I just acquired a Kramer Duke bass and am trying to find strings for it. Need a set about 40-100 and with ball to silk length about 34-35 inches. I think Rotosound makes such an item, but I sure can't find anyone who carries it. Any Kramer users out there?
I just ordered some GHS medium scale to try. If they are too long, I will get some short scale ones. I guess it's GHS or D'Addario. I can't find any other short strings advertised.
Zombie Thread Revival! {} Well, the thread title says it all... And a nice minty 1984 Duke is on the way to me now. What do I have to choose from that's going to be a good fit, given the need for no ball-end silk (or extremely short ball-end silks!) plus the perfectly-placed windings required to nicely interface with those Schaller guitar tuners? Rounds, flats, something else? Some different gauge choices, perhaps? I've done some searching, so far the definitive advice includes "50-107 short scale GHS Boomers". I'm hoping there are other available strings that are 'known to work well' - and if so then they deserve to be mentioned in this thread!
The ball end silks issue is easy to work around. Thread your strings through some leftover balls from old strings to make the silks hit the right spot if needed. And if you find that you don't like how it sounds tuned standard they make amazing piccolo basses. That's how I've had mine strung for 15 years. No truss rod to adjust and no nut slots to worry about.
{} Mine has the 50-107 short scale GHS Bass Boomers on it. I've never had much joy with "light" strings on short scale basses; at best, they just feel... rubbery. All of my shortys wear at least 45-105s; some, like the Duke, wear even heavier ones. It had the Boomers when I bought it; I loved how they sounded, so that's what it's always worn. I've never tried anything else on it, which might or might not be a good thing. I bought several sets of them a few years ago, so they're shorter than the current short scale Boomers. I'm dreading the day I have to try the new, longer ones; It will be a very sad day in my house, if they don't work...
Well, here is another (somewhat provisional) entry to the list... Get a set of Ernie Ball 2837 Slinky Short-Scale 6-String Bass Strings. ( originally designed for BassVI, Danelectro, etc. ) Set aside the two thinnest strings (.020 and .030) and use the 42-54-74-90 set. NOTE: must scavenge the ball-ends from another set of bass strings, and thread these strings through them to anchor properly, as this set has small 'guitar-size' ball ends that will pass right into the Duke headpiece slots! I suppose some small washers would do the trick just as well... My observations - at regular concert tuning, this set provides decent rattle-free performance with low action - as long as you use a very light touch! Some slight bendability is available. (This set is nickle-plated steel wrap over a steel hex-core.) There are no silks to worry about, and the E-string is tapered just right so that the thick windings pass over the bridge saddle perfectly. A firm hand setting the witness points was necessary, and then the strings settled in quickly with perfect intonation. Bonus - these strings are DIRT CHEAP to purchase and readily available!
