I had flats on my P Bass for most of 26 years, but got a wild hair and changed them out for RS66 Swing Bass. I'm surprised how versatile and even organic the strings can sound with the EQ set flat; using my hands for tone variance. I know it seems a round is a round, but the Rotosound metal has a unique sound and how it reacts with Fender Basses is really special. As the Rotos have aged they've become just right for any style. I'm a long time pro and have a de-facto recording bass which is a stock vintage Jazz with Swing Bass steels 45-105. A Jazz with Swing Bass is great for everything thrown at me.
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Swing Bass Steels on a P Bass
- Thread starter littlebun
- Start date
That's been my experience with the 66s since 1980. Fantastic strings, but takes a lot of babying to keep them fresh.
I'm on your side! I've been using Rotosound Swing66 almost since I started playing bass 18 years ago (geez... ), and they've always been my epicenter. I've tried almost every brand and alloy, hex or round core, but in the end, my main roundwound string sets are always the RS66LD and BS66, depending on the basses.
there are exceptions, like my Yamaha TRB6p with Ernie Ball 32-130, and the Precision Mike Dirnt with Fender 7250M, but the others have Swing66, in particular four basses I have:
Yamaha BB3000 (RS66LD)
Yamaha Attitude II (BS66)
Yamaha BB714bs (BS66)
Aria SB1000 (RS66LD)
I've tried them with other strings, but they just don't work in the right way.
PS: Rotos are, for me, the longest lasting strings: they keep a bright and middy sound for a very long time, and the "grit" from the rough winding keeps the brightness.
also, I've never experienced the "fret eating" legend...
there are exceptions, like my Yamaha TRB6p with Ernie Ball 32-130, and the Precision Mike Dirnt with Fender 7250M, but the others have Swing66, in particular four basses I have:
Yamaha BB3000 (RS66LD)
Yamaha Attitude II (BS66)
Yamaha BB714bs (BS66)
Aria SB1000 (RS66LD)
I've tried them with other strings, but they just don't work in the right way.
PS: Rotos are, for me, the longest lasting strings: they keep a bright and middy sound for a very long time, and the "grit" from the rough winding keeps the brightness.
also, I've never experienced the "fret eating" legend...
Ive been a big fan of Rotosound strings since the late 70s.
I first employed them to tame the mudbuckers in my Gibson basses, but stayed with them even after switching to Fender Ps.
For me they're game changers. And they've never chewed up frets on any of my basses.
I first employed them to tame the mudbuckers in my Gibson basses, but stayed with them even after switching to Fender Ps.
For me they're game changers. And they've never chewed up frets on any of my basses.
that's a legend born with Chris Squire, using them on his Rickenbacker. back in the 60's/70's Rickenbacker had soft nickel frets, and any roundwound would chew them.
also, Rick's warranty expired if the stock light gauge Maxima Flatwound were changed with something else
probably because they knew what could have happened. here's the neck of a Precision I had, after something like 6 years of Rotosound, and being, at the time, my only bass: Manico Piercision dopo cinque anni
I used Swing 66 rounds for twenty years on all my basses including my main gigging bass, a '66 Fender Precision that I bought in 1981, and I always tried to have that almost new Roto sound. There's nothing better, I thought then. And now, perhaps.
It's not true though that they won't eventually wear some frets away. I stopped using them on the '66 P just before wearing the frets to the point where a refret was necessary; the strings were beginning to leave grooves in the fretboard by then. I also used them on a fretless Jazz which eventually needed serious work. No regrets, but it's not a myth from legends past that there's a cost to using them if you use them enough.
It's not true though that they won't eventually wear some frets away. I stopped using them on the '66 P just before wearing the frets to the point where a refret was necessary; the strings were beginning to leave grooves in the fretboard by then. I also used them on a fretless Jazz which eventually needed serious work. No regrets, but it's not a myth from legends past that there's a cost to using them if you use them enough.
I never quite got on with the 66-- I think I just don't like steel rounds. But, the Rotosound Ultramags fill a very similar role for me. I came to those strings after being a primarily flatwound player.
When I put roundwounds on a vintage Fender bass, with original frets, which are very soft material, I played through those frets in about 2 years. A lot of people don't know that the original Fender frets were very soft. Mike Lull rest in peace had some of that old material for people who wanted that for their refrets. If you use modern frets like Jescar, roundwounds don't wear them very fast.
I absolutely love how Rotosound Stainless Steel Swing Bass 66’s sound on my P-Bass. For me, it’s quite an iconic sound.
I love the way Rotos sound. I’ve never loved the way they feel and I really dislike how quickly they die. I used them for several years in the late 1980s and then moved on.
I still love the way they sound but I had to accept that they just weren’t for me.
I still love the way they sound but I had to accept that they just weren’t for me.
I have a skin chemistry that kills SS rounds very quickly, and I don't really like the sound of dull rounds.
I found that Fender 7250ML work just fine, give a similar sound, and are cheap as chips.
that's common to every roundwound string, in particular on some fret's alloy. my basses (the older is an Aria SB1000 from 1980) only dress with Rotosound Swing66, and the frets are fine.
that's it!
mmm, I use them on two basses of mine, and they sound quite different from Rotosound Swing66. also the tensions (being real 45-65-85-105) are very different to Rotosound RS66LD set (48-63-82-102).
however, in the nickel plated round ballpark, they are my favourite.
When you wrap a band around them, it's difficult to tell the difference in tone. The 7250ML gauge is 45-65-80-100, so they aren't that different.
in a band, it's even hard to tell which bass you're playing
the main difference is in the G string, which in the standard Rotosound set is a .048, and that means that it's bigger and with an higher tension. I'm used to the "bigger G" in sets like 55-105 from GHS flats, or 49-108 GHS Brite flats, or even Thomastik 43-100 (with 55 D and 70 A), so to me a "standard" 45-65 is weird, with the light G.
on a couple of basses I have the Rotosound BS66 (43-110), in which the G is a standard 45, and it's similar to other standard sets.
I have a custom half-fanned fret P-style bass with the usual alder body, rosewood neck, etc. Thread here: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-different-custom-p-style-bass.755914/ I played it with Roto Swingbass in custom gauges 45-60-80-105 supplied by the Roto rep on PBS National TV with the last Lawrence Welk Special. Here is what it sounds like. I played everything but the obvious orchestra backing tracks and songs with solo keyboard:
