Which strings feel the nicest?

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1387357788' post='2310948']
DR Sunbeams. Like normal strings, but nicer. TI flats are great..but a bit too floppy for me.
[/quote]
Just been checking these out online, but they only do long scale or short scale. The Mustang takes medium scale because of the extra length required for through-body stringing - 32¾in from nut to ball end. I have emailed DR to see which they recommend. It depends on the construction of the string - too short and the silk or tapered section will come over the nut into the playing area, too long and you end up winding lots of full-thickness string onto the tuner capstan.

Any chance of a pic of a set of Sunbeams installed on one of your basses BassBod?

[BassBod]

[attachment=150666:IMG_0635.jpg]

Mine is a standard 34" scale J bass - but there is plenty of the full thickness going around the tuner posts. I've never had a problem with breakage (but have with some flats)

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1387391458' post='2311502']
[attachment=150666:IMG_0635.jpg]

Mine is a standard 34" scale J bass - but there is plenty of the full thickness going around the tuner posts. I've never had a problem with breakage (but have with some flats)
[/quote]
Cheers BassBod! Now waiting to hear what DR say...

[Thunderbird]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1387322839' post='2310819']
I was going to start a thread about the feel of round-wounds, but then I found this thread. I don't want to hijack the thread, but has anyone found a particularly smooth-feeling round-wound set? I like flats but I don't think they would suit my new Pawn Shop Mustang.
[/quote] Picato 735 strings feel very soft to me compared to the D'addarios and Ernie ball super slinkys I have used in the past I dont know if they do them in short or medium scale but I have find I like everything about them and I have been through tons of strings recently most of them were budget strings but of the "decent" brands I normally go for I am really loving the Picato strings they dont feel hard or scratchy IMO

[BassBod]

Yes, the Picato nickel rounds are also very nice, although not as lively or long lasting as the DR Sunbeams. Also half the (thomann) price and made in Wales.

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1387396345' post='2311588']
Picato 735 strings feel very soft to me compared to the D'addarios and Ernie ball super slinkys I have used in the past I dont know if they do them in short or medium scale but I have find I like everything about them and I have been through tons of strings recently most of them were budget strings but of the "decent" brands I normally go for I am really loving the Picato strings they dont feel hard or scratchy IMO
[/quote]
[quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1387398201' post='2311611']
Yes, the Picato nickel rounds are also very nice, although not as lively or long lasting as the DR Sunbeams. Also half the (thomann) price and made in Wales.
[/quote]
OK another line of investigation for me.

EDIT (after quick investigation) - again only long or short scale (anyone with pics of these installed?) but cheap as chips (£16.48 delivered for a 5-string set!) and some nice reviews on finnbass -gotta be worth a try.

Edited December 18, 2013 by JapanAxe

[Maude]

My favourite for feel at the moment are a set of Fender .058-.110 nylon tapewounds I put on my fretless P.
Soundwise they are somewhere between flats and rounds and although they have texture like a roundwound they feel very smooth to play. Not smooth as in flat but your fingers just glide over them, very nice.

[JTUK]

Not a fan of D'addarios XL pro's feel-wise, too rough.. but I did use them for a while.
Nice tension though...

Newtone feel good...but the lighter gauges can be over-powered....

I do wonder about what grade metals they all use...

[Annoying Twit]

I now have a La Bella flatwound B string very generously given to me by "Beer of the Bass". Thanks!

It's a very, very, different feel from roundwounds, and also sounds very different. I thought I'd probably experienced flatwound strings before and I'd recognise the feel, but I certainly haven't played them before.

The sound change was the biggest shock. I put the string on my Shine SB26. Previously I changed the pickups on this from humbuckers to single coils, and the sound didn't change much at all. But, with the La Bella string, the fundamental nature of the sound has changed quite a bit. And that 'piano wire' sound that I don't really like vanished.

It's a very different feel, particularly when sliding. And, much less string noise.

I'll revise my opinions after playing longer, but at the moment, I think I will want a bass with these flats. Or, something similar. It'd give me more variety.

However, it is more floppy. Previously the front pickup was quite close to the string, but with the Flatwound string would stick to it and stay stuck to it! I had to drop the pickup a bit to avoid that happening. If this is how floppy La Bella strings are, I'm not sure I want to try TI flats.