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Rounds for P Bass

#41
FugaziBomb said:
Do they die as quickly as the steel Rotos? I really hate that I have grown to love the tone of Rotos on certain basses, since they only sound good to me for about a month. New Rotos on my double MM bucker Jazz are unbeatable, though! Also would prefer to stay away from red silk. The bass is blue, and from a purely aesthetic perspective, I think red wraps will look a little loud.
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I'm thinking that the silks on Roto Nickels are blue.....
 
#43
Rickter said:
I'm thinking that the silks on Roto Nickels are blue.....
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#44
On my parts P bass with a lively Nordstrand NP5, the bass evens out nicely with a set of Dunlop super bright nickels. Comparing a "broken in" set of Sunbeams to SB nickels: The mids of the Sunbeams are more forward in a broad range, but the Dunlops seem deeper and will give you upper mid bite when you dig into them. Both are great sets and are among my favorites!
 
#51
crucislancer said:
For nickel strings, I’ve been using D’Addario XL165s for a couple of years now on both of my Precision basses.
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These sound great on a P and I have been using them for years. They are inexpensive, last a decent while, and provide great tone. Best bang for your buck as far as NPS rounds go IMO.

Edit: Fender 7250s are also reasonably priced and similar to the XLs.
 
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#52
I won't tell you or suggest what to use. I'll tell you what I've used with success. Dunlop SS Super Brights, D'Addario Pro Steels, DR HI-Beams and believe it or not Ernie Ball Super Slinky's and Musicians Gear Strings :-)
 
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#53
DD Gunz said:
These sound great on a P and I have been using them for years. They are inexpensive, last a decent while, and provide great tone. Best bang for your buck as far as NPS rounds go IMO.

Edit: Fender 7250s are also reasonably priced and similar to the XLs.
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I agree about the 7250s as well. I haven't used them in a while but they sound killer on a P bass.
 
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#54
FugaziBomb said:
Just strung up my Ibanez SRX400 with a set of Pure Blues for a fest I played this past weekend. I used to have Sunbeams on that thing, too. Would have kept using them, but the local GC didn't have them. Went for the Pure Blues cuz the box was blue, like Sunbeams (which is a great reason to choose a set of strings). They sounded really great! The SRX400 has a 4 band Audere installed in it that lets me boost 1k, which mixed really really well with the voice of those strings. That's what made me pose this question, actually. I really liked the Sunbeams on that Ibanez, but the Pure Blues were just hitting the mark so well that I think they may have become my new go-to string for that bass. Got me thinking there might be a better string out there for the P, as well.

+1 for Boomers, but those red wraps on a blue bass are gonna annoy me. I know I shouldn't care, but I do. It's the same reason I won't stop using Rotos on my T-40s (one of the pair is red, and I like the matching wraps) despite the fact that they die faster than a mayfly.

Dunlop Super Brights worry me since the Split P pick-up is already brighter than your average P. I like some zing to my tone, but I dunno if the combo of bright strings and bright pick-ups will put me over. I watched two vids of the Super Brights at work, both on Jazz Basses - had to work with what was available. One demo seemed like they had a sweet kind of tamed high, the other demo the highs were out of control. Hard to get any real idea of what those strings will sound like with youtube vids, tho.

Really interested in checking out a set of the Sfarzos, but I am weary to try a coated string after getting burned by set of Elixirs a few years back. I know not all coated strings are created equal, tho. I have been using Black Beauties on a 91 SR PJ I have, and I'm happy enough with them. The coating is starting to wear, but it's not gumming up like the Elixirs did.

I used to use Blue Steels when I played guitar in high school. I really liked them, though my opinion on anything at that age should be taken with a grain of salt.

My thought process with the P bass and it's strings is this -

By the nature of the location and style of the pickups in the bass, I would say there is a propensity for 300-800hz to be somewhat augmented. The pick-ups seem to expand the top range and and focus around 4k, maybe even higher. I feel like the area I want a set of strings to shine would be in the 1-2K area.
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Paul Turner describes Dunlop Super Bright Nickels as sounding like well broke in stainless steels strings and I think that's a fairly good description. Bright but not overly so, seem to maintain their tone for a while and even sound good when well broke in. Definitely not out of control bright, they actually seem to tame some fret noise and buzz on my main bass which is kind of buzzy with other strings.
 
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#55
I found this thread via a convoluted search for the best kind of coated strings. I have very acidic sweat and very sweaty hands. I like bright, fresh rounds and most brands die on me quickly. Then, I stumble on Roger's article about grounding issues.

Based on reviews and the things I've heard people here say, I'm going to have to try Dunlop Super Brites. Sounds like they last on par with Elixers, the price is right, sounds like the tension is about my style, and they'll be a good match for my P bass. I'm going to try them on my EBMM Sterling too. Thinking about getting a few sets of nickels and a few SS sets too - I'm usually a nickel guy.

Of course, as always I'll be buying from @SLaPiNFuNK at bassstringsonline.com!!
 

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