Fretless string gauges - fretless experts?

[Sibob]

Hi guys,

I have my fretless on the way soon, and just trying to decide on initial string gauge.
I use 50-110 on my Precision and 45-105 on my Jazzes....the fretless on the way is a P/J
Any benefit to one set over the other where fretless is concerned?

Thanks
Si

[mentalextra]

I'm not a fretless expert! But, personally I like heavy gauge on my fretted basses and lighter gauge on my fretless. You will have to experiment, I found it much easier to get the sounds I wanted from the lighter gauge strings on the fretboard. I have big hands and big fingers too which I guess has an impact on all this.

Just my opinion, have fun!

Edited June 1, 2012 by mentalextra

[ikay]

Lighter gauge strings are good for a more expressive tone on fretless. Heavier gauge for more thump and less mwah. Setup is also a critical factor in generating the tone you're looking for, much more so on a fretless than a fretted IMO. I'm no expert, just learning as I go by trying things out and finding what suits me. Be interesting to see what the fretless gurus of BC have to say!

[dudi8]

40-95 is great for fretless, very expressive for harmonics, and great for the mwah sound

[ead]

+1 to the above. I am enjoying the lighter gauge strings on my fretless. They're TI JF344s iirc.

[EssentialTension]

La Bella 760N - no idea what the gauge is, I rarely take much notice of gauge because it seems to me it's the style of string that matters more.


But I've also regularly used TI Jazz Flats.

Edited June 2, 2012 by EssentialTension

[hubrad]

I'm pretty much exclusively on fretless 5ers.. mostly I'm on 45-105 +130 gauge-wise on rounds, flats, and half-rounds. I also use Picato black nylons which are thicker (50-130) but lower tension.
Probably not a helpful thing to say, but I love 'em all! I used to use 40-100 +125, as they were the only set I could find for a long time to go on a headless 5) but way prefer the tone of the slightly heavier sets.

[Sibob]

Yeah I'm much preferring heavier guage string tone at the moment, I did use 40-100 for years.
I've gone for an initial setup of 45-105 on the fretless, can't wait for it to arrive :

Si