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Strings that have completely changed your bass?

#41
As soon as I heard Rotosounds...it was all over.

BUT, the thing that really changed my bass, specifically my 1981 Rickenbacker 4001, was getting a professional re-fret with jumbo frets. I heard a sound from that bass that it always had in it but for some reason not until the re-fret.... it was transformed into a KILLER Rickenbacker when I got that done.
 
#43
DR Hi-Beams. I had been using D'Addario ProSteels for quite a while but tried some DRs because they had the gauges I was looking for (50-110, tuned to D standard). Man, what a difference! Almost as bright as the ProSteels, but soooooooo much smoother feeling! They're pretty much everything I want in a string.
 
#46
Switching from rounds to TI Jazz Flats on my Fender Precision turned it into a sweet and soulful blues machine. But that's a common story I guess.

However, Chrome flats on my ABG took it waaaaaaaaayyy beyond what I ever imagined an inexpensive ABG could go. No more Phos-bronze twang for me, instead an aggressive and growly deep sound that yes, is loud enough to roll against a couple of acoustics unplugged.

And plug it in it gets even better.
 
#47
I have Dano longhorn that was strung up with TI flats when I got it... I thought they were probably the correct string for it so I left 'em on there...and didn't wind up playing it much. I just didn't sound that great.

So I finally decided to take a flyer on a set of D'Addario Environmental Nickle rounds with the intent of letting them age into something, but the difference was immediate and profund - the thing just sings now...it's even noticeable without an amp. It probably has something to do with the tension, but at any rate now it's a bass I'd use anywhere.
 
#50
steamthief said:
I've wavered on trying a set on my Euro 4LX - what did you try prior to the Rotos?

FWIW, Roto 66 on my Fender P/J has transformed it to a growl machine.
Click to expand...

Right before the 66 I went through a fews sets of SIT Strings, mostly because they were cheap, and I'm cheap/broke. Before that there was a set of Slinkys, and the Spector strings that came with the bass. The Spectors and Rotosounds ROCKED! To me Rotosounds have a lot of definition, not too much low end, but that fits my setup amazingly. And they last a while. The Spectors were nice and zingy. After trying those 2, I'm done with Slinkys. SITs are great in a pinch. But I really want to try the Rotobass strings, and the new Dragon Skin from DR.
 
#52
Balanced Circle K strings are what made allowed me to re-appreciate active basses. For so long I always had what I thought was a problem with active basses in that the higher notes often sounded louder/brighter/harsher than the lower notes. Different brands, different basses, different gauges, same issue.

Once I got the Circle K balanced set, everything changed. The tone and feel felt perfectly uniform all over the bass. I was exhilarated and sad at the same time. I was stoked that I had finally found 'the strings' for me as far as round wounds go, but sad that I had sold off some really great active basses when I didn't need to.
 
#53
Ernia ball hybrids and dunlop. Ghs boomers were my main bass strings but when i started using hybrids, they completely changed my p bass sound. It felt faster and half way between giving a dark tone and midrange. dunlop gave birth to my thunderbird's sound. pickups don't sound so muddy anymore. I went back to ghs boomers but i made the mistake of getting the coated ones. I hate them, they wont die!!!! but anyway. I just don't know what to get for my ricky. I don't want rotos or flat wounds. I play punk/classic rock on my ricky and its time i changed the factory strings so what would you recommend and what scale(medium, long, x long)?? thx
 
#57
DR Neons (green). Obviously from a visual standpoint - these things glow in the DAY! :D But tonally, and feel-wise, they're amazing! I just played the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise (with Exciter), and had people coming up to me the whole time complementing my tone and asking "where did you get those green strings???". I got the strings more as a lark, but they really surprised me, and blew me away. Until these, I was a SS string guy, and had been playing Fat Beams for quite a while, but I will be staying with the Neons now. I dig the sound of the Neons more than the Fat Beams (which I still like tremendously)!

Cheers!
:bassist::bassist::bassist:
 
#60
My Schecter came out of the factory, I think, with D'Addario roundwounds. It has no active electronics, just the passive Schecter "Super Rock" pickups (humbuckers) I played them for a while and they were okay, but I was due for a string change and wanted something different. Originally I was going to go with GHS flatwounds, but I was concerned that they wouldn't work well with the slapping/popping I was working on a lot. So I went with these;

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I have to say these are very, very impressive. I went with the extra lights because I had read that the coating increased the overall size of the strings and some people had experienced cracked nuts when using heavier gauge strings if they didn't file their nut. They look awesome with the coating and colored tops, and they are very, very easy on the fingers. I can't say enough about the strings. My OEM strings were kinda dead in the mids, I'd hit flat, dead sounding notes (especially on D and E on the A string), but these brought my completely stock Schecter to life. They work great for slap-n-pop, and I have played for as long as 4 hours with no discomfort, and I'd buy these again in a heartbeat. They're not overly bright, but they do bring a slightly darker, "smokier" tone to my bass. I couldn't be happier. I'd absolutely buy Rotosounds again, they're my string of choice from here on out.

A little more pricey, but worth it IMO. If you like the sound. I play mostly blues and classic rock, so they work really, really well.
 

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