Home Forums Guitar Discussion Bass Guitar STRING GAUGES AND BRANDS ??

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  • #23211
    boogieman
    Participant

    8) Would be interesting to know what gauge and brand of strings all of us bass guys use.

    Any interest from you all in talking about it ?? 😈

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    • #72308
      Tim
      Participant

      😆 Good plan

    • #72355
      1bassleft
      Participant

      [quote]I prefer my [flat] strings to be a bit gunked-up, I’m definitely in the Jamerson camp on that.[/quote]

      Me too. As suggested by “The Bottom Line” thread, I’m considering eating BBQ chicken wings and having a play without washing my hands first 😆

    • #72349
      Tim
      Participant

      Yeah, these ones have a really cheaply printed ‘clipart’ style packet but I’m really impressed with the feel…longeity remains to be tested.

      I started with (and played for a long time…’til I snapped the E!) D’Addarios then went onto the usual Rotsound ‘Swing bass’ but I am impressed with these so far…

      I prefer my strings to be a bit gunked-up, I’m definitely in the Jamerson camp on that. I’m also strictly flats fom now on!

    • #72314
      1bassleft
      Participant

      IIRC, old Picato strings had a pic of some hippy dude playing on his knees. I picked up a loose roundwound and may still have it in my bag. On my fretless Jazz, Steve the tech fitted D’Addarios. Obviously high quality (£23 for four, I think) but I’d like them to age a bit to get the whump.

    • #72288
      Tim
      Participant

      Well…the Overwaters are now on my acoustic, which sounds waaaay better for having them.

      I picked up some ‘Picato’ stainless standard-guage flats for the electric which are great so far.

      Other reason I mention ‘Picato’ is they are UK made and set of standard Nickel rounds only cost me £9.99! I picked up a set just for the gig-bag. The quality seems great if the flats are anything to go by…worth a look if your in the UK (IMO, obviously)

    • #72340
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Yes, stainless Elites roundies are bright. I quite like that, and plan on having a “bright” bass with them. My Jim Reed is already quite warm and I’m finding that the nickels improve as they get older. That’s the opposite of the Elites, which zinged like a piano (partic the lower registers) when new but quickly dulled.

      I’m having the Jazz 4-stringer sorted but had no experience of flats so flunked it and told the tech to stick whatever on. I know that pricey Thomastiks are well regarded but it’s tricky for me. I’m after a thud-whump. Any experiences/preferences?

    • #72270
      Tim
      Participant

      Well, never clicked with the heavy gauge Elites, just fitted some medium gauge stainless flats by Overwater, so, so smooth to play but a nice kick to them as well, there was a guy at Bass Day selling 2 sets of Rotosound nickel flats for £20 but I think I made the right choice (the price of the Overwater’s dropped from £20 to £15 when I set off to look again at the Rotosounds…)

      Now I can finally adjust my amp…the knobs have been cross-eyed for the past year to compensate for the brightness of the elites!

    • #72321
      1bassleft
      Participant

      I’d heard the same of Jamerson. My fave string-snap story is as follows:

      My band went on first, did our set (for once, got rave applause so bit of an act to follow). Second of the three bands went on an the bass player snapped his A in mid-set. He opened my case and pulled out a lefty. Threw it back in and reached for the final band’s bass case. When he pulled (I was waiting, I knew the next band) a fretless, his face was a picture.

      I took his bass and wound one of mine on while he made low humming noises.

    • #72345
      Tim
      Participant

      I’m with Mr Jameson on tone for definite.
      Only problem, last time I snapped an E was onstage during the first song of a timed 3-song battle-of-the-bands set, oops.

    • #72341
      boogieman
      Participant

      8)

      It really is OK to use old strings !! I had a conversation with Duck Dunn several years ago. He hates new strings and in fact told me his motto was ” Don’t change them till they break.” A major part of his tone is those old worn out strings !! Rumor has it that James Jamerson never changed strings. He was Motown !! He said he loved the dull thump of dead Flatwounds ( Heavy gayge ) through his Black Tuck and Roll Kustom with 2-15’s.

      Might be a new topic to find out how often eaof us change strings !! 8)

    • #72342
      Tim
      Participant

      [quote=”1bassleft”]:x Hate phosphor bronze although, have to say Tim, recycling your nickels onto another guitar is a bit stingey. It’s like our bent jacks in that other thread but even I wouldn’t transplant the cheese cutters. Did it take a while for them to dekink or did you boil them first?[/quote]

      😆 The point was to get something nice and dull on the acoustic, new strings sound bad enough on an electric but at least you can tweak the amp to compensate. With nicely ‘worn-in’ strings the acoustic is sounding pub-ready straight out of the blocks. Which is good as I should be playing in my local soon.

    • #72302
      boogieman
      Participant

      8)

      Hey now 1bass, we are Bass Players and not those spoiled Guitar Player dudes. We make do with what we have and lay down the low end !! I actually know several guys who use well played “electric” bass strings on their acoustic basses and for a variety of reasons, really like it. 8)

    • #72297
      1bassleft
      Participant

      😡 Hate phosphor bronze although, have to say Tim, recycling your nickels onto another guitar is a bit stingey. It’s like our bent jacks in that other thread but even I wouldn’t transplant the cheese cutters. Did it take a while for them to dekink or did you boil them first?

    • #72311
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) I thought you would be OK. The only way you may have had trouble is if you were using the smaller mini tuners. A regular size tuner will amaze you as to how big a string it will take. Good luck and hope you are enjoying “cool” tone !!!! 8)

    • #72279
      Tim
      Participant

      Finally got round to it, new heavy guage onto my electric and the old nickels off my electric onto my acoustic instead of the nasty, nasty phosphor bronze ones…both sounding much better for it, thanks for the advice Boogieman.

      I’ll go play now!

    • #72336
      boogieman
      Participant

      It will work and sound OK. I have that problem on a couple of my basses that I have put extra heavy strings on and they work fine.

      Play that Bass !!!! 8) 8)

    • #72202
      Tim
      Participant

      Thanks Boogieman, I’ll have a go over the weekend. I was just wondering as all my previous strings lost the full size (outer) winding shortly after the nut so they fitted nicely on the heads and this one doesn’t but I think it’ll be ok if I wind it properly?!

      Thanks again,

    • #72169
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) You should be OK, although I am not certain what you mean. I have a 4 string bass set up with extra heavy ( .70 through 1.35 ) . It’s tuned to low B, so I have had string-tuner problems.

      Send me a personal email if you want and we can talk about it. 8)

    • #72182
      Tim
      Participant

      Well, I haven’t asked a dumb question for a while:

      I just got me some heavy guage Elites (4-string) but when I came to fit them the full thickness section of the E string (as opposed to the skinny end bits) reaches the machine head so I’m going to have a couple of winds of this thickness. Is there any reason not to do this? Or if it fits should I just go ahead?

      Thanks,

    • #72175
      1bassleft
      Participant

      😆 , always interested in your replies, Jimmy. I know what you mean; in the last year I’ve hardly used a pick at all. The songs just don’t call for it. I’ve moved up to 12″ drivers now…

      Funelly nuff, I just picked up a Marshall head today on behalf of a friend. The seller was also a bass player and he told me he was about to list his 2×18″ cab 😯 . I felt my back twinge even when he mentioned it. Of course, I was intrigued but I honestly can’t see myself carting wardrobe/closet sized cabs around.

      Must tell you one story, though. Back in the 90s, I was in a 2nd-hand shop called “Sound Deals” that I’d bought stuff from. They had a 21″ speaker housed in (seriously, this is all true) a cement sewer-pipe section. They didn’t have an amp that would turn it over. Don’t know why, but I was absolutely cocksure my old Superbass would do it, so I went home to get it. I only turned the vol to about 3, then played.

      😯 😯 , it was as if the windows were bulging out and the floorboards were pulling the nails out of the joists. The shop owner was practically begging me to buy the thing. Awesome air-shifting, I had to admit, but I just couldn’t see my car keeping the front wheels on the bitumen with that thing in the trunk. I had to pass on it…

    • #72183
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) Well, you won’t care for my reply then !! First off, big thumping killer bass tone does not happen with a pick. Many great players use a pic, but if you study the tone they getm it is not sound you are after. Do not listen to the guys that tell you ” I heard this guy in concert and his tone was fantastic”. Remember they are hearing the sound through the sound board and the mains ( big power and huge cabs like you hate). Too get big full thundering tone you have to move speaker cones and air. Modern “10” cabs are very efficient and sound just like they are built to sound. Most all of them have HF Horns with a crossover. Big huge fat tone is not what they are built for. Your choice of pickups nas a lot to do with your tone also. A oickup that was desinged for a “modern” sound will NEVER get you big thundering tone

      I could go on for hours here, but I am tired and on the road. If you are interested I will discuss it more with you when I get back home next week.

      Just wish you could play through my “small” rig I have with me now. Ampeg B5R, four 10 cab with four EV’s and a Hardtrucker single 18 cab loaded with a JBL 18. No HF Horn. I think even with a pick you could tell what I am talking about.

      JLR

    • #72184
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Oh, forgot to mention the other stuff. My attack is usually plec, but I’ve been working on my fingerstyle to smooth it out when the song suits. Amps are always valve (I hoard the damn things). Mostly EL34, Brit-style amps but I have a nice little 8W single 6V6 brought over from the USA and I love it for ideas-churning. Cabs are the opposite, though. Don’t like vintage and don’t like big/heavy. I tend to use neo/ali 2×10″ or very compact 1×12″.

      You’re going to tell me I need a big driver, aren’t you? 😛 I hate whopping big bass cabs if I can avoid using them…

    • #72149
      1bassleft
      Participant

      😀 , Thanks for looking in while on the road, Jimmy. Were you playing or watching? Tell all. As for the flats, well – you’re the 2nd person to tell me to use the SC flats to cut cheese, make earrings out of – anything but play bass on 😆

      Matters not. They were something ridiculous like $10 for five sets. Worth it for the groovy “beat combo” pic on the sleeves. Mostly, I play 5-string, but I’m planning on getting one of my 4s set up with a set of Graphtech piezo saddles I have. They could go on either a Jazz that’s ready to go or else a 30″ Mustang bass that’s a sleeping (in fact, snoring heavily; undisturbed) project of mine.

      What do you think? I was even wondering about the LaBella nylonwounds but is that a bit girly? As you say, a good set of flats is money well spent as they can stay on the fretboard forever.

    • #72212
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) Hey Oz. Just back from a great gig, Sitting in a motel room and saw your reply. Sound City strings are not too good !! They work better as a radio antenna than as bass strings !! Part of the “thump” you are chasing may be your amp, your bass, your pickups, your attack, etc. I am a old tone dog, so tell me the set up you use and I’ll try to help you as best I can 8) JLR

    • #72153
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Weird turnaround, Jimmy. I bought a few sets of “Sound City” shortscale flats from the US a while back; very cheaply. I sent a set to a friend of mine and she hated them. Nothing like the output of her Thomastik-Infelds.

      I know what she means, but I still mean to try them. I’d like to get a “thump”. The volume I can overcome; it’s that tone that I’m after.

      Oz

    • #72210
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) I have sat down and talked with several of the old time bass players that were working at the same time as Jamerson, Jerry Jamalt, etc, in the Motown and Stax-Volt days ahd they all told me that they hate roundwound strings and any string that sounds anywhere close to being new. The string of choice back in those days were Gibson Flatwounds in the only gauge they came in, HEAVY. Remember that manufacturing tech. was a lot different than it is today. I have a old set of Gibson flatwounds from the late fifties that I found at a Garage sale. They are nothing like the flatwounds of today. I still have them in their original bright green box. Hope you can someday see a old set. The difference would amaze you.

      Let me know if you need strings I can get about any brand at wholesale price, 8)

    • #72151
      1bassleft
      Participant

      There’s a bit of a difference between the US market in strings and England (perhaps Europe as a whole), Jimmy. Before eBay, you couldn’t get a set of 4-strings for much less than £20 (~$40) here in Blighty. I bought three sets of (5-string) nickels for $28 and told them how to ship up to six sets to England for $9. It’s routine now, but (at the time) I was saving a mini-fortune.

      The other thing I noticed was that 45-105, over here, was considered “heavy”. My guitarist once said my strings were as thick as a wrist. 40-100 were the standard and poncey-noncey, slappy-happy types would choose 35-95 or worse. In the States, my “superthick” 45-105 were just “medium” gauge. I used to love stainless – brand new – but that “piano” sound wore off quickly (unlike flats – I read that Jamerson hated it when a 15 y.o. string snapped 😆 ). Once I bought my mahogany/koa bass; and the current guitarist is much bluesier, I’ve been using nickels.

      Still, I’ve bought a backup 5-string and I fancy making it a tonal opposite (SS strings and other brightness-boosters). Otherwise, I think I’ll end up using the backup for almost all rehearsals and only dragging the other one out for gigs. A lot of players fall into this trap, and I’m concious of doing it myself.

    • #72208
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) .45 to 1.05 seems to be the most used set almost everywhere. Except for me ! I do use that gauge on some of my newer basses, but for the tone and volume I need in my band I am a old school .55 to 1.15 guy. Action set low it gets the “rumble” I need. I am not and never will be in to slapping and popping, and in the Blues there is no need for much treble when you are suppose to be holding the foundation down. I am endorsed by SIT and KNUCKLEHEAD strings and find them both to hold up well and not dig in to my frets too bad. Flatwounds use to be great but have changed a lot over the years. I do have a set of light flats on a 64 fretless Jazz Bass and they sound very good, You have to really check out the different makes of Flatwouns man, some of them come out of the package nonresponsive and dull sounding. As for my 5 strings all the low B’s are 1.30 or bigger. They are not as floppy feeling as you work your way up the neck. 8)

    • #72213
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Jimmy, I’ll have “45 -105” on my headstone. I play 5-strings now, and I haven’t made my mind up on the low B between 125 or 130 but I really hate it if I have to use (say) an 80 on the A string for emergency. Just doesn’t feel right.

      I used to stick with “Elites” stainless, but I’m not so into bright strings now and happily use nickels for my more recent basses. All roundwound, but I’d like to stick flats on one of the basses.

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