String suggestions for a fretless

[Laurent]

If you like the sound of roundwound strings, I would suggest Ernie Ball Flatwound Group II or Group III.
They are quite a bit brighter than other flatwounds.

 

[arbiterusa]

I have used nothing but rounds (the great Rotosound RS66 and DR High Beams) on my rosewood boards (pretty soft) for five years of weekly gigging, practices, and just playing (my stuff gets used hard and often) and they have barely left any marks. I would use the strings you want.

 

[Matthijs]

Any nickel rounds will do. I play exclusively fretless and had to redress a fingerboard once in the last 30 tears.

 

[Thumpin6string]

I ran round wounds on a fretless maple board Jazz bass and had no wear and I also have them on my 5 string fretless I built with a rosewwod board and have no wear. Both boards were urethane coated, so maybe that helps. I prefer the sound of coated boards.

 

[mcnach]

Hi to all. I hope this post finds everyone and their loved ones safe and healthy. I just picked up Musicman unlined fretless with a pao ferro fingerboard. It's got flatwounds on which are ok. But I like the sound of roundwounds on a fretless. Problem is I don't want to wear the fingerboard out with the roundwounds. I am looking for suggestions on what kind of strings I could use that would give me that roundwound sound without having my perfect fretboard chewed up. Thanks in advance. Stay safe and well all.

View attachment 3814329

Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats are flatwounds but do not sound like standard flats, they're a lot closer to rounds that have mellowed down a bit. If you like the sound of rounds but the feel of flats, these are the closest thing I've experienced.

 

[nilorius]

The roundwounds are all the same, they differ only on materials quality, anyway, you will not be able to not feel and see your roundwounds on your board and have to renew the board after 3 or 4 intensive playing.

 

[davidjbass]

BTW that looks like a mid-90's stingray—great era for those basses.

It's a 1995. And yes it was a great era for them.

 

[davidjbass]

Hey all thanks for the replies. I wicked appreciate it. I have decided to try the Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats.
Gonna do a curbside pick up at G.C. in Nashua today to get them. I will let you all know how I like them. Take care all.

 

[BAG]

I ran round wounds on a fretless maple board Jazz bass and had no wear and I also have them on my 5 string fretless I built with a rosewwod board and have no wear. Both boards were urethane coated, so maybe that helps. I prefer the sound of coated boards.

The coating would definitely help. When I got my Warmoth neck second hand it was so worn between the 5th and 7th frets that it was unplayable. When the luthier went to level it he said "that's the softest piece of s*** rosewood I've ever seen on a fretless.... it should only have been used on a fretted neck". He decided to epoxy it and now after hundreds of hours of use it only has very minor scratch marks from the strings. He also said it was a pain in the a... and it would be the only epoxied board he'll ever do.

 

[Thumpin6string]

The coating would definitely help. When I got my Warmoth neck second hand it was so worn between the 5th and 7th frets that it was unplayable. When the luthier went to level it he said "that's the softest piece of s*** rosewood I've ever seen on a fretless.... it should only have been used on a fretted neck". He decided to epoxy it and now after hundreds of hours of use it only has very minor scratch marks from the strings. He also said it was a pain in the a... and it would be the only epoxied board he'll ever do.

I don't use Epoxy or super glue because of the amount of work it takes. I spray my fretless boards with automotive catalyzed urethane clear. Easy to apply and pretty much bullet proof. I spray on a few coats and by the time I get my gun clean, it's dry to the touch. I let it cure a couple days before putting strings on it.

 

[600 Ohms]

First of all, Pau Ferro literally means Iron Wood. Nothing is going to happen to it. It's hard as ebony.

Please try a set of DR Pure Blues. Ive been preferring g those on my 91 Stingray fretless.

 

[WillyW]

I use EB extra slinky roundwounds on most of my fretlesses... rosewood, ebony, purpleheart, roasted maple, maple, bubinga, goncalo alves, and mystery wood boards with proper vibrato.

I have a conversion with a CA coated board, and a couple of the above boards have a couple coats of shellac which is supposedly softer than nitro.

I kinda wish I needed another bass because I would like a pao ferro board...

one of my most used basses has the dreaded soft rosewood board and I don't recall any noticeable wear.

I only recently added flats to two of my basses, and I mostly did that because I have too many sets of unused flats... and they do sound more uprighty...

 

[Watchootognbout]

The extent of wear from rounds has been greatly exaggerated.
You will see winding marks after a great while.
Which are easily sanded out with a radius block and some super fine sand paper.


If you could play a fretless bass with rounds(or pressurewounds for that matter) over a large white piece of paper on the floor under the neck for a period of time(pause).......you will not see fingerboard sawdust on it.


Now.
If you slap,tap,double and do sideways Blues guitar bends,the deal is off!

 

[JRA]

fretless noobs imagine the worst: experienced fretless players know better:

In reality, rounds won't wear the fingerboard that much quicker

You won't hurt the fretboard if you use proper fretless vibrato. I owned a musicman fretless that I played for 20 years and it needed a slight fretboard sanding after that time.

The extent of wear from rounds has been greatly exaggerated.
You will see winding marks after a great while. Which are easily sanded out with a radius block and some super fine sand paper.

 

[JTE]

Name your favorite fretless players. I'll bet they all use rounds...
Jaco- Rotosound RS66 stainless rounds
Pino- very light gauge Rotosound stainless on his pre EB 'Ray for the Paul Young, Don Henley, and David Gilmour etc. stuff
Mark Egan- D'Addario XL series nickel rounds
Gary Willis- Rounds
Freebo- Rounds (don't recall which ones, the interview was in Guitar Player magazine ca. 1979)

I've been playing fretless since '87, keep coming back to DR Sunbeams 45-105. I've used D'Addario XL nickel XLS stainless, GHS Pressure-Wound, Gus series pure nickle, DR Sunbeams and Hi-Beams, TI flats, GHS Precision flats,

 

[ihixulu]

FWIW, I just installed a set of LaBella Tapewounds on my fretless and was pleasantly surprised to discover they are brighter than the Chromes that were previously on there. Another option to consider

 

[600 Ohms]

Name your favorite fretless players. I'll bet they all use rounds...
Jaco- Rotosound RS66 stainless rounds
Pino- very light gauge Rotosound stainless on his pre EB 'Ray for the Paul Young, Don Henley, and David Gilmour etc. stuff
Mark Egan- D'Addario XL series nickel rounds
Gary Willis- Rounds
Freebo- Rounds (don't recall which ones, the interview was in Guitar Player magazine ca. 1979)

I've been playing fretless since '87, keep coming back to DR Sunbeams 45-105. I've used D'Addario XL nickel XLS stainless, GHS Pressure-Wound, Gus series pure nickle, DR Sunbeams and Hi-Beams, TI flats, GHS Precision flats,

Yep, Pino used 40-95 I read somewhere, which happens to be my favorite gauge.

The amount of people recommending flatwounds on a fretless is not based on anything historic. If you were around when fretless was in its heyday, you know that that simply wasn't the case.

 

[JTE]

Yep, Pino used 40-95 I read somewhere which happens to be my favorite gauge.

That sounds right. A friend of mine' been in the stagehands' union (IATSE) forever, as well as being a bass player. Decades ago when Paul Young 0layed a gig at the local university, my friend worked the local crew. Pino's tech restrung the fretless StingRay and gave Larry the old set. They were very light.

 

[Tina]

I have decided to try the Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats.
Gonna do a curbside pick up at G.C. in Nashua today to get them. I will let you all know how I like them.

..did you pick up some of those Cobalt Flats in the meantime? How did you like them?

 

[davidjbass]

..did you pick up some of those Cobalt Flats in the meantime? How did you like them?

I did. And I liked them. They give my fretless sound the growl I was looking for without marking up my fretboard.