I have two basses.A Jazz bass with Fender flats, and a second Jazz bass with well-broken-in D'Addario XL rounds. I tend to stick to these string types, although I've just bought some Fender nickel rounds on a whim...
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What's your philosophy on strings? Same strings on all/most basses or different strings on all/most basses?
- Thread starter Jammy Jellyfish
- Start date
I used to change strings all the time, back in the 70's. Now I hate changing strings, and would just prefer the stability and longevity of flats. My ears miss the brightness of rounds but my old fingers say "take a pass."
I have had good success with D'Addario nickels over the last few decades so that seems to be my go to string. Those strings really seem to shine on my Peavey TL-Five. I put a new set on my Sadowsky MetroExpress and they did alright but I felt something was missing. I ended up getting the Sadowsky black label strings with the tapered low B and so far I have been liking them. I'll probably just keep going with those until I get the itch to try something else.
I use the same strings on both basses because…..
(a) There’s enough variation in the tone of my basses so that I don’t need another variable in my choice of tones.
(B) I just don’t think about strings that much or that hard. In the music I play, my desire to simply serve the songs hasn’t required all that.
(a) There’s enough variation in the tone of my basses so that I don’t need another variable in my choice of tones.
(B) I just don’t think about strings that much or that hard. In the music I play, my desire to simply serve the songs hasn’t required all that.
Well, I have used Ernie ball regular slinky’s. I had a set of elixir strings I got on clearance. Regular $40+ a set? I was saving them. I was walking out the door for a jam, I decided to do a quick string change. So I put them on my beater open mic/jam sterling ray4 bass. These are the best strings I have had on this bass!
- Precision alder/rosewood with flats, classic, the Thomastik JF344
- Electro-acoustic (the Sire one GEB5-4 fretless natural) with LaBella 760N black nylon tapes, had to shape the grooves on the nut, to get that double bass vibe even if it's not 100% accurate of course
- JB fretless '60 alder/rosewood (or ebony fretboard since it's a sire V7 ?) with stainless steel rounwounds Dunlop 45/100 Marcus Miller, Jaco sound rules
- Musicman Stingray ash/maple with Daddario EXL nickel, stainless steels are way too much on these IMHO. Perfect feel under the fingers.
- JB '70 4 strings with stainless steel rounds, 45/100 Dunlops MM as mentioned above
- JB '70 5 strings with also stainless steel rounds, 45/125 Dunlops MM as mentioned above
But I'm gasing for a P with a maple fretboard and nickel rounwounds to get in that alt-rock/punk territory, and also either a JB 5 with 60's pickup spacing or a Sire Z7-5 I'd still fill with nickel rounds, the Dadd's don't last much, but they're well balanced.
- Electro-acoustic (the Sire one GEB5-4 fretless natural) with LaBella 760N black nylon tapes, had to shape the grooves on the nut, to get that double bass vibe even if it's not 100% accurate of course
- JB fretless '60 alder/rosewood (or ebony fretboard since it's a sire V7 ?) with stainless steel rounwounds Dunlop 45/100 Marcus Miller, Jaco sound rules
- Musicman Stingray ash/maple with Daddario EXL nickel, stainless steels are way too much on these IMHO. Perfect feel under the fingers.
- JB '70 4 strings with stainless steel rounds, 45/100 Dunlops MM as mentioned above
- JB '70 5 strings with also stainless steel rounds, 45/125 Dunlops MM as mentioned above
But I'm gasing for a P with a maple fretboard and nickel rounwounds to get in that alt-rock/punk territory, and also either a JB 5 with 60's pickup spacing or a Sire Z7-5 I'd still fill with nickel rounds, the Dadd's don't last much, but they're well balanced.
When I am getting to know a bass, I will start with strings that I am most familiar with and make changes to best complement the inherent sound. I have three basses with 3 different pickup configurations (Bartolini, Nordstrand and Aero) and each one inspires me to play differently.
I voted "same on all," because I almost always use DR round core strings. I like the looser feel of the round core strings, which I think are a little easier on my hands, and I like a "lively" sounding string. DRs fit the bill on both counts. I've used Fat Beams, Hi Beams, Pure Blues, and Sunbeams. Most common are Fat Beams and Hi Beams, which are brighter and slightly more aggressive sounding IMO. The Pure Blues and Sunbeams are mellower, but all of them sound great IMO.
One of my bands plays tuned down a half step, and my G&L M-2500 doesn't do quite as well with this as my Sandberg TT-5. It's fine, but I've ordered a set of DR's DDT strings to see if they make a difference, and I might even try hex core strings on the G&L.
I have used other brands, and I've been especially impressed with Fodera, Sadowsky, and some Dean Markley types including the SR2000, but the Dean Markleys aren't so easy to find. I thought Dean Markley's discontinued Helix strings were fantastic.
One of my bands plays tuned down a half step, and my G&L M-2500 doesn't do quite as well with this as my Sandberg TT-5. It's fine, but I've ordered a set of DR's DDT strings to see if they make a difference, and I might even try hex core strings on the G&L.
I have used other brands, and I've been especially impressed with Fodera, Sadowsky, and some Dean Markley types including the SR2000, but the Dean Markleys aren't so easy to find. I thought Dean Markley's discontinued Helix strings were fantastic.
OK. Here goes:
Rickenbacker 4002 (yes, "2," not "1" or "3") – GHS Pressurewound 44 – Progressives – 60-80-106 (I have two NOS sets left)
Custom Fanned Fret PJ-style (see my thread) – D’Addario Prosteels 45, GHS & KS Super Steels 58-75-98
Black Ibanez SRA305 gig bass with custom 33-inch scale neck and EMG actives – D’Addario XL170BT + 130 B string tuned to C
Black Epiphone RockBass body/Fender Jaguar mid-scale neck Frankenstein bass – Labella black tapes mid-scale reg gauge
Blue with white pickguard mid-scale Jaguar stock pickup wired '62 P-bass style (my "funk machine") – La Bella 760FL-M
Black Epiphone EB parts bass with 32-inch scale neck and custom wiring for choke coil and fuzz diodes – GHS Brite Flats
Squier Tele VM mid-scale with extended tail anchor to use regular long scale strings – SIT Compressed or sometimes other strings
Black Jaguar mid-scale with reverse headstock neck tuned down Eb – GHS Boomers 50-65-85-110
Blue with black pickguard Jaguar mid-scale modded with EMG actives – D’A XL 45, 60, mid-scale 80, 105
Warmoth parts bass in progress with EMG actives and reverse headstock neck – SIT Foundations Nickel 45-60-80-105
Mitchell short scale travel bass – GHS BPN’s
Kala U-Bass – Aquila Silver Rumblers
And Fender flats (discontinued 9050CL set) and other strings on hand when may be required.
Rickenbacker 4002 (yes, "2," not "1" or "3") – GHS Pressurewound 44 – Progressives – 60-80-106 (I have two NOS sets left)
Custom Fanned Fret PJ-style (see my thread) – D’Addario Prosteels 45, GHS & KS Super Steels 58-75-98
Black Ibanez SRA305 gig bass with custom 33-inch scale neck and EMG actives – D’Addario XL170BT + 130 B string tuned to C
Black Epiphone RockBass body/Fender Jaguar mid-scale neck Frankenstein bass – Labella black tapes mid-scale reg gauge
Blue with white pickguard mid-scale Jaguar stock pickup wired '62 P-bass style (my "funk machine") – La Bella 760FL-M
Black Epiphone EB parts bass with 32-inch scale neck and custom wiring for choke coil and fuzz diodes – GHS Brite Flats
Squier Tele VM mid-scale with extended tail anchor to use regular long scale strings – SIT Compressed or sometimes other strings
Black Jaguar mid-scale with reverse headstock neck tuned down Eb – GHS Boomers 50-65-85-110
Blue with black pickguard Jaguar mid-scale modded with EMG actives – D’A XL 45, 60, mid-scale 80, 105
Warmoth parts bass in progress with EMG actives and reverse headstock neck – SIT Foundations Nickel 45-60-80-105
Mitchell short scale travel bass – GHS BPN’s
Kala U-Bass – Aquila Silver Rumblers
And Fender flats (discontinued 9050CL set) and other strings on hand when may be required.
I am just trying to make up my mind. So far:
-Old chromes on TRBX504 in D.
-Cheap HB rounds on TRBX304 in E. Going to swap these for GHS Pressurewounds and maybe swap with chromes then so I can have rounds on my main bass.
-Super slinky rounds on mv-4msb short scale in E.
But I will probably at least put flats on the short scale mustang. Just not sure which ones, chromes do intrigue me but I would like something more slinkier.
Really bored with getting new strings when they die every couple of months. Short scale strings cost more too.
-Old chromes on TRBX504 in D.
-Cheap HB rounds on TRBX304 in E. Going to swap these for GHS Pressurewounds and maybe swap with chromes then so I can have rounds on my main bass.
-Super slinky rounds on mv-4msb short scale in E.
But I will probably at least put flats on the short scale mustang. Just not sure which ones, chromes do intrigue me but I would like something more slinkier.
Really bored with getting new strings when they die every couple of months. Short scale strings cost more too.
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Yeah, it's different for me: I have ten basses but only use the same strings on all of 'em.
And let me tellya's, it really sucks changing them to the next bass I wanna play.
<Kate MacKinnon voice off>
And let me tellya's, it really sucks changing them to the next bass I wanna play.
<Kate MacKinnon voice off>
I was all in on DE Addarios XL but over time I have had a sea change to DR DDT, drop down tuning. Two exceptions are my Ibanez 650 and Schecter Diamond which carry 1/2 rounds
Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Flatwounds all the way on all three basses. ‘One String To Rule Them All”.
