I’m about two weeks in as a beginner and I’m thinking of switching over to flat wounds. The primary reason is I just like that type of sound (smooth, dark, melodic) and I need to get a setup done anyway. I have little desire to do much slap/funk type playing.
Thinking of the D’Addario light gauge (40-95). They seem to have high reviews but I’m not sure if they are too light?
Currently my strings feel a little more tense and buzzy than what I’ve noticed in other basses now that I’ve been playing some.
My bass, ESP B204, is setup for 45-105 from the factory. Does that mean I will need to get the nut epoxied?
Never tried D’Addario flats but I have LaBella Deep Talking Flats on 2 of my guitars and DR Legend Flats on another. I can highly HIGHLY recommend either.
If you want details, I did a bit of a comparison on them a while back
Labellas is THE place to start IMO. I have them on many many basses. I do have a set of D’Addario which are nice and very different. But LaBella ain’t the go-to flat for nothing.
I would not go light like you are asking about. I had a B205 with them on it and it was fantastic.
You might have to do nut work on that light a gauge. But again. I wouldn’t go that light. You want that old school thump if your going flats.
Thanks, I had only been thinking of going lighter as I noticed the other bases I’ve picked up since have a less stiff feel to them?
I’m probably too green to know what’s going on exactly. I picked up a fender p that was in tune at the store and felt like I was using less energy, fingers hurt less, and not getting any fret buzz.
I probably need a setup but have been worried it might be something else. As far as I can tell the setup doesn’t look to be bad.
Couple of things to consider here especially being a beginner.
Since most flats will tend to feel stiffer than rounds going with a lighter gauge set may be helpful for you now while you’re still learning and getting the feel of the instrument. The nut should still be OK with a lighter gauge set but it’s nearly impossible to tell before the new set is installed.
What you will have to do in all probability is adjust the truss rod for the lower tension of the lighter gauge strings and adjust the saddle heights and intonation.
Here’s another thing to keep in mind. Hex core strings like D’Addarios and other hex core strings will feel somewhat “stiffer” than round core strings like DR Legends or TI Jazz Flats for example. If ease of playability is more important to you right now I would suggest round core strings as opposed to hex core strings.
I had D’Addario flats on a bass I bought. They were definitely stiff. I changed them out with TI Jazz Flats and their round core made all the difference in feel I wanted.
Now, regarding cost, TIs are much more expensive than DR, especially for a beginner, so I would recommend going with DR Legends. Both are great strings, but DR are very affordable. I love ‘em both.
I think I’d be happy if my current bass felt like the Fender Precision I just messed with at the store did. It was a new factory setup so I’m sure it wasn’t anything too special. I could tell it took less energy and was easier for me to play clean.
My string choice comes down to the sound I like. I have a crazy mix of music genres I love (goth, industrial, punk, metal, shoegaze, trip hop, 80s/90s alt. rock). But I love the sound of the cello, upright, fretless bass. I usually love the non flashy bassists many people like to look down on, like Adam Clayton.
I could just do the setup with existing strings first and see how that goes.
I’m in to most of that minus metal (post punk / Goth is home base for me taste wise), and as far as strings go, rounds are what are typically used for those genres. I don’t like the feel of rounds at all, the compromise I found are GHS pressurewounds. They provide enough of the bright sound that you expect when playing goth / punk and shoegaze while feeling smoother under your fingers than rounds. They also happen to be fairly cheap at $30 a set. They also have enough of the thump of flats that stuff like Portishead and Massive Attack will still sound good.
Edit: definitely do the set up first though. If nothing else, learning to do those is a big time money saver and tbh, I know how I like my bass set up better than a guitar tech.
Highly suggest the diy route with set ups. It’s easy to do, hard to break anything that can’t be unbroken, and you learn more about your instrument by doing your own set up. It was one of the first things I learned to do when I started playing.
Edit: some of the Massive Attack songs are actually pretty easy to play early on, go look up some of the tabs from Mezzanine (especially Angel and Teardrop).
Those are my favorite genres too (along with post-punk) and you definitely want brighter sounds for them. Hence, traditionally rounds.
As an extreme example, Peter Hook - probably the most famous post-punk bassist - uses extra bright heavy gauge stainless steel rounds. This is more or less maximum string brightness. His style is pretty unique though.
Honestly though, at this stage especially, you should focus on what feels best to you and worry about sound later. Sound is very, very malleable.
Here’s a suggestion for you that will allow you to cover both desires coming from an old guy who does it all the time.
Roundwounds and even mellower types of roundwounds such as half rounds or pressurewounds can be muted to effectively mock the tonality of a flatwound string. I do it all the time. I use GHS Pressurewounds on my Jazz Bass and G&L M2000. I use GHS Bass Boomers on my short scale Sire U5.
All I need to do in order to get a more flatwound tonality is to slide a foam mute under the strings and reduce the high end output by rolling back on the tone control. What you use to mute is up to you. I use the foam pads typically mounted under a Jazz Bass pickup. They’re the perfect width to mute all four strings and slim enough to only mute the tone not choke it off entirely. There are other choices as well including a more costly Nordy Mute that’s claimed to be a better solution.
Try that with your current strings to hear it’s effect.
I had the exact same experience in a store. What you could do is ask the store which strings they use.
I bought a set of Fender strings hoping they have less tension, but they didn’t - probably because they are hex core strings. I have to buy some round-core ones, I think.
I did the setup and got some improvement. Although the bridge was quite fiddly.
However, I went back to the store and found a Schecter Stealth-4 that for some reason was so much easier to play. For example, I’ve struggled on the G string with my little finger. On the Schecter, I seem to just nail it. As an added bonus it could make some nice crunchy sounds I couldn’t on the other or mellow out on the neck pickup.
I’m puzzled as to why the Schecter Stealth-4 is so much easier for me compared to the ESP B204.
I’ll probably wait a bit now on strigs until I get better skills. But after doing a setup I’m not as worried about some DIY experimenting.
In my experience Fender uses D’Addario 45-100 roundwounds as their stock bass string. Those are hex core strings. When just picking up a bass at GC or another dealer there’s always the possibility that it’s not tuned to standard pitch which would make it seem easier to play even with hex core strings.
As a beginner if low tension flats feel better and are easier to play my suggestion is always gonna be to play those until someone is more comfortable with their technique and the precision of their fingering. Switching to rounds will often reveal more issues with both of which can be frustrating initially.
FWIW when I began playing around 1965 nearly every new bass sold came with flat wound strings stock. So I actually learned to play and gig initially with very stiff flatwounds on both my PBass and my Jazz Bass. I got some blisters from practicing so much but I also developed my finger strength pretty rapidly.
