What are your favorite types of strings. Do you like Roundwound or flatwound strings? or something else? I use roundwounds mostly, but use half-rounds on my fretless. Flats have too mellow a tone for my tastes.

Oh .. you risk having someone throw a tactical nuclear weapon at your car when you ask questions like these!

I started out when flats were all that was available, and they were heavy -- .55 through .110. When Rotosound Swing bass came out, I switched to them and used them exclusively for almost 15 years. Then I stopped playing for awhile, and when I started again, I didn't like the way Rotos sounded (no pun intended). So I tried almost every other brand of rounds before I settled on Lakland Nickel Rounds, which are made by GHS. I don't like stainless because they're just too clanky. However, I heard so many guys saying that TI Jazz Flats were great that I bought a set, and I really love them. They have top end, aren't dead, and sound absolutely even across the board. And they record great. I recorded with set of two-year-ld TIs and the engineer called after the session to find out what bass I used because it sounded so great (Lakland 55-94). I think ShackMAn will agfgee with me here --I gave him an old set of TIs that he liked, and I let him borrow my Lakland with TIs. Had to chase him across the state line to get it back :0 (not really).

I've been getting strings to try from different manufacturers lately and I have to say that I like DR Coated Rounds (the colored ones),and I', currently using Rotosound Tru Bass -- nickel on steel -- on my Lakland. I like these -- they don't lose punch on the high notes like some other rounds.

What I try to do is keep one bass strung with TIs for recording of Motown-like things -- usually my Lakland. I have Dingwall stainless on my Combustion for zing. I also like D'Addario Chromes -- flatwounds that have a nice clear tone. They work very well on a Jazz bass.

`

OK it says if you vote "other" then you should
explain "other". I'll skip over the idea that I'd
like an explanation myself ... of why there's a
possible catagory outside flat, round, and 1/2
round [like 15/32 round would be "other" ?].

So I voted "other" cuz my faves are TIJFs, TI
Acousticores, and LaBella 760N [black nylon].

I could just say I voted "other" cuz my faves
are not limited to either flat or RW or 1/2RW,
but that is not my reason. If only just one of
those three were my absolutely singular fave
I'd still vote "other" ... cuz each is unique in
its qualities and not especially related to any
other strings that share in its nominal build
type ... of being RW or flat.

I guess my "other" is that I just dig a lotta
nylon or textile content, and it means more
to me than the shape of the outer windings.



-------------------------------------



IOW, I'd need the TI Acousticores no matter
whether their outer windings were ribbon or
wire. LaBella nylon flats are not 100% unique,
as there are nylon flats from Roto and Status
but again the ribbon or wire shape is not my
reason. I once had a set of GHS nylon RWs,
kinda like the LaBellas/Rotos/Status except
that the outer wrap is wire-shaped, instead
of flat ribbon. Their voice is about the same
as the nylon flats.

I also like the weird Fender "nylon coated"
RWs, altho they have limited applications.
Their voice is very different from the other
nylon wound strings ... and their leader is
so thick that they are really meant only for
large "Fender-type" tuning pegs.

TI's Jazz Flats are special in having textile
fiber layers between their wrap layers. TI
also makes a RW version of that, but in this
case I guess I have shown a preference for
flats. OTOH, if TI Jazz were only available
in the RW version, I'd choose TI Jazz RWs
over any typical [all-metal] flats ... just as
I've done with the Acousticores, which are
available only as RW.

In case somebody doesn't know about TI's
Acousticores ... they are non-ferrous and
will play only via acoustic PU's. They have
nylon cores and brass windings.



-------------------------------------


Now that you've read all of that ... I expect
you'll think twice before you include "other"
and "explain" in your next poll :-)



`

`
.... and while we're at it, let's poll on
nickel or stainless. We could get into
bolt-neck or thru-neck, but thaz not
Bass Guitar *Accessories*, unless of
course, you are pro bolt-neck *and*
you play on aftermarket necks:

http://www.musicgearreview.com/reviews.p...0for%20Sterling

http://www.musicgearreview.com/reviews.p...Fretless%20Neck


`

Zing is for zithers, not for basses :-\

Golem I think nylon would be a perfect reason for other :-)

I think that I will think as much as I thought thinking thoughts...

Speaking of nylon tape, I have a set of Rotosaound Tru Bass nylons and the gauges are just plain weird -- .65, .75, .100, .115. The .65 seems too heavy for the .75, or maybe the .75 isn't heavy enough for the .65. Odd gaps. I'm used to .45, ..65. .80, .105 or thereabouts.

Anything weird about any Roto product I
just blame on Ant Whistle. I always said
"I can live without him." And [!] ... now,
I literally do exactly that. RIP.

that's almost like a gauges for BEAD tuning, only .115 is kinda light for a B

`



We don't know the core gauges and [looking
at the package right now] the box just has a
pic of Ant Whistle where the tension listings
ought to be ...

Nylon has much lower mass than metal, so
comparing the diameters of nylon strings to
metal strings is very misleading. Since the
length is standardized, pitch is a function of
mass and tension. Without knowing the core
gauges, we can't even estimate tension.

-------------------------------------

Slightly off the point, I prefer the LaBellas
over the Rotos cuz Rotos seem less flexible,
more like playing flexible rods but not really
strings. Playing olde skool finger style I get
slappity "knocking" noises from Rotos that
don't occur with LaBellas. And the LaBellas
hum, where the Rotos whine.

I have Rotos on some 5-strings. I couldn't
find LaBella 5's locally and I was in a hurry.
Since I'm finding 5-strings more and more
unnecessary, I haven't bothered to fix that
... plus I can *use* the "knockity-knockity"
sound if I ever join a rockabilly outfit ;-)



`

Knockity-Knockity is probably the best way I've ever heard to describe rockabilly bass playing. Brilliant Golem.

And I'm all about the jazz flats now. Those and stainless steel roundwounds, except I'm not using Rotos anymore. They're custom made for me by a guy in Pittsburgh named Mike Pellow, who is also my bass technician for anything that goes beyond my ability (outside of a port & polish, or light bridge/neck adjustments, it's everything). They're only $10 for a 4-string set and $15 for a 5-string set. I think he makes guitar strings as well, but I don't remember...

`

P.S. [re: black nylon]

If you tend to look at your fingerboard and
if you play where there's spotlights, never
put black strings on a maple FB, especially
on a fretted 5-string. It will make you sick.

The spotlight casts sharp black shadows of
5 strings on the blond FB so you now have
10 parallel black lines running lengthwise,
at least 20 frets running crosswise, so thaz
about 200 [+/-] tiny blond rectangles with
bold black outlines dancing in the spotlight
and it makes your eyes vibrate so bad you
can have flashbacks about stuff that never
actually happened ...

Boys & Girls ! Do NOT try this at home ! !



`

The worst part of the Roto nylons is that to get them to work on my OLP Music Man copy, I'd have to file the nut.