Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey there.
I find this guage string sounds great and intonates perfectly but I find settting it up to be a pain in the butt. Adjusting the truss rods are simple enough and getting the action right is also no problem but I find the strings still having a slight amount of FretBuzz, to eliminate it comlpetely means getting the action way to high or having too much bow in the neck.
I'm thinking possibly switching to the same make strings(Elites Stadium series)but just going to 100's instead. But that gets me into the "Pushing the saddles back as far as they can go to intonate" territory that I had with my Rotosounds I was using(and hated).
Any thoughts are very much apreciated in this subject(and sorry if this subject has been posted to death in the past).

I would imagine that you would need to play very lightly with strings of that gauge.

Hi Bob.
Yes, when using a pick I need to play pretty gently cos when I dig in it buzzes pretty hard, it does'nt really translate when amped. I can finger pick as hard as I like though and it sounds fine, real nice to imo.
Steve

Everybody is different but I use a mixed set of Ernie Ball round wounds on my 3 4001's- .100, .080., .070, .050. I think the lite gauge suggested above will not draw out enough of the Rick tonal character, regardless of amp power.

I would be careful about the fretbuzz, that translates in to fretwear, other wise I see no problem if it sounds good to you. When I use light gauge strings I raise the action to compensate.

I use 40-55-75-95 D'Addario Chromes on most of my basses and with a light touch they are just wonderful. Playing with a lighter touch is better anyway for dynamics and health reasons!

Are 95/75/55/35 Stainless rounds too light? for me ya but for you maybe not ... I prefer a .105 E string ...

I hope to get my new to me ’72 back soon. It had some neck problems that my tech is fixing, I hope.

The guy I bought it from said to only use 40 – 100 gauge strings. My preferred gauge is 45 – 65 – 85 – 105.

Do you think this extra tension will cause the neck to fail again?

That could be a lot of tension for an old neck Bob. I go for the same gauge as Jeff Scott on all my 60's and early 70's basses.
Some necks can handle it, and some can't. If your bass is in the latter camp you probably need to be very careful...

It's not the gauge that's the problem it's the tension and there are a lot more factors than just the diameter of the string involved in how much tension they exert, the inner solid core that the rest of the stuff is wrapped on determines the tension much more than the whole diameter. All .105 E strings do not have the same tension, far from it. You need to find out the tension from the manufacturers (if they'll release that info).

These are for TI's which are a very low tension string and they have a .106 E.

1st G
Nickel Flat Wound Roundcore
.043
32.80 lbs.

2nd D
Nickel Flat Wound Roundcore
.056
32.84 lbs.

3rd A
Nickel Flat Wound Roundcore
.070
27.66 lbs.

4th E
Nickel Flat Wound Roundcore
.106
35.38 lbs.

Nobody but them puts their tension on the juststrings website that I've seen. I've used Fender med. light SS flats before with the .100 E string and it is easily double what the TI E is at .106.
Ti makes light tension RW's too great for old Rics if you're worried, and like RW's.

I have used 40-95s on my Rickenbacker basses for as long as I can remember and no problems, ever. When I receive my C64, I may try TI flats on it for a difference from round-wounds...

"Nobody but them puts their tension on the juststrings website that I've seen"

D'Addario does also, I guess you never looked at their strings, eh? Ha ha!

Nah, I just looked at 5 or 6 of them, I didn't have the patience to check everyone. I thought I did check them, I guess I didn't. I used to use Blue Steels and liked them, I switched to those after I got fed up with Rots.

This is interesting stuff guys, thanks.

So what make of string is recommended to be the best tone/twang for low tension round wounds?

I have probably just opened a larder full of worms…….

Bob,

I will be receiving my low tension TI's later on today (Nickel Round Wound Roundcore 43-89) and they are supposed to go on my C64. Wish they were in a heavier gauge but tried them on Ilan's Shadow and they were great so I'll give it a shot. On my gigging V63 I use a set of DR Low Riders 45-105 and they are amazing - nice sound with lots of twang. Supposed to last longer too.