That NEW string sound

[rickenbrother]

Well, I tried the denatured alcohol. It helped a little, but not a lot. YMMV

You have to clean the string before the zing starts to fade. Once the strings sound really dead, it's almost impossble to make them sound new again. At best you'll get a little zing for a very short time.

[MaplegloMatt]

While we are talking new strings...I'm in the market for a new set for my 4003. I've never changed the strings since I bought it second hand. It came with a set of roundwounds and I used to always play flats or half rounds on my 4001 back in the good old days. I've never liked the feel of rounds and the were just too bright IMHO on a Rick. Well, I'm very surprised by the fact that I'm in love with these roundwounds! They are probably quite old and have a great mellow yet some how lively tone. I think it maybe that I'm getting used to a 4003 (without the push/pull pot) versus my old 4001. The extra bass output of the bridge pickup combined with both tone knobs rolled off gives me a great tone, almost like half rounds.
OK, here is my dilemma. I don't know what brand the strings are. They have gray silks and a nice feel for a round wound string. I'm thinking that they may be DR Sunbeams. I've read alot of good things about those strings and that's what I'm leaning towards buying although can't find them locally. The shop I went to today carried every DR bass string except Sunbeams! Can anyone chime in on the color of DR Sunbeam silks?
Thanks,
Matt
PS Sorry if I wandered too far off topic.

[woodyng]

concerning the dr sunbeams- i have an unused set still in the box-they do not have any silks at either end. i can tell you that they are great sounding strings,with a really smooth feel (for roundwounds)