Your preferred bass strings

[caughtinamosh]

Originally Posted by The Dark Wolf

My bass player does, too. And we run him through the PA. They cut through the mix nicely, but have a real pleasing mellowness to them, too. His bass and mine both have active EQ, and we boost the treble. Still sounds great! (Lots of low end with these, too. )

I believe Geddy Lee runs his basses directly through the PA too - hence why there are no bass amps on stage (and his use of washing machines to balance it out ). On the "Rush in Rio" DVD, his tone is gloriously bright and twangy. Dull, thudding tone fails.

[eleven59]

Originally Posted by The Dark Wolf

My bass player does, too. And we run him through the PA. They cut through the mix nicely, but have a real pleasing mellowness to them, too. His bass and mine both have active EQ, and we boost the treble. Still sounds great! (Lots of low end with these, too. )

Well, I'm convinced enough to give it a shot when I get back from tour

[distressed_romeo]

Another vote for D'Addario Pro-steels here. Fantastic strings on all counts! My five-string's strung with a 45 gauge set with a 30 on top (I tune with an extra high string) and a beefed up E string (can't remember the exact gauge) for drop tunings, as I drop the bottom string as low as Bb to match my sevens. It sounds perfectly clear and audible all the way down to the super-low notes, and chords and melodic parts in the high register sound beautiful.

[caughtinamosh]

Originally Posted by distressed_romeo

Another vote for D'Addario Pro-steels here. Fantastic strings on all counts! My five-string's strung with a 45 gauge set with a 30 on top (I tune with an extra high string) and a beefed up E string (can't remember the exact gauge) for drop tunings, as I drop the bottom string as low as Bb to match my sevens. It sounds perfectly clear and audible all the way down to the super-low notes, and chords and melodic parts in the high register sound beautiful.

Cheers for your input, DR.

The Pro-steels seem to be pretty popular. I must say that I'm able to absolutely NAIL the Geddy Lee tone with the Rotosound Swing bass strings, but I will definitely give the Pro-steels a try next string change.

[F1Filter]

Originally Posted by CaughtInAMosh

I must say that I'm able to absolutely NAIL the Geddy Lee tone with the Rotosound Swing bass strings, but I will definitely give the Pro-steels a try next string change.

That's because Geddy has used Rotos since day 1. For a while he was using their "Funkmasters" set (the ones with tapered ends). But for the most part. He's a RS66 set user.

Pro-Steels are a good set also. If you're not willing to change strings as often to keep the "piano string" tone. You're better off with the D'addarios, as the Rotos do tend to die a bit quicker.

[caughtinamosh]

I am also interested in the Steve Harris sig Rotosounds, although they only come in a relatively high gauge...

As for strings dying, it's amazing how much you can prolong their life with a bottle of Dunlop Ultraglide.

[Drew]

I'm another Elixir user. Basically, I'm a guitarist, not a bassist. I don't play enough bass to make it worth changing strings every few months to keep them sounding fresh. The Elixirs on my Sherman are now about 18 months old, and they still sound pretty damned clear.

If I was a gigging bassist, I might try something else, sure. But, for a guy who mostly plays bass while recording, it's just not worth the effort.

Besides, that Sherman is nice enough that I could string it up with rubber bands, and it'd still sound pretty good.

[F1Filter]

I am also interested in the Steve Harris sig Rotosounds

I've tried the Harris set on a P bass. Ton's of clank. But that's all they deliver. They're really bright flatwounds. I was immediately able to get the bass tone on Dio's Holy Diver in about a second with them. Dunno how they would work on a J Bass though.

As for strings dying, it's amazing how much you can prolong their life with a bottle of Dunlop Ultraglide.

Gonna have to try that out. I've tried Finger-eeze and Fast Fret on my basses in the past to keep the strings from dying. Neither really helped in keeping the Rotos sounding as bright "out of the packet'. But they did help in reducing the strings from eating up the frets.

[caughtinamosh]

Originally Posted by F1Filter

I've tried the Harris set on a P bass. Tonnes of clank. But that's all they deliver. They're really bright flatwounds. I was immediately able to get the bass tone on Dio's Holy Diver in about a second with them. Dunno how they would work on a J Bass though.

Fixed for speling.

Clank = good. Harris might even have my favourite bass tone... ever. Why I didn't get a P-bass is a little bewildering, even to me... .

As for my J-bass... Why would they be any different? Maybe I took that the wrong way.

[F1Filter]

There's a big difference between the fundamental tones of a P and a J Bass. Maybe if you're just starting to dabble on bass, you won't really notice. But once you spend long enough of time on one or the other. You'll immediately be able to tell the difference.

P's tend to have more midrange "thump" due to the location of the pickup and that it's also a humbucker. J's tend to sound a bit more scooped in the mids with both pickups maxed out. This is also due to the fact that one of the pickps is reverse polarity. You can get more mids out of a J by soloing the bridge (ala Jaco or Berlin). But it doesn't sound the same as a P bass obviously.