Lose the groove light strings?

[YouMa]

After a major period of losing bass mojo and nearly given up I switched to heavier strings thinking I would try anything. Went to a regular guage and everything seems to be coming back. Anybody else had this? I always assumed lighter strings would improve my playing but using heavier seems almost easier like the bass is driving itself a bit.

[Bunion]

Lighter strings in general are better with a lighter touch but can feel more “grabby” and hit the frets a bit more when played hard. 
Heavier strings will be higher tension when tuned up and can play faster.

I find I can play faster nearer the bridge but at the moment I’m playing TI flats mostly which are really low tension. 
That’s my experience anyway. 
 

 

[YouMa]

I  find the bounce has gone with lighter strings. They tend to rattle more as well with low action. I have girls hands so was surprised that they seem to help with lighter touch. It's a nice bonus that my six string guitar strings feels like playing air after working out on heavier strings. I have a feeling for the 70 80s funk and fusion that I tend to play is easier performed on non light strings. Think I got stuck in a Wooten trap. 

[Munurmunuh]

2 hours ago, Bunion said:

Lighter strings in general are better with a lighter touch

 

I play with a very light touch and find the opposite: strings that are heavy enough to be quite stiff scarcely need to be struck to produce a rich resonant sound. If I try lighter strings, I find I have to go into them harder to find some character.

[Maude]

I just can't play with light strings. 

Well I can if I had to but blah blah blah. 

My tone is heavy strings plucked hard. I just seem to lose 'my tone' when I play lightly with light strings. 

As has been mentioned early in this thread, they don't seem to bounce  and I find it much harder work to play fast without digging in. I can still dig in and rattle them off the frets if needed, softly for a mellow tone, or just normally (for me). 

I dare say I could adjust over time but heavy strings played hard give me a real solid tone, and as they say, if it ain't broke. 

[Lozz196]

There is a remarkable difference to sound in string gauges. Years ago I used to use Rotosound steel rounds, 50-110 and at a time when I needed some new strings only 45-105s available. It seemed that although the notes were clearer in the mix I’d lost all of my low end.

[machinehead]

I much prefer lighter gauge strings.  My favourites are TI flats.  D'Addario nickel EXL220 or EXL220BT for rounds.  I play with a light touch and I find I can get a deeper tone this way as well as being able to play faster and with more comfort.  I really dislike high tension and heavy strings.  We're all different - obviously!

Frank.

[chris_b]

I always choose heavy gauge strings. IMO the heavier the better sound.

 

My D'addario NYXL's are 45 - 130

[TheLowDown]

I only use light gauge strings now. Heavy gauge makes the strings more woofy sounding, they're more fatiguing and harder on my fingers and joints, and less easy to control.. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by TheLowDown

[Boodang]

I find the biggest difference is the flexibility (tension) of the string rather than the gauge. I like the TIs and Galli strings as they're very flexible and have a soft feel on the fingers which suits my style of a playing (and to a certain extent influences the way I play).

[nilorius]

I like lighter strings couse i play with a lighter touch, it let's me play more comfortable. My favourites are D'addario EXL165-5. But obviosly we all think and play differt, do the hard maybe comfortable for different technique players. I think this is non stoppable discussion.

Edited May 3, 2022 by nilorius

[drTStingray]

I normally use 100-45 strings on all my basses but tried a set of 95-35s on my Stingray 4HH. I found I used that bass almost exclusively for years. 
 

The difference I would describe is it made the bass sound far more modern sounding (eg Mark King - but without the level of skill (obviously!!), compared with say, Bernard Edwards, in term of sound).

 

Ive also had a 125 - 40 set (Ernie Ball pink pack roundwounds) on a Stingray 5 for a while and love the sound of that.

 

However I don’t think lighter gauge strings reduce the groove - groove is in the hands of the player. 
 

Clearly these comparisons are based on using Stingray basses which have quite a broad range of sounds anyway - I wouldn't know the difference they’d make say on a Precision. 

[fretmeister]

I like light strings.

Either Ti Flats or D'Addario Pro Steels 40-100.

 

Sometimes I'll use 35-95 Prosteels too but I never go heavier than 40-100 on a usual 34 scale bass.

[MacDaddy]

On 01/05/2022 at 14:08, YouMa said:

After a major period of losing bass mojo and nearly given up I switched to heavier strings thinking I would try anything. Went to a regular guage and everything seems to be coming back. Anybody else had this? I always assumed lighter strings would improve my playing but using heavier seems almost easier like the bass is driving itself a bit.

 

Opposite for me. Started with heavy strings, now play and much prefer ultra-lights. Suits my low action and full body ramps better too.

[Greg.Bassman]

I know what you mean. I cannot go too light either, so instead, I stick with regular or thicker 🙂 👍.