I was looking into a more cost-effective alternative to the TIJR's and the DR Sunbeams were mentioned repeatedly. They come in a 40-120 set which puts you in TI territory.
Riis
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Slickest/smoothest-feeling rounds for fretless
- Thread starter revlimitbounce
- Start date
I was looking into a more cost-effective alternative to the TIJR's and the DR Sunbeams were mentioned repeatedly. They come in a 40-120 set which puts you in TI territory.
Riis
I've never found any rounds to be rough feeling. My fretless 6 is currently strung with Labella SN42CB strings. They are basically the same as Labella Slappers. Easy on the fingers and mwah for days. I've also used the DR Neons and they sounded great too.
Not a fan of pressure-wound strings; conversely, I absolutely love ground-wound strings.
But not all of them. Hated the original D'Addario Half Rounds. But my go-to strings on one of my fretless basses are the Ken Smith "Slick Round" Nickel Iron Medium groundwounds (# AA-SRM). They feel smooth and slick, but they sound punchy, chewy, and phat.
But not all of them. Hated the original D'Addario Half Rounds. But my go-to strings on one of my fretless basses are the Ken Smith "Slick Round" Nickel Iron Medium groundwounds (# AA-SRM). They feel smooth and slick, but they sound punchy, chewy, and phat.
You may not want flats, but you want a specific tone and “slickest and smoothest” feeling. That’s EB Cobalt flats. Broken-in round wound tone, flat wound feel, and they sound good the first minute you play them, no break-in time. Their brighter-than-most-flats and brighter-than-some-rounds tone lasts a long time. I thought maybe you had tried them since you’ve been describing them accurately in this thread…
Fodera round wounds are a bit smoother feeling than any other round wound I've tried. Not massively, but enough to notice. I assume they're the same since DR took over their manufacture.
TI Jazz Rounds but VERY floppy - they feel good but way too slim and loose.
I would try the new LaBella Ian Martin Allison super polished. They seem to get a lot of love.
I would try the new LaBella Ian Martin Allison super polished. They seem to get a lot of love.
If the D & G had the same texture as the E & A, they would be more like half rounds.
If either of you (or anyone else reading this thread) ever has occasion to try strings like these again, I recommend wiping them down thoroughly with a slightly damp rag before installing. I just use water but I have heard of people using rubbing alcohol. Lots of non-roundwound strings seem to come out of the package with some grit and/or gunk on them from the manufacturing process. This will show up easily as dark marks on the cleaning rag. I constantly see people talk online about how certain types of strings smooth out after a lot of wear, but in my experience you can nearly always get there instantly by simply wiping the strings down. I now do this as a matter of habit with all flatwound, ground wound, half wound, pressurewound, etc. strings, and after starting to do this they all seem to start out plenty smooth from the get-go.
Well...
I try very hard to avoid telling people what to do, so... please yourself. However, I will tell you my experience with 50 years of strings - on a lot of basses...
- Rounds. I learned to play bass on a friend's '68 Rick 4001 - in 1968. It had the factory German Maxima 4440 light gauge, round core flats on it. I've been a flat wound fan ever since, but... yes, I've owned and played a fair number of basses that wore rounds. The smoothest feeling ones? It's been more than a few years, but I seem to remember the Rickenbacker Light Gauge Nickel Rounds that I had on my '01 Rick 4003 as being pretty smooth - for rounds. Sounded really good, too - if you're a fan of a "modern" sounding Rick. Sadly, Rick hasn't offered them for... quite a while, now. And, yes, TI Jazz Rounds are very smooth. I had them on my '94 Gretsch Broadkaster for about 4 years. They'd still be on it, but the nerve damage, and years of frostbite my hands have suffered, made playing rounds - even the TIJR's - increasingly painful. To the point that, now? None of my 30 basses wear rounds. 3 of them wear tape wounds (including the Gretsch), and the rest wear all manner of flats.
- Flats. I don't know what kind of flats you've used, but in my 50 years of playing all kinds of them? They do NOT all sound "super dull". Some of them, in fact, I find to be obnoxiously bright - depending on the bass they're on. 3 of my 4 fretless basses wear flats. ECB82 Chromes on my Birdsong Fusion (it came from the builder that way); Ernie Ball Group IV Flats on my Schecter Stiletto Studio Fretless (also came from the factory with them); and La Bella LTF-4 Low Tension Flats that I replaced the factory rounds with, on my '25 G&L Kiloton Fretless. None of which could be considered "super dull" by anyone with ears... Yes, heavy gauge, hex-core flat wounds can sound pretty thuddy - or, "Old School Thumpy". And, yes, I do have those flats on some of my basses - the ones I play, when the music calls for "Old School Thump". But, a lot of my basses wear lighter gauge, round core flats. Like TI Jazz Flats; Fender 9050L's (very nice flats, IMO); light gauge #3025 GHS Precision Flats (clones of the Squier Light Flats that came stock on my '78 Fender P-Bass); or the Optima 4440 RB Flats that are clones of the original Maxima 4440 Flats that I played on my friend's "68 4001. LaBella makes some DTF's that are pretty not-all-that-thumpy. Their 39-96 760FX's can be pretty bright - depending on the bass. One of my '98 Dano DC59 Pros wears them; so does my '15 Dano Longhorn. Paired with those twin lipstick single-coil pickups? Well, you can tell they're flats, but they're pretty bright... And, the EB Slinky Cobalt Flats I put on my new Sterling 4H SubRay? The last thing they are, is "super dull"...
Dunlop SBN nickel , DR Sunbeam or NYXL .
Everyone: Thanks for all the input!
I put on a set of the T-I Jazz Rounds. Super-expensive, for sure! They're also a bit on the light side (gauge-wise), and I think this bass wants a bit more tension (or, if I stay with this set, a small truss adjustment).
They feel great. However, I might continue my search because I don't want to have to pay so bloody much for new strings periodically.
I will try the Ian Martin Allisons, the EB Cobalt Flats, and the DR Sunbeams.
On the topic of wiping strings down before instaling them: I actually have always done this. A few passes with a wet (watered) paper towel before installation, in order to get the full circumference of the string clean. Some strings brands indeed do have a poopie-ton of residue on them out of the envelope.
Off-topic, I just finished a P-bass build that I'm really ... Jazzed about. Recording session tomorrow with that thing. Freddie Washigton vibe. Will post separately on TB.
Thanks!
I put on a set of the T-I Jazz Rounds. Super-expensive, for sure! They're also a bit on the light side (gauge-wise), and I think this bass wants a bit more tension (or, if I stay with this set, a small truss adjustment).
They feel great. However, I might continue my search because I don't want to have to pay so bloody much for new strings periodically.
I will try the Ian Martin Allisons, the EB Cobalt Flats, and the DR Sunbeams.
On the topic of wiping strings down before instaling them: I actually have always done this. A few passes with a wet (watered) paper towel before installation, in order to get the full circumference of the string clean. Some strings brands indeed do have a poopie-ton of residue on them out of the envelope.
Off-topic, I just finished a P-bass build that I'm really ... Jazzed about. Recording session tomorrow with that thing. Freddie Washigton vibe. Will post separately on TB.
Thanks!
Getting over a decade's use from a set of TIJR is common. It's the pay-more-up-front-to-avoid-paying-more-frequently plan.
