JellyKnees Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 (edited) I know the subject of strings for a fretless has been done to death, but nevertheless.... I have a Tunebass Fretless which I bought off fellow basschater Walplayer just over a year ago. It's has piezo pickups only, and an absolutely fantastic tone - really fat and dynamic. I love it. I've tried various strings on it - I started of with some rotosound solo bass, which I had on my previous fretless, but decided they didn't feel as good as the set that was on it when I got it - too sticky somehow. I then moved to some d'addario half rounds (I think these may have been what it came with), which give the best sound that I've had out of the bass so far. I'm currently using a hybrid set that i've made up from 2 stock sets (40-60-80-100, which is my preferred gauge). However, I do find that for certain songs, they are a bit stiff on the stiff side and are lacking a little in bite and sustain. I've tried status half rounds, which felt good to play and had a bit more snap, but lacked the quality bottom end that the d'addarios give me. I also tried some d'addario nickel roundwounds, but they were far too buzzy, inspite of me taking the action up shedloads. Does anyone have any other suggestions before I spend more money. I know Elite do some groundwounds, but can't find very much information about them. I don't want to loose the quality fatness that I'm currently getting with the d'addario half rounds , but need something slightly more flexible with a touch more sustain, although not as bright and buzzy as a round wound..... I know, I'm a fussy bugger. Any ideas??? Edited March 4, 2011 by JellyKnees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 (edited) I have La Bella tapewound flats on my piezo-powered Veillete fretless. I'd never used them before and expected them to be nasty, but I think they are just the right tension and have loads of lovely mwah, plus they are kind on fingerboards and fingers too! Edited March 4, 2011 by walbassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 [quote name='walbassist' post='1149580' date='Mar 4 2011, 03:45 PM']I have La Bella tapewound flats on my piezo-powered Veillete fretless. I'd never used them before and expected them to be nasty, but I think they are just the right tension and have loads of lovely mwah, plus they are kind on fingerboards and fingers too! [/quote] I have those La Bella black nylon tapes on my fretless Precision now although I was using TI Jazz flats for ages before that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mybass Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 [quote name='JellyKnees' post='1149551' date='Mar 4 2011, 03:29 PM']I know the subject of strings for a fretless has been done to death, but nevertheless.... I have a Tunebass Fretless which I bought off fellow basschater Walplayer just over a year ago. It's has piezo pickups only, and an absolutely fantastic tone - really fat and dynamic. I love it. I've tried various strings on it - I started of with some rotosound solo bass, which I had on my previous fretless, but decided they didn't feel as good as the set that was on it when I got it - too sticky somehow. I then moved to some d'addario half rounds (I think these may have been what it came with), which give the best sound that I've had out of the bass so far. I'm currently using a hybrid set that i've made up from 2 stock sets (40-60-80-100, which is my preferred gauge). However, I do find that for certain songs, they are a bit stiff on the stiff side and are lacking a little in bite and sustain. I've tried status half rounds, which felt good to play and had a bit more snap, but lacked the quality bottom end that the d'addarios give me. I also tried some d'addario nickel roundwounds, but they were far too buzzy, inspite of me taking the action up shedloads. Does anyone have any other suggestions before I spend more money. I know Elite do some groundwounds, but can't find very much information about them. I don't want to loose the quality fatness that I'm currently getting with the d'addario half rounds , but need something slightly more flexible with a touch more sustain, although not as bright and buzzy as a round wound..... I know, I'm a fussy bugger. Any ideas???[/quote] I'm using 'GALLI' nickels on my fretless bass, called "Rockstar" series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 [quote name='mybass' post='1150227' date='Mar 5 2011, 03:10 AM']I'm using 'GALLI' nickels on my fretless bass, called "Rockstar" series.[/quote] Pete gets amazing sounds using these - from full on traditional fretless tones to sounds where, if you couldn't see it was fretless you wouldn't know - having said that, he is a very, very fine player! Hope you're well Pete! I've just swithced from Status halfwounds to Rotosound Pressurewounds for similar reasons to the OP and am very happy with them. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretlessguy Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I have a Carvin AC40 Fretless which is very similar to your Tune. I have used these strings on it withgreat results: Thomastic-Infield Jazz Flats LaBella Tapewounds Fender Tapewounds GHS Precision Flats I know GHS Flats are a rarity in your area, so I would probably go with the TI Jazz flats. Warmtone, plenty of mwah, and smooth, low tension strings. I was happy with them, but just decided to go back to using the GHS strings because they sounded more like an upright. Good luck with whatever you go with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mybass Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='Mykesbass' post='1152241' date='Mar 7 2011, 09:53 AM']Pete gets amazing sounds using these - from full on traditional fretless tones to sounds where, if you couldn't see it was fretless you wouldn't know - having said that, he is a very, very fine player! Hope you're well Pete! I've just swithced from Status halfwounds to Rotosound Pressurewounds for similar reasons to the OP and am very happy with them. Mike[/quote] Thanks Mike..just caught up with this thread...hope you are well too.... I have a set of Galli on the fretless that are probably up to 25/30 gigs now and still sounding pretty good to my ears, with the help of Markbass gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyKnees Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 The La Bella tapewounds weren't in stock at stringbusters, so I ordered some Nylonwound Status strings which I put on the other day. The gauge is lighter than the La Bellas at 105-85-65-45 and so far I really like them...a lot less tension than the d'addario half wounds and a lot nicer to play. Also, more sustain yet I can still get a nice fat tone too. Definitely more like what I've been after.... cheers to walbassist for his suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I know that these won't be the strings you're looking for but I've got a sound sample of my fretless Bass Collection with Rotosound 88 black nylon strings (third sound sample here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=127277"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=127277[/url]. I thought it might be interesting to hear them if you're ever curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ras52 Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I've just done some string-swapping and have a spare set of TI Jazz Flats (JF344). Gorgeous, but I was finding them not stiff enough, which sounds like the opposite of your problem. (I've now got D'Addario Chromes.) (These TIs have only been used for intermittent home practice over the last couple of months and so are pretty much as new, the only potential downer being that they're cut for a 2x2 headstock and won't fit a Fender-style 4-in-a-row jobbie. Mke me an offer if interested!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyKnees Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 hey ras, cheers for the offer but I'm going to stick with the tapewound for now...I really like the totally smooth feel of them, plus they look very cool on my bass, which is a pearlescant white...exactly like this one in fact... [url="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tune_fretless_Bass.JPG"]http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tun...etless_Bass.JPG[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Can give a thumbs up for Status flat wounds. Very reasonable pricing, nice and smooth and low-medium tension. Still a bit bright on my Ray fretless but confident they'll settle down fairly quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBeatNut Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 (edited) [quote name='EssentialTension' post='1149693' date='Mar 4 2011, 05:27 PM']I have those La Bella black nylon tapes on my fretless Precision now although I was using TI Jazz flats for ages before that.[/quote] How do you get those (labella tapes) in the UK now ? Stringbusters and strings direct don't seem to stock them. Andy Edited March 26, 2011 by BigBeatNut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 (edited) [quote name='BigBeatNut' post='1177328' date='Mar 26 2011, 04:29 PM']How do you get those (labella tapes) in the UK now ? Stringbusters and strings direct don't seem to stock them. Andy[/quote] Andy, sorry to be so slow responding I only just noticed the post. They have them at Thomann: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/la_bella_black_nylon_760n.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/la_bella_black_nylon_760n.htm[/url] and at Lord of the Strings: [url="http://www.lordofthestrings.com/lots/RAPRD/La-Bella-760-N/11001420.html"]http://www.lordofthestrings.com/lots/RAPRD...N/11001420.html[/url] and maybe Stringstar: [url="http://www.stringstar.com/la-bella-deep-talkin-black-nylon-tape-wound-1773-p.asp"]http://www.stringstar.com/la-bella-deep-ta...ound-1773-p.asp[/url] Edited June 21, 2011 by EssentialTension Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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