Need String Suggestions for My 6-Banger

[Fajah]

I still haven't settled in on a set of strings for my fretless 6-string. Right now, I have DR Low-Rider Stainless Steel round wounds mounted and I don't like them. They're too bright and too rough on my fingers. The current gauge is 30-45-65-85-105-125. I would also prefer to buy locally rather then wait for an online purchase to ship, but I will buy online if the price is right and I can get what I want.

Any suggestions?

[Michelle]

What about D'Addario Chromes? I'm not sure they do a 6-pack. I have a set on my 5-string fretless and I like them ok, a little bigger gauge than I'm used to, .132 I believe..... also got a set of D'A's Half-Round that I haven't tried.

You should be able to get the Chromes locally. I went to the local L&M, (MusicStop), and all they had for fretless 5's was a set of Rotosound Jazz. They wanted $89! F-U! That is why I hate the place. So I ordered the two sets from JustStrings for the same price as 1 set here. They were delivered in less than a week.

[james on bass]

I buy my strings once a year from Webstrings.com. The nickel roundwounds are very similar to D'addario's.

[Mooh]

D'Addario Chromes are what I use on all my basses, but most especially on the fretless 5 string. They last, sound great, even sustain, nice feel, easy on the fretboard...

Peace, Mooh.

[Hamm Guitars]

George Furlanetto has put together custom balanced sets for six strings:

http://www.fbass.com/html/accessories.html

or try La Bella Strings:

http://www.labella.com/products.html

[Fajah]

Thanks everyone. For those of you using Chromes, do they not tend to sound muddy once you work them in? I found this to be the case when I use them on my jazz guitar, but maybe for bass it's different. I like the idea of flats to minimize fretboard wear and tear, but more so for my fingers. I don't want the tone too dark.

[james on bass]

I'm sure someone must make a set, but it sounds like you should be looking at halfwound or groundwound strings. Close in feel to flatwounds but retain more of the brightness of roundwounds. I've never tried them myself. I just switched my fretless back to roundwounds last week. The flatwounds were just too dark sounding for me. I put on a fairly old set of rounds though so as to have not so bright a tone.

[Fajah]

The flatwounds were just too dark sounding for me.

That's what I'm afraid of. Unlike guitar strings which are cheap to experiment with, it's hard to do it with bass strings. Till I figure out what I want, the strings could cost more than the bass :eek:

[Michelle]

Thanks everyone. For those of you using Chromes, do they not tend to sound muddy once you work them in? I found this to be the case when I use them on my jazz guitar, but maybe for bass it's different. I like the idea of flats to minimize fretboard wear and tear, but more so for my fingers. I don't want the tone too dark.

I've only had them on for about 2wks Lawrie, so I don't know if they'll go dark, they sound like a typical flatwound to me but clear, not muddy. Maybe in a couple years I'll put the half-rounds on and let ya know. :)

[Mooh]

Re Chromes: No mud here.

Peace, Mooh.

[Fajah]

Maybe in a couple years I'll put the half-rounds on and let ya know. :)

Should I wait? :zzz:

[Fajah]

Re Chromes: No mud here.

Peace, Mooh.

Hmmm....Makes it a tough decision.

[JBassJohn]

I had a set of stainless steel flatwounds that were brighter than the nickel ones. I didn't like the tension though. I've tried D'Addario ground wounds and they felt almost sticky to me. It's hard to describe. I have DR black beauties on both my basses now. I like the feel and sound. I wonder if the coating would ease the fretboard wear?

[james on bass]

You know, this whole worrying about fretboard wear is so overblown. You'd have to be playing round wounds on a fretless for hours every day for years before you would need to replace the board. Yes, round wounds are going to leave some witness marks on the board, but it's not really damaging. Even if you wanted to lightly sand down the board once a year to get rid of the witness marks, it would still last for many years.

[Fajah]

I have coated strings on my 4-string and like them very much. It's a brighter tone and easier on the fingers. I'm not that concerned about fretboard wear. I tend to agree with James that it would probably take a long time for it to appear. This is first and foremost a tone issue followed by wear and tear on my fingers.

Surprisingly, Club Bass doesn't carry much in the way of strings for 6-string basses. I guess no retailer does but being a bass specialty shop, one would think they do. Last time I was in, they had no flat or half-round strings for a 6. I'm leaning toward half-rounds at the moment and may just have to order something online.

[Mooh]

Fretboard wear, in my experience, has as much to do with the quality and species of fretboard wood as the type of string. I use flatwounds on all my basses so it's a non-issue for me anyway.

However, if your bass started life as a fretted instrument and had its frets pulled in a fretless conversion, you may want to keep an eye on board wear. I prefer ebony, though I have a rosewood board right now which is holding up fine.

(Fwiw, when I converted a Telecaster guitar to fretless, I sealed the maple board with "crazy" glue. Don't know if it was necessary, as I don't have an A/B comparison, but it did harden the board. I wouldn't do this again, I prefer the feel of wood regardless of wear.)

Peace, Mooh.

[Renniw]

You know, this whole worrying about fretboard wear is so overblown. You'd have to be playing round wounds on a fretless for hours every day for years before you would need to replace the board. Yes, round wounds are going to leave some witness marks on the board, but it's not really damaging. Even if you wanted to lightly sand down the board once a year to get rid of the witness marks, it would still last for many years.

+1 I play my fretless PJ bass for years (at least 7) with roundwounds and there are only a few strings marks on the fingerboard. They are only surface scratches and they don't affect playability at all.

Fingerboard is cocobolo....

[Fajah]

After spending spending over an hour at Club Bass yesterday, I settled for a set of R.Cocco nickel round wound strings (28-45-65-85-105-125). They're softer and mellower overall. The B and C strings are a bit lighter. I just put in 3 hours of playing time on them and so far they feel and sound great. It also prompted me to tweak my bass a bit. I played some awesome instruments at the store and felt that my Douglas had some room for improvement.

These particular basses are pretty sick:

http://www.clubbass.ca/instock/CS6.html

http://www.clubbass.ca/instock/LG3000.html

But that's a whole other story.