Re: String Advice for My New Rickenbacker
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:49 pm
+1 on the stock Rick strings Jack - I use them exclusively on my '78 and I'm really happy with the tone and playability of these strings.cassius987 wrote:Who told you?? I had no idea anybody valued my opinion... maybe I'm just loud enough to seem important.jack1953 wrote:I hear that Cassius is Da MAN when it comes to strings, so if you're around Cassius I'd appreciate your expertise as well.
My advice on strings is to just take a few "extra" things into consideration that the manufacturers rarely do themselves: try to balance the strings so the tension on each is similar, and try to stick with gauges that will give you a loud enough G string and a resonant enough E string. A too small G will sound thin in my experience--I'm talking less than .040''. A too large E will also have trouble because it won't ring well (too much mass), but at the same time a small E will flop around and have no definition. I recommend anything from .095-.105'' for E strings, no more or less if you can help it. Finally to achieve string-to-string balance you can *usually* follow the "4/3 Rule": a .060'' string is 4/3 bigger than a .045'' string, so usually a D and G string (respectively) made from the same core and wrap in these particular gauges will have the same tension. And so on. Just realize that the 4/3 Rule is just a guide, not a hard-and-fast (but it IS very reliable in my experience).
In general, GHS is the easiest company to deal with getting custom singles. I really like their Super Steels for roundwound punch and use a 44-58-78-105 set and it is almost flawlessy balanced, and has a wonderful roundwound tone.
My favorite flats are LaBella Deep Talkin' Flats in these gauges: 43-56-77-104. This is available from JustStrings as singles but is expensive. Alternatively this prepackaged set is a close second: 760FL.
Josh - question for you - are you using those LaBellas on both your fretless and fretted basses? If only fretless, just curious if you'd do the same custom string set on your fretted. I'm thinking of giving the LaBellas a whirl on my C64 (currrently using TI 344s) but JustStrings does not list the tension in lbs for the LaBellas - just the TI's. The guages of the LaBella 760FL set are a little fatter in the E/A/D than the TIs but I don't know whether I'll need a slight neck adjustment after putting these on. I figured I'd try their packaged set before doing singles.
Thanks
