DIY: How to Choose Bass Strings
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
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Veteran bassist and longtime PG contributor Steve Cook provides a no-nonsense guide to finding the best strings to fit your bass and playing style.
He works with varied types of bass strings, all by D’Addario, with flavors from snappy and bright to mellow and subdued. Along the way he investigates materials, coatings, and gauges. (Medium strings are probably what your bass wore when it left the factory.) Steve plays the same licks throughout the video, to be sure the focus is on the strings exclusively. And before launching into the experiment with his slightly modded Fender Precision Deluxe, he advises to always let you own ears make the judgement about what sounds right for you. (Did you hear that?)
First up: XL high-carbon steel-core strings with nickel-plated wrap wire. Then, it is warmer and fatter sounding Pro Steels, with a high-carbon steel core and stainless steel wrap wire. Those are followed by XL Chromes, with a high-carbon steel core, and a stainless steel-flattened ribbon wrap. The NYXLs that now arrive have a steel core and nickel-plated steel wrap wire. The XT Nickels on his bass have D’Addario’s XT coating and a steel core, with nickel-plated steel wrap wire. Following that, it’s XL half-rounds with a high-carbon steel core and pure nickel wrap wire, trailed by Nylon Tapewounds with a high-carbon steel core and a flattened black nylon wrap. And the next XLs, regular Nickels, have a high-carbon steel core and nickel-steel-plated wrap wire. Steve finally shifts to a second riff, to display the sounds of a slightly different approach. And then he starts snapping and popping, for the funkateers out there, followed by a walking bass line. And yes, he plays with a pick as well as his fingers.
By the time Steve’s finished, you hear all these string sets with a compendium of approaches. And then it’s your turn.
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I'm building a bass with my daughter and this was very helpful - thanks !
Rock on!
father of the year :)
An awesome father 👨 you are, Sir. 🤘🎸🎸🤘
Wait like from scratch?
I like the half-rounds in this demo.
XT also.
Thanks for the video. I honestly noticed slight differences between them. I’m a beginner player. I’ve been playing nonstop for about 3 months now and I still have the factory strings which I think could sound a bit better. I will just buy a regular D’addario set all rounder with some sort of protection coating so it will last long till I decide what tone I’m looking for
I've been on a quest for my favorite bass strings. And, I keep coming back to the D'Addario Tapewounds. This brand of them, in particular, has a feel and sound to them that just match what I think a bass should sound like. Typically, a flatwound sounds the most mellow. But, even the D'addario packaging states that their tapewounds are more mellow than their flatwounds. They also go through a process that makes their plastic feeling feel more like cloth. The biggest downside to flats and tapes are their drag. Sometimes if feels like your finger tips grab them like Spider-Man after extended play because of their solid surface area. D'Addario tapewounds don't do that. You glide over them with zero effort. They are also more forgiving of my terrible technique when hitting too low on the fret.
That last riff with harmonics is nice.
Well, I'm now going to put half rounds on my shopping list. I love the tone. Also need heavier gauge strings as I tend to really hammer the strings, especially with my plucking hand.
Nice playing Steve!
Have yet to find a set of D'Addario strings I bond with. Always DR or Dunlop for rounds and TI Jazz Flats for flats.
Hi. Do you recomend 0.40 strings for pick style?
I'd still go thicker. Picks bring out the high end so thinner strings may sound twangy
Links to these products would be fucking wonderful. Amazon is a mess with conflicting product names so I don't even know what I should be searching for.
Was the intro necessary tho? 😅
I really admire the commitment to go through 7 different string shifts and still maintain a consistent quality throughout. Great work!👏👏 Really informative🙏
As camera pans to the side and you see 7 of the same basses lol
@@jarredblackshear6600The secret sauce. Lol.
Don't change the strings. Change the bass. Lol.
Loving the tone of the half-rounds on this video. Will have to get some next time I'm due a restring.
They start sounding dead pretty quick (which may suit you)- especially the E and A. I also find them sticky to the touch, if that makes sense
@@carlton1390 Good to know
LEAVE THE TEXT UP ON THE SCREEN!!!
The string labels disappear too fast. Especially on the second and third licks
Great Video. All strings sound quite the same.
Thru your phone
Thanks, good vid. Surprised that the chrome were a little darker. They all sound pretty close, but I’m not a bass player.
I do have a bass I want to restring (older MIJ Squier). I guess I’ll just go with XL, or maybe coated so they last longer. 😊
I have Ernie Ball Cobalt Flatwounds on all my long-scale basses. They're reasonably bright, last forever, and no "finger squeaks". I wish EB made short and medium scale sets!
Do they still tarnish quickly? I bought them when they first came out and within a month they had rust spots on them where I didn’t play.
ever heard of cutting strings?
@@thecappy I haven't noticed any excessive tarnishing.
@@mannishboy1 that’s good might have to check them out again.
I thought the pro steel were the best all round for volume and clarity!
Did you just spend like $800 on strings to make a video!
Thank you for the gread video! What are the names of song No. 2 and 3 tho?
Really nice presentation. Turns out taht the strings I like best in the clip are the ones I have been using for more than 20 years ( The Prosteels) But I liked the sound of the halfrounds too I might try a set on my P bass
Hi!! Anybody knows what bass strings comes with the black balls end?
Very helpful indeed. A new B I just discovered when my guitar refused to sound. I opened it up to see what was the trouble there it was both red and white disconnected. I am a rock guy, I can find you the metals of the earth, but I don't have a clue what you do with them. I will be taking it to a good guy like you.
Very helpful thank you. Probs for the effort that went into the constant restring and tuning:) thanks
Good video. D'Addario is top notch, but your playing brings out the tiniest tonal differences between the different string types. I like the sound of the Pro Steels most.
which 5 string sets come with the tapered b string? a b string without the taper makes the action unplayable high...
Love it🤟🏼
Pro steels 👍
Everyone recommends pro steels for recording but also recommends constantly changing. Haha I think they sound good but I can’t afford to constantly change them.
Now I remember why I used to use half rounds😄 Buying those again next time!
half rounds and tapewounds were so sexy
Can these strings fit on a medium scale bass?
I’ve been using the xt nickel’s for a while. Very happy with them.
GHS Bass Boomers.
Very helpful!
which is the best gauge for tuning down a 4 string bass in C-F-A#-D#?
I'd probably go for 60-115 for that tuning. You could get away with 55-110, but might be a bit loose. I like 55-110 at C#-F#-B-E
👍
In a mix I would never hear any difference and nor would you. This video is great. I will just get the strings that I can play the best 😊👍🏻
You definetly hear difference between flats and rounds in a mix, and also a big difference between old and new strings.
If you can't hear a difference specifically between flats and rounds and furthermore nickel and stainless steel then you might need to get your ears checked. Pretty pronounced differences.
get a real bass player