which rounds for smooth feel and piano clarity?

J.Wolf

J.Wolf

Supporting Member
Commercial User
Apr 29, 2003
8,823
8,614
5,331
Asheville, NC
www.facebook.com
Disclosures
Contributor- Bass Musician Magazine | Marketing Manager- Trickfish Amplification
#1
I've got a 5 string that I'm looking to put new strings on. The bass sounds fantastic, but has a good bit of meat in the mids and low mids that seem to really benefit from strings with that taut, piano like clarity.

Some of the strings I've tried in the past that attempt to do this have suffered from lack of flexibility/stiffness, and feel issues in general, so I'm wondering what is out there that feels smooth and supple, but offers that great clear piano string tone?

thx
 
#3
DR Pure Blues feel very nice and smooth, but still have that DR sound, might be worth a try.
 
#6
Would love to try the TI's. It's an expensive experiment but who knows. I'm not one for super light feel, the TI flats don't work for me, due to tension. But it all depends on the overall feel of the set for me. Might give them a whirl
 
#8
Smooth feeling? DR Sunbeams.
Piano clarity? Dunlop SuperBright Nickels.

Dunlops will be a little rougher feeling, but that's where you get your clarity. Sunbeams are smoother feeling but definitely darker. It's a trade off. Both are very supple feeling/low tension.
 
#10
I used to use circle K/Kaliums pretty exclusively, but havent tried them on this bass yet. Maybe will give them a shot. The balanced .136 hybrid sets is one of my all time faves. a .136 B that is super quick and flexible but sounds YOOJ. love it.
 
#11
J.Wolf said:
I used to use circle K/Kaliums pretty exclusively, but havent tried them on this bass yet. Maybe will give them a shot. The balanced .136 hybrid sets is one of my all time faves. a .136 B that is super quick and flexible but sounds YOOJ. love it.
Click to expand...

I used to use CKs as well. The balanced set worked great on my 6 string, but I found their traditional set worked better on my 5.
 
  • Like
Reactions: J.Wolf
#13
J.Wolf said:
I've got a 5 string that I'm looking to put new strings on. The bass sounds fantastic, but has a good bit of meat in the mids and low mids that seem to really benefit from strings with that taut, piano like clarity.

Some of the strings I've tried in the past that attempt to do this have suffered from lack of flexibility/stiffness, and feel issues in general, so I'm wondering what is out there that feels smooth and supple, but offers that great clear piano string tone?

thx
Click to expand...
 
#15
Pressurewounds are great, I really like them for that "in between-ness" of vibes. But I need more bite on this bass.

You should totally play piano. I'll keep looking for strings ;)
 
#17
DR high beams are like Olive Garden for me. I will look for all kinds of other stuff on the road, but when I get hungry enough, I'm REALLY glad to see them :)

They might actually work pretty well for this goal, although I don't find them to be super clear and articulate in the mids. They are so in the upper mids and have good treble, but the lows are not super taut sounding in my book. Worth a shot perhaps...
 
#19
I'm a big believer that every bass requires a different set of strings to get the sound you want. I have a set of Fodera SS on my Smith which seem close to fitting what you are looking for.
 
Last edited:
#20
I Like the Fodera strings, but for a while there was having MAJOR QC issues with them. a dead string in every other pack for a while, and they got tired of my asking for replacements (reasonably), so I moved on. But I liked the strings quite a bit
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back