High tension strings

[horrorshowbass]

Hi guys

Recently bought back a bass i regretted selling few months back (car troubles).

Its an ibanez sr2400 and its beautiful in every way.

Unfortunately I can't seem to get on with the strings (now changed them twice to no avail)

I put DR hi beams on as heard they were relatively low tension. The board is very dry also so gave it few runs of lemon oil so don't know if this is contributing to moving around on fretboard.

Just feels clunky and awkward high tension and gritty. Compared to my other basses it feels very tough to play which is disappointing. Action is relatively low and want to keep it that way.

Any ideas bar changing strings again?

[Old Horse Murphy]

I've always found D'Addarios are quite high tension compared to DR's. Well, they are for me anyway!

[jd56hawk]

Too bad most companies find it too much trouble to do this.

[horrorshowbass]

That would be handy 😀 

[fretmeister]

Did you use the same gauge or did you go for a lighter set?

[horrorshowbass]

I think both were 45-100.

Maybe should try 45-95 (🙄)

[Owen]

Newtone round core nickels are my lower tension strings of choice. Thomastik Jazz Rounds are even lower tension - but mind bendingly expensive. 

[fretmeister]

58 minutes ago, horrorshowbass said:

I think both were 45-100.

Maybe should try 45-95 (🙄)

Or 40-95.

 

Have a look in the classifieds. Usually some used strings available cheap to find what you like.

[Paolo85]

I have a set of DR Hi Beams 45-100 on a bass and I had them on two basses at once for a bit. I was under the impression that the newer set was significantly stiffer than the older one. Might have been a wrong impression, they were on very different basses (but the one with older strings had higher action and bigger neck..). Maybe you can try waiting?

Also, maybe the action was even lower when you had it last time? Any chance you can lower further?

 

 

 

[Paolo85]

Btw, I don't find Hi Beams to be properly "low tension", although I am not aware of any other bright stainless strings with lower tension/stiffness (but I don't know many).

If you were happy to try darker nickel strings you have plenty of options (Dr Sunbeams, D'Addario NYXL, or even TI rounds, which are quite extreme)

[horrorshowbass]

Yeah maybe ill go nickel. They're softening a bit. Just feel gritty. To be honest feel like bit of a snowflake even complaining 😆 

[Owen]

47 minutes ago, horrorshowbass said:

Yeah maybe ill go nickel. They're softening a bit. Just feel gritty. To be honest feel like bit of a snowflake even complaining 😆 

Zero shame in seeking comfort. Zero shame in making your instrument work for you. I know for a fact that other people pick up my basses and think "yeah, not for me". Do I care? Not even a little bit. 

[Dan Dare]

5 minutes ago, Owen said:

Zero shame in seeking comfort. Zero shame in making your instrument work for you. I know for a fact that other people pick up my basses and think "yeah, not for me". Do I care? Not even a little bit. 

 

This. If I like the way my instrument plays, I couldn't give a rats what anyone else thinks or says. Nor should you.

[Baloney Balderdash]

Try a tension balanced set of gauge .095 - .075 - .055 - .040 strings.

[miles'tone]

Light gauge Dunlop Super Bright steels would work for you I reckon. Excellent strings and cheaper to  buy than Hi-Beams, which I also used to use.

[horrorshowbass]

Thanks all

[horrorshowbass]

Put some 45 to 130 slinkys on my Yamaha 5 string and they feel good.

Bought 40 to 95 extra slinkys for the ibanez and ill experiment further.

 

[Rayman]

17 hours ago, Owen said:

Newtone round core nickels are my lower tension strings of choice. Thomastik Jazz Rounds are even lower tension - but mind bendingly expensive. 

This ^^

 

TI flats are my absolute favourite, and they’re nice and soft to the touch. If I want more attack, I’ve also moved over to Newtone.

[Ralf1e]

10 hours ago, horrorshowbass said:

Thanks all

Lovely looking bass. I think it probably just needs a sprinkle of early Aria dust 😉

[White Cloud]

Rotosound swing are very low tension and very bright.

[horrorshowbass]

Cheers man. 

I'm getting a string education after playing 20 years 😆 

[tauzero]

This might sound like a rather obvious question but do you know what strings were on it when you sold it?

[horrorshowbass]

I can't remember for the life of me. I've spent years just getting daddarios or slinkys as they were around 20 quid on amazon. I don't know if its all down to strings but we'll see.

[40hz]

Since D'addario stopped making Flexsteels (which were the lowest tension steelies, I've ever used) I'd say the most flexible strings, imo, would be anything round core and in a light gauge like 35-95. Basically rubber bands!

[LewisK1975]

I used Dunlop Super Bright Nickels 45-105 on my Fenders for years for this very reason, nice low tension.

 

Strangely though, I had to drop a gauge to 40-100 for my Wal mk1.

 

Anyway, I'm looking around now too as Dunlop Super Brights have gone up in price from just over £20 on ebay up to nearly £30 from the same seller. sigh..

 

Got some Picato 40-100 Nickel as I remember those feeling quite enjoyable to play when I happened to buy a set some years ago (all my local shop had at the time)

 

Next on my hit list are going to be the 'Legacy' brand that Strings Direct sell, which apparently are actually Rotosounds.

 

We'll see!