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Roto or D'Addario - Which is Smoother

#21
SteveCS said:
Of course it makes a difference. A massive difference. 1mm at the saddle can turn easy, smooth and fast into an unplayable cheese grater. With a proper setup no strings should cause any of the problems you describe. Sort that before wasting more $$ on strings.
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Let me make sure I understand this right. Lowering the string height can cause the problem? Just asking.

I had the strings set sky high at the saddles, as high as I could get them. I was a beginner when I did that, and I did it because it irritated me to feel my fingers touching the pickups underneath. I did that on all my basses. Then I read various comments here, more-or-less criticizing setups like that. So, I dropped the strings down to "just above buzzing" height, and that's when the pain started up, but only on the J-Bass with the DR Sunbeams. I made the same adjustment on all my other basses (which all have stock strings) but they feel fine.
 
#26
Dust2Dust said:
Let me make sure I understand this right. Lowering the string height can cause the problem? Just asking.

I had the strings set sky high at the saddles, as high as I could get them. I was a beginner when I did that, and I did it because it irritated me to feel my fingers touching the pickups underneath. I did that on all my basses. Then I read various comments here, more-or-less criticizing setups like that. So, I dropped the strings down to "just above buzzing" height, and that's when the pain started up, but only on the J-Bass with the DR Sunbeams. I made the same adjustment on all my other basses (which all have stock strings) but they feel fine.
Click to expand...

No - I didn't take from your post that you had already set the action low, so apologies for the bum steer.

I don't have a Jazz, but I do have a Warwick Corvette which has the same round cross-section and 1.5" nut width - I love the sounds it makes but the slim neck makes my hands hurt after a long session - I find the narrow spacing gets my thumb all out of position and fingers getting too curled up, which eventually leads to excess tension in the rest of my hand. It is fine in higher positions, but down near the nut I find it not so good. I can play the wider StingRays for several hours and feel nothing. Maybe the same is happening here?
 
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#27
SteveCS said:
No - I didn't take from your post that you had already set the action low, so apologies for the bum steer.

I don't have a Jazz, but I do have a Warwick Corvette which has the same round cross-section and 1.5" nut width - I love the sounds it makes but the slim neck makes my hands hurt after a long session - I find the narrow spacing gets my thumb all out of position and fingers getting too curled up, which eventually leads to excess tension in the rest of my hand. It is fine in higher positions, but down near the nut I find it not so good. I can play the wider StingRays for several hours and feel nothing. Maybe the same is happening here?
Click to expand...

No apologies necessary, and I spend 99% of my time playing within the first 5 frets. I never thought of this before. There may very well be something to that.

Also, based on comments from this thread and others, I'm starting to think I might need to drop the 2 low strings from .105-.85 to .100-.80
 
#28
shoulderpet said:
I hope I'm not being patronising saying this but have you tried turning the tone control on your bass all the way down? I can get this sound easily by doing this with my basses
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No, not being patronizing, and yes, I tried that. I still get lots of sustain, just at lower tones.

This all started when I was a little boy in the early 1970's. My dad took me with him into a music store because he needed some saxophone reeds. While I was in there some man was playing a bass and the sound was, for lack of better description, "pure punch", with barely a micro-second of sustain. The "punch" wasn't excessive though, it was far from shaking things, yet you could plainly hear it.

I've been able to come close to the sound by rolling off the tone pot and then set the threshold on a compressor to an extreme setting, but that also kills the volume. You could hear the guy in the music store from across the room.
 
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#29
Dust2Dust said:
I tried that. I still get lots of sustain, just at lower tones
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Have you tried a piece of foam under the strings at the bridge as a sustain-killing mute?

Or tried fretting hand muting like Rocco Prestia? (Fretting notes with index finger, with other fingers laid gently across the strings just enough to dull the notes. Done properly it's a punchy tone without much sustain.)
 
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#30
nnnnnn said:
Have you tried a piece of foam under the strings at the bridge as a sustain-killing mute?

Or tried fretting hand muting like Rocco Prestia? (Fretting notes with index finger, with other fingers laid gently across the strings just enough to dull the notes. Done properly it's a punchy tone without much sustain.)
Click to expand...
Actually, I haven't tried that, and that sounds like it's just what would work!

Now all I have to do is find something that I can tear the foam out of :)
 
#31
Dust2Dust said:
I've been using DR Sunbeams on my jazz V and they are killing my fretting fingers. It's like walking barefoot on a gravel driveway.
I tune E-C so I have to buy strings for 6-stringers and use the high 5 strings, and this limits my choices.
The choice I have is either D'Addario XL Nickel Wound 32-45-65-80-100
Or
Rotosound 66 Stainless Steel
35-45-65-80-105

My first concern is smoothness. If both are equal, then which one is duller/deader/dies the quickest/etc
Click to expand...

If your fingers are too soft for DR nickel rounds... then you need flats, or at leas groundwounds. I haven't tried any other roundwound string that is easier on the fingers than DR Sunbeams.
 
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#32
Dust2Dust said:
Let me make sure I understand this right. Lowering the string height can cause the problem? Just asking.

I had the strings set sky high at the saddles, as high as I could get them. I was a beginner when I did that, and I did it because it irritated me to feel my fingers touching the pickups underneath. I did that on all my basses. Then I read various comments here, more-or-less criticizing setups like that. So, I dropped the strings down to "just above buzzing" height, and that's when the pain started up, but only on the J-Bass with the DR Sunbeams. I made the same adjustment on all my other basses (which all have stock strings) but they feel fine.
Click to expand...

You need to bring down those strings! Of course your fretting hand hurts, you're working against the strings. And then lower your pickups, if you're slamming into them. Take it to a experienced tech or watch some video on youtube to figure it out on your own (basic setup needs just the tools your bass came with + a good tuner)
 
#34
sotua said:
You need to bring down those strings! Of course your fretting hand hurts, you're working against the strings. And then lower your pickups, if you're slamming into them. Take it to a experienced tech or watch some video on youtube to figure it out on your own (basic setup needs just the tools your bass came with + a good tuner)
Click to expand...

The post that you responded to says this . . .

" . . . So, I dropped the strings down to "just above buzzing" height, . . . . "
 
#39
Dust2Dust said:
Wow, ok, thanks. I just got a classic vibe P bass yesterday and the stock strings feel fantastic compared to the Sunbeams.
I didn't notice the strings bothering me until I did a proper setup. I only recently learned what intonation was all about. Before that I had the saddles all lined up in a straight line and the saddles raised as high as they would go. I'm going to count it as coincidence though. I don't see how that can make a noticeable difference to my fingers, let alone a negative difference.
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Action will make a tremendous difference in playing experience. High action and a poor setup creates all kinds of issues and even the lowest tension, smoothest strings will give your fingers a workout. Intonation is different from setup and action, so be careful not to confuse the two. If you’re looking for strings that are easier on your hands (assuming a good setup), look for round core strings like DR HiBeams.
 
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#40
burgerdj said:
Action will make a tremendous difference in playing experience. High action and a poor setup creates all kinds of issues and even the lowest tension, smoothest strings will give your fingers a workout. Intonation is different from setup and action, so be careful not to confuse the two. If you’re looking for strings that are easier on your hands (assuming a good setup), look for round core strings like DR HiBeams.
Click to expand...
Intonation is making sure it's in tune both open strings and twelfth fret, right?
 

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