Things you need to know about strings

Ok fellas, after some weeks using Warwick Red Lable nickles. NICKELS, not the normal stainless steels, on both Infinity SN 5 and Streamer LX4, I could say that I´m pretty happy with them.

Main impressions:
-Feel: Compared to the stainless steel Red Label this nickels feel nice on the fingers, I remember the steels felt like sandpaper.

-Tension: Nothing to complain here, I mean, they have normal tension I guess.

-Sound: TBH, I thought those string were going to be dead in few days. For my surpise, after 5 weeks, 3 rehearsals and 5 gigs (have in mind I have very sweaty hands) they are still sounding with enough bright to not call them "dead strings".
Both sets, 4 and 5, feel balanced, I haven´t notice any "thin" string or something weird. Compared to the Dunlop Super Bright I tried before, this Red Lables aren´t as bright, which is what I expected, but with enough lows and bright to play rock and the LX sounds a little more balanced. Have in mind that my maple-body LX has bright and highs for days. Most of the time prefer less bright strings on it.

Bonus: Check this little clip of a blues song I´m working on, recorded with the Infinity SN5, mild OD from my Sansamp pedal with blend knob at 10 O´clock, and a hint of compression: https://soundcloud.com/nachobassmanperez/blues-8-llevame-al-bar-slow-clip

Cheers. 8:

 

Hey fellas. Warwick newbie here.
Just bought a beatiful new Corvette Proline 6. Mine was made in 2007 with a tailpiece, that fits the .130 B string.

After giving it a nice clean, setup and oiling (the fingerboard soaked lemon oil like crazy after sitting for 9 years in a store) i decided to put my fav DR Hi Beams 45-130 on there (i have Warwick hi-C string onesies as a gift), and I hated the feel of the B! It feels fine on the SR MM5, but not here. I hated it so much that I put the 10 year old original tapered B string in a dishwasher and put it back. Sounds crap but feels better.

I never dealt with tapered strings before, but can inagine the advantages, as it has more direct surface area contacting the bridge.

Are there any food SS RW sets besides Warwick? I have plenty of 5 string DR sets, some 4 string sets, hi-c onesies. Right now I ordered tapered B onesies from several manufacturers (d'addario, Dunlop) but never was a fan of these brands. And it's like a Frankenstein monster. D'Addario tapered B, DR E-A-D-G, and a Warwick hi-C...

Please recomend a round core RW SS set with tapered B.

Cheers!

 

I have EB cobalt flats on a couple of my basses and I like them very much. I have a number of basses and try to choose strings that sound best on that specific bass. I like the feel and lack of fretting noise on flats, but sometimes that are too "mellow" sounding on certain guitars. So, I tried them on a bass that didn't sound so great with regular flats, and the cobalts sounded much better. They do not sound like round wounds, but more like somewhere in between flats and rounds. I think anyone who has not tried them, should give them a listen. Of course, they are much cheaper here in the US. I get them here:

http://www.bassstringsonline.com/Flatwound-Cobalt-Bass-Strings-_c_1558.html

I am trying out the cobalt roundwounds now on a bass that I want the roundwounds on, but the output with steel rounds wasn't very good. The bass sounds MUCH better with the cobalts, but it is too soon to make a definitive decision yet. It is a US Masters 5 string I have strung E-C and am still kind of deciding if I like that tuning as well. But so far the tuning and the strings look like winners.

 

Same here (except i put dadario prosteels). Waiting for tapered b dadario

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

I studied the market very thoroughly. Myself I was never a fan of the marketing garbage like "hand wound from meteorite steel by renaissance-era blacksmiths". Not that many blokes make the raw materials for the strings (probably the same steel alloy used by all), and it really isn't rocket science.
I used to love DR Hi-beams, but hate how the .130 B feels on the Wick. It's purely subjective. So I toyed with Dunlop SS .135T and D'Addario SS .135T. They are absolutely similar. I.e. no difference tension/feel/tone wise at all. So bought some Warwick Black Labels, again with .135T. Guess what? -Absolutely the same.
-My conclusion is this: I used to buy DR's (approx $40 for 5 string set), whereas Warwick Black Labels are bizarely cheap where I live (around $20 for 5 string set). So... why pay more? They all have the same lifespan (I hate coated strings), all are going to be thrown away in a month or two.
So I will stick to Black Labels from now on, because of not having to order the .135 tapered. And tapered .135 does feel a lot better on this bass. Will try it on my MM SR5, but I'm way too much in love with the 'wick right now.

Rock on!

 

Bought some regular D'addario Nickel .100's for my Condor bass and they are losing tension after about 3 weeks of incidental playing.

 

Flats feel weird for my fingers, don´t ask me why, I can´t stand them.

 

Losing tension?

I used to play daddario nickels, they sounded great for about a week and then died quick, and the tension was high for medium lights. Try out DR sunbeams or lo riders, much more flexible and they maintain their tone longer.

 

Fodera nickels on my Warwick's sounds best to me. They feel great and last a long time. Kinda limited on choices for my dingwall due to the scale length so I just stick to the dingwall strings which do sound great. I tried those kalium strings on my dingwall once but they just sound dead and uninspiring. Plus they are a prick to order as their website sucks.

 

Tried some different strings but returned to DR Lo-Riders. The 125 low B on these sets are awesome and even sounding with the rest of the strings.
With some other strings I used the 130 or thicker the B becomes too loud and/or sounding muffled compared to the E and A strings.

Lo-Riders are 45 65 85 105 125 hexacore stainless steels and I love em.

Staying away from Rotosounds on my 5 stringers that's for sure. Worst low B I ever had.

 

I have a string question. There seems to be 2 main schools of thought on strings. On the one hand, you have players that change their strings regularly, and on the other hand, you have players who rarely if ever change their strings. I bought a vintage bass a few months back and was showing it to a friend (admittedly, primarily a guitarist, but a good one) and he commented that if I re-strung it and didn't want the strings, he wanted them very much. I inquired why he wanted the ancient strings, and he proceeded to tell me about how sought after vintage strings are, and that the strings on his '70's Fender P-bass were the same ones on it when he bought it. That strikes me as crazy talk personally, but he is an accomplished musician and teacher (mine, in fact) with a degree from Berklee. What are you guys thoughts on when, and why, you change strings?

 

Every time I change strings I realize I did it too late. The brightness dies and also the responsiveness. I have a modern sound, still Rock, not Metal, or better let´s say a Rock Metal sound, hehe. For this I need highs and upper mids. But those guys play real vintage basses and are looking for real vintage sounds. It´s like this German dude in New York who runs a restaurant where he offers mildewed beefsteaks and people swear these are the best steaks you can find on earth. I like my steak fresh (grilled ofc, the best would be an all tube grill, imagine you could grill your steak by playing bass, haha!).

Maybe it will be the next hit: relic strings...

 

I like to change strings regularly, but it depends on the music style . Someone likes the clarity and brilliance of new strings, another one exact the opposite. I also like the feel on the instrument with new strings. But thats my way... Guitarstrings lose a lot of tone after a few weeks, bassstring only change their tone in my opinion. And by the way... did the Beatles ever change their strings? Doesn`t sound like that...

 

Hello guys!! I just tried Galli strings and i want to say that they are great great strings. I have try many brands Elixir,Daddario nickel ,prosteels, Boomers,Ernie ball,La bella nickel plated and hrs,Tension,Fodera, R.Coco, Dunlop nickel, Rotosound steel,Low rider steel,nickel,Hi beams,Fat beams etc...

Ok i think if you like very elastic strings try Galli
I also like Labella Hrs, , Fat beams Dunlop, Pro steels
I never try a warwick set of strings although.

 

I think that music called for "dead" strings... or it was just the way strings sounded back in the day.

 

Hofner violin bass. Yuck!

 

Speaking of strings.........I was kinda disappointed with the 5 string SSII I picked up a while back. It was obviously of the highest level of workmanship and materials, but I didn't like the way it sounded much. First, I took off the DR , Sunbeams I think, because I thought they sounded too "bright", and put on a set of EB cobalt flats, which I really liked on other basses. But, I did not like them on the SSII at all. They sounded good, but just didn't feel right. So, after pondering the situation a while, and after hearing nothing but praises for TI strings, and finding a good deal on a 6 string set of TI Superalloy stings, I strung it E-C with the TI Superalloys. Now it is frickin' awesome baby! I got the 6 string set so I can string it either E-C or B-G. The great design of the Warwick bridge makes it easy to swap strings. Now I am very pleased with the SSII and have played it every day since I strung it E-C with the TI Superalloys. I was quite surprised by the improvement, for me anyway. I have a Corvette $$ 5 string that is strung B-G and It is great that way, but the SSII just seems better E-C for some reason. Anyone else ever string one that way?

 

Never tried that...but now you got me thinking. Cool idea Kim! Glad you got the sound you wanted and are happy with that beast now

 

I have my Corvette FNA Jazzman stringed E-C. With D'Addario nylon tapewounds. I just get sounds I don't have with other basses and it's more comfortable to play. It's great for playing melodies in the upper register too. Sounds great.

Also sounded great with TI flats, but being fretless it's easier to intonate notes with the tapes. Don't know why.

My SSII has some Pyramid nylon tapewounds, also E-C, it's a little less aggressive sounding and bright. I haven't gigged or rehearsed with it yet, so I don't know how it would mix with the band. Still trying different strings on that bass.

But I definitely like having a C string more than a B string. Depends on what kind of music do you play, I guess. Right now I can live without the lowest notes.

 

Tried Optima Gold some weeks ago and I am quite impressed. All strings cut through the mix! They feel a bit raw. Optima says they will not show wear. Let's see and hear!