EssentialTension

Here you go: [quote]“I bought this Danelectro bass and it had these tiny, thin wirewound strings on. They were so thin, they sounded just like a piano, an unbelievably clear sound. The only thing was that you couldn’t buy these strings. When we recorded ‘My Generation,’ I ended up with three of these Danelectros just for the strings. The last one I had, the string busted before we actually got into the studio to re-record it, so I did it on a Fender Jazz in the end with tape-wound La Bella strings.” “I played that solo on a Jazz bass with tapewound strings through a Marshall 50 watt and 4x12. Interestingly, the bass solos on the earlier takes were much more complicated, and played on a Danelectro which had a much more piano-like sound. It was a medium scale bass with a two-octave neck. The trouble was that the strings were so thin that I kept breaking them. We’d record during the day and, to finance the sessions, we were playing gigs nearly every night, and inevitably I’d break a string. None of the music shops had any replacement strings and no string manufacturers made replacement strings thin enough for Dano basses then, so I had to go down to Marshall’s and buy a new Dano for £60. I ended up with three new Danelectros, all with busted strings! In the end I busted my last string at the third attempt and there weren’t any more in the country. I thought, ‘f*** it’, and went and bought myself a Fender Jazz bass and a set of La Bella strings, and played the solo with that. But it was a different sound and a simplified, slowed-down version of the solos on previous takes.” [url="http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/bass/bass6066.html"]SOURCE[/url][/quote]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='1189800' date='Apr 5 2011, 10:16 PM']From what I can remember, My Generation was recorded using a Dano I think. Anyway the story I rmember was that JE loved the sound of the bass but couldn't get the strings on their own so when they got dull or they broke, he had to buy another bass.[/quote] The version of that story I read is that JE ran out of Danelectros to buy after he kept breaking the strings and so My Generation was actually recorded on a Jazz bass with flats.

[quote name='TheBear' post='1189669' date='Apr 5 2011, 08:51 PM']good to know.. seems that loads of people mention the gauge has tension criteria. de B4 comes from factory with D'addario EXL165 (or XLB032 & XLB130), what would be my best choice in your opinion ? Thanks![/quote] Flats very a lot, just as much as rounds do, so there is an element of personal taste in this. You might want to try D'Addario Chromes ECB81 which are 45-65-80-100 and their tension averages out roughly the same as the EXL165 set. (D'Addario are one of the few string manufacturers that actually publish tension figures. They are higher rather than lower tension and on the bright side for flats. If you want something with more of an old school thumpy sound try the La Bella 760FL set. The Thomastik Jazz Flats are much lower tension and a have a more middy sound, cut through the mix nicely and they are very popular with some of us. Bear in mind that flats often sound better after some use, at least weeks and more likely months or even years. They can be expensive but they last. Any change of strings, unless it's exactly the same make and gauge, may mean a tweak on the truss rod.

[quote name='hellothere' post='1189722' date='Apr 5 2011, 09:20 PM']Now this is just an idea and I havn't really thought it through but there seems to be alot of questions asking for string reccomendations on here. And I started thinking maybe it would be a good idea to correlate all the main opinions on the most commonly used brans of strings, sort them into pros and cons and where the best place to buy them is then make a sticky with all that infomation in. I don't see any downside to this except it would be hard to correlate all the data. Any ideas on how to go about collecting the opinions?[/quote] We've got this but it could certainly be enlarged: [url="http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/info:buying:strings"]http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/info:buying:strings[/url]

I was more of a lurker in the Bassworld days but I remember well the beautiful two-tone blue.

[quote name='TheBear' post='1189511' date='Apr 5 2011, 07:31 PM']Bad enough, the only set compatible set the current gauge (45-65-85-105) is the Rotosound (Rotosound RS 77LD Jazz Bass Flatwound monel) If I'm going to change the gauge, where shoud I be careful ? I understood that the neck must be checked, but can I bring the bass, let them ajdust the neck and done ? Thanks![/quote] It's not the gauge that matters in relation to needing to adjust the trussrod. It's the tension you need to think about and two strings of the same gauge won't necessarily be the same tension because tension will depend upon the materials from which they are made and the way in which they are constructed. Thomastik Jazz Flats are 43-56-70-100 and rather low tension. La Bella 760FS are 45-65-85-105 and rather higher tension, although I think most La Bella users here opt for the 760FL set which are very slightly lower tension and are 43-60-82-104 The difference is not merely because of the difference in gauges.

[quote name='Beedster' post='1189389' date='Apr 5 2011, 05:56 PM']LOL, funny seeing that again, and I was online [/quote] ... and your signature was: '88 MM Stingray 4 2EQ '99 MM Stingray 4 3EQ fretless '03 MM S.U.B. 4 2EQ

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='1189468' date='Apr 5 2011, 06:52 PM']There doesn't seem to be a distinct time when rounds 'took hold'. There must have been a fair cross-over period because my 1978 Musicman Stingray came with factory fitted flat-wounds. Also my 1976 Bi-centenial Thunderbird had flats from new (orange silks! - still got'em) so rounds didn't particularly rule yet (then).[/quote] My 1976 Precision had factory fitted flats too.

You can't go wrong with a P bass and flats.

[quote name='GonzoBass' post='1188051' date='Apr 4 2011, 06:02 PM']I still play Moondance two or three times a week, for which I play the "head" but my own walking line under the solos. ...and I am willing to wager that both Van Morrison and myself smile all the way to the bank. [/quote] Isn't 'Van Morrison and smile' in the same sentence an oxymoron?

I've bought or sold quite a few things on here including higher price basses. I've never had a problem, never been messed around.

[quote name='JTUK' post='1187210' date='Apr 3 2011, 10:42 PM']maybe... but then that falls into the bassy and no character camp, IMO. but you don't need a pup there for that sound either So, yes, not a fan of that position at all as you might have guessed but if the OP thinks he can carry it off, then no worries on my part.[/quote] 'Bassy and no character' sounds oxymoronic to me.

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1187172' date='Apr 3 2011, 10:18 PM']Fantastic, thankyou.[/quote] I don't know how a guitar lipstick would sound though. The Scheff has Kent Armstrong bass lipsticks.

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1187155' date='Apr 3 2011, 10:06 PM']Thanks for this. I'm considering bunging a lipstick (guitar) pickup in that Ryder P that I got a coupe of weeks back, but wasn't sure how it would sound. Still thinking about it, but any routing could be easily hidden with a new PG if it didn't work out.[/quote] The Lakland Scheff (now discontinued) has a lipstick close to the neck:

[quote name='JTUK' post='1186901' date='Apr 3 2011, 05:54 PM']... He got all range of sounds from P-bass-to Jazz to various MM types so I am at odds to what useabable sound you could get ...[/quote] Dub reggae for a start.

Lakland Decade: I roughly measured mine (and can measure more accurately if you want): Bridge to centre of neck pickup = 23cm 20th fret to centre of neck pickup = 4.75cm End of neck to neck side edge of pickup = 1cm (this is to allow access to the truss rod wheel) On the Lakland Hollowbody the neck pickup is even closer to the neck (as the truss rod adjustment is at the head, so no truss rod wheel):

First bass owned: Hofner 185 Go To Bass: Fender Precision Your Bass: Fender Precision

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='1183979' date='Mar 31 2011, 09:40 PM']Whoops! It is indeed Mr Glaub. Ta for that.[/quote] Very nice whoever it was.

[quote name='Hobbayne' post='1183740' date='Mar 31 2011, 07:25 PM']I love the tone that John Mc Vie gets on "Rumours" especially "Go Your Own Way" and "Dreams" I think he used an Alembic around that time.[/quote] McVie always had great tone.

[quote name='Paultrader' post='1183708' date='Mar 31 2011, 07:09 PM']You must be right about the Jazz on these recordings Hillbilly. I always feel that a Jazz demands to be heard, whereas a P is just 'there' in the mix somehow. Presumably it will have as much to do with the sound engineer and production values, which really seem to give that particular music a distinctive imprint.[/quote] I think it does have to do with production values at least as much as with the bass used - although in most cases it is going to be a Fender P or J, the J however will not be soloing the bridge pickup and whichever are likely to have flatwound strings.

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='1183694' date='Mar 31 2011, 06:59 PM']Leland Sklar. Beautiful tone. And check out his support for the vocals from 4:35 to 4:55 [/quote] Wouldn't that be Bob Glaub on bass?

All the strings (=4) and all the notes up to about fret 9 (i.e. two octaves) - I rarely venture much further.

[quote name='Beedster' post='1183668' date='Mar 31 2011, 06:29 PM']Was it Jerry Scheff on the Elvis "The Way It Is" gig? If so, Suspicious Minds, need I say more (OK not quite the genre we're discussing, but it's still American early '70s)[/quote] Yes I think so. And it's Scheff on The Doors [i]LA Woman[/i] album.

[quote name='Paultrader' post='1183629' date='Mar 31 2011, 05:50 PM']And then there was The Doors... How did Ray Manzarek do that - he must have had two brains![/quote] He had session bassists, such as: Larry Knechtel, Douglas Lubahn, Harvey Brooks, Ray Neapolitan, and Jerry Scheff. I like a lot of that US stuff too.

[quote name='Henrique Carreta' post='1180753' date='Mar 29 2011, 01:34 PM']Tomb, Olá, Também moro em Portugal. Ontem realizei um pedido através da loja online Thomann (2 guitarras e 1 stand para guitarra). Estou com dificuldades em realizar a transferência bancária. Recebi o email com as seguintes informações: "Você escolheu a forma de pagamento transferência bancária para a sua enocmenda. Por favor transfere 294.90 EUR com as seguintes informações 'Vorkasse 201113.528884, KdNr. 3572050' para a nossa conta no banco Deutschen Bank (Destinatário: Musikhaus Thomann, Kontonummer 8115008, BLZ 76070024, Swift Code DEUT DE DB 760, IBAN: DE 19 7607 0024 0811 5008 00, Endereço do banco: Lange Str. 37 in D-96047 Bamberg, Beneficiário 'Musikhaus Thomann')." Como eu tenho conta bancária no Santander Totta, tentei realizar a transferência, mas não encontrei os campos para colocar as informações "Vorkasse 201113.528884, KdNr. 3572050". Podes me ajudar, por favor? Obrigado e os melhores cumprimentos, Henrique.[/quote] ROUGH TRANSLATION: Hello, I also live in Portugal. Yesterday I placed an order through the online Thomann store (2 guitars and 1 stand for guitar). I am having difficulties doing the banking transfer. I received an email: 'You chose to pay by bank transfer. Please transfer 294.90EUR with the following information 'Vorkasse 201113,528884, KdNr. 3572050' to our account at Deutschen Bank (Addressee: Musikhaus Thomann, Kontonummer 8115008, BLZ 76070024, Swift Code DEUT OF DB 760, IBAN: OF 19 7607 0024 0811 5008 00, Address of the bank: Lange Str. 37 D-96047 Bamberg, Beneficiary 'Musikhaus Thomann').' As I have a bank account with Santander, I tried to do the transfer, but I did not find how to enter the information 'Vorkasse 201113,528884, KdNr. 3572050". Can you help me, please? Thanks and the best compliments, Henrique