Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Just thought I'd make a note on my sound again. I have found, since I switched to the Chromes, that I can be louder without anyone telling me to turn down! In our little metal building, the rounds just had too much going on! I like having that low sonic space to myself! I've got a set of Elixir(4 string) mediums that I will bring to the confluence to give to somebody who can use 'em. I'm back on flats for good!

I just knew you would be!

Flats are great! I am loving them.

Cool...

I'm still torn what to do with my Laredo. I need new strings on it, and I have been variable happy with the sound of the RW's on it. Been thinking flats, rounds...who knows?

When I showed up to a gig this weekend without a backup bass (DOH) I wondered what I'd do if I broke a string...the only spare set of strings I have are the Fender flats I use on my 4001 and J bass.

Been thinking of TI's...I'm so confused!!!!

Maybe I should have titled this, Me and You and a dog named Boo! {:^)

A nice set of flats are La Bella Deep Talking Bass. I used to use them and they are great for someone who wants to try flats, but still likes a fairly bright sound.

You can actually slap 'em! They aren't bright like round wounds... there's no piano like ringing tone. But they sound very natural, and not thumpy like Fender flats (which is a great sound for what it is).

Personally I don't like Chromes. I've used them in the past, and my main complaint is with the D string. If you look at the tension chart, it's much higher than it should be, and just doesn't sit well tone wise with the rest of the strings (unless you have all your highs turned off). The La Bella strings have a lot more tone.

Is that D problem found on the mediums? I don't seem to have an issue?

Charly, I have found the same to be true. Since I am only listening for the lows, and not the highs, it is easier to hear what I'm doing since I'm no longer competing with the guitars for that particular sonic space. The difference is that I'm still using Rotosound rounds on my Ric, but have the treble rolled-off ala Entwistle.

I think I was using a light set, but it's been many years since I tried a set! Things might have changed since then. Maybe I got a bad set or two. In general I love D'Addario bass strings, and I use XLs on all my basses.

Over the years I've used a lot of different strings, and every now and then I revisit a former favorite string, only to discover how much I dislike them! I did this recently with GHS Boomers, a string a used for many years. I had to take them off after one week and put XLs back on my bass!

So my point is I might actually like Chromes now, but in my quest for flats at the time, I didn't like them. Some others I tried were Fender's, which I liked, D'Addario HalfRounds... loved the series I version, disliked the series II, GHS BrightFlats, which I don't think I cared for, and La Bella Deep Talking Bass, which are one of my all time favorite flats.

The other factor is how a set of strings works on a particular bass. After I put a Hi-A pickup in my 4001, Boomers sounded too midrange heavy, so I used GHS Bassics instead. And of course the sound you like.

After a while I went full circle and liked that piano bass sound again, and haven't used flats since.

"If you look at the tension chart, it's much higher than it should be"

I use a Super Soft set and replace the .060 D string with a .055 which balances out the set much better.

Here;s why the regulars aren't so bad:

http://juststrings.com/dad-ecb82.html

I don't enjoy playing strings that heavy! I like a .045 for the G. I might be switching to a lighter set actually with a .040 G.

And looking at their chart, the D string still has more tension than the other three strings! In the case of the medium set, it's 60.2 lbs, and only 55.0, 50.2, and 41.5 for the G, A and E respectively. For the regular light set is (G to E) 45.7-52.0-43.7-38.4. I don't get why the D is so much higher than the rest! I do notice that the tension of the D in the XL RW set is also higher, at 19.41-23.27-21.95-18.28, but it doesn't seem as bad as the Chromes.

This is my favorite set of flats:

http://juststrings.com/lab-760fs.html

Or even better:

http://juststrings.com/lab-760fl.html

But to each their own.. right?

Ampeg, Chromes and fingers are the set up when this is out...

I've always liked the Chromes. Though I've always used the 45-100 set. When I've used Roto flats, it's the 40-100 set. Both are good sounding strings, especially if the Rotosound's are fresh. The last few sets I got were dead sounding to me. I've never had that problem with the Chromes though.

I tried three sets of RotoSounds & hated them - it felt like I was playing razor wire !!
I reverted back to Rick strings (45/55/75/105) & nortmal service was resumed