ken smith slick rounds vs chromes

[drewphishes]

anyone have experience with either of these?
not a whole lotta threads

looking to put them on an alembic epic

the ghs pressurewounds on it now are far too bright for me

 

[drewphishes]

yeah know all about chromes, use them on my p but curious about the ken smiths

 

[Slater]

The Ken Smith Slicks sound like mellow round wounds, and are a little stiff feel wise.

I don’t like Chromes, so I have no further comments on them.

 

[TomB]

Half round strings never seem to get too much love here on TB, regardless of the brand. You'll find plenty of feedback on D'Addario half-rounds. I will say those that like them seem devoted. To answer your question, I'd say that they and Chromes are not a world apart - both feel flat and sound bright. I don't think I kept the Slicks on long enough to say how they age. Chromes do last a very long time, and don't change much over time IME.

 

[michael_t]

If the GHS Pressurewounds are too bright for you, try the GHS Brite Flats, which are alloy 52 half-rounds and the closest cousisn to the KS Slick Rounds.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

If the GHS Pressurewounds are too bright for you, try the GHS Brite Flats, which are alloy 52 half-rounds and the closest cousisn to the KS Slick Rounds.

Here's another recommendation for GHS Brite Flats. I've heard GHS makes Ken Smith's Slick Rounds, but I can't say how the compare; I've never tried Slick Rounds.

I've been using Brite Flats (and D'Addario Half Rounds) on my Rickenbacker 4001 since the early 80's. IMO they have more definition than the Flats I've tried, but they're not as bright as Pressurewounds. Their surface feels smoother to the touch than Pressurewounds.

 

[Bob_Ross]

I've been using Ken Smith Slick Rounds on one of my fretless basses for the last couple of years. I really like them on that instrument; they have a rather distinctive tone, a punchy lower midrange with a sweet (but not too bright) treble. The high tension lends itself nicely to the things I do with that bass.

As a point of reference, prior to stringing that bass up with Slick Rounds I used Smith's Compressor Wounds. Hated those. The feel was all wrong (the tension was much looser) and the sound seemed to lack character...they just sounded like really crappy old roundwound strings.

You wouldn't think there'd be that much difference between a nickel roundwound that's been ground flat and a nickel roundwound that's been squoze flat, but they were almost night & day on that bass. But I have no idea whether I would like the Slick Wounds as much on another instrument.

 

[SteveBassJr]

I just order another set of Ks Slicks.
Im reall digging the tone and feel on my Jazz. Bright but not to bright and they have the thump character that i like.

 

[Pat Harris]

Here's another recommendation for GHS Brite Flats. I've heard GHS makes Ken Smith's Slick Rounds, but I can't say how the compare; I've never tried Slick Rounds.

I bought a five string set of Brite Flats looking for that "halfway point" between Pressurewounds and Chromes, but for me, the Brite Flats weren't it. Tonally, they were far more mellow sounding than the Chromes, and the low B and E strings were dead as dead can be. Zero definition or articulation. Did I get a bad set or is this par for the course?

 

[TomB]

If you’re asking me, I’ve never had luck with 1/2 rounds of any kind. ...just me maybe.

 

[michael_t]

I bought a five string set of Brite Flats looking for that "halfway point" between Pressurewounds and Chromes, but for me, the Brite Flats weren't it. Tonally, they were far more mellow sounding than the Chromes...

The Chromes sound brighter because of the metallic hi-mid clank, which the Brite Flats don't have. The BFs are more about the full-bodied low-mid, and as such, they do sound mellower.

... and the low B and E strings were dead as dead can be. Zero definition or articulation. Did I get a bad set or is this par for the course?

Due to the stiffer nature of half-rounds, it's specially important to set the witness points properly with those two big ones.

I have never tried the 5-string set (49-129) as they would be too heavy for my taste. If I were to try the BFs on a 5-string, I would get the light 4-string set (45-98) with the Pressurewound 128B.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

I bought a five string set of Brite Flats looking for that "halfway point" between Pressurewounds and Chromes, but for me, the Brite Flats weren't it. Tonally, they were far more mellow sounding than the Chromes, and the low B and E strings were dead as dead can be. Zero definition or articulation. Did I get a bad set or is this par for the course?

I agree michael_t. IMO Chromes are pretty bright for a flatwound string. I don’t think a fresh set of BFs will be as quite as bright as a new set of Chromes.

As far as having a dead B and E right out of the package, that doesn’t sound right to me, and I’m thinking you got a set with a couple of bad strings. Definitely get with the folks at GHS about that issue.

 

[drewphishes]

Ernie ball cobalt flats have been the best I've found that are bright and also thumpy

 

[Pat Harris]

I very much appreciate the quick info on this— thank you.

When I had the BF’s strung up, I thought maybe I messed up the installation, took them off, double checked everything, but had the same sonic results. I’m thinking I may have just gotten a lemon of a set and I’d be willing to try a light four string + pressure wound low B.

Thing is, I associate Mike Gordon and Phil Lesh with these strings (aka Slick Rounds), but the low end definition just wasn’t there even while playing with a pick.

Thanks again.

 

[michael_t]

When I had the BF’s strung up, I thought maybe I messed up the installation, took them off, double checked everything, but had the same sonic results.

Something you haven't mentioned... What kind of bass is it?

 

[Pat Harris]

Something you haven't mentioned... What kind of bass is it?

Custom Muckelroy HMC 5 with a single Delano MM style pickup. It’s a great instrument, but dare I say almost too “up front at all times” with rounds on it. Currently, it has pressurewounds, and those work great for me, but I’ve been investigating some other “one notch more mellow” strings.

 

[drewphishes]

ive tried 5 sets of slick rounds, never had a low B that was any good, and I had them send me a bunch.
Ive found the ernie ball cobalts get me close on my modulus, and they even have the samepurple silks

 

[michael_t]

Custom Muckelroy HMC 5 with a single Delano MM style pickup. It’s a great instrument, but dare I say almost too “up front at all times” with rounds on it. Currently, it has pressurewounds, and those work great for me, but I’ve been investigating some other “one notch more mellow” strings.

Sounds like the GHS Balanced Nickels might be a good choice for you. Pure nickel roundwound on a round core - they're a bit more "laid-back" than the Pressurewounds (nickel-iron on a hex core). Still plenty of the roundwound clarity and definition with deep, focused lows with smoother mids.

GHS Balanced Nickels Pure Nickel Round Core Bass Strings from Fret Nation

GHS Balanced Nickel strings

 

[Pat Harris]

Thanks for the heads up

All playing is in a vacuum these days, so I figure I might as well tinker while there are no gigs on the books.

 

[UpperBout]

Custom Muckelroy HMC 5 with a single Delano MM style pickup. It’s a great instrument, but dare I say almost too “up front at all times” with rounds on it. Currently, it has pressurewounds, and those work great for me, but I’ve been investigating some other “one notch more mellow” strings.

I went through the same process with my Muckelroy HMC-5 with Kent Armstrong dual coils. The Kurt Mangans Brady recommends are very nice, and I played 5-6 gigs over roughly 5 months with those. My search for "one notch mellower" led me to DR Sunbeams, and I've been very happy with those so far, 3 or 4 gigs later.