Rotos, D'addario, and Dean Markley were all popular back then in my neck of the woods.
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Strings In The 70's
- Thread starter Dust2Dust
- Start date
Roto SB66. And I have the P bass with big ruts in the frets to prove it.
i switched to bass in the mid-seventies and discovered that rounds were better than flats for me. i used roto 66s then, and still do.
roto 66s in 2022 are better than roto 66s in ~1975: e.g., fewer duds (if any).
roto 66s in 2022 are better than roto 66s in ~1975: e.g., fewer duds (if any).
In addition to the Roto's I liked a few others on my Fenders like the D'Addario XL roundwounds as well as Labellas, Ernie Balls and Rickenbackers own "Electro" strings on my 4001 as well. Used Pyramid a couple times on the Hoffy as well though still think the Thomastiks sound best on that.
I bought my cousin's 76 Jazz bass in 1978 and he told me to only feed it Rotosounds 
My favorite flatwound string by far. Highly recommend those, OP
devnulljp
Supporting Member
I didn't know there were other strings than Rotosound 66 in the 80s.
In the US Rotosound seemed to switch distribution every six months and many local stores could not keep up, for that reason outside the major cities a lot of other brands were on the shelves instead. The string market was largely guitar strings as bass strings were generally only changed if one was broken or became unraveled or unplayable. Bass strings were about the same price than as now or really expensive in 1970 dollars. La'Bella, Black Diamond, Gibson, Ernie Ball, Dean Markley, Squier, GHS and many others came and went over the years. There were also large music one stop companies that provided regional and national sales that had house brands as well as several major chain stores that had their own label strings like Sear's Silvertone. Many guitar manufacturers also marketed strings like Gibson, Martin, DeArmond, Guild, Dan Electro and Rickenbacker.
The local "music store" could have been many things in smaller communities from a pawn shop, pharmacy, TV or appliance store, piano store and they would stock whatever strings that the local music drummer [salesman] had on offer. Sometimes these drummers were salespeople for national or regional companies and other times they had trucks or vans filled with sundry goods* that they would inventory and stock often paid out of the register or by check on the spot.
*any type of musical good from strings picks, capos, metronomes, reeds, rosin and other small musical accessories.
The local "music store" could have been many things in smaller communities from a pawn shop, pharmacy, TV or appliance store, piano store and they would stock whatever strings that the local music drummer [salesman] had on offer. Sometimes these drummers were salespeople for national or regional companies and other times they had trucks or vans filled with sundry goods* that they would inventory and stock often paid out of the register or by check on the spot.
*any type of musical good from strings picks, capos, metronomes, reeds, rosin and other small musical accessories.
That sounds familiar somehow. . . . . sort of like this "Post-pandemic" situation
I started n 1977.
Back then, my two real choices were GHS Boomers and Rotosound Swing Bass. Rotos had blown up as everyone went crazy for Chirs Squire's 'Roundabout' tone (which also sold a lot of Rickenbackers), and of course, they were developed with Joh Entwistle, which gave them even more cred.
Ernie Ball was round in bass strings, but some guys were a little gun-shy of them. EB always had strings made under contract, and the batch to batch consistency could swing quite a bit, according to what was said on the street. Markleys were around too, they were riding high on the acoustic guitar boom back then and they delved into bass strings. And Fender and Gibson both offered bass strings, which I never remembered selling at all.
Boomers were (are) great strings, and back then all the dealers had these big wooden boxes full of Bass Boomer singles, so you could build any gage set you liked. I know I experimented fruitlessly with big D's and G's. and I did have some customers for Brite Flats. We even had a customer that only wanted tapewounds, but I made someone else wait on him, creepy.
Rotos were the ticket then, though. Real bright, imported from the UK, it's what all us cool guys played.
You have to bear in mind the 'Bass Guitar Market' then is a fraction of what we see today: Far fewer instruments, amps, amd accessories. I'd have killed back then for Squier and a Rumble back then. I started out with a Gibson Ripper, a Peavey Mk2 Bass head and 215BW cabinet. More than a grand (!), and you couldn't pick all that up with one hand !
Today . . . . I had that same back in time feeling, so I often string my 4-string Jazz up with Fender 7150 'Pure Nickel Roundwound', supposedly the same string as OEM in the 50's and 60's. I'm a nickel guy, so these are right down my alley, and possibly sound just a bit warmer than the 8250 Nickel-Plated Steel Roundcores they use as OEM today, but not a big difference.
Back then, my two real choices were GHS Boomers and Rotosound Swing Bass. Rotos had blown up as everyone went crazy for Chirs Squire's 'Roundabout' tone (which also sold a lot of Rickenbackers), and of course, they were developed with Joh Entwistle, which gave them even more cred.
Ernie Ball was round in bass strings, but some guys were a little gun-shy of them. EB always had strings made under contract, and the batch to batch consistency could swing quite a bit, according to what was said on the street. Markleys were around too, they were riding high on the acoustic guitar boom back then and they delved into bass strings. And Fender and Gibson both offered bass strings, which I never remembered selling at all.
Boomers were (are) great strings, and back then all the dealers had these big wooden boxes full of Bass Boomer singles, so you could build any gage set you liked. I know I experimented fruitlessly with big D's and G's. and I did have some customers for Brite Flats. We even had a customer that only wanted tapewounds, but I made someone else wait on him, creepy.
Rotos were the ticket then, though. Real bright, imported from the UK, it's what all us cool guys played.
You have to bear in mind the 'Bass Guitar Market' then is a fraction of what we see today: Far fewer instruments, amps, amd accessories. I'd have killed back then for Squier and a Rumble back then. I started out with a Gibson Ripper, a Peavey Mk2 Bass head and 215BW cabinet. More than a grand (!), and you couldn't pick all that up with one hand !
Today . . . . I had that same back in time feeling, so I often string my 4-string Jazz up with Fender 7150 'Pure Nickel Roundwound', supposedly the same string as OEM in the 50's and 60's. I'm a nickel guy, so these are right down my alley, and possibly sound just a bit warmer than the 8250 Nickel-Plated Steel Roundcores they use as OEM today, but not a big difference.
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Awesome posts
bassbrad jogged a memory loose: For lots of guitar players in small towns, buying strings meant going to the drug store to pickup a set of Black Diamonds. Also, in a world where the black and white TV's were all-tube chassis (besides the picture tube), drug stores sold lots of tubes and often had the big tube tester by the door to check your old one . . . . and your new one.
Carlos Pavicich seems like a reputable brand and, apart from having not found any mention of the endorsement by Sklar hisself, it looks true enough to me:
Carlos Pavicich - Custom strings
As linked to in your post, they're available in the US through Strings by Mail, by the way.
...Now you know!
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That was my early introduction to electronics, fixing our old TV and Mom's HI Fi. In our neighborhood there was Ray's Drive In convenience store that had cold drinks, beer, candy, snacks, cigarettes, a huge tube tester and a selection of tubes. Many times I pulled out tubes, wrapped them in a towel and rode my bike to test tubes, buy a needed replacement and treat myself with an ice cold beverage or other treat with the change.
I also befriended the rather gruff neighborhood TV repairman Mr Tarpley who helped me build and repair a lot of musical gear in years to come. Often bartering yard work or other chores for parts and labor.
If I remember correctly, Ernie Ball made their name for their Super Slinky guitar strings, not their bass strings. I tried one set of their bass strings and didn’t not like them for whatever reason I can’t remember. Super Slinky guitar strings on the other hand (009s) were a fun novelty, but when I went to back to .010s (pick your brand, I probably played them all) I stopped buying slinky’s. Also, for reasons I don’t remember.
Fender Flats were very popular with most players playing fender basses. Rickenbacker Had their own brand, and failure to use them on your Rick, would not only void your warranty, but your bass would decompose into a pile of unrecognizable debris with in minutes, and more than likely your car would suffer the same fate. But those strings made a well made wonderful instrument with a great voice sound like the cheapest possible Asian knock off. No joke. Oh, I almost forgot this little tidbit, Rickenbacker strings were about 40% more than most other brands
Roto-Sound Swing Bass strings IMO, are the best sounding string I’ve ever played, for the first 15-20 minutes. The tonal degradation is swift and total, and I had a nasty habit of breaking the A and or D strings on my EB3 after about the 4th gig. So I ended up with a new string addiction….
Well, I tempted fate (Well it was out of warranty at this point anyway and the fear of doom faded) and bought a set of GHS Bass Boomers for my Rick and found out just what an outstanding bass I had. . And that was the end of me using flats, and that was 45 years ago.
...Now you know!
You mean to tell me Lee's been making endorsement deals without consulting me first?
Whoa, I'm JUST old enough to remember that! The one in my local store was yellow I believe, and it had a crude drawing on it of a little girl saying something like "my daddy fixed our TV himself" . I had totally forgotten about that. (I was born in 64)
Don’t know what the pros were using in the 70’s, because I wasn’t one (still aren’t). But us kids could buy these at TG&Y or Otasco so this is what we used:
In my search for a pic I found out they still make them.
In my search for a pic I found out they still make them.
