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What to do against the "new string brightness"

#61
Tone knobs (instrument or amp) will work, but they're a blunt tool, IMO.
Different string brands and "models" do have different qualities, which is why I brought up the Dunlop Super Bright Nickels. I hate clank and zing, but I leave the tone knobs up for these because I think they have a sweet sounding high end, which I do not want to lose.
Also, has anyone else felt that when roundwound strings go dead, they can sometimes lose mids a little more than high end? There will still be some annoying finger noise left, but the mids are diminished, leaving an unresponsive thud with zing on top. Hideous. That's why I understand the OP's quest for strings which sound "new" but not obnoxious.
 
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#62
Markbass Ultimate Series [nicklewound] had no 'Zing' out of package and sound the same[great] a couple months later. They have Nickle Plated roundwound brightness but smooth and articulate not harsh. [also soft touch/feel for rounds as they claim] Not sure about their less expensive Groove series but would expect similar.

To me only Steel rounds seem to be a bit much at first; Most Nickle seem calmer out of package and only need slight tone adjustment before break-in. Never used Pure Nickle.
 
#63
groove pump said:
I've been a fan of DR Sunbeams for quite a while and they give me that same impression as our pal dave64o seems to find with their nickel Lo Riders as described in post #10.

I also like that not-too-zingy or "brittle" sound that might come with a from a fresh set of roundwound strings, but whenever I swap in some fresh Sunbeams on one bass or another, the zing seems rather manageable and it also doesn't seem to hang around for too long. I might rack up a year (or three) on a set of these before I think of changing them.
Click to expand...

+1 to the above, and also to add DR Pure Blues in the mix. They have a bit less zing than fresh sunbeams, with more prominent mids.
 
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#65
boilingTheDead said:
- other than playing for a few weeks or so

You all know it, the crazy treble that brandnew roundwounds produce. Some love it, some hate it...It goes away after a few weeks of playing.
BUT: sometimes I want to change my strings and have the perfect stabile tone of "played in" strings instantly..

Is there a string that has a little less of this high treble straight out of the package? (talking about roundwounds)

Can you archieve the state of condition of a "played in" string otherwise? I mean basicly its a mechanical thing of skin and rust beween the windings, right?
Click to expand...
Turn your treble down, or your tone knob. Zing gone.
 
#67
It was mentioned prior, but using a .033 tone cap in place of the typical .047 will allow you to turn the tone down enough to cut the high treble without getting too dark in the upper mids. Alternatively, a low pass filter would work if it has enough flexibility.
 
#68
346 full front done.jpg


My first recourse was having Tom Clement build me a purely passive 4 string, and installing the Carvin P-style pickup in the classic P position (Tom measured distance from nut to center of pickup), and making sure it was a bare wood board strung with flats. This did almost all of it, but I finally ended up adding a fret wrap and that did the rest.

Now, my ears are happy.

YMMV. Carrots. Etc. PS: notwithstanding the lack of tort pickguard, is this the best bass for metal? ABSOLUTELY. :) Carry on, TB.

OP: try half-wounds. :)
 
#70
The ONLY roundwounds I've used with no zingy brightness whatsoever out of the box are the TI Jazz Rounds. The have a break in period of exactly 0 seconds and after that they last FOREVER. They are insanely low tension though (089 E-string) so they're definitely not for everyone but you won't find any other roundwounds as mellow out of the box as these. Not even close.

Other than that... Maybe some pure nickel rounds? They will still have a break in period but at least they will start out slightly less bright than nickel plated steel.

I would avoid any of the "best of both worlds" type of strings like GHS Pressurewounds or any kind of "bright flats", half rounds, etc. In my experience they are all more like "worst of both worlds" but as always: YMMV.
 
#71
boilingTheDead said:
- other than playing for a few weeks or so

You all know it, the crazy treble that brandnew roundwounds produce. Some love it, some hate it...It goes away after a few weeks of playing.
BUT: sometimes I want to change my strings and have the perfect stabile tone of "played in" strings instantly..

Is there a string that has a little less of this high treble straight out of the package? (talking about roundwounds)

Can you archieve the state of condition of a "played in" string otherwise? I mean basicly its a mechanical thing of skin and rust beween the windings, right?
Click to expand...

Let me give you two ideas. One, change the EQ on your amp when you change your strings to compensate; Two, take about 20 minutes and play them really hard.

Between the two, rolling off a little treble and upper mids for a week or so is a much better option. Of course that assumes you are not playing your bass unplugged.
 
#72
As a general answer, if you like a certain model of strings, don't switch to different strings just for this reason. Adjust your e.q. on a session by session basis until the strings are broken in.

As a specific answer, try DR Pure Blues. They are fairly "broken in" sounding from the start – but not dull by any means. I am sure there are others too, but I am familiar with these, because I recently tried them as a suggestion for a flats user trying rounds. They do what they claim, as far as being pretty tonally stable through their life (though they still have the feel, the noise, and the fret wear of rounds, of course).

While I can tolerate the Pure Blues, most other rounds I have tried annoy me. Aside from the bad feel, the noise, the fret wear, and the excess high end that I'm just going to dial out anyhow, they are unstable through their lives. To me, they don't get sounding good till they've been played on for several months, IMO...and by that point, the undersides of the G and D are getting dented up by the frets. The tonal "sweet spot" of their life is slow to get to, and brief. When you get to it, it won't be long till you have to ditch them due to their physical fragility. OTOH, I have flats that I put on a bass over 30 years ago, played daily for nine years, and then basically let sit for 25. Today, they still sound like new, and show no obvious signs of age...and provide plenty of treble with a few twists of some knobs, if that's what's called for.
 
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#73
boilingTheDead said:
- other than playing for a few weeks or so

You all know it, the crazy treble that brandnew roundwounds produce. Some love it, some hate it...It goes away after a few weeks of playing.
BUT: sometimes I want to change my strings and have the perfect stabile tone of "played in" strings instantly..

Is there a string that has a little less of this high treble straight out of the package? (talking about roundwounds)

Can you archieve the state of condition of a "played in" string otherwise? I mean basicly its a mechanical thing of skin and rust beween the windings, right?
Click to expand...

I'm one of the weirdos who likes my Rotos right out of the package. Bright, grindy goodness......:bassist:
 
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#75
If you don't like brite strings try DR or Roto's in my opinion those come right out of the package dead sounding. The E string is the first to go. I would put a set on right before a 4 hour set and DR's would be gone quick. But i sweat a good bit. My advice is just to play them.
 
#76
boilingTheDead said:
- other than playing for a few weeks or so

You all know it, the crazy treble that brandnew roundwounds produce. Some love it, some hate it...It goes away after a few weeks of playing.
BUT: sometimes I want to change my strings and have the perfect stabile tone of "played in" strings instantly..

Is there a string that has a little less of this high treble straight out of the package? (talking about roundwounds)

Can you archieve the state of condition of a "played in" string otherwise? I mean basicly its a mechanical thing of skin and rust beween the windings, right?
Click to expand...
DR Pure Blues feel new but sound a hit broken in right out of the package.

Either that or quit changing your strings.
 
#77
boilingTheDead said:
its not just the treble, the string behaves somewhat different
Click to expand...

That's not exactly what you asked in the kickoff post as you can tell from the majority of responses. You obviously need a different string if the strings you are using do not behave as you want them to when they are new.

Elixir polyweb strings don't have the initial zing, but stay in that two-week-old tone zone for a very long time. The biggest complaint about them is that they don't have the new string zing, so it seems they are right up your alley.
 
#79
I used to be a cut the treble guy, but thanks to the giving season I have a Broughton HPF pedal that works perfectly for this. A much sharper tool than messing with eq controls, as lowering the treble can effect frequencies you might not want to lose.
 

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