So, as some of you know I got my hands on a Fender MIM Geddy edition.
It’s a used 2014 and I have no idea how old the strings are so I’m investigating swapping them out. I’m a bit of a Rush fan so I thought I’d look up what Ged uses:
I’ve read in some places that these may not be a terribly robust string, and Geddy like these because they sound so bright when new. Of course he likely swaps out strings after every gig so to get that same sound every time he plays.
How likely am I, a lowly 2 yr bass player, that only practices 3-4 time/week for half an hour or so, going to need to replace these? Do you feel they are robust enough to allow me to keep them going for some time?
do you have a better suggestion on strings? I don’t even know where else to start.
I don’t have a style or genre that I concentrate on so anything that may be more rock/indie/alt genre, I guess, if I had to choose.
I’m a recent convert to nylon tape wounds. Very little chance for them to corrode, given that what’s exposed to the elements is nylon tape. They’re not as bright as rounds, so if you’re looking for super bright then maybe these aren’t the way to go. But they’re a bit more punchy than any flatwounds I’ve tried or heard. IMO they do a really great retro sort of classic rock sound (since a lot of those guys were playing with really old strings back in those days) and a great sort of smooth punch. I have La Bella Deep Talkin tapes and I don’t foresee wanting any other kind of strings any time soon.
I like slinky and fender 45 for most of my basses. They are probably the OEM that come on USA stingray and American professional and ultra, etc. they are great strings.
The obvious premiums are TI jazz flats or rounds. You’ll go through the cycle of likes. I was on the tapewound for a while. I changed out 10 of my basses to tapewound, it got expensive quickly. Then it’s the optima gold. I also have that on a few of my basses. I’m not there yet with Flats still finding ways to like them
They are wonderfully light and bright. I just put that on my Joe Dart 2. Of course it’s the opposite of what Joe puts on his basses but I just love them.
Yep, I’m breaking in a set of pressure wounds atm. I do like variety though so I put some flats on another bass and my shortie is still rolling with rounds. So far the pressure wounds (GHS) seem like a good compromise between flats and rounds.
Recently put a set of DR Hi Beams (45-105) on my ESP LTD B-4E and liking them a lot. Bright, stable, easy on the fingers https://www.drstrings.com/bass-hi-beam
I think this may be the direction I’ll go. I’m no pro so finding the exact sound I want is going to be a much longer journey. For now it’s going to be about feel.
I love the feel of my flats on the acoustic, so perhaps I’ll like these semi-flats!
I’ll keep looking at reviews of the others mentioned but I’m now leaning towards the GHS Pressure wound.
You might give EB Cobalt Flats a shot. They won’t break the bank and have a strong mid/high presence, which is where most flats fall flat. So do TI flats, but these are half the cost. Would give you a taste.
Modern, round core flats are their own thing. EB Cobalt, TI, and LaBella Low Tension are three products that have the mids and highs.
Never used these strings so I can’t really say how they will hold up or how long that brightness will last for. I absolute love the Ernie Ball super slinky strings. Super bright at first, love the way they age as well. Strings aren’t very expensive so I’d say buy some and try them out, it’s the only way to know if you will enjoy them.
I suppose it also depends on what style of music you’re hoping to play! Once my Stingray arrives I’m going to swap out my fender strings for a nice pair of flats.
I’m using the M7200 (medium). I wanted something a little higher tension. The feel of them is more like a round. They’re brighter (still breaking them in) sounding than my La Bella’s but they still have a deeper thud to them on the E string than the rounds.
I have been using Stringjoy. They’re pretty bright, feel great, you can get nickel wound or stainless in any combination of string gauges you can dream up, and in my experience their customer service is unbeatable.
Another vote for Tapes here. I just put a set of LaBella Deep Talkin’ 760N-B black tapes on my Jackson Spectra and I immediately fell in love with them. They feel and sound fantastic. They’re brighter than normal flats, but still have the deep, thumpy flatwound low-end and I expect them to last a very long time
I’m hoping I can go into my local shop and see if they have any basses strung with some different strings. I suspect they won’t as they pretty much keep everything stock.
