Strings? (now that the sound has found me)

[edski]

Ok...the background. My fretless J has pretty new Fender 9050 ML bridge cables on it after I broke a D at a gig in December. The 4001 has the same type of strings on it. I like these strings. The flats on the Rick are about 3 years on it, the last 7-8 months getting a lot of the work.

Side by side the strings on the Rick sound D-E-A-D dead. But everytime I play with the band I'm amazed at the depth of the lows, get quite enough highs, and never feel like I need more sustain.

Tonight we did a gig, and my bass (the Rick) sounded AWESOME. Years ago, as a kid I strived for that Squire/Geddy Lee sound, but was never happy. Now, I'm more content to get a bassy thud, I'm not looking at trying to get a "sound" of any type.

But when I dug into a low G and F there it was, the "meatgrinder" sound I always was looking for but could never find.

I have a couple new sets of Fender flats...and I do think it might be time for new wires on the 4001...or is it? Or should I try to clean the strings (i.e. boil them)? Or just take it as far as it goes with these strings...

Next work we're doing is an afternoon in a studio to record some tunes we do in early march, and then late April we have another gig at the place we played at tonight. Since a couple of the guys are going to be travelling a bit for their jobs the schedule probably is not going to be filling out more.

Any opinions will help me sort out my conflicted feelings!

[jwr2]

I used to fight the battle of the low end boomy rumble against the piercing treble bite ... now neither will do for me ... I used to do the scooped out mids sound ... the happy smile eq ... cut the mids and boost the very high end and boost the very low end ...

now for me the highest and lowest frequencies are flat and I boost high and low mids and slighly cut the center mids ... and my bass treble and middle are all 4 to 6 range ... So I get a lot of warm growly mids with some treble bite and enough low end to make it sound full ... but the boosted high and low mids coming from my cabinet and miked into the PA makes for a superior bass sound ...

[pepsican]

So, you have 3 year old strings on a bass that you use a lot? I'd say change them. Most strings only take a good hour of playing to get the harsh high end to settle down. I usually change my strings twice a month if I can. I play my friends basses from time to time that rarely get new strings, and man can you tell a difference. In fact, I just got a new 4003 yesterday with the factory strings on it, and it made my other bass sound dead even though I just restrung it 2 weeks ago. I'm pretty sure it's only had about 10 hours of play time in between that. I suppose that may be the tone I'm after though, so who knows what works for you? I'd say try some new strings on it, if you dont like it, at least clean your old ones and throw them back on.

[hieronymous]

Another potential problem with old strings is intonation. Especially if you're going in the studio! Stuff you don't notice live will be under the microscope. But if it ain't broke, don't fix it? It might be better to leave it as is for now, and after the studio date (or after the gig) try putting on a new set.

Note that you might have intonation problems if you wash/boil the old ones and put them back on too...

[cheyenne]

I dont want to sound like a know it all here, but I have heard from more than one forum member that Fender flats have a very high tension, so if I were you, I would change strings and brands. Especially if your playing a 4001.

Try D'Addario Chromes or XL nickle roundwounds.

*As much as I plug these strings, you'd think I'd get a kickback someday.

[rickfan60]

I was told by someone at Lakland that Joe Osborne never changed the strings on his 60's jazz bass unless he broke one. When that happened, only the broken string was replaced. Geddy Lee uses new strings for every show and studio session.

Fender flats are very high-tension strings. Back in the 70's I was always surprised when I heard blanket statements about how rounds pull more than flats. If the flats are Fenders, that is simply not going to be true. Fenders from the 60's and 70's often suffered from warped necks. Could it have been the strings?

[edski]

Yeah, I know they are high tension string...and my fingerboard did need some repair: 21 years ago. I keep a VERY close eye on where the crack happened, and it's never been a problem since.

Actually I was contemplating maybe going to something like TI jazz flats,even though they are pricey...just haven't really felt the need to press the trigger...especially when I'm so happy about the sound of the 4001 and my rig after I play.

OK, so boiling is NOT a good idea. I've checked the intonation pretty closely about 6 weeks/2 months ago when I noticed my bridge saddle wasn't sitting right. Lowered the action and had to adjust the D string saddle adjust screw pretty seriously. So I don't think I'm having any intonation problems. The axe tunes up easy, stays in tune fine (didn't have to retune through the whole gig last night) and when I climb up to high notes (over the 12th fret) I don't hear anything harsh.

As for my eq levels, I have also gone away from the scoop...I run basically flat, with a little boost in my mid channels, and also run the "deep" button on the amp (Behringer Bx3000). As I tried to say...I'm not looking for any sound, but was very pleased with what was happening last night!

Appreciate the opinions. I'll mull it over and let you folks know what I do.

[rictified]

I've used those a lot (Fenders ML flats) and they can cut right through and have a very even tone and they last forever. If you like the Fender's tension you probably won't like TI's unless you raise your action way up which is what I had to do. A good compromise for me are Pyramids which sound good but they aren't as durable as the Fender cables. I've easily had Fenders on for two or more years and changed them just because I got sick of them. I think next time I buy strings I'm going to try Labella flats, a lot of the pros used them in the 60's.
I have read that Joe Osbourne used Labellas. I suppose he also could have had the original strings on his Jazz which was the first one ever made. It was a prototype that they made in 1960 and asked him to field test and he wouldn't give it back.
One of the nice things about flats is that you can run the EQ flat if you like, because it still sounds like a bass, you get the natural tone out of your bass. If your 4001 has stood up to the task this long I wouldn't worry about it.

[dean712]

If you decide to change the strings (to any kind of roundwound, at least) right before a studio session, just keep in mind that your fretboard/finger noise will be at its max. When my band did our demo CD, I put new strings on my '00 4003, and you could hear every little thing on it, that's for sure. It's pretty cool if that's what you're looking for; it's just something to keep in mind. One of our songs had an acoustic guitar & bongos passage that I played slides through, and everytime I listen back, I can hear that 'squeek' on the strings distinctly... but it kinda works for that song. If that's not what you're looking for, give the strings a few hours of play to take the edge off of 'em.

On the EQ issue, I usually run bridge pickup, all knobs on the RIC at full, and my tube amp pretty close to flat EQ. I think the pure RIC tone is great and don't EQ it much. Works for me, and folks seem to like it too.

[jwr2]

I change my strings a lot ... always nickel round wound strings ... Flats are too one dimensional for me ... I like the complex sounds you get with round wounds ... all the overtones, fret buzz, sleeve noise ... I want it all ... othwerwise you might as well just have a keyboard play the bass part ...

also I never play without my line 6 bass pod ...