rudimentary bass rig achieved

R

Richard Monroe

Well-known member
Well, my brother, who is estranged from the family, wherabouts unknown, used to be a kickass bass player. I used to mess with his Les Paul studio bass when he wasn't around, so I figured it would be cool to have a bass in the studio. Unfortunately as we are in the final stages of a studio upgrade, and bass just isn't a primary tool for me, I couldn't make the comittment to a serious bass rig. Too much money right now, So I went to the GC Memorial Day sale and picked up a Squier P-bass for $119. The weird thing was, they were $149, but $119 if you got it in Baltic blue. So I had a flash of insight that Baltic blue was the color for me. I played 3 or 4 and found one with a straight neck and no obvious flaws, which is rare in any Chinese axe.
Then I found a real deal- an Ampeg 1X10 bass extension cab brand new for $99. The studio has got a Behringer Bass VAMP Pro and a Carver PM125 power amp already, and an Avalon AD2022, which is the gold channel preamp and Bass DI from hell. Aside from the fact that it's a cheap Chinese bass, the rig seems to perform flawlessly. What the hell, if I get any good at it, I'll buy a decent bass in the future.
So here's a couple of questions for all you lower frequency guys- What kind of strings do you recommend, and how often do you usually change them? Given the price of bass strings, I'm guessing you don't need to change them as often as guitar strings, but I don't really know what is reasonable and customary. Thanks in advance for any advice. Woo Hoo! The studio's nearly complete, after 2 1/2 years of living on eggs and oatmeal.-Richie
 
Congratulations, Mr Monroe. I played a $120 Squier Jazz for many years before I bought my Carvin*. Strings? Round wounds are what everybody uses these days, but I spent years with ground round wounds ("GHS Brite Flats") which are reputedly round wounds that are then sent through a die to flatten off the windings so they play like flat wounds but sound more like round ones. The Carvin came with rounds, and I could never get exactly the tone I wanted...until I put a set of Brite Flats on (and then immediately rerecorded all the bass line for my current project!) I don't change strings any more often than necessary...by which I mean, if they get rusted, or won't intonate, it's time to change them! A lot of people like fresh strings on basses but I'm of the Stu Cook school and believe the bass should be supportive rather than out in front of everybody.

____
*This is even cheaper than it sounds, since it was a borrowed JB, i.e., not even my personal $120.
 
There is a famous session bassist who hasn't changed his strings in 25 years. On the other hand Flea's are changed before every gig. Brand new round wounds certainly zing!

I like Rotosounds - I use roundies on my G&L and flats on my Manson fretless - but they are not so popular in the States. I have a hunch that GHS Boomers (I think - something similar) - would work well for you - a couple of years ago I played a Squier with those in somebody's project studio and it sounded pretty good (the strings I mean, not my playing).
 
You can buy strings cheaper at www.juststrings.com, especially if you buy more sets at a time.

Change them whenever they sound dull or won't stay in tune. This could take a long time (months) if you are only playing a few hours a week in the studio.
 
Oh I forgot. I would recommend Dean Markley "Blue Steel" strings. They have a good growl on my P-Bass.
 
Any brand name nickle plated round wound strings will do fine, but unfortunately bass strings tend to need to be replaced even more often than guitar strings if you want to keep them nice and punchy sounding. Bass strings will suffer worse from the "dead string sound" faster than guitar strings usually do and it is even more noticable. I can often get by with my guitar strings until they look obviously dirty and tarnished or they break. Bass string will rarely break and don't get as ugly, but their sound starts to deteriorate within a week of putting them on the bass. Some people like the dry thump of dead strings, and in the early days of electric bass strings were rarely ever changed. But the attack of new bass strings is a staple in a lot of modern music, and it is often unacceptable for the style of music to use anything but new strings.

The good new is that there is an old bassists' trick for easily making your dead strings sound like new again. Just take off your old bass strings, scrub them with a toothbrush in soapy water, then throw them in a pot of boiling water for about an hour, let them dry for a day and put them back on. No joke, your srings will sound just like new again! You can do this about 6 -8 times before it's effect starts diminishing. I've saved so much money this way. It's just too bad that it doesn't work all that well for guitar strings too.
 
playit said:
Oh I forgot. I would recommend Dean Markley "Blue Steel" strings. They have a good growl on my P-Bass.
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I would also recommend blue steel. They sound great and last longer, but you HAVE to get the NICKLE PLATED ones! IMHO the ones without the nickle plating feel awful, your fingers will stick to them when you slide up and down the neck, and no amount of lube will help. This makes them very noisy and intollerable for recording. Stainless strings are great, just make sure they are nickle plated.
 
Thanks a lot for all the input guys! I think I'm going to need another heavy duty guitar strap. This sucker is heavy like a Travis Bean!-Richie
 
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