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Thomastik Jazz Rounds - amazing

#61
TIJRs are my #2 in the category of "beautiful" rounds, but they're much smoother than my #1 Dogal Hellborg.
Roto 66 is my #1 "attitude" round.

I don't mind the natural sounding treble rolloff of all three of these as they break in, so all three are long lasting for me (unlike, in my experience, nickel plated steel). Sorry for repeating myself.
 
#63
LetItGrowTone said:
TIJRs are my #2 in the category of "beautiful" rounds, but they're much smoother than my #1 Dogal Hellborg.
Roto 66 is my #1 "attitude" round.

I don't mind the natural sounding treble rolloff of all three of these as they break in, so all three are long lasting for me (unlike, in my experience, nickel plated steel). Sorry for repeating myself.
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This is great information, I was considering trying some Dogal Hellborgs. A lot of folks who love TIs also have mentioned Dogals as well. Recently I had someone who loves both the Dogal and TIs swear by the Billy Sheehan Roto 66 for my StingRay. It's one of the few basses I have that I didn't think the TIs suited well. I'm a bit dubious because I generally don't like bright or stiff strings, and so typically don't use stainless steel. But he swore that once they settled the did the SR right. I thought for 20 bucks it's worth a try.
 
#65
Iofflight said:
This is great information, I was considering trying some Dogal Hellborgs. A lot of folks who love TIs also have mentioned Dogals as well. Recently I had someone who loves both the Dogal and TIs swear by the Billy Sheehan Roto 66 for my StingRay. It's one of the few basses I have that I didn't think the TIs suited well. I'm a bit dubious because I generally don't like bright or stiff strings, and so typically don't use stainless steel. But he swore that once they settled the did the SR right. I thought for 20 bucks it's worth a try.
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That Billy Sheehan set is really something magical. I have them on two basses now and it's hard to explain how different they are from D'addario XLs, Ernies, etc. At first they seem a little rougher on the fingers... like just 15% more friction or something, but after a couple days I didn't notice any more. I feel like somehow my attack is better/consistent with these strings.

I don't really want to use the word "compression" to describe it because I think that may have a negative connotation in some ways. But it seems like when I "miss" a fingerpluck that would normally end in a weak note, I don't quite get the same dropoff I expect. And on the other side, when I hit a note a bit too hard and expecting a loud honker to jump out, it doesn't quite do that to the same extent either. These strings almost feel like autocorrect for my attack mistakes, lol! Now, I still can pull back and get soft/smooth low volume/aggression, etc and then build up and get rowdy, etc just like you would always want. Great tone, great life, great price. I love 'em!

Ok, sorry... derail... TI Jazz Rounds! I have some in various shopping carts now and may pull the trigger after "we need to buy Christmas presents for a zillion nieces and nephews" season is past. Looking forward to trying them out!
 
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#66
Wow thanks for the detailed response. How long did you feel it took the Rotos to break in? (Another thing about the TI rounds I love is they sound right fresh out of the package and don't require a break in period for me)
 
#67
shoot-r said:
Two reasons I've not tried a set of the TI rounds.

I'm not a fan of any manufacturers rounds when they loose their zing on the E and A strings.
The description of the TI rounds seems to be, when their new they come out of the package sounding like their already semi-worn-in/flat.
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I wouldn't say that. Definitely not like flats at all. They are like soft, mellow rounds but they are all "round" and no flat. They are rounds with more mids and a supple, luxurious feel. They are definitely not thick, metallic rotos, but if you like that you wouldn't be considering these anyway. They may appeal to those that like flats but only because they are less of a jump, but they give you a round sound, nothing like flats.
 
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#68
Turnaround said:
A number of years ago I tired some TI rounds. I didn't like them. About a year later a bunch of players were raving about them so I thought I must have missed something and bought another set. Didn't like them. Sounds like I'm definitely in the minority.
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I am a dedicated user of TI flats. Can you be more specific about what you didn't like about the rounds?
 
#71
Mike Vee said:
I wouldn't say that. Definitely not like flats at all. They are like soft, mellow rounds but they are all "round" and no flat. They are rounds with more mids and a supple, luxurious feel. They are definitely not thick, metallic rotos, but if you like that you wouldn't be considering these anyway. They may appeal to those that like flats but only because they are less of a jump, but they give you a round sound, nothing like flats.
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I agree fully with that assessment. They sound nothing like flats or pressure/ground wounds. To me they sound like a broken in round no clang or metallic qualities. They feel great and sound rich and full. I'm not a fan of stiff strings in general and I don't dig in as a player. If you play metal or hard rock these aren't the strings you'd want. Tis really have a presence in the mid to low mids and for me that is something I want with the type of music I play (Disco, 70s-80s stuff, Funk, R&B/Motown - though I use La Bella flats or TI flats on my P basses for that).

So I think the style of music and the bass you are using are big considerations obviously. TIs are now my starting string on most basses but like I said I've pulled them off a few they didn't suit well, namely my StringRay Special and my Birdsong Cbass, which has DiMarzio DP127s a rather hot pickup that only the La Bella flats seemed to tame.
 
#72
Jazzdogg said:
I am a dedicated user of TI flats. Can you be more specific about what you didn't like about the rounds?
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I use TI flats on my fretless - wouldn't use anything else.

But on my fretted J-Bass I didn't care for the rounds. They were too flexible for my liking and lacked the kind of bite I wanted. A stiffer string usually has more pronounced harmonics and that's what seemed to be missing for me.
 
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#74
Iofflight said:
Wow thanks for the detailed response. How long did you feel it took the Rotos to break in? (Another thing about the TI rounds I love is they sound right fresh out of the package and don't require a break in period for me)
Click to expand...

I liked the Sheehan Rotos from day 1! It's been years since I've used regular ol' Ernie Ball rounds, but I think I remember them being SUPER bright and zingy at first and then wearing in fast and kinda going dead sooner than most. Then I played D'addario XLs for years, and I feel like they didn't start out as bright as the Ernies, but also didn't go "dead" as quickly, nor did they get "as dead" as the Ernies. I feel like these Rotos start out about like the XLs, but the tone is more gutteral/mid-focused overall. Even on my bass without the Billy Sheehan Relentless pickups, you still hear a bit of his signature cutting mid tone coming through. Billy said he changes his strings every gig, but like..... dat dude is a straight BEAST and absolutely decimates his instrument every night. I would NOT want to be the strings on his bass! I can't handle that kinda' abuse!

I've had them on one bass that I play regularly for right at year, and they still sound great. I'm sitting here trying to think about how long of a "break-in period" the strings had, and I honestly can't answer that. I was also playing around with amps and cabs a LOT in the beginning of this year, and I didn't really have a solid base-line (bass line?) setup to reference. My regular weekly playing at church stopped for awhile as we left our church of 10 yrs in March and only found a new church home around August. I play about every 2nd or 3rd week at the new church, and they provided a basic "house" pedalboard and now I've started bringing my own. Just too many other changes to reliably gauge string break-in. Sorry!
 
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#78
I put the TI power rounds on my StingRay.. again I don't think TIs work on that bass, so that is my only experience with them but I didn't like them as much as I did the regular rounds. They are a bit stiffer but still have some of that mid range presence I talked about earlier. I think people who find the regular rounds gauge a bit thin and want something a bit more firm will like these. They just didn't suit me. Maybe someone else will chime in with more experience.
 

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