Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Just wanted to let everyone know that for flatwounds I have settled on Fender 9050Ls as my favorite; I use them on my 4003FL. I am posting this because I just got to hear some recent studio work I did with that bass and those strings and it confirmed for me that the combination is quite deadly. Really great sit-in-the-mix, solid bass tone. It's a bit of a P Bass killer too, which I would not have guessed. Some really nice tones here. Just a heads up.

I was thinking about 9050L set for my fireglo 4004Cii, but I went with the Chromes ECB84 set instead. I like them alot, but I'm still waiting for the new string brightness to wear off.

rickenbrother wrote:I was thinking about 9050L set for my fireglo 4004Cii, but I went with the Chromes ECB84 set instead. I like them alot, but I'm still waiting for the new string brightness to wear off.

Took me about two gigs to get my last set of Chromes really thumpy - once they get past the zing and settle in they are beautiful!

rickenbrother wrote:I was thinking about 9050L set for my fireglo 4004Cii, but I went with the Chromes ECB84 set instead.

If you ask me, the new 9050Ls and Chromes are very nearly the same thing. The Fenders start out darker though, and they aren't coated with that weird stuff that gives Chromes their namesake.

I went for the Chromes ECB84 over the 9050L set because it seemed to be a better balanced string to string tension.

As far as the new string zing is concerned, the 4004Cii is one of the Ricks I took to BARC. Harry Bridge was there and he said me that he won't play anyone else's basses with roundwound strings because his hand sweat kills the sound immediately! I said to Harry that case, he HAD to play my 4004Cii FG to kill the new string zing. He did play it for a while, but I don't think for long enough!

rickenbrother wrote:I went for the Chromes ECB84 over the 9050L set because it seemed to be a better balanced string to string tension.

The 9050Ls I got are 45-60-80-100, so they're a bit better balanced than a 40-60-80-100 set, but for 99% of us that difference is negligible.

As far as the new string zing is concerned, the 4004Cii is one of the Ricks I took to BARC. Harry Bridge was there and he said me that he won't play anyone else's basses with roundwound strings because his hand sweat kills the sound immediately! I said to Harry that case, he HAD to play my 4004Cii FG to kill the new string zing. He did play it for a while, but I don't think for long enough!

Haha. It's fun to break the zing in because you not only lose the top end but I also feel that, because you aren't distracted any more by the top end, you "gain" what you can now hear are subtle features in the low end.


Hey guys, when I make sure my band is cool with it and we're all done mixing and mastering, I'll post clips from the demo in the Recordings section. I'm really happy with how the whole thing has turned out so far.

cassius987 wrote:
The 9050Ls I got are 45-60-80-100, so they're a bit better balanced than a 40-60-80-100 set, but for 99% of us that difference is negligible.

They must have recently changed the E sting from .095 to .100 in the 9050L set.

Cassius, we look forward to hearing it. Mark

rickenbrother wrote:

cassius987 wrote:
The 9050Ls I got are 45-60-80-100, so they're a bit better balanced than a 40-60-80-100 set, but for 99% of us that difference is negligible.

They must have recently changed the E sting from .095 to .100 in the 9050L set.

Oh, you must not be aware of the recent changes to the 9050Ls. They have switched manufacturers and are now, basically, D'Addario Chromes. And yes, the E string is bigger now. Linky: http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/ ... =468654221

ricmic wrote:Cassius, we look forward to hearing it. Mark

I look forward to sharing it!

Cassius told me about the 9050's, and after 35+ years as a roundwound guy, I have switched to 9050's. LowEndLover gave me a 105, because to me the 100 was a little "soft," and it completed the picture. At 45-60-80-105, these are really close to stock RIC gauges, and the word on the street is that a set of this configuration, to be called the 9050CL, for custom light, will hit the market in January.

To me they have more growl and consistency than D'Addario chromes, which to me sound hollow.