JDOD
therecordingrebels.com
I'd be exactly the same. In fact, can someone tell me what a generic string gauge is for rock bass.
Flat wounds, half rounds, why?
- Thread starter Cheesehead1
- Start date
I'd be exactly the same. In fact, can someone tell me what a generic string gauge is for rock bass.
Nola
Well-known member
45-105s!
VomitHatSteve
Hat STYLE. Not contents.
Have none of you ever broken a string on stage with that attitude? I've done so at least twice. Ya gotta change your strings at least every 2 years or so!
JDOD
therecordingrebels.com
No, I only play bass when I am recording or practising a bit that I want to record. I normally even come up with basslines on the guitar.
EDIT: Just looked it up, they're only 20 quid a set so might change them by the end of the year - I'll probably bin the really ancient strings off one of my basses, move the shit strings off my other bass onto that one and put the new strings on my main bass.
EDIT: Just looked it up, they're only 20 quid a set so might change them by the end of the year - I'll probably bin the really ancient strings off one of my basses, move the shit strings off my other bass onto that one and put the new strings on my main bass.
Bill L
Massivdonian
Only recently have I started breaking strings on stage. It could be a saddle issue because both times it was the D string. At least I got about 5 or 6 gigs out the set but if it happens again to the same string I'll have to have the saddle filed out.
I bought a Rick 4001 bass in '90 or '91. If I remember right, I changed those strings in '93 or so. Then again in 2011 or 2012. I don't plan on changing them again for another 5-6 years. The flats on my slide guitar have been on for about 4 years and I don't see myself changing those anytime soon. Regular guitar strings get changed when they get loaded with dirt and skin (depends on how much I play it and how dead they sound).
witzendoz
Senior Member
My Thoughts:
Quote: one set lasts 20 years! This directly relates to the questions around the forum about, why does my recorded bass sound like poo.
Quote: The bass strings are expensive Yes but they do outlast guitar strings by a fair amount, I would rather be buying bass strings than replacing guitar strings once a week (oh you don't do that either).
Quote: Keeping a bass in rounds is massively more expensive than flats. Actually I find the opposite, if not the flats you are buying are cheap rubbish.
And it seems like most answering this thread are guitar players that think they can play bass but give the instrument no respect, due to comments like this: I've never changed the strings on them myself. I don't even know what gauge of strings are on any of them. I didn't know how to respond when the shop guy asked me what gauge I wanted on the P-Bass that I'd just bought 2nd-hand when I brought it in for a setup. I just shrugged and said "ummm...something average".
Also to those that have bought a cheap bass and think that because it's a cheap bass I only need to buy cheap strings, a cheap bass setup correctly with good quality strings will sound much better than an expensive bass poorly setup and with cheap strings.
Alan.
Quote: one set lasts 20 years! This directly relates to the questions around the forum about, why does my recorded bass sound like poo.
Quote: The bass strings are expensive Yes but they do outlast guitar strings by a fair amount, I would rather be buying bass strings than replacing guitar strings once a week (oh you don't do that either).
Quote: Keeping a bass in rounds is massively more expensive than flats. Actually I find the opposite, if not the flats you are buying are cheap rubbish.
And it seems like most answering this thread are guitar players that think they can play bass but give the instrument no respect, due to comments like this: I've never changed the strings on them myself. I don't even know what gauge of strings are on any of them. I didn't know how to respond when the shop guy asked me what gauge I wanted on the P-Bass that I'd just bought 2nd-hand when I brought it in for a setup. I just shrugged and said "ummm...something average".
Also to those that have bought a cheap bass and think that because it's a cheap bass I only need to buy cheap strings, a cheap bass setup correctly with good quality strings will sound much better than an expensive bass poorly setup and with cheap strings.
Alan.
I resemble that remark. I give the bass no respect. None. It's a dumbed down guitar for dummies. But I can play the fuck out of a bass, so I'm qualified to give the bass no respect.
jimmys69
MOODerator
I resemble that remark. I give the bass no respect. None. It's a dumbed down guitar for dummies. But I can play the fuck out of a bass, so I'm qualified to give the bass no respect.
I can only hope you are being sarcastic there...
Just, curious. How often are you changing your flatwounds? How often are you changing your roundwounds? My Jazz is currently wearing Fender 9020L, while my P bass has TI Jazz Flats. Both are great strings, one at the less expensive end of the spectrum and the other at the more expensive. Both will outlast a set of roundwounds many, many times over and cost many times less in the long run. When I used rounds I was changing them about every six weeks. The Fender flats have been on that bass for 2.5 years, the TI flats about a year. Neither is anywhere remotely close to needing a change.
jimmys69
MOODerator
So much of this is relative to how often and where the strings are being used.
Back in my days of playing regular gigs with a heavy rock thingy, under hot lights and beer spills I would have to replace my Rotosound BS66's every show. There was a need in that particular bands sound to have clanky bright strings. I would boil them in salt water to get close to the same 'new string sound' for rehearsals, but that was only to save money then.
Now that I am not playing in that type of situation, a set of strings can last years. I don't sweat when recording in the studio and hopefully nobody throws a beer or worse a missed Jagermeister at me there.
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witzendoz
Senior Member
I resemble that remark. I give the bass no respect. None. It's a dumbed down guitar for dummies. But I can play the fuck out of a bass, so I'm qualified to give the bass no respect.
I Knew I would get this response LOL.
Regarding the flat wound life, I change the flat woulds at least every year, I know the sound does not change much but the strings do get grungy and loose sustain. In fact I change all the bass strings on all my basses at least every year. The round wounds I use now are Elixir, they last way longer than anything I used in the past, but I find even if the strings are still sounding good it's nice to have a new clean set on the bass. Flat wounds are D'Addario Chromes.
Alan.
Tadpui
Well-known member
The funny thing is, once I found a bass that I liked, I love my bass tone. Old, crappy strings on a bass that I disliked vs old, crappy strings on a bass that I like. I'll never be a world-class bassist, just a barely competent one. But I just don't like the metallic new-string sound on a bass. Same with acoustic guitar, to a point. I really don't like brand new strings on an acoustic, they sound too metallic for my tastes. And I don't mind old-assed strings on my bass. Horses for courses, man.
To me, old rounds sound, just, bad. The intonation starts sounding off. After a few weeks I'd get to the point where I couldn't stand it one more day. At two or three months, flats are just barely beginning to lose that new string sound. My Fender flats hit their peak tone about a year in, and since that time I've noticed no deterioration of tone or sustain, no intonation problems. Changing them after a year would be counter-productive. Do I expect to get 20 years out of them? No, and I'll count myself lucky if I'm alive in 20 years. Another two, three, four years? Yes, easily. I'll hear it when that bass needs new strings. The TI flats I'll probably change sooner, as I'm not really in love with them.
VomitHatSteve
Hat STYLE. Not contents.
You can tell who the real bassists are in this thread: the ones who have no idea how their instrument works.
jimmys69
MOODerator
You can tell who the real bassists are in this thread: the ones who have no idea how their instrument works.
LOL! In my experience there is much truth to the condescending comments towards bass players. I am one but that is not all I play. The same could be said about most drummers and guitar players these days.
Don't even get me started on singers...or their girlfriends. Talk about poor understanding of how their instrument works...
jimmys69
MOODerator
Back in my days of attempting to be a rock star, the guitarists I knew were shredders who knew music theory inside and out and would destroy a great conversation by introducing modes and scales and speaking a language that made me decide to start playing drums instead. At least I was then left do do more important things like drink beer and do other things that involved women and not practicing scales or arpeggios . LOL!