string gauges

[soupster]

Hey,

Im lookin for a list of your setup as far as strings goes. Mainly gauges but if you wanna throw in the name brand, or even style you play, great. What clasifies as a medium, small, and large guage string? How bout XL, I assumed it means extra large. Let me know.

peace

[temporaryarmsglisten]

i use DR strings. .045-.105 they are great strings. when you first put them on they feel nice and broken in i guess is the way to describe it. and they stay popable for months.

[BenLoy]

Try out a bunch of different strings and pick what sounds right to you. I use D'Addario Prisms, but you may hate them...

 

There are a lot of great string manufacturers out there...it's more of a matter of personal preference than anything else...

[jeremy c]

Light, medium light, medium, heavy are vague terms, they vary from brand to brand. Also the definition of what is a light string has changed over the years, people are using strings way lighter than anyone every imagined 30 years ago.

 

Even the same gauge will feel different for different brands.

 

The typical "standard" gauge is probably 45, 65, 85, 105. If you are new to this, I would start there.

 

I'm using DR Highbeams on my main basses.

[Tom Capasso]

One thing to remember is that the tension of a string is not always clear by the size. Often string manufacturers don't include tension values. Look at D'Addario's website - they show that "soft" sets of strings have less tension by providing tension data.

 

Depending on the style you play, your bass, and the feel of the string, you may prefer more or less tension. I was surprised when I put TI JazzRounds on a bass, because I loved the feel of the strings and the true way they vibrated even though they had a lower tension rating than any other string I'd used.

 

Tom

[humabass]

I only play 40,60,80,100. I use DR Highbeams,Sunbeams,and Marcus Millers. I did try a set of D'Addario XL's on my medium scale Jazz bass and I liked them so much I'm going to try them on my main Lakland 4-94. I play mostly Classic Rock, Funk,Country Rock,Smooth Jazz,World Music,and weird,improvisational stuff. I have small hands and play with a light touch so I prefer lighter gauge strings.

[Mark LaCoste]

I have been playing a fretless Hamer Cruisebass for a while now. I wanted an organic, standup-like sound, so I replaced the strings with RotoSound flatwounds (the windings were maring the ebony fretboard, too). I'm pretty disapointed, 'cause that cool fretless electric sound went away! Like a fool, I beleived the sales guys at GC when they said "these will really GROWL". They don't, they sort of hum in a boring fasion. So here's my question: Is the cool buzzy sound only produced by round wound strings? Or does this vary per instrument? Would a half-round string sound better while producing less wear on the fretboard?

 

Sorry, I'm clueless... but I see this thread has attracted some string officiandos.

 

-ml

[rumpelstiltskin.]

as i understand it, roundwound strings are what gives a fretless the "mwah" sound.

 

for my playing, i typically prefer .45 .65 .80 .100, but i just bought a set of TI jazz rounds that are .043 .051 .068 .089. pretty light, but like my boy BenLoy said, play 'em and see. i hear a lot about how great TI strings are, but i'm not ready for the powerbass strings yet, so i'm trying the jazz rounds. we'll see.

 

robb.

[Cup]

I'm not really brand loyal, as long as my strings are Nickle round wound I'm happy.

 

45-105. Simply because that's the recommended gauge for my bass.

 

CupMcMali...this monkey's gone to heaven

[Mark LaCoste]

YES! Robb, that's it! mwAAH is the sound I'm missing. So it's back to round wounds as soon as I have the cash. And just to make it less like I hijacked the thread,

 

I got plenty mwaahh with DiAdario round wounds, standard 40-105, nickle.

 

I got nice, thumpy sound with strong fundamental with RotoSound flats, same guage.

 

Maybe I should try the lighter guage TI jazz... could be a good sound as long as it doesn't get too much thinner.

[rumpelstiltskin.]

if the strings are wearing out your fretboard, you may consider getting it epoxy treated. essentially, they pour a bunch of superglue over your fretboard, forming a very hard shell, which protects the wood of the fretboard.

 

either that or buy a new fretless with a harder (than ebony? there are a few woods that are) fretboard.

 

make sure the strings are nickel, and perhaps trying half-rounds will help.

 

robb.

[NickT]

DR Marcus Miller Fat Beams on the 5 string (45-135 I think) and heavy gauge Rotosound nylon coated flats on the J-bass.

 

For that MWAH sound you will need roundwounds...it is worth the wear and tear on the fingerboard.

[alexclaber]

LaBella Deep Talkin' S/S Rounds 44-110 on my '87 Warwick Streamer.

 

Elites S/S Tapercore Rounds 45-105 on my '90 defretted Hohner Jack.

 

Alex

[dcr]

I'm glad someone mentioned tension. I've become pretty sensitive to this lately. My Fender J seems to have more string tension than my other basses. This could be due to a number of factors: string gauge (just changed to EB Slinkies, which have pretty low tension, & that's helped); bridge type (does the BadAss II tend to increase tension?); neck relief (it's a bit more concave than my other basses); action (I could get this a little lower if I flattened the neck a bit (if I go too low as is, I rattle above the 12th), but it's not bad). The reason it bothers me is that I find myself really clamping with the left hand for some reason, which is both poor technique & unconfortable. Suggestions?

 

By the way, I think that if the sound you love on a fretless is the sound you get with roundwounds, then probably only rounds will do. I've had my first disappointment with Smith strings: I put some "Compressors" on my fretless, & the mwah & resonance is just not what it was (even with year-old EBs). Maybe I got a bad set; the G & esp. the E string seem less live than the others... There's $20 I can't get back. Well, maybe I just need to give myself more time with them... (I doubt it's any reflection on Smith, actually; I think I just don't like compressors.)

 

But I will say that if you're into that RIC sound, slap a set of light gauge Smith steel rounds on your Ric--WOO HOO!!

[fig]

For rock, I really like a higher tension. I just kinda like a string that fights back, as I tend to dig in when doing higher power rock or blues, so I go with larger strings (as mentioned, larger doesn't always mean higher tension, but for generic strings, that's usually the case). I set action to about a medium to medium high. Nice, full sounds. Yesterday, I did a quick recording session with the band I'm filling in with, and the engineer didn't use any processing, as he said it sounded like a real bass, as opposed to the smaller strings that give a p***y sound of other basses he's recorded. His words, not mine.

 

For pop and jazzier stuff, I like smaller strings, less tension, lower action.

 

No brand loyalty, just whatever's inexpensive. Still shakes the audiences butts the same as expensive strings.

[rumpelstiltskin.]

i've found that roundcore strings are much "softer" (less tension) than hexcore strings. i have been using DR sunbeams on my jazz lately, because they are nickel and roundcore. they're very flexible and easy to play. i guess the TI jazz rounds i just got for my jazz are also roundcore. the TIs are really expensive, so i hope i don't like them. i thought DR was expensive enough.

 

i know TI lists tensions, as does d'addario. if you're concerned about tension, check these guys out.

 

robb.

[doc taz]

I've used Rotosound Swing Bass strings for years, gauge 40-100. Nickelwound, and not too bright. Lasts a long time. I usually change about every four months, and I do wipe them down when I'm done for the day.

 

If I were playing more frequently, then I'd probably change them about every three to four weeks.