Fretless string recommendations (Wal / Fender)

[Mr Bassman]

I'm looking for a 45 - 105 (130) set for fretless basses that will sing a bit with not to much mwah, and not chew up the fingerboard.

I've got what I believe to be Thomastik flats on my Wal 5, (red silks) they feel nice but I can't get on with the sound.

On my Fender P/J Ive got Status half wounds which are ok but a bit too high tension, not enough growl.

I don't want to sound like Jaco or Pino, I suppose I'm after a more upright sound.

I've also tried those black ones and don't like them.

[EMG456]

Are you not answering your own question here?

You don't like nylon tape wound. (The dullest)
You don't like the sound of the flat wounds. (2nd dullest)
The half rounds don't have enough growl. ( can you see where I'm going here?)

So it would seem as though you need to be looking at round wounds. Nickel wound would be the next step up in brightness with stainless steel being the ultimate.

I wouldn't worry about the boards marking- it's under the strings anyway and provided you refrain from string bending or side to side vibrato ( both pretty redundant techniques on a fretless) it will take a long time before the board needs attention. When it does, a quick trip to a decent luthier will see it sorted out for another few years.

I find rounds much more responsive and alive on the fretless and wouldn't consider fitting any other type of string. If you don't want to sound like Pino or Jaco, roll off the high frequencies. Also control exactly how much mwahh you want by varying the action- lower = more mwahh.

I use stainless Elites on all my basses but long ago I used Rotosound RS66 Swing Bass. Strings all sound different but it's an expensive exercise so once I find a string I like, I tend to just stick with it unless the quality goes down.

One less thing to think about.

Cheers

Ed

Edited May 9, 2014 by EMG456

[mybass]

[quote name='Mr Bassman' timestamp='1399587160' post='2445752']
I'm looking for a 45 - 105 (130) set for fretless basses that will sing a bit with not to much mwah, and not chew up the fingerboard.

I've got what I believe to be Thomastik flats on my Wal 5, (red silks) they feel nice but I can't get on with the sound.

On my Fender P/J Ive got Status half wounds which are ok but a bit too high tension, not enough growl.

I don't want to sound like Jaco or Pino, I suppose I'm after a more upright sound.

I've also tried those black ones and don't like them.
[/quote]
I'm using D'Addario nickel round wound, same gauge as you. No problems with them. Galli (Italian make) are also very good.

[dannybuoy]

Check out the new LaBella White Nylon Tapewounds - they are roundwounds with a transparent plastic wrap, brighter than regular black nylons, and kind to your fretless board. I've not tried them myself yet but they will be the next set I try on my fretless.

[Paul S]

I'd also say not all black nylons are the same. I once had Rotosound Trubass, which were like having giant earthworms on your bass, and currently have Status black nylons, which I really like. Much smaller gauge, very acoustic sounding, feel nice - cheap, too.

[Bassworm]

I'd never come across them before until I bought an ACG fretless bass with them. I'm talking about SIT Silencers. Mine are 45-105 but feel much smaller. Very smooth feel on the fingers, and make a lovely organic sound that seems to almost come swelling out of the fingerboard. Not cheap, and not the easiest to find either (get them from Bass Direct, or from Alan at ACG} but worth it IMHO. I've started putting them on my other basses.

[johnDeereJack]

I've always used use Rotosound strings and currently have Rotosound 55's on my fretless and they're still quite bright even after a few years of use.

I agree with EMG456 regarding full rounds not damaging your board - I used to have Rotosound 66's on my fretless for years and only needed the fretboard planed after almost 20 years of use and that was just down to me being picky, not through necessity.

I like a low action so do get a fair bit of 'mwah' but can easily approximate a more 'upright' sound with the 55's but, as always, ymmv. [size=4] [/size]

[eude]

I popped Fender flats on my ACG Fretless 5 and I'm VERY impressed!
I'd also recommend SIT Silencers for a more modern fretless tone, they really are wonderful strings and feel fantastic, but if you want a more uprighty tone, I think the Fenders are a very good shout. I found a 5 string set from Ebay for about £20.

Eude

[Mr Bassman]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys

I'll study them in more detail when I next get rained off from my DIY

[Dingus]

[quote name='EMG456' timestamp='1399593535' post='2445785']
Are you not answering your own question here?

You don't like nylon tape wound. (The dullest)
You don't like the sound of the flat wounds. (2nd dullest)
The half rounds don't have enough growl. ( can you see where I'm going here?)

So it would seem as though you need to be looking at round wounds. Nickel wound would be the next step up in brightness with stainless steel being the ultimate.

I wouldn't worry about the boards marking- it's under the strings anyway and provided you refrain from string bending or side to side vibrato ( both pretty redundant techniques on a fretless) it will take a long time before the board needs attention. When it does, a quick trip to a decent luthier will see it sorted out for another few years.

I find rounds much more responsive and alive on the fretless and wouldn't consider fitting any other type of string. If you don't want to sound like Pino or Jaco, roll off the high frequencies. Also control exactly how much mwahh you want by varying the action- lower = more mwahh.

I use stainless Elites on all my basses but long ago I used Rotosound RS66 Swing Bass. Strings all sound different but it's an expensive exercise so once I find a string I like, I tend to just stick with it unless the quality goes down.

One less thing to think about.

Cheers

Ed
[/quote]

To echo what Ed has said, it sounds to me that you want the sound of roundwounds, albeit maybe not particularly bright and aggressive sounding ones . Roundwound strings have far more complex harmonic overtones in their sound than flatwounds do, and that is a big part of what makes them far more apt for fretless than flatwounds. Double bass has a completely different aesthetic, and a fretless bass guitar will never give you that, regardless of what strings you use. A fretless bass with flatwounds on just sounds like a dull fretless bass guitar , not an upright, so it's much better to exploit the sound of the fretless bass guitar for what it is than make any vain attempt to sound like a double bass, in my humble opinion.

In light of that, I would recommend trying some nickel roundwound strings.There are lots of excellent ones on the market nowadays , but D'Addario XL's are a good place to start. They are relatively inexpensive and have a great all-round sound. I use DR Sunbeams on my Lakland fretless. They sound and feel great to me , and give plenty of growl for all those classic fretless tones.. Also strongly recommended.

It's also worth mentioning that nickel rounds are , on the whole, slightly less abrasive to the fingerboard than stainless steel. If you don't mind the high price and low tension feel, Thomastik Jazz roundwounds will probably give the sound you crave, and , significantly, they have a very narrow diameter wire wrap that might wear your ebony board less than some other strings do.

About not wanting to sound like Jaco or Pino, they actually sound very different from each other, but that is much more down to the way they play than their choice of strings, because they both used Rotosound Swing Bass RS66 on all those classic fretless tracks. If you want a more muted sound it is quite possible to get that with roundwounds just by altering how you play, but I'm sure you know that already. You just might have to be a bit patient while the brightness of the new strings dies off a bit.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Dingus

[BassBod]

DR Sunbeams - feel great, sound warm but lively and don't do much damage to your fingerboard (even rosewood).

[Dazed]

Recently picked up a prose fretless which feels like it has elixirs on. Very nice sound and feel. Gives a rounded warmth and not too bright sounding at all.

[Bilbo]

Been using Rotosound Solo Bass strings (groundwounds) on my Wal Custom Fretless 4 string since 1986 and, in that time, have never had to have any repairs done on my fretboard. Listen to the electric bass tunes on my Soundclaoud page to see if it sounds like you want it to.

[TheGreek]

I've got Status Black Nylon tapewound on my Shuker - give a rich warm sound which i assume everybody is after. Very reasonably priced at £13.99 for a four string set - not sure how much a 5 string set is by you could check out the Status website for a quote. Rob and Dawn are really friendly and helpful too..

[Cairobill]

After much trial and error (drumroll) DR Sunbeams...

[miles'tone]

GHS Pressurewound Bass Strings: http://youtu.be/2GcQJyHGbeY

Fretless at 4.40

Lovely strings, mmwah, warmth and not too high tension. Won't eat up your board as they are relatively smooth. Loved them on a fretless that I had and I will be getting another set when my current defret is ready.

[bh2]

I've always used Rotosound Swing Bass RS66's on my fretless basses, tried other strings but they don't hit it for me like these do.

Had my SB1000 for nearly three decades, only minor marking on the board, didn't effect sound at all.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='bh2' timestamp='1400051089' post='2450136']
I've always used Rotosound Swing Bass RS66's on my fretless basses[/quote]

Me too. I always hear people talking about how Rotos are 'sharp' and they chew up fingerboards like rabid badgers or whatever, but it never happened to me and I never used anything but Roto RS66 on my fretlesses, and for a few years I played nothing but fretless bass.

[uncle psychosis]

You might want to try some pressurewounds. I love the GHS ones, and also the Ken Smith Compressors (which I'm led to believe are made by GHS anyway!)

[BigRedX]

I'm using Pedulla Nickel, Overwater Nickel and La Bella Stainless Steel round wounds on my fretless basses. No fingerboard problems to report.

[AndroWal]

DR HiBeams...40-120....been using them for years on all my fretlesses.....Wals, Zon, Fender Jazz, Custom....smooth, bright, growl, don't seem to eat-up my fingerboards i.e. my 1992 Wal Fretless Mark II 5 has been my main bass over the last 22 years and I've only had to dress the fingerboard once in that time. Really great sounding strings...very responsive a bit more flexible which I like.

[Mr Bassman]

I used DR HiBeams or Sunbeams on my Wals for a while, they were great.

I bought them direct from Pete Stevens.

When I asked Pete to supply me with more he told me that he'd put in a huge order for DR strings, handed over several hundred pounds in cash to someone at DR, never to receive the strings.

This nearly ruined him financially so I decided not to use DR ever again, no matter how good they are.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Mr Bassman

[philw]

La Bella White Nylons would be an interesting left-field choice (Bass DIrect have them I think). They sounded extraordinary on my Wal - very uprighty, but partly I wasn't really looking for that sound from the Wal, and partly I wasn't sure I liked the very low tension.

P

PS. Back in the day, Pete Stevens recommended Picato strings. They were standard fit on 80s Wals. I still use them on mine and they can often be found going for not much more than a song on eBay.

Edited July 10, 2014 by philw

[dannybuoy]

[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1400049058' post='2450119']
GHS Pressurewound Bass Strings: [media]http://youtu.be/2GcQJyHGbeY[/media]

Fretless at 4.40

Lovely strings, mmwah, warmth and not too high tension. Won't eat up your board as they are relatively smooth. Loved them on a fretless that I had and I will be getting another set when my current defret is ready.
[/quote]



That's the first time I've heard someone sing whilst trying to demo their strings!

[Mr Bassman]

I like the sound of those GHS pressure wounds in the vid, I'll look into getting a set, maybe a 5 string set so I could try them on the Wal and Fender.

Meanwhile I've just got a set of double ball La Bella flats for my Steiny L2 fretless. They've transformed the instrument, which I never really got on with.

I was looking at selling it but I'm loving it, playing it seated without the strap boomerang attached. It sits quite nicely with the plug in leg attachment.