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Strings for hot pickups? And medium/light rounds?

Haans

Haans

Altruistic nihilist
Supporting Member
Oct 31, 2005
867
1,818
Bergen, Norway
#1
My Gibson EB 2014 suffers a bit from the chorusy effect associated with the extremely hot pickups. I'm not sure I will be able to lower the pickups enough to dial out the chorus completely, and besides, the bridge pickup serves nicely as a thumb rest at the current height. Today I stumbled across some strings that boasted about being extra magnetic (steel iirc), but what about strings that are less magnetic to alleviate the chorus? Would that fly? Do such strings exist?

Bonus question: is there a round-/halfwound 50-100 set in production, or would I have to shop single strings? I could only find flatwound medium-lights. I want to try out a 50, 70, 85, 100 set or thereabouts - to fatten up the high strings and even out the lows.

Thanks!
 
#2
Haans said:
what about strings that are less magnetic to alleviate the chorus? Would that fly? Do such strings exist?

Bonus question: is there a round-/halfwound 50-100 set in production, or would I have to shop single strings? I could only find flatwound medium-lights. I want to try out a 50, 70, 85, 100 set or thereabouts - to fatten up the high strings and even out the lows.
Click to expand...

You can try "pure nickel" rounds as the "less magnetic" alternative.

Pure Nickel Alchemists Union

The only thing is I don't know of any that comes in the gauges you want.
 
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#4
For the style of music I play, I think flats won't work well. I brought my Jaguar with flats to rehearsal recently, hoping it would be a good fit, but I found it lacking in clarity and not cutting through. This is a rather hard hitting instrumental surf-punk band (check out Robotron on Spotify if you're interested). I play with a gritty tube distortion, and the flats just weren't doing it for me.
 
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#6
I'd suggest pure nickel as well, to keep the rounds vibe with less magnetic pull.
If you're specifically looking for those gauges and willing to pay for a custom set, you could contact Pyramid strings in Germany. Here's their catalog, and you'll find their pure nickel strings on page 32:

http://pyramid-saiten.de/_assets/_pdf/PYRAMID_EN_BR_Katalog-2020-10-01.pdf

If the custom set is too pricey, their standard .105 set is awesome.
 
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#7
Hey, cool band - like the vibe!

Not sure what all is available in Norway. Can you get Thomastik Jazz rounds easily? When I listened to a few tracks, my mind went to a more midrange sound vs say more low end? Is that fair? You could probably get there with some stainless steel round, like Prosteels. I know you don’t want to poke through as much, but based on the sound of your band I think a string that is more mid-shy would benefit. It’d still maybe sound a bit hot solo’d but I think the “hotness” would vanish a bit in a live band mix. This is just what I hear and hey, just one guy on the internet who has an opinion. It is your money and I don’t want to spend it for you! :D

Best of luck!
 
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#8
Thank you for listening! I tend to go for a lot of mids and a more controlled bottom. I'm not on the recordings, by the way, that's the former bass player. My sound may be a bit more in-your-face. I like the hotness of the pickups, the only problem being the chorusy effect on the high strings. Wouldn't steel be more magnetic than nickel, thus exacerbating the problem?
 
#9
Haans said:
Thank you for listening! I tend to go for a lot of mids and a more controlled bottom. I'm not on the recordings, by the way, that's the former bass player. My sound may be a bit more in-your-face. I like the hotness of the pickups, the only problem being the chorusy effect on the high strings. Wouldn't steel be more magnetic than nickel, thus exacerbating the problem?
Click to expand...

Well, that’s a little hard to answer based on the fact that there are just so many variables that go into your band sound. I would say not necessarily but that also needs to be caveated. Here is my non-expert opinion - I have played bass for about 10-15 years in a variety of band settings and was a sound guy in a church setting for about 5. So I know what I like to hear, but it’s not gospel truth or anything, just my opinion.

To my ears, nickel brings out more midrange content than stainless. Stainless tends to do highs and lows more, generally. Not always the case, and different from string to string. Our human ears hear midrange better than say low end - highs are easy to hear but can be “harsh” depending on the frequency range. I think, and again generally, this makes nickel strings tend to sound louder - it’s not really a magnetic thing, more what the human ear hears more clearly. So many variables though and my reasoning fails at some point, so important to experiment.

When I listen to your band recordings, I hear a lot of midrange already - do you want to add more to that, or add in frequencies in other places? Again, this is only my opinion and based on how I would approach it - we are all different and you obviously will want to do what sounds best to you and your band.
 
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#11
Also, technique matters - if you play with a pick, it can bring out midrange a bit more than say finger style. Thinner picks bring out more hi-mids, thicker brings out low-mids. In general, of course. So many variables.

Do you know what the last bass player used? Do you like their tone? What would you change?

BTW, you could move your pickups away from your strings a little more too - 1mm doesn’t sound like a lot but can have a noticeable impact. Sorry if I am confusing this issue more.
 
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#13
Dan_reeves said:
When I listen to your band recordings, I hear a lot of midrange already - do you want to add more to that, or add in frequencies in other places?
Click to expand...

Dan_reeves said:
Do you know what the last bass player used? Do you like their tone? What would you change?
Click to expand...

I'm not after emulating any particular sound, I'm rather pleased with what I have. Nickels bringing out mids sounds appealing, and combined with being slightly less magnetic, it sounds like a worthwhile experiment. I have no idea what the last bass player used, but the tone I have fits well at the moment.

I have lowered the pickup a bit, but others on here have complained about not being able to dial out the chorus completely on this particular model no matter how much the pickup was lowered.

Dan_reeves said:
Also, technique matters - if you play with a pick, it can bring out midrange a bit more than say finger style. Thinner picks bring out more hi-mids, thicker brings out low-mids. In general, of course. So many variables.
Click to expand...

I play with a thick ultex pyramid pick (my favourite pick by far). Works very well!

My only concern is the chorus effect. I will experiment some more with the pickup, but I do want some new strings as well :)
 
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#14
Haans said:
I'm not after emulating any particular sound, I'm rather pleased with what I have. Nickels bringing out mids sounds appealing, and combined with being slightly less magnetic, it sounds like a worthwhile experiment. I have no idea what the last bass player used, but the tone I have fits well at the moment.

I have lowered the pickup a bit, but others on here have complained about not being able to dial out the chorus completely on this particular model no matter how much the pickup was lowered.



I play with a thick ultex pyramid pick (my favourite pick by far). Works very well!

My only concern is the chorus effect. I will experiment some more with the pickup, but I do want some new strings as well :)
Click to expand...

Great! Best of luck - brings me back to the TI Jazz Rounds. I think they fit what you are after but (at least here in USA) they can be expensive.
 
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#16
mrperkolator said:
the la bella white tapes sound fairly similar to rounds btw. I know @Haans isnt a fan
Click to expand...

Am I not? I've never tried them. I have La Bella flats on one bass and I think TI flats on another, but I have no idea which are on the Peavey Fury and which are on the Fender Jaguar. Both sound great, so if the white tapes sound more like rounds, they might work well in this setting.
 
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#17
Haans said:
Am I not? I've never tried them. I have La Bella flats on one bass and I think TI flats on another, but I have no idea which are on the Peavey Fury and which are on the Fender Jaguar. Both sound great, so if the white tapes sound more like rounds, they might work well in this setting.
Click to expand...

My bad. Perhaps it's the headache, but I thought I saw a preference for rounds and not flats/tapes. La Bella tapes really do sound different depending on which one you pick. Best tone I ever had was on a 35" BTB with La Bella black tapes. Sold that one because it was a boat anchor.

Edit: I should state, that with fingerstyle they sound similar to rounds to my ear. (light guage white tapes on a P bass) I'd be surprised if the slap tone was the same as nylon striking frets will sound different than nickel, steel...
 
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#18
The preference is soundwise, so tapes that sound round are possibly right up my alley. I have a set of black tapes on an old fretless, and I do like the feel (hence the question about halfwounds). I'll look them up!
 
#19
Haans said:
The preference is soundwise, so tapes that sound round are possibly right up my alley. I have a set of black tapes on an old fretless, and I do like the feel (hence the question about halfwounds). I'll look them up!
Click to expand...

I've tried the regular gauge black on a 5 string, and light gauge white on a p. Whites are brighter. The white gold are supposed to be even brighter. I'm not a fan of the light gauge. It's a bit floppy. I've gotten a bit used to it.

If they weren't so expensive I'd try more of them. La Bella low tension flats are nice too (similar in tone), but I'd wager the tapes are closer to what you're looking for. Higher gauge should bring out a bit more brightness. But with tapes you may have to adjust the nut.
 
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