Oh no it's a bass string Discussion...

EricTheWeary

...I'm still trying to make a silk purse that is the sow's ear of a Vintage jazz bass. My son is learning a few Flea and Royal Blood lines and it is heavy going on the strings on there ( which are whatever came on it but I'd guess at 105s). Fine for my boom, boom, boom walking bass lines but I suspect something a bit lighter might help him. Bass strings arent the cheapest things to experiment with either. So, what's a bit lighter but not silly light and a decent brand but not at the expensive end? I haven't bought any bass strings for nearly 30 years so I'm a bit out of touch.... :-)

steamabacus

I've been using these on my Squier Jazz ...

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/bass-guitar-strings-sets-c34/legacy-legacy-4-string-nickel-roundwound-bass-guitar-strings-40-100-long-scale-p971/s1013



They do alright for my occasional recording use. No issues with them and I prefer the feel over the Rotosound stainless steel ones that most of the bass players I know use.

EricTheWeary

steamabacus said:

I've been using these on my Squier Jazz ...

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/bass-guitar-strings-sets-c34/legacy-legacy-4-string-nickel-roundwound-bass-guitar-strings-40-100-long-scale-p971/s1013



They do alright for my occasional recording use. No issues with them and I prefer the feel over the Rotosound stainless steel ones that most of the bass players I know use.

A quick look at Strings Direct brought those up and they have a couple of good reviews on there. 

UnclePsychosis

I don't think you can really go wrong with D'addarios of whatever gauge he fancies. 

DLM

Calling the resident bassist!

@fretmeister

fretmeister

D'Addario 40-95

Enough tension for digging in a bit, nice and easy for walking bass lines.

I'd go for nickels rather than steels.

You might need a little truss rod tweak if coming from 105. But then again you might not, and it might just lower the action a smidge.

EricTheWeary

Found them on strings direct - super light gauge, nickel wound 40-95. Cheers. Never changed a string on this bass yet but it has vintage style tuners which are like big versions of the vintage style tuners on my guitar so I'm assuming it's the same process.

ICBM

I've had excellent results with the cheaper Rotosound 'Roto Bass'. In my opinion they sound and feel better than the famous Swing Bass, and seem to last much longer - they don't have the sudden tone loss after a fairly short time that the Swing Bass seem to. I've had the same set on my Rick for over a year now and they're still fine.

Winny_Pooh

Daddarios are a safe bet, best budget strings that are excellent are the Fenders, I've been using them on my fretted basses for years & this set will be good for slap if you raise the low E up a bit:

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/fender-7250l-nickel-plated-steel-roundwound-strings-40-100/41261?gclid=Cj0KEQjwrte4BRD-oYi3y5_AhZ4BEiQAzIFxn2Sadp8GpiOOk2mQvlOC1M83yBXkHm1WovLzK69BXXgaAveB8P8HAQ

strumjoughlamps

what is classed as the standard gauge for bass strings?

JezWynd

strumjoughlamps said:

what is classed as the standard gauge for bass strings?

Anything between 45 and 105 is pretty standard I think. Once I discovered La Bella Flats 39-96 I stopped using anything else.

ICBM

strumjoughlamps said:

what is classed as the standard gauge for bass strings?

40-100 usually.

axisus

I have silly light strings and I love them. Makes bass playing 100% more enjoyable

fretmeister

ICBM said:

strumjoughlamps said:

what is classed as the standard gauge for bass strings?

40-100 usually.

nah.

Most come with 45-105.

40s are usually called light.

ICBM

fretmeister said:

Most come with 45-105.

40s are usually called light.

This is probably like it is with acoustic guitar strings where what's called "light" (12s) is actually the standard gauge now.

I'd need to check but I'm pretty sure most of the basses in the shop have 40s on them, and we sell more of those than anything else. 30s are super light, 35s are medium-light, 40s are medium, 45s are medium-heavy, and almost no-one uses 50s. 

EricTheWeary

fretmeister;1041820" said:

D'Addario 40-95

Enough tension for digging in a bit, nice and easy for walking bass lines.

I'd go for nickels rather than steels.

You might need a little truss rod tweak if coming from 105. But then again you might not, and it might just lower the action a smidge.

Well, these 40-95s are called extra lights if that helps!

thermionic

Whenever I've bought bass strings I've asked the guy behind the counter "what's the bass equivalent of say, 10-46?" but I've never had a satisfactory answer. 45-105 seems to be the commonest set sold to me.

Paul_C

I'd have thought 45-105, but I know some Fenders come with 45-100s

I worked my way all the way down to 30-90s and there I've stayed.

EricTheWeary

I did get around to fitting the D'addarios at the weekend. As I don't know what was on the bass before it is hard to say the exact difference but these are slightly lighter, seems to have improved the tuning ( they settled in much quicker than guitar strings) and a generally more lively sound. The windings feel a bit different ( smoother) than whatever was on before.Checked the intonation and that was dead on for the first three strings but had shifted a lot on the G. Action maybe marginally lower. This set (40-95 for anyone just tuning in) seems to be a good balance for fingerstyle, slap and some plectrum stuff. I think I'd be reluctant to go for anything lighter on the G unless you are mostly a plectrum style player as it might be uncomfortably thin. Reminded me a bit of the old joke ' how do you double the value of a Skoda? Fill the petrol tank.' As I now have £19 strings on a £60 bass through a £100 combo. As a set up it would struggle against a drummer and with a single 10" speaker there isn't much throbbing bass but it sounds a lot better than it should do. 

Sarge

I was given a set of Thomastik 45-105 about a year ago, the bass gets about 2hours play a week so not heavy at all but these strings are a revelation, still bright and snappy, lovely smooth roundwounds and super stable for tuning, or lack thereof.
But, I think these are in the £30-40 region.