Need some help or advice. I’m looking to change strings. I currently using DR fat beams on my American Professional II P bass. I just can’t get use to the steel material and just don’t like the feel. I was thinking about going to Daddario Chromes, I like the sound that I hear from videos. Let me know everyone’s preference to help me out. FYI only been playing bass for only 4-5 months. Thanks
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I have Daddario Chromes on my Squier Fretless Jazz Bass. They are buttery smooth feeling with a mellow tone.
I also have Daddario Half Rounds on my Sterling StingRay 4HH. They are smoother than rounds, but a bit brighter than flats. These are another happy compromise that you might also consider.
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I have seen these and I was a little intrigued. I may check those out some more.
You’d be going from a roundwound to a flatwound. Or put another way from brighter and more piano like to mellower and more thumpy. Is that the direction you want to go although as flats go Chromes are fairly bright.
A step in between I can suggest are GHS Pressurewounds, They’re an alloy string with a smoother outer wrap that cuts down on finger noise and feels very nice to the touch. Tonally they will sound like a mellower round wound with a very broad dynamic range.
I’ve played them on my Jazz Basses and G&Ls for years and they would also sound great on a PBass. Here’s a demo video of them played on a PBass and on a G&L fretless L2000.
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Yes I’m looking for more of a warmer tone.
I’ve got the pressurewounds on my P bass and my Jazz. The really cool thing about the pressurewounds imo is that they react to and take on the tone that you EQ. If you want a brighter sound, EQ for that and while not quite as bright as most rounds they do the job and vice versa EQing them for the warm thud of flats. They’re the most versatile strings I’ve found so far.
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Pressurewounds will be warmer sounding than your Fat Beams but as both Faydout and I have indicated they are a very versatile string with a broad dynamic range that responds well to changes in EQ.
They can give more brightness and snap just as easily as they can be EQ’d to be very mellow like a flatwound but with far more clarity than most flats. No one else produces a string identical to them.
IF I was limited to only one string I could play on all of my basses I would play the GHS Pwounds because they would give me all of the versatility I needed for my style of playing.
I believe they would be a great string for beginners as well due to their tonal versatility and their smoother feel. They are however a somewhat stiffer feeling string so for a new player like yourself I might suggest the Light (040-096) or Medium Light (044-102) sets. SETS - PRESSUREWOUND™ - GHS Strings
They’re just strings. Try them out and see what you think. Strings are one of the more subjective aspects about the bass.
What about bass adjustments when switching strings especially if going between rounds to flats to pwounds? Is there going to be an adjustment in the truss rod every time? Even if I stay close to the same gauge. Not to confident in the truss rod yet.
Another vote for the pressurewounds! I really like the feel and they sound great.
What gauge are the Fat Beams you’re using now? If whatever set you opt to switch to is roughly the same gauge the truss rod shouldn’t need adjusting or if so it would be a very minor tweak based on flats or Pwounds having slightly higher tension.
Don’t fear the truss rod. With or without any changes in string type or gauge your neck will flex overtime with the wood shrinking a bit if the neck becomes drier and expanding when it’s fully hydrated. It will need to be tweaked periodically anyway.
When it’s needed just remember “lefty looser, righty tighter”. In other words if there’s too little relief turn the adjustment nut to the left. Too much relief turn to the right. It’s best if you loosen the strings a bit and adjust in smaller 1/4 turn increments with some time in between for the neck to accept and adapt to the adjustment.
As long as you don’t try to force an adjustment when the truss rod nut won’t budge any longer you’re not gonna break the rod. But another check you’ll want to make when replacing strings is the intonation. Moving the saddles forward or back as required so that the open string and fretted at the 12th fret are equal in pitch.
You’ll need your tuner and a screwdriver for that. If the pitch at the 12th fret is sharp you’ll need to move that saddle back. If the pitch is flat you’ll need to move it forward. You can find many YouTube videos showing all of the steps necessary to perform during a setup. The quicker you learn them the better playing shape your bass will always be in. Beginner or not it’s really not that hard to learn them.
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Appreciate it. Fat Beams right now are 105s thinking about going down to 100s so that’s why I was asking about truss rod adjustments. The intonation part of it I’m ok with it was adjusting the truss rod if I had to do it every time. Since it looks like I will stick to around 100s doesn’t look I will need much adjusting or at all. So this helps out a lot.
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You have some choices to make if you go with the Pressurewounds.
The 044-106 set is roughly equivalent to what you’re playing now. There should not be enough difference in tension to require an adjustment. I would say much the same for the 044-102 set. With the 040-096 you may need to add a little relief or maybe not. It really depends upon your bass.
Since Pwounds are hex core strings vs the Fat Beams being round core they will “feel” a little stiffer. The 044-102 set should feel similar and the 040-096 set a little less stiff. What gauge to select has a lot to do with feel and how easily they are to fret but if you’re playing 045-105 set now you should feel comfortable with an 044-102 set.
This much more I can tell you. The Pwounds will sound much warmer than the stainless Fat Beams and you’ll experience far less noise as you slide your hand along the neck to fret. But you’ll still retain most of the character of a roundwound string.
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