Long Shot - Yamaha stock strings from around 2005?

[Baceface]

Gulp. This is not easy. My name is Baceface and I have not changed my strings since I bought my bass in ....err... 2005!

Thing is, I've not used it that much and I've never much liked the set that are on there. The low E seems to dominate (despite me backing the pickups off on the bass side it still booms out louder than the rest) and the whole thing feels under slightly more tension than other basses I've tried.

I'm going to change them (along with possibly a bridge upgrade and, in the future, either disabling, or upgrading, the stock active electronics).

However, I don't know what gauge strings they are so I'm not sure what to buy to get a slightly lower tension feel. I might even try flats as I like the sound of these on various YouTube vids.

So, it's a long shot, but does anybody know what strings Yamaha were putting on their cheap basses in 2005?

It's a BB614, if that helps. The strings have brass ball ends and are wrapped with some kind of red cotton/silk thread at the machine head end.

Thanks and sorry for the long post. I've searched for this information here and web-wide but not found an answer.

[barkin]

This is a FAQ in the Yamaha web site

---x---
What Size Strings Originally Came on my Yamaha Bass Guitar?
Back to the list
Go to Product Information

Last Update: 06/22/2012
Yamaha basses are supplied with a standard .105 to .045 set
Specific sizes are:
E .105
A .080
D .065
G .045
---x---

[Baceface]

Oooh eck. First proper post and I make a complete arse of myself.
Sorry barkin and thanks for the info.
Looks like I should try out a 40-100 set.

[barkin]

[quote name='Baceface' timestamp='1409865140' post='2544212']
Oooh eck. First proper post and I make a complete arse of myself.
[/quote]

Not at all. Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that.

It's just that I've been spending some time on the Yamaha website myself the last few days, and happened to notice it

[Baceface]

Sorry Barkin. I didn't mean that you'd made me feel stupid - I'm more than capable of that on my own!

I just felt a bit daft having said I'd searched the web for info on Yamaha stock strings but not thought to look on the Yamaha site.

To be fair, the stock strings might have changed in the last 9 years. I was just after a guide to what might be on the BB. I've read that 45-105 is pretty much a standard set so I'm now thinking it's not the gauge that's the problem, if indeed there is a problem. The boomy E might just be usual on a bass.

Fingerstyle bass seems so much more touch sensitive than picked guitar! It might be my lack of technique that's the real issue here. When recording, I've taken to compressing the jingo out of it, just to get that string-to-string (and note-to-note) evenness that is missing in my ham-fisted performances.

Anyway. Thanks again for the information. Cheers.

[iiipopes]

Searching the internet is not easy. I have been doing "key word" searches in a variety of contexts since 1982, before the internet existed, and sometimes even I can't find it, and have to ask for help on the relevant forum.

You might try a 40-100 set, as it will be overall slightly less tension. That might also solve the "boomy E".

Try rolling your right hand in slightly and fingerpick a little off the side of your finger, more like double bass pizzicato.

[Baceface]

Thanks iiipopes.
I will definitely try some new strings. I might even try flats.
Not sure whether to wait and replace the stock bridge with something like a Gotoh 201 while I'm at it. I realise that this is probably just liking the cosmetics of a chunkier bridge! I've no doubt that I'd be better spending the money on some instructional materials. (Or just practising a bit more.)
Thanks again.