Old strings on a P bass - an observation

[SteveK]

Something that I have found over the 45 years or so of playing bass, but never seen discussed.

We all know and love(?) the sound of a P bass fitted with strings that came from the ark, that lovely warm, Jamerson "thonk"! Indeed, I have my own '72 P bass with said strings, and even though I haven't gigged with it for about 36 years - it sounds fabulous.
However, IMO no other bass sounds as good with old strings - all my other basses seem to benefit from a little more "zing" - in other words, a fairly regular change of strings. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I've had/got basses that sound great newly strung, but with older strings sound downright ugly - almost to the point of putting my teeth on edge.

So,what basses would you say sound better with old strings? What sound better with newer strings? Or am I (as I've long suspected) losing my marbles?

[discreet]

I'm not qualified to comment on your marble-retention abilities or lack of them, but my 76P benefited from old strings... old roundwounds in fact, that had lost their zing and became full of clag and goit. They ended up sounding more like flats than flats do, and with more thump. Really great.

Conversely a recently-acquired VM Jazz came fitted with strings that were so dead I was afeared that the pickups might be deficient in some way and fitted zingy new Balls which solved the problem. In this case the old, dead strings didn't benefit at all from being old and dead. I think you have to make them uniquely old and dead with your own clag and goit, otherwise it doesn't seem to work...

Edited May 23, 2014 by discreet

[lemmywinks]

Err, every passive bass I've owned sounded better with quite dead strings to my ears! With the Zoot and my old Warwick (both active) I liked nice new zingy strings but I hate them on my passive basses - Jazzes and the two Arias (P/J and MM).

In fact a while ago I bought a cheap bass to gig with and it arrived with pretty dead old strings. Plugged it in and it sounded lovely so I just kept them on, used it last night and it sounded great!

[cloudburst]

I love my Fender Jazz Bass with old strings.
I'd need to! - since they are the same strings that have been on it since it was bought for me, new, by my dad in 1974.

CB

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited February 19, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Lozz196]

I had a set of old Roto nickel rounds that sounded absolutely great on my Precision for that warm/thumpy type sound. But as my new band needs new string twang, they`ve been relegated to the cupboard, never know when I might need them.

[SteveK]

lemmywinks may be on to something with the active/passive thing.

FYI The 'downright ugly' sounding bass (with old strings) I referred to in my post was an Aria SB1000 which is a semi active bass. Definitely benefits from a regular string change... as do all my basses, apart from the P bass.

Actually, now I think about it, it may not be a passive/active thing after all, as the Aria sounds pig ugly even acoustically

[miles'tone]

Got 9 year old Super Slinky's on my Charvel Surfcaster semi.. Sounds amazing!

[Bassman Sam]

When I was gigging regularly, I loved the zing and clank of new strings. I would change the strings on my '75 P bass every 2 gigs back in the day. On my '57 RI, I would change the strings every 4 weeks. I must have mellowed.

[JamesBass]

It's a hard one, sometimes a P can really cut through and give a nice clank with zingy new strings on, it's something I love yet at the same time I like that super warm, almost wet sounding thunk from flats/dead strings! Something to just help it groove!

Which is why I want to get another P bass and stick some flats on it, keep the PU cover and the bridge cover and the foam on the bridge and just flit between those two and my fantastic Ric! Which evidently sounds lovely no matter what!

[police squad]

my old '75 P bass sounds brilliant with whatever. I love it with new strings, grindy and growly, then as they wear it still sounds the same but with less twang. Eventually I break one and change the whole set. My hofner cont 500/1 sounds fab with flats. Utterly perfect in fact.I haven't done enough gigs with my bravewood Sting replica to know what it sounds like with old strings, although it did get showered with rum and coke at a gig and it killed the strings and it wounded awful but I suspect that was the rum n coke.

[Telebass]

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1400867311' post='2457767']
I love my Fender Jazz Bass with old strings.
I'd need to! - since they are the same strings that have been on it since it was bought for me, new, by my dad in 1974.

CB
[/quote]
Like!

[Painy]

Personally I prefer the bright sound of new roundwounds.
This thread has reminded me though of a story I read in a bassmag years ago about an interview with Jamerson in which he was asked which strings he used to get his distinctive tone. To which he apparently replied "I have no idea. What strings do Fender fit in their factory?"

Edited May 24, 2014 by Painy

[SteveK]

I think a couple of posters may have misunderstood the gist of my thread.
It's not so much about whether a player prefers a bright or a dull sound, more that some basses can sound good (if not better) with old and well played strings.
IIME any reasonable bass will sound good with new strings, but only a P bass sounds good with new [b]and[/b] old strings.

FWIW I generally change strings after 3, 4 or 5 shows as I feel the type of music I play warrants a regular change.

[uncle psychosis]

Don't you guys using the really, really old strings notice that the bass doesn't intonate properly anymore?

I quite like the sound of old strings but after a while they just won't play in tune.

[cloudburst]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1400939007' post='2458354']
Don't you guys using the really, really old strings notice that the bass doesn't intonate properly anymore?

I quite like the sound of old strings but after a while they just won't play in tune.
[/quote]

Strangely I checked the intonation on my Jazz last night. Have a look up the thread and you'll see just how old it and the strings are :-) Anyways - it is absolutely perfect - the most accurate intonation all over the neck of any of my basses.

CB

[cloudburst]

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1400937680' post='2458341']
...only a P bass sounds good with new [b]and[/b] old strings.
[/quote]

This is waaay too much of a generalisation. :-)

CB

[SteveK]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1400939007' post='2458354']
Don't you guys using the really, really old strings notice that the bass doesn't intonate properly anymore?

I quite like the sound of old strings but after a while they just won't play in tune.
[/quote]

Shouldn't be anything that a minor adjustment wouldn't fix.

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1400943798' post='2458417']
This is waaay too much of a generalisation. :-)

CB
[/quote]
You noticed?

[cameltoe]

Well, I only play Precisions, and new strings sound horrible on a P to me. It takes a couple of gigs for them to settle down. That's on a maple neck mind.

To my ears, strings do seem to lose that 'Punch' from a Precision eventually though, and ultimately I have to replace. This usually happens before they lose the ability to stay in tune. DR Sunbeams seem to stay in the 'sweetspot' longer than other brands for me, and I can keep them on longer.

I just put a set of Thomastik's back on my JV (which are a year old but only played 10 times max) but unfortunately the E and A strings seem to have developed completely different tonal characteristics to the D and G since they've been int the cupboard. The E and A have the deep Jamerson thump while the D and G sound overly bright in comparison. Maybe a soak in meths might help? If someone wants them send me a PM.

Just ordered my first set of EXP D'addario's so looking forward to trying the coated thing to see if that floats my boat.

[JamesBass]

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1400937680' post='2458341']
IIME any reasonable bass will sound good with new strings, [b]but only a P bass sounds good with new and old strings.[/b]
[/quote]
I wouldn't agree with that at all, my ric sounds lovely with dead strings on or with fresh strings, like many things with playing it does still come down to the bloke or gal playing the thing, though the tone is influenced by the strings. FWIW I played a Stingray which had dead flat wounds on in the studio the other day and it was tonally beautiful! Bright enough but still thumpy as hell!

[Roger2611]

I am a big fan of new strings, I start to notice after the second gig that the strings are losing their edge, unfortunately I can't afford to change them every other gig so they have to last a couple of months or so, but by the time I take them off I can't wait to get that crisp edge back

[SteveK]

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1401016837' post='2459094']
I wouldn't agree with that at all, my ric sounds lovely with dead strings on or with fresh strings,
[/quote]
That's great! I've never owned a Ric and don't recall ever having played one, so it seems my experience could be a little limited
As I said, IME the worst bass for old strings that I own is an Aria SB1000.
The second worst was an Ibanez MC924 (the only bass that I've ever sold on)
And probably the third worst (but just about passable) is an '85 Warwick Streamer.