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[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1429991606' post='2757056'] I had Rotosound Swing 66 110-50 on a jazz bass for DGCF. Did the job fantastically. No rattles or buzzes. They seemed to last longer downtuned than normal too. [/quote] 110-50 should be grand for tuning down a whole tone. On a normal set of 45-105 I find that they just about down-tune by about a tone, but are a little bit floppy and flat. A slightly heavier set should do the trick no problem.

[quote name='SolomonHelsing' timestamp='1426934555' post='2723573'] Ah thanks, i'd read through that but obviously missed that. Well They're maybe worth a shot incase they've swapped round since then haha. [/quote] Looking at the silk at the bridge, it looks typical of Fender strings. But I don't know of any Fender strings that use 2 different colours. They certainly don't seem like half-rounds, though. Definitely rounds, and probably steel. That (slightly) narrows the area that you need to search to find out what they are. I hope you find some good info soon

Having a quick look around, the best I could find were Burner strings, which are red at the headstock and blue at the bridge! Here's a good thread about it on TalkBass - http://www.talkbass.com/threads/silk-colors.717720/page-4

[quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1417446999' post='2620408'] Indeed. Much better that the DR Black Beauties I was using before at £34 a set. If only they came in a sexy black option too. [/quote] I don't think D'Addario really buys into the gimmick of colour coating their strings. Closest you'll probably get is a set of black tape wounds. http://www.daddario.com/DADProductFamily.Page?ActiveID=3768&familyid=20

[quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1417438984' post='2620297'] D'Addario Pro Steels. EPS something or other. Stay zingy for a fair time and still sound OK when you can't be arsed to change them. [/quote] They can last up to a year if they're looked after. As stated previously, they're a very well made, high-quality string. The set I have on my OLP Stingray has probably been on it for the best part of a year. They could probably do with being changed, but they haven't degraded physically, and they actually still sound quite good, so I have no real plans to change them just for the sake of putting a fresh set on.

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1417200319' post='2618211'] The muck flies off, but I've not restrung the set. I think it was concluded on another thread that de-stringing and re-tensioning is the killer. Strings under tension must be close to the elastic limit of the metal (else they'd never break, but usually break at a stress or corrosion point) [/quote] Possibly. It's hard to say whether destringing and restringing a set has any effect. I know that I've taken sets off and put them on again, and there's been no noticeable difference in tone or feel. Other times, a string has snapped when taking them off. Other times, the strings just die of their own accord, regardless of whether they've been taken off and restrung or not. Good to know that the ultrasonic cleaning works on them, though.

[quote name='Greg.Bassman' timestamp='1417166855' post='2617630'] Hey everybody, come to pick your brains one more time if I may... I've been using Rotosound SM66 40-100 Swing Bass's for a couple of years now; I like the tone, however, they feel very coarse (even when broken in)- so I'm thinking of changing brands. Is there anything else out there that's alittle smoother under my fingers? (but with al the same toe obviously) Preferably, I'd like to stick to the same criteria (stainless steels, 40.60.80.100). Hoped you could throw some suggestions my way, based on personal experiences. All feedback welcome, and greatly appreciated. P.S- I don't mind spending the extra cash if it means genuine quality (smooth, tone, long lasting). Much thanks, [/quote] D'Addario ProSteels are the way to go! They're a really nice string, both in tone and feel. Very well made with good QC. They were the brightest strings on the market until D'Addario bested themselves with FlexSteels, which again are steel, but more flexy, and brighter.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1415977553' post='2605800'] I too use one of those mico tuners and have never had any issues with it, not even on the B sting of my TRBX. I do clip them as close to the nut as possible, and this seems to work fine on all my basses. [/quote] We use them for guitars, basses, ukuleles, violins, mandolins. They never give any bother. They're probably the best all-round clip on tuner, IMO. And D'Addario recently released them with a universal clip-on part, because the one for guitar was a bit too small for things like violin or bass. So they'll go onto nearly any instrument now.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1417113686' post='2617247'] I used to boil my rounds to get the grease out. This was a tip I got from Stuart Morrow, a hero of mine who I had the honour of humping his gear. The boiling certainly worked and brightened then up for a while. [/quote] Yes, this works, but the thing about it is that the strings will only last a while after you do this. I've never done it myself, but mates of mine have, and they've said that the strings almost sounded like new, but only for a few weeks, and then they completely died, and after that, they're unsalvageable. I suppose it's worth it if it gets you a few extra weeks out of them, although I personally wouldn't want to risk playing a gig on a boiled set of strings. [quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1417113323' post='2617241'] Ultrasonic cleaner? - but you'd have to destring. [/quote] Yeah, that could work too. Probably the same as boiling it, though. This image highlights just how much rubbish can get trapped in there.

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1416840455' post='2614110'] I know it's almost blasphemous to say, but Thomann are without doubt the cheapest for buying TI's, I got my set for £32. Which is an absolute BARGAIN! Obviously I'd much rather buy from a shop or a UK based company, but when you live in an area where flat wounds aren't considered important enough to stock then needs must! I know for a fact that I'd buy my strings from a UK company if they were competitive in pricing. (Hint Hint) [/quote] I'm going to stick my neck out and say that there's probably not a retailer anywhere in the UK that can compete with Thomann prices on these strings. The thing to remember about Thomann is that they're in Germany, and getting the strings from there to the UK isn't cheap. €10/£7.90 for delivery from Germany. Suddenly, a £32 set of strings is actually closer to £40. I couldn't say what price we'd have them at, as I haven't worked any of this out yet for StringPing.com, but one thing is for certain - they would have free 1st class delivery for BC members, and free 2nd class delivery for everyone. As for your local not stocking flat wounds - they aren't alone. Lots of regular music shops don't stock them because they take forever to sell.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1416835792' post='2614023'] They make some sets which are supposed to play like a steel/nylon hybrid and I think they may suit a small, lightly built parlour guitar which I have. [/quote] I'm guessing you mean the John Pearse set? E, A, D, all round wound on a nylon core. G, B, E, all flat wound nylon on a rope core. Supposedly they sound brighter than standard nylon strings. RRP £18.95 per set. Still pretty expensive, but nylon strings last a good while.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1416832368' post='2613958'] It could be interesting, but I suspect they'd cost even more. [/quote] Probably, and there's probably also no demand for it, since they already offer bendy strings I'm tempted by some of their guitar strings, though. Still expensive at around £15 RRP for their acoustic sets. Their Plectrum range makes some fairly large claims about extending the life of fine, old guitars. Quite an odd set of strings, the Plectrums, it seems - Roundwound bass E, flat wound A, D, and G, and plain steel B and treble E. All brass plated. I'm intrigued!

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1415400205' post='2600091'] Find a cheap P bass and slap a set of these on, give them a week to loose that "new string" sound and feel and then you'll wonder why you haven't used them before! I had a practice today with a Uni band and we play swing, jazz, bosa, blues, and soul style music and EVERYONE was telling me how much they love the tone I'm getting! There's so much warmth and thud from these strings but there is no loss to clarity up the register! Which is great for chucking in the odd harmonic or chord a la Mr Pino Palladino! [/quote] I've strung violins with TI strings before. It's hard to tell with such small strings how it relates to bass strings, but I always did get the impression that they were kind of floppy for flat wound strings. As for the tone - there's probably no chance of a comparison between a violin and a bass, but they do sound good on the violin. I'll order a set for myself. They aren't cheap, though. It might be after christmas before I can get a chance to try them. I'll have to rebuild my Jazz bass

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1416667706' post='2612494'] Just found this [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R2LOXMqyg8[/media] [/quote] It's a good video, but unfortunately, audio quality on YouTube isn't great, especially for trying to pick out subtle differences with regard to string tone. We can hear a difference, of course, but there's probably a lot more difference that we would hear "in person" with the strings. It also sounds like all his strings are brand new, which is not how they'll sound after a couple of weeks playing. But it is very hard to find a genuine comparison video like this, so I guess beggars can't be choosers

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1416392492' post='2609625'] They also don't fit on the bass! What's that all about?! Surely you'd notice and take them back BEFORE fitting them? [/quote] Yeah, the owner actually does apologise to everyone for breaking rule number 1 - Buy strings that fit! [quote name='bigd1' timestamp='1416392690' post='2609627'] This may seem a silly question but why does it matter. You say your not used to flats, all flats are smooth that's why they are called flats. The colour of the silk will make no difference at all to string performance. Just buy a good make, I use la Bella but EB, roto or whatever as your first set would be fine. once you go to the flat side, you can never, never go back [/quote] I've heard of this a few times now - somebody buys a bass with a set of strings on it that they really like, but they have no idea what make they are. If you're lucky, you might still be able to get in touch with the previous owner. If you're unlucky, he can't remember what strings they are But, I agree with you - when it comes to restringing, just buy a good set (that fits ) from a good brand. They all have their own unique tone and feel, but if you don't know much about them, you can't really go wrong with just buying from a good brand, or what the people of BassChat recommend (which is invariably La Bella or Thomastik Infeld ).