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Round wound strings on a Hofner?
- Thread starter MagnificentB
- Start date
I had GHS Infinity Steel red coated on my Hofner copy and they sounded good. It has the Chromes back on now. But I like to experiment.
Hofner guitars just posted this video to Facebook. Maybe this will help you with your string buying decision. Too bad he's got it plugged into a Behringer bass amp..
http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=nSDa1gABB74&desktop_uri=/watch
http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=nSDa1gABB74&desktop_uri=/watch
I have a 69 Guild Starfire short scale bass, and I agree with
Pimpernel Smith, Thomastic Infeld short scale round wounds are way cool. Like them better than their big reputation flatwounds.
Also like Ken Smith Rock Masters in short scale which has a more normal gauge (which fit that bass). You don't have to be flat to be where it's at
Pimpernel Smith, Thomastic Infeld short scale round wounds are way cool. Like them better than their big reputation flatwounds.
Also like Ken Smith Rock Masters in short scale which has a more normal gauge (which fit that bass). You don't have to be flat to be where it's at
Are they low tension like the flats?
And hey garym, sorry if I got my back up, I just get sick of people and their snarkiness on TB and you got hit with the shrapnel. For the record, my response was directed more at the person you quoted than your response, for whatever it's worth.
Brian
Hi:
Yup, low tension, and low gauge, but they sound great. That's why sometimes I use the Ken Smith Bass masters, normal gauge.
Yup, low tension, and low gauge, but they sound great. That's why sometimes I use the Ken Smith Bass masters, normal gauge.
I wasn't enamored with the TI Flats because of the low tension. I had them on my Ric and I almost immediately changed them back to D'Addario flats (I think that's what they are, they might be LaBellas...). The low tension did not work for me.
I have a SF reissue and I have flats on that bass. It sounds great with flats, not to thumpy, not too bright, just right.
B
No worries, I'm here. And I did learn something -- didn't know that the CT series shipped with rounds -- thought that was just the Icon/Ignition series.
I'll make it even more confusing. Almost all the CT series ships with rounds,except for the CT Cavern bass. It ships from the factory with flats. I'm not sure why they decided to make the change with only the Cavern bass, but tis true.
my german made club bass ( when i owned it ) came with flat wound string , once i put round wound or even pressure wound ( rotosound ) on it , it really opened up the sound , hugest bass sound i've ever heard !!! huge and deep but crisp , i never put flatwounds on it again
The half-wounds are a big leap forward in terms of opening up the sound, while still maintaining some of the thump. I have a set of spares, and once I go through them, I may make the leap to full-on round wounds. It's a great bass. I was really surprised at how well-made it is. Light, easy to play, too. I found you have to fiddle the bridge a bit when you change strings, even though I knew with a floating bridge I should change one string at a time (and I did). I was able to dial in the intonation pretty quickly and easily.
If I could afford a German-made one, I might keep the flats on it and rounds on the CT. I have not played any of the Icon Series basses, but I have also heard good things about them.
Just between you and me, I think the hype of having flats on these basses is a bit overblown. Sure, you get a nice vintage thump, but at the expense of definition and warmth. I can't help but notice my two hero's, Jack Casady and Phil Lesh, who back in the day played Pyramid Flats on their short scale basses (changed every other gig) are now playing round wounds (Jack uses Dean Markley Blue Steels, Phil varies between half rounds and rounds. Sure they both play long scale instruments, but you get the idea
When I hit an octave pop on the G string, I want it to zing, not thud!
When I hit an octave pop on the G string, I want it to zing, not thud!
Flatwounds on my Precision and Ric sound great, but the thing that pushed me in this direction was a soundboard recording of a gig my band did recently. It sounded much different than what I heard onstage, and not in a good way. I know I wanted to keep using the Hofner for gigs, I was going to have to make some sort of change.
I agree about all the hype...it's just that. If you are a musician, you do what you have to make it work in your given situation. It's about personal choice and what works for you might not be the right thing for me. That doesn't mean either of us are wrong, just different.
I read somewhere that Bruce Palmer of the Buffalo Springfield strung his Fender bass with all low E strings.
I agree about all the hype...it's just that. If you are a musician, you do what you have to make it work in your given situation. It's about personal choice and what works for you might not be the right thing for me. That doesn't mean either of us are wrong, just different.
I read somewhere that Bruce Palmer of the Buffalo Springfield strung his Fender bass with all low E strings.
The old Pyramids were closer to half round than true flats. Great strings. They probably went out of business with those because the USA distributor never payed them for their product. Alembic was famous a for that kind of thing. You can be sure that Jack and Phil never paid a dime for their strings! I played with ancient light gauge Roto rounds on my Eko 995 Violin bass. Great sound. If I had a violin bass now, I wouldn't hesitate to put Thomastik rounds on.
I played Hofner/ Pyramid Gold Flats strings from the early 1970's on. They were silky smooth then, just as they are today. I can't see how they could be thought of as half rounds.
There's no "One String to rule them all". There are many good strings out there.
There's no "One String to rule them all". There are many good strings out there.
I have a Hofner CT 500/1 strung with rotosound swing 66's. I get a great variety of tones from it - deep and punchy, just how I like it. When I got the bass it had flat rounds on. I liked the feel but it had almost no sustain and was very dead sounding to my ears
Round wounds suit my needs better
Round wounds suit my needs better
Round wounds open up the sound of a Hofner bass. It can be astonishing. I've used T-I Jazz round wounds, which were terrific, and Now I'm trying Labella round wound stainless steel made for Hofner basses. I played them during music practice last night, and I was very impressed with the clarity, depth and articulation.
