Question about bass guitar strings

David Cobb · From: Chanute, Kansas, USA

Lets's say you have an electric bass with new strings.
Is there something one could apply to these strings until they are worn in, a rosin or something like that?

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

well David this is a curious question. Most Bass players change there strings when they are worn..

I pesonally use round wound strings..when the bright tone is gone..so are the strings..

Some folks use flat wound which as you know have limited bright tone and are very smooth..

t

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I use GHS "Brite Flats" (previously called "Ground Wounds")on my wife's basses. They are a lot smoother but still have the tone of wound strings. The only problem is they don't make a 5 string set in the Brite Flats and you have to buy a separate .135 for the B string. I order them from www.juststrings.com

As far as a new bass, guitar, etc, the first thing to do is get rid of the original strings. Usually they are either inferior quality or dead from the instrument hanging in a music store.

[This message was edited by Jack Stoner on 25 February 2005 at 04:22 AM.]

Hook Moore · From: South Charleston,West Virginia

If you don`t play bass all the time, the strings Jack mentioned and other flat wounds will help the fingers a little..
Hook

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HookMoore.com
Allen Moore

Rick Johnson · From: Wheelwright, Ky USA

My last few sets have been Elixers.
They have a nano-web coating on them
and don't loose their tone easily.
Expensive but worth it.

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Rick Johnson

Glenn Austin · From: Montreal, Canada

As funny as this may sound, the best bass player and the best sounding bass player I've ever played with used strings that were 20 years old. He would alternate between about 5 or 6 sets, that he would soak in methyl hydrate to clean them.

David Cobb · From: Chanute, Kansas, USA

Great info guys, much appreciated.
I got an Ebay bargain on a like new Fender, but the strings are gnarly.
If I want to play around with it, it sounds like a swap to a quality string is in order.

Ben Slaughter · From: Madera, California

They last a little longer if you keep them clean. I've seen some guys use WD40, but that a little to corrosive for me. I use that "Fast Fret" stuff. Apply once before playing and once after, them wipe them down. Seems to add a little more life. I use Ernie Balls by the way.

Also know some bass players who don't like the sound of new strings. But I do.

HowardR · From: N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville

I've heard of bass players who boil their strings.

P Gleespen · From: Toledo, OH USA

I used to boil my bass strings. It works really well. They come back to life almost like brand new, but then they go dead again more quickly.

It may be me, but it seems like they'd break easier after boiling 'em.

Many years ago, I read an interview in Guitar Player magazine with a bass player who really liked the "dead" sound. He claimed that he would put a new set of strings on a spare bass, coat the strings in butter, put the bass in a closet for a year and wait. He said that when he'd take the bass out after a year that the strings were "almost dead enough"! Hilarious. I can't remember the guys name, but he was going for that James Jamerson sort of thud.

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I worked with a Bass player in Kansas City that I don't think ever changed the strings on his Bass and it was a 60's custom left handed Fender. He was constantly complaining about the sound of his bass, tried several compressors and bass effects to make the sound better. When we would suggest putting new strings on the Bass he would get mad.

Mark Herrick · From: Bakersfield, CA

Pat Coyne · From: Gallatin

Hi David...YOUR preference of tone, feel, and style will eventually be the determination on strings. PERSONALLY what had used in the past were the GHS "Brite Flats"..then went thru the round wound stainless sound...then a funny thing happened, was at the opry one night, Jimmy Johnson was playing with Vince Gill, and what a tone! Found out he was using FLATWOUNDS!!! Btw, I have been told that session great Joe Osborn has never changed the strings on his old Jazz. So I have rigged up my Jazz bass with round wounds- Dean Markley "Cryogenics"...because of the wide tonal variances of that guitar. And on my precision..i keep it simple, back to the basics...single pickup with flatwounds.. LaBella 54 originals. When i play with Doug Jernigan this is what i use...through an Ampeg "Rocket Bass"...it is the most beautiful tone i have ever obtained, warm and deep. I get many, many compliments on the tone (wish i could on my playing) ha! I am sure you will eventually find what you like...if you have any questions feel free to personally e-mail me. Best wishes....Pat

Rick McDuffie · From: Benson, North Carolina, USA

What kind of tone are you looking for? If you want a jazz tone, without a lot of sustain, use flatwounds- and there's no wear-in time required. If you want some "bite" use roundwounds. If you want to sound like Chris Squire of "Yes" use Rotosounds (and practice A LOT!).

As has been said above, a lot of pro studio bass in past decades (including the late, great James Jamerson of Motown) NEVER changed their strings, unless one broke.

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

I have several basses that I gig with with strings that are 10+ years old. One has a set 20 years old. I hate new bass strings. I used to use Labella 760 quarter rounds but I had them on my bass so long that they discontinued them before I needed another set!

Guitar strings are another story.

David Cobb · From: Chanute, Kansas, USA

Rancid butter?....let me ck. the fridge...yup, got it!
Seriously, I'd be happy with a sustained tone like Glenn Worf has on Vince's "The Key" that I'm listening to now.

Or even my Dad's old Fender bass, serial #0005 or something like that.
Great country thunk and the oldest strings out there.
Definitely don't want the bright jazz sound.

[This message was edited by David Cobb on 01 March 2005 at 03:54 PM.]

Rick McDuffie · From: Benson, North Carolina, USA

I wouldn't define "bright" as a "jazz" sound, David. It might fit under the funk or rock categories.

The traditional jazz bass sound is more like an upright bass, and you'd use flatwound strings to go in that direction.

If you want sustain, but not bright... you might try some half-rounds. Also, part of what you're hearing might be due to the use of a tube preamp or compression. What the engineer does has a lot to do with the way bass (or any instrument) sounds on a recording.

Rick

[This message was edited by Rick McDuffie on 26 February 2005 at 04:44 PM.]

Shaan Shirazi · From: Austin, TX, USA

I like those black Fender tape wound strings. The set I have on my bass is probably 6 years and 300 gigs old.

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The Pickin' Paniolo

John Kavanagh · From: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada * R.I.P.

I read about somebody - it might even have been Jaco Pastorius - who hated the sound of new strings, and when he broke one he'd rub barbecue sauce on the replacement, so it would match the others. I guess that and the disgusting butter treatment both might cause the same kind of mild corrosion that use and finger oils would cause after playing awhile.

I use the half-flats, too, because to my ears the tone is a nice compromise between the roundwounds (too bright) and the flats (not bright enough). Using the tone control and the PJ pickup configuration on my bass, I can get all the sounds I like from those strings.

I clean them with Fast Fret and hardly ever change them, but when I do it's for a set of new strings, hold the barbecue. I'd change them every couple of years if I played bass guitar as much as I do upright.

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John Kavanagh
D-8, acoustic 8
mostly G6 and D13

Doug Earnest · From: Branson, MO USA

I bought a set of RotoSound strings with a black coating a few years back. Similar to the Fender tape wound, but not quite as smooth and with a brighter sound. I have no idea if they are still made, but they are a very good string.

Bobby Sparks · From: Williamston, North Carolina, USA

Doug,

Yes, they are still made. I just bought a set not long ago. Like you, I like the Rotosounds & Fender tapewounds. Good tone (subjective I know) & very easy on the fingers.

BNS

Hook Moore · From: South Charleston,West Virginia

I just wonder how a guy gets the idea to use butter or barbque sauce

Hook

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HookMoore.com
Allen Moore