woodyng wrote:...that low gauge tends to feel like spaghetti noodles with other string types.
So, you've tried TI Jazz Rounds, then? If not, you may find them to feel like overcooked spaghetti noodles. I love 'em, though.
Yep,TI's are what i was referring to....i have a pretty light touch,but i can't deal with them.
The point of that was that the chromes must have a pretty good heft to their tension,in that you have to go ultralight gaugewise with them to keep your neck from pulling forward. (Insert comical pic of chuck berry doing duck-neck here).
woodyng wrote:...that low gauge tends to feel like spaghetti noodles with other string types.
So, you've tried TI Jazz Rounds, then? If not, you may find them to feel like overcooked spaghetti noodles. I love 'em, though.
Yep,TI's are what i was referring to....i have a pretty light touch,but i can't deal with them.
The point of that was that the chromes must have a pretty good heft to their tension,in that you have to go ultralight gaugewise with them to keep your neck from pulling forward. (Insert comical pic of chuck berry doing duck-neck here).
Send me you unloved Jazz Rounds (so long as they are in excellent condition! ).
A little late to this thread, but hopefully my experience will add to it. I used DR Hi-Beams on my 4003 pretty much exclusively after moving on from Rotosound 66s and trying out the 77 jazz flats (which were really awesome, but not my style). I tried 55s and they were great but died very quickly, something like 1 month if even that. DR Hi-Beams are probably closest to those Rotosound 55s in terms of sound, feel, tension, etc., but they last way longer. I had a set on the 4003 that I played at least every other day if not daily for over a year and they still sounded fantastic. Obviously, they sound different over time, but they don't really "die" the way most any other string I've tried does.
The same is true for pretty much all DR strings; I tried Lo-Beams as well, but they were just a little too high tension for me, and I tried Sun-Beams, but I always prefer steel to nickel because I hate my fingers I guess, and I always kept coming back to Hi-Beams... until I tried the Marcus Miller Fat-Beams. They're like a halfway point between the Hi- and Lo-Beams, and they're just perfect for me. Very much a hybrid/compromise between the tension and sound. But that's just a personal thing, I think.
Hi-Beams are definitely more on the trebly side, and they're really low tension compared to almost any other string I've used (like I said, comparable to the Rotosound 55s), but they mellow out a bit over time without totally losing their bite, so if you don't like them soundwise at first, just keep playing them. Especially on a Rickenbacker bass like a 4003 that's heavy on the midrange and treble. You can even dial off the bridge pickup tone knob and play near the bridge to fake a flatwound/upright sound... obviously anyone familiar with the two would be able to tell the difference, but it'll "fit" right into that space in a band or recording context, and that's pretty impressive for a low tension steel roundwound, I think.
If you don't like the really low tension, there's really not much you can do about that. In that case, I would suggest Fat-Beams, and if you need higher tension still, Lo-Beams. All similar in sound, all of them last forever, and all of them sound amazing on a Ric.
Thanks for all your comments guys, in the end I decided to put the HI Beams on my Jazz Bass - sounds really nice and I have to admit it's the best it's ever sounded!
As for my 4003, well I decided to put some Roto's on her (RS66LC's), sounds brilliant and to me it gives that sound you can only get with a Ric and Roto's. I only fitted them last night so am going to check it over this evening to see if it needs tweaking, I decided to give a lighter guage a try as well. I think I might need to raise the string height a bit after it being used to having 45-105's on there as I was getting a slight bit of fret buzz on a couple of strings.
Baker69 wrote:...I think I might need to raise the string height a bit after it being used to having 45-105's on there as I was getting a slight bit of fret buzz on a couple of strings.
Before raising the bridge to correct for the fret buzz, loosen the truss rods 1/4 or 1/2 a turn, or so, (do a little at a time and then check the relief) as the lower tension strings are not pulling the neck up as much as the higher tension strings that were previously on the bass.
jps wrote: Before raising the bridge to correct for the fret buzz, loosen the truss rods 1/4 or 1/2 a turn, or so, (do a little at a time and then check the relief) as the lower tension strings are not pulling the neck up as much as the higher tension strings that were previously on the bass.
Thanks for the advice, I will certainly give that a try.
Well, I loosened the truss rods by 1/4 turn and it has indeed reduced the fret buzz somewhat however there is still a bit of fret buzz present if you dig in a bit but I suppose that is to be expected.
The downside though is that I've now lost my near-flat neck which to me was it's optimal setting (using 45-105's that is). I think it still needs for the bridge to be raised a touch to totally eliminate the fret buzz and perhaps I can tweak the neck back a bit straighter?
I straightened the neck out again, it took about anther half turn to get it right given that the E string is only .095 in thickness. One complete turn on the bridge screws and it seems pretty much there although at last night's gig the A string was still giving a slight buzz but part of that is probably due to the fact that the nut slot is a fraction too deep.
jps wrote:Do you know where along the length of the A string the buzzing is occurring?
Hi Jeff,
It seems to be on the first 8 frets, but as I said I over-cut the nut on the A string, not noticeable on the 45-105 string set but on the 40-95 it comes through but I think this can be expected given the fact that there's a lower tension on the string and it is mainly when you dig in a bit.
If I keep this gauge of string on I might have to build up the nut slot a bit on that string.
Talking about lower tension, I've never had an 095 E string before and when playing last night I managed to completely slide the E string over the side of the neck when attempting a fretted A note!
Have you tried dampened the string between where you fret and the nut to see if that eliminates the buzzing? I had a sympathetic vibration, on a Jazz Bass I used to own, from rattling on frets below where I was fretting. Luckily for me it was just when I played certain double stops so was just mindful to dampen the string when I played those.
Put a small piece of paper in the nut slot under the string to raise it temporarily to test your theory. On the 4005WB I had, over the decades the nut slots got lower and lower so I pieces of paper under all four strings! Worked just fine and I never bothered fitting a new nut to the bass.
jps wrote:Have you tried dampened the string between where you fret and the nut to see if that eliminates the buzzing? I had a sympathetic vibration, on a Jazz Bass I used to own, from rattling on frets below where I was fretting. Luckily for me it was just when I played certain double stops so was just mindful to dampen the string when I played those.
Put a small piece of paper in the nut slot under the string to raise it temporarily to test your theory. On the 4005WB I had, over the decades the nut slots got lower and lower so I pieces of paper under all four strings! Worked just fine and I never bothered fitting a new nut to the bass.
I'll check it out but I'm pretty sure it rattles above the fretting position.
I do have a small 'device' on the nut slot of the slightly over-cut 'A' string in the form of a very small piece of plastic/rubber tubing which I cut in half to form a 'U' shape (I think it was what you use to attach a fishing float to the line?) It worked fine with the thicker string but perhaps it needs packing out a bit more for the thinner string.
woodyng wrote:...that low gauge tends to feel like spaghetti noodles with other string types.
So, you've tried TI Jazz Rounds, then? If not, you may find them to feel like overcooked spaghetti noodles. I love 'em, though.
Yep,TI's are what i was referring to....i have a pretty light touch,but i can't deal with them.
The point of that was that the chromes must have a pretty good heft to their tension,in that you have to go ultralight gaugewise with them to keep your neck from pulling forward. (Insert comical pic of chuck berry doing duck-neck here).
+1 Woody, I can't stand T! Jazz flats!! Too floppy. Jeff, I've never tried the Jazz Rounds. I''ve become a "string snob". I primarily use Kalium balanced Hybrid's on all my Rickenbackers.
To the OP, I do use medium DR Sun Beams on my late 72 4001. I fell in love with the Sun Beam feel and zing when I "bass sat" Mark Walker's 68 4001 at my house. I normally won't go over a .102 E string with any 4001. I haven't use a stainless string since the early 80's Roto's I use to use on everything. For me I like the feel of nickel and they have all the zing I need on a Rickenbacker.
Kopfjaeger wrote:I can't stand T! Jazz flats!! Too floppy. Jeff, I've never tried the Jazz Rounds.
Sepp
Send me all your unloved/unused sets, thanks. I'll make sure they don't end up in the gutter or wayward home/prison. You, definitely, will not like JRs.
I love 'em, though.
