stiff rounds?

[bwildt]

I like DR SS LoRiders. I like the stiffness, the strong lower mids and not so much high mids. If they sound a little too harsh for you, that what the treble controls are for. They tame down well. For me, they are also pretty long-lasting. I use them on all my basses with rounds, and I like not having to be buying strings all the time. My other go-to strings are TI jazz flats.

 

[40Hz]

Look for hex-core strings.

^This.

 

[ffej]

The reason I ask is I've been using the heavy guage boomers (50-115) as the bottom four strings on my five string with an added .035 for the G. They work because they really are pretty stiff, but I really like stainless.
If the lo riders are even a little less stiff, they probably won't work.

 

[jacoby75]

hi folks, asking for your knowledge and wisdom (since some of you seem to have tried literally all strings out there, and have the budget to afford to!).
I recently acquired a used j-bass and it has some sloppy-ish rounds. I'm a flats guy and I use d'addario chromes on my other basses (they are nice and stiff like I love) but I'd rather keep rounds on this one, to practice slapping more.
I had settled with DR Sunbeams in the past but am open to other suggestions of rounds that feel nice and tight/stiff like my chromes, even with a nice and low action (if they "work well" for slap that's a bonus).
Any really obvious options I should know about?
thanks!

I'll second the recommendation for DR Lo-Riders. I used DR Fat Beams exclusively for years. Those are also stiff, which allow for low action, which I love, and have a great mid-range presence. Of course, I play mostly 35" scale basses, which helps with stiffness a bit. Then I wanted to try something different and recently picked up some nickel lo-riders for my jazz5. Whoa, baby! These will soon be on all of my basses once the current strings need replacing. They're fantastic. All of the stiffness and punch of the Fat Beams, with a bit more warmth and less clank on my maple fretboard. I love them.

 

[TomB]

No one mentioned Roto-Sounds. It's been a long time, but I recall their rounds as being very stiff. ...their flats too, for that matter.

 

[Octave Lower]

I've recently went between two different sets of RotoSound strings; RS66LC (40, 60, 75, 95) round wounds and SM77 flats (40, 60, 80, 100). The two could not be more different from the point of stiffness. The RS66's are rather floppy, far more than I like (my right hand can get a bit heavy). The SM77's are very stiff. Strings that you can really dig on with the right hand and set up beautifully if you like looowwww action. Unfortunately, the SM77's are very thuddy and the E string went somewhat dead down low (G and lower) in just a few weeks.

Currently, I am playing D'Addario XL Chromes super lights (40, 60, 75, 95) and they are a good balance between the two RotoSound sets; stiffer feeling than the RS66's but not quite as stiff as the SM77's. Action follows suit, higher than the SM77's but lower than the RS66's. Notably more definition, brightness, and punch than RotoSound flats.

 

[jacoby75]

Currently, I am playing D'Addario XL Chromes super lights (40, 60, 75, 95) and they are a good balance between the two RotoSound sets; stiffer feeling than the RS66's but not quite as stiff as the SM77's. Action follows suit, higher than the SM77's but lower than the RS66's. Notably more definition, brightness, and punch than RotoSound flats.

I also recently tried Chromes for the first time on my 5'er. Long light gauge. They're stiff, which I love. They enable to set my action pretty darn low. And they sound fantastic. Not dead and thuddy (yet), and have a great mid-range punch.