String help

[Levent]

the courser the wind the more zing and content.

let me know your thoughts.

You are right about that. They are not the strings in your photo but I recommend this 3 for you.

 

[smtp4me]

I was looking through some stuff and found some old strings and looked them over and they were barely used. I needed to replace the strings on my stingray SUB and put these on and wow that bass came back to life!
These strings got me thinking.
1) what kind of strings are these? I wonder if these are not the strings that came on this bass but they do not feel like Ernie Balls

2) what companies make course strings? These have very rough winds and I love it, for this bass anyway. It brings out the zing big time and this got me thinking, the courser the wind the more zing and content.

let me know your thoughts.

Well... DR is not the only company that does not use silk wrap on the ends, but these look like DRs. And since you mention that they feel coarse I'm thinking stainless steel, which means potentially High Beams.

 

[iiipopes]

Some La Bella's have a shorter winding length E string.

 

[michael_t]

these look like DRs...

Refer to my above post (#13)...

The varied winding lengths (ball end to taper) on them don't match the DR specs. All "long scale" DR sets would have the same winding lengths on all four at 37.75". DR "short scale" does have the E slightly shorter (33") than the other three (33.75"), but that's not what's on the OP's bass.

 

[michael_t]

Some La Bella's have a shorter winding length E string.

This is true... However, if you look at the where the taper is on the D in the OP's pic, it's even longer than E and A. This is one of the features I've seen in generic factory strings from Asia on some of the budget Ibanez basses.

La Bella sets would have A and D at the same length (38").

 

[micguy]

Zing comes from the strings' construction and materials. The fact that some zingy strings are rough is a red herring - it isn't the roughness that gives the zing, it's other factors.

 

[thebassbuilder]

Zing comes from the strings' construction and materials. The fact that some zingy strings are rough is a red herring - it isn't the roughness that gives the zing, it's other factors.

I would think rougher strings would bring out more character in a string over a smoother string. This is where I feel it would benefit the E and A strings the most so they have a more balanced sound compared to the D and G strings if this makes sense. Now all this is based off me referring to my stingray and not any other type of bass. For some reason stingrays will develop a thuddy E string quickly compared to all the other strings, thus making them sound unbalanced compared to D and G strings.

 

[thebassbuilder]

You are right about that. They are not the strings in your photo but I recommend this 3 for you.View attachment 4926239 View attachment 4926240 View attachment 4926241

I never

You are right about that. They are not the strings in your photo but I recommend this 3 for you.View attachment 4926239 View attachment 4926240 View attachment 4926241

wow Labella and Infeld! Those two conpanies I have never thought of when thinking of round wound strings. How well do they hold up?
I know I want a string that holds up. I was playing Ernie Balls but they go dead so fast!

 

[micguy]

I would think rougher strings would bring out more character in a string over a smoother string. This is where I feel it would benefit the E and A strings the most so they have a more balanced sound compared to the D and G strings if this makes sense. Now all this is based off me referring to my stingray and not any other type of bass. For some reason stingrays will develop a thuddy E string quickly compared to all the other strings, thus making them sound unbalanced compared to D and G strings.

The EQ that a Stingray uses to "fix" the issue with the pickup being close to the bridge is at the root of things here. The EQ change that a shift in pickup position makes is different on every string, so it can't be EQ'd out perfectly for every string. The problems that are observed (the lowest and highest strings sounding not quite right) track with the Physics that's going on here. I have a bass that I built based on similar principles to a Stingray, but I didn't move the pickup as far, solely for this reason.

 

[Levent]

I never

wow Labella and Infeld! Those two conpanies I have never thought of when thinking of round wound strings. How well do they hold up?
I know I want a string that holds up. I was playing Ernie Balls but they go dead so fast!

Infeld's Jazz Rounds are very lyrical and soft but Superalloy and Powerbass are fkin beasts and they live long.
La Bella is very grindy sounding aswell, has very close thump like their flats but totally round character. They live longer than D'addario and EB too.

 

[thebassbuilder]

The EQ that a Stingray uses to "fix" the issue with the pickup being close to the bridge is at the root of things here. The EQ change that a shift in pickup position makes is different on every string, so it can't be EQ'd out perfectly for every string. The problems that are observed (the lowest and highest strings sounding not quite right) track with the Physics that's going on here. I have a bass that I built based on similar principles to a Stingray, but I didn't move the pickup as far, solely for this reason.

Did you move your MM pickup more towards the neck? I have built a few basses with MM pickups and in most cases I move mine towards the neck and you get a good p bass low end but can still get some of that mm zing and snap.

 

[micguy]

Did you move your MM pickup more towards the neck? I have built a few basses with MM pickups and in most cases I move mine towards the neck and you get a good p bass low end but can still get some of that mm zing and snap.

That bass has a Nordstrand Big Rig pickup, and it’s located at the same relative spot (1/8th of the way from bridge to nut) as the bridge pickup on a Ric. That puts it further from the bridge than a Stingray. Given that, it needs less bass boost, so the eq errors on the highest and lowest strings are less obvious.

It’s inspired to some extent by the wholistic approach of a Stingray, my love of the sound of the comb filtering of my Ric’s bridge pickup position, and my fascination at how the Big Rig pickup gets around the loss of articulation from a 2 coil pickup.

It also doesn’t hum, so it beats a Ric hands down on that.

 

[thebassbuilder]

That bass has a Nordstrand Big Rig pickup, and it’s located at the same relative spot (1/8th of the way from bridge to nut) as the bridge pickup on a Ric. That puts it further from the bridge than a Stingray. Given that, it needs less bass boost, so the eq errors on the highest and lowest strings are less obvious.

It’s inspired to some extent by the wholistic approach of a Stingray, my love of the sound of the comb filtering of my Ric’s bridge pickup position, and my fascination at how the Big Rig pickup gets around the loss of articulation from a 2 coil pickup.

It also doesn’t hum, so it beats a Ric hands down on that.

I just installed 3 of those big rigs in a buddys custom bass and those pickups sound so good. Probably one of my favorites I have heard in a new pickup design in a long time. They have a traditional tone but massive sounding and just killer all around tone.