I play Sadowsky Black Label Nickels with a tapered B and they’re perfect strings. Two thumbs up!
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Seeking opinions - 5 string sets w/Tapered B
- Thread starter Scott Lynch
- Start date
This ^. Both on Sadowsky and otherwise for 5-string.
I use DR Sunbeams on my 4-strings. Only exception is EBMM Slinkys on my EBMM basses.
For the Sadowsky strings, the blues have a bit more mids to them than the black labels. I also prefer the nickels over the stainless in both blue or black.
I love the feel and longevity of the Elixir strings and have been anxiously awaiting them to begin making the taper wound .130 B strings again. Had asked them via Facebook a few months back and unfortunately received a canned response that didn't provide any information on when they might return. In the meantime, I've been reluctantly using the regular .130 B strings.
I've tried many others, but am one of those folks that with a little sweat, immediately kill a set of non-coated strings. Other coated strings just don't have the sound and feel of Elixirs, so I'll compromise on the B for now.
I love the feel and longevity of the Elixir strings and have been anxiously awaiting them to begin making the taper wound .130 B strings again. Had asked them via Facebook a few months back and unfortunately received a canned response that didn't provide any information on when they might return. In the meantime, I've been reluctantly using the regular .130 B strings.
I've tried many others, but am one of those folks that with a little sweat, immediately kill a set of non-coated strings. Other coated strings just don't have the sound and feel of Elixirs, so I'll compromise on the B for now.
Looks like Strings By Mail has just received new stock of Elixirs, although there still is no tapered 130B available.
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If I were you, I would just get the Elixir 4-string 45-105 set and substitute the low B with another brand as a temporary workaround.
I've been mix and matching the low B on my Yamaha as this particular bass of mine seems to benefit from tapered B's. As of right now, it's wearing DR Nickel Lo-Riders (40-95) and D'A XL Nickel tapered 125 as the NLR B doesn't come in a tapered version.
D’Addario. They are never difficult to find. They last long enough and are consistent. Just get the 4 String set you want and order the B separately. FYI, I’ve been holding out for Elixir to get it together as well.
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Thank you for the recommendations, everyone, and feel free to keep them coming. I just ordered a couple of sets of the Sadowsky Blue Label nickels. We'll see how long they maintain a tone that I am happy with. I don't like too much brightness, especially accentuated finger noise, but I don't like super dead rounds either - yet another reason why I love the Elixirs, since they stay in that sweet spot for so long.
I've tried most of the affordable strings you can get online and a few years ago decided to quit getting the budget stuff and tried a set of Sadowsky roundwounds on my fretless and holy cow, I'm never going back. Yes they're zingy, but the "mwah" they throw off is so much better than I was getting from cheaper rounds from like amazon or whatever. And when I don't want the irritating "squeeonk" of position changes, rolling off some treble does the trick.
I don't like nickel at all. They seem to try to straddle the line between playability and brightness without being good at either one. I'd rather be mildly irritated with the feel or playability of my strings and get the sound I want than I would being in limbo, if that makes sense.
Otherwise the Dean Markley sets mentioned above are aces.
I don't like nickel at all. They seem to try to straddle the line between playability and brightness without being good at either one. I'd rather be mildly irritated with the feel or playability of my strings and get the sound I want than I would being in limbo, if that makes sense.
Otherwise the Dean Markley sets mentioned above are aces.
Doug Parent
Supporting Member
For which bass? The reason I ask is I have a Warwick Corvette that with the exception of their own strings, finding a non-tapered B string that will fit in the tail piece is a problem. The other problem is the taper is designed for string through the body, and the Warwick is not, the length of the taper goes beyond the pick up side of the bridge. Consequently, I buy a 4 string set non-tapered set, and order single tapered B strings.
Warwick .125 non-non tapered strings will fit in the the tail piece. DR low rider and GHS bass boomers 125 do not.
Best wishes on your hunt.
Fodera strings are my all time favorite strings, steel or nickel. They also offer a tapered B String. That said I do prefer the non tapered one.
^This. NYXL are great strings. I feel that D'Addario is often overlooked in the strings conversations, but NYXL strings sound great (to my ears), are consistent from one set to the next, relatively long-lasting, affordable, and easy to find (unlike Elixirs where string availability is spotty at best), and if you go the single string route you can build pretty much any gauge combination you want.
Thanks for the tip - I've been wanting to try out a tapered B on my Yamaha BB735. I know you and I have a shared love of GHS Pressurewounds and I love everything about them, except that the B string always dies on me just at the other four are breaking in nicely. So I emailed Jason who got back to me within 20 minutes and recommended that I try a Ken Smith Compressors tapered B. It'll be an interesting experiment!
My TRBX505 does benefit from tapered/exposed-core B string, so I did consider trying the KS Compressor tapered B with the PW L7200 at one point.
Fortunately, I did manage to stock up on the GHS Progressive 130B (exposed core) just before they were discontinued at the end of 2019. So, that's what I've been using.
Here's the pic of the tapered end on the KS Compressor B that Jason at FN provided for me a couple of years ago. You might end up having to top-load it instead of putting it thru-body on the 735.
Oh, good to know. I checked one of my old strings last night and the witness point where it sat on the b string saddle was 2.25" from the ball end, so I think I'll be ok on that side going through the body.
Of more concern to me is that the string has a 38" wind, which is a bit longer than the GHS set 37.25". I've not got a lot of room between the nut and tuner post on that bass, and I'm worried thst it's going to cause problems at that end.
According to the KS specs, the low B is 37" in winding length, not 38". So no worries there as 37" is good for both thru-body and top-load on the 735.
Fantastic, I missed that detail. Somewhere else I saw something suggesting that the winding on all their strings was 38". And for most of my strings that actually wouldn't be a problem, but the B and G strings are much closer to the nut on this bass due to the headstock configuration.
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