the love story continues: yesterday I strung my Custom Shop 1951 with a set of 3050R, 55-105, the set I'm using on my Classic 50 P bass.
the CS was strung with the stock Fender 9050M, so the same gauge 55-105, and I wanted to try the GHS on it too because Fender strings are rougher (the steel is dark grey and they are less smooth on the surface) and because I fell in love with the thuddy fundamental and powerful sound of the GHS, compared to the bright and a bit scooped sound of the Fender.
so here's a comparison:
CS51 with GHS, pick: Dropbox
CS51 with Fender, pick: Dropbox
CS51 with GHS, finger: Dropbox
CS51 with Fender, finger: Dropbox
CS51 with GHS, finger (I Want you back cover): Dropbox
CS51 with Fender, finger (I Want you back cover):
www.dropbox.com
the GHS are brand new out of the package, the sound is what you would hear on the first minutes of playing, and IMHO, comparing with the set mounted on the Classic 50, it will stay mostly the same.
the Fender were there on the bass, which I bought in April 2024, and they started out brighter and kept the "scoop" while losing some excessive brightness.
while switching them the first thing I noticed is the difference in colour of the string; Fender are dark grey, less shiny and kind of inconsistent along the length, so you can see darker spots here and there (even on brand new strings).
the GHS, on the other side, are shiny, brighter in colour and more consistent along the length, very smooth and "velvety".
comparing the sound, as mentioned in previous topics, the biggest difference is in the natural equalization:
GHS are stronger on the low-mids with a warm and woody sound, with less harmonic content and less frequencies above a certain spot; also, the difference in sound between E-A and D-G is evident when playing alone, but in the mix is less evident. the notes can be heard and you can hear that they are flatwound strings.
with a pick they thud a lot, kind of knocking on wood
Fender are stronger on the hi-mid spectrum, with some brightness on the highs and more harmonic content, but they lack some low-mids and tend too much toward the bass rumble. they sound more even and balanced string to string when playing alone, which, IMHO, takes away some character and "flatwoundiness".
with a pick they give the "old roundwound" vibe.
comparing the setup and tension:
as already experienced with the Classic 50, the tension is nearly the same, but the flexibility is different. GHS are a bit more flexible. I raised the E string 1/4 turn of the saddle, and had to take the E-A saddle a bit far from the neck in order to intonate properly.
on this bass, the CS51, they intonate better than the Fender, in particular the E string. consider that this bass has the two saddle bridge, so they move in couples.
on the Classic 50 I noticed that I had to recess the A string, and it went almost at the same length of the E.
on the CS51 this thing happens naturally, so when the A string has the right intonation/octave, the E string follows. it's not 100% precise, just a bit sharper on the highest frets, but more precise than the Fender set.
in my case I love the tension of this set, I don't find it unbalanced, but this is a thing already talked in many topics: balance in kgs/lbs doesn't mean that your hands feel balance.
with this set of GHS strings, in particular on the CS51, I found immediately the sound of Wilton Felder's Telecaster bass, which probably had the old stock Fender when he recorded I Want You Back.
also, the sound of Nightbirds album by Labelle is there with ease, and as far as I know, the bass was recorded by George Porter Jr with a Telecaster:
that's one of the sounds I've always looked for, and I guess that this match, CS51 and GHS, is the right way to achieve it.
so, big praise for these strings that I overlooked in the past years, and that would have saved me a lot of money searching for the right flat
the CS was strung with the stock Fender 9050M, so the same gauge 55-105, and I wanted to try the GHS on it too because Fender strings are rougher (the steel is dark grey and they are less smooth on the surface) and because I fell in love with the thuddy fundamental and powerful sound of the GHS, compared to the bright and a bit scooped sound of the Fender.
so here's a comparison:
CS51 with GHS, pick: Dropbox
CS51 with Fender, pick: Dropbox
CS51 with GHS, finger: Dropbox
CS51 with Fender, finger: Dropbox
CS51 with GHS, finger (I Want you back cover): Dropbox
CS51 with Fender, finger (I Want you back cover):
Dropbox
the GHS are brand new out of the package, the sound is what you would hear on the first minutes of playing, and IMHO, comparing with the set mounted on the Classic 50, it will stay mostly the same.
the Fender were there on the bass, which I bought in April 2024, and they started out brighter and kept the "scoop" while losing some excessive brightness.
while switching them the first thing I noticed is the difference in colour of the string; Fender are dark grey, less shiny and kind of inconsistent along the length, so you can see darker spots here and there (even on brand new strings).
the GHS, on the other side, are shiny, brighter in colour and more consistent along the length, very smooth and "velvety".
comparing the sound, as mentioned in previous topics, the biggest difference is in the natural equalization:
GHS are stronger on the low-mids with a warm and woody sound, with less harmonic content and less frequencies above a certain spot; also, the difference in sound between E-A and D-G is evident when playing alone, but in the mix is less evident. the notes can be heard and you can hear that they are flatwound strings.
with a pick they thud a lot, kind of knocking on wood
Fender are stronger on the hi-mid spectrum, with some brightness on the highs and more harmonic content, but they lack some low-mids and tend too much toward the bass rumble. they sound more even and balanced string to string when playing alone, which, IMHO, takes away some character and "flatwoundiness".
with a pick they give the "old roundwound" vibe.
comparing the setup and tension:
as already experienced with the Classic 50, the tension is nearly the same, but the flexibility is different. GHS are a bit more flexible. I raised the E string 1/4 turn of the saddle, and had to take the E-A saddle a bit far from the neck in order to intonate properly.
on this bass, the CS51, they intonate better than the Fender, in particular the E string. consider that this bass has the two saddle bridge, so they move in couples.
on the Classic 50 I noticed that I had to recess the A string, and it went almost at the same length of the E.
on the CS51 this thing happens naturally, so when the A string has the right intonation/octave, the E string follows. it's not 100% precise, just a bit sharper on the highest frets, but more precise than the Fender set.
in my case I love the tension of this set, I don't find it unbalanced, but this is a thing already talked in many topics: balance in kgs/lbs doesn't mean that your hands feel balance.
with this set of GHS strings, in particular on the CS51, I found immediately the sound of Wilton Felder's Telecaster bass, which probably had the old stock Fender when he recorded I Want You Back.
also, the sound of Nightbirds album by Labelle is there with ease, and as far as I know, the bass was recorded by George Porter Jr with a Telecaster:
that's one of the sounds I've always looked for, and I guess that this match, CS51 and GHS, is the right way to achieve it.
so, big praise for these strings that I overlooked in the past years, and that would have saved me a lot of money searching for the right flat
