daddario halfwound.....could i treat it like flat ?
 
#9
panzerfaust said:
how about pressurewound or daddario halfwound.....could i treat it like flat ?
Click to expand...

No. Their optimal tones do last longer than typical rounds, but they do wear out eventually. The GHS Pressurewounds on my Jazz bass are 20 mths old now and are starting to show signs of wear. When they're worn out, their tone becomes too dull and lifeless to be useful.
 
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#10
If you're looking for strings you can keep on for years and not worry about intonation, flats are your best bet.

i personally hated the feel of half rounds on the fingers. GHS Pressurewounds are one of my favorite tones straight out of the pack; but I found them a little too stiff and I didn't keep them. So can't really speak to longevity.

Can you separate and prioritize your goals/preferences for:
intonation and longevity VS tone VS finger feeling and stiffness?

You might have to compromise somewhere…
 
#12
michael_t said:
For a roundwound that can retain their useful tone for a long time, look into pure nickel rounds. I would suggest GHS Balanced Nickels over Pressurewounds.
Click to expand...

hmmmh.....i am using dr fatbeam right now,.....which one you think has longer age if compared to GHS balanced nickels ?

CallMeAl said:
If you're looking for strings you can keep on for years and not worry about intonation, flats are your best bet.

i personally hated the feel of half rounds on the fingers. GHS Pressurewounds are one of my favorite tones straight out of the pack; but I found them a little too stiff and I didn't keep them. So can't really speak to longevity.

Can you separate and prioritize your goals/preferences for:
intonation and longevity VS tone VS finger feeling and stiffness?

You might have to compromise somewhere…
Click to expand...
1.intonation and longevity
2.tone
3.finger feeling

that's my priority ranked from number 1,...so....flats....right ? any recommendation flat that little bit zingy and bright 45-105 ?
 
#15
panzerfaust said:
now i am considering dunlop flatwound..,..after looking some youtube demo,..what do you think ? any cons ?
Click to expand...
Never tried Dunlop. People keep recommending Ernie Ball cobalt flats, but haven't gotten to those (yet). So many strings out there…

Ive tried Chromes, Rotosound 77 and Fender 9050. Honestly sound-wise I woulda been happy with any of them, the deciding factor was the feel. (Smoothest feeling, and Chromes come in a 40-95 gauge which is what I'm using now)
 
#16
CallMeAl said:
Never tried Dunlop. People keep recommending Ernie Ball cobalt flats, but haven't gotten to those (yet). So many strings out there…

Ive tried Chromes, Rotosound 77 and Fender 9050. Honestly sound-wise I woulda been happy with any of them, the deciding factor was the feel. (Smoothest feeling, and Chromes come in a 40-95 gauge which is what I'm using now)
Click to expand...
okay .....thanks by the way......
 
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#20
My sound man knows me so well (at least a decade) that he tells me when it's time to change strings, if I don't catch it first.

Anecdote which is related: at the last gig, in the last set of the gig, I heard a loud crackle as the treble side of my EMG EXB died without cause or reason. All three of us: soundman, drummer, and me, all heard it and simultaneously looked at each other as I lost all articulation. Fortunately, we got through the gig so I could diagnose it and get a replacement, which has been hard to find with all the items you hear on the news: chip shortages, transportation issues, etc.
 
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