Dead roundwounds

[Guest MoJo]

I know that there are fans of dead roundwound strings on the forum as they would occasionally ask folks to send their old dead strings. I’ve always changed my strings regularly and prefer the growly brightness of new roundwounds but the strings on one of my P-basses have gone off recently, leaving me with the fundamental and very little else and I must admit that I’m quite enamoured. It’s a totally different vibe to flatwound strings, you can still tell they’re roundwounds. I shall probably change them, but not just yet a while. I understand now why the dead roundwound fans dig them so much

[darkandrew]

I remember reading a story that Bernard Edwards never changed the strings on his Stingray, and they stayed on there even after his death and the bass had been passed on to John Taylor - until the unfortunate day when JT's guitar tech changed them without realising their significance.

 

Edited August 27, 2018 by darkandrew

[ped]

7 minutes ago, darkandrew said:

I remember reading a story that Bernard Edwards never changed the strings on his Stingray, and they stayed on there even after his death and the bass had been passed on to John Taylor - until the unfortunate day when JT's guitar tech changed them without realising their significance.

 

Yep he cut them in half to remove them, too!

[James Nada]

Do any dead roundwound lovers have tips for reading new strings in the event of snapping or buying a new bass?

[James Nada]

Dead Roundwounds is a good band name.

[SH73]

Dead rounds just dont sound right. I dont mind dead falts.

[Elfrasho]

I think they sound perfectly fine! I only really change when they start to show physical signs of wear! 

 

Saying that.. If I really needed a clangy type metal sound or punk, or a right hifi slap tone I might feel differently. 

[Mister RLP]

I like to think of them as worn in rounds...

[Marvin]

I've got dead rounds on all 3 of my basses, I simply don't have the spare cash to keep changing strings. They must be at least 2 years old by now. As said, they don't sound like flats, they've still got some bite but have lost the bright zingy sound. I like it ☺

[Roger2611]

I have always tended to change my strings pretty frequently as I love the sound of fresh round wounds, however, in my new band I needed a couple of basses tuned to D, one to gig with, one for rehearsals so I ended up using a battered parts bin Precision which had a really old set of round wounds on it, part way through the rehearsal I realised that this parts bin bass sat in the mix much better than my other Precision with far newer strings on it.....I shall not be changing the strings on a couple of Precision's for a while

[CameronJ]

I put fresh rounds on my old Yamaha RBX774 when I first acquired the bass. Those strings stayed on for the next 8 years and boy did they sound good!

[project_c]

I love dead rounds, I’ve been playing tapes for a while but recently rediscovered rounds again. If they’re worn in and sound woolly, and the bass is set up so the strings are close to the pickups, the overall tone is still really punchy, but it sits as well in a mix as flats or tapes. I normally leave HiBeams on for ages but I have some D’Addario NYXL’s on my jazz which are about 8 months old and they’re sounding good. 

[Lozz196]

Until my current band, which needs the twang/grind of new rounds I always used to leave my Rotosounds on for at least a year, as I preferred the sound for what I was doing back then, and dislkiked the sound of new strings. Just shows, tools for the job really.

[itsmedunc]

Think mine will be at least 6 years old now. I've had the bass about that long and didn't change them when I got it secondhand. They sound great live with a bit of drive but to be honest, they won't cut it anymore for recording. Just decided yesterday that perhaps it's time to change them. May try boiling them first before putting new ones on though. I might get them back to how they sounded 3 years ago! 

[ZilchWoolham]

24 minutes ago, itsmedunc said:

 May try boiling them first before putting new ones on though. I might get them back to how they sounded 3 years ago! 

You will - for a couple of days. 

[Painy]

Not a fan of dead rounds at all - Steel Dunlop Superbrights are my string of choice and I like them as new, fresh bright and zingy as possible.

I do currently have a set of LaBella flats on my Gibson EB13 but that bass has no top end to speak of anyway so fresh rounds are a bit wasted on it really but with the flats it has a lovely fat, spongy low end and all the definition and punch is in the mids. 

I guess I'm a man of extremes when it comes to my tone so for me dead rounds are neither one thing nor the other. As is usually the case though other people seem able to make them sound great. 

[darkandrew]

I like DR Silver Stars / Black Beauties for this reason. They don't sound "dead" as such, in fact they are very tuneful and lively, but what they don't have is that metallic "zing" of most fresh roundwounds and instead have a really healthy punch.

Edited August 28, 2018 by darkandrew

[Cicero]

Umm, well, I've recently dusted off a bass that's been sat in a gig bag for 15 years and hasn't had a string change ever 🙄 😀