Not another "what strings should I get" question - sorta...

[Mornats]

Morning all,

So, to avoid another "what strings" question I'll let ya know what I'm doing. On my Overwater/Tanglewood J4 I've got a set of Overwater nickel light gauge strings which I really like. They're actually very similar in sound to my previous favourites GHS Bass Boomers. They don't have that really high end metallicy zing which is great as I tend not to like that. (For example, I chucked some cheap Super Slinkys on my Dean and it sounds like a clangy piece of crap through any amp other than my Ashdown. That amp actually makes it sound quite nice!)

However, now that I've got my lovely Ashdown 220 Touring I'm finding that it's taking off a lot of the high end zing so I'm trying to compensate by putting some of that zing back in via the strings. I'm finding that if I have some of that clangyness coming through I could always try and EQ it out. Interestingly, even popping the 6db 5khz boost on my Overwater doesn't make the high end string sound come through on my amp.

So what I'm after are some strings that sound pretty much similar to the Overwater/GHS Bass Boomers strings but with a little more high end zing. I'm just gonna go off and try some over the next few months as honestly, it's the only way to find out for sure!

So what I'm actually asking for in this thread is a link to website that I found on here a while ago that lists most strings and gives a description of their sound in terms of brightness etc. I can't for the life of me find it again. I thought I'd put it all in context in case someone here advises something ultra sensible like "hey why don't you just try Overwater's steel light gauge strings?" which is of course, my first port of call...

[Lozz196]

I think what you`re after is this one?

http://www.bgra.net/2004/browse.php?order=DATE&type=string&page=1

[charic]

For brightness generally, DAddario ProSteels is my current squeeze (for standard tuning)

[Mornats]

Not he link I was thinking of Lozz but thanks for posting that one. the one I saw had a table with the string names down the left and a brief description of their brightness etc. on the right, so all on one page. That's still a useful link though!

I've been meaning to try DAddario, Elites, Elixirs etc. but it's a long process of trial and error as a: bass strings are expensive and b: they'll last a few months. Worth a punt though otherwise I'll never know!

I have however found a temporary solution. I remembered that I had some fast fret that I'd used to clean strings with so popped some of that on and voila, a nice bright sound. So it's not snake oil after all...

[Lozz196]

Fast Fret is a good way to keep a bit of life in strings, I give all my basses a wipe-down with it once a week.

[Johnnyc]

I used to use fast fret quite regularly but I stopped because I didn't like how even after you've wiped it off, it still leaves the strings rather slippery and you get the stuff all over your fingers

[Mornats]

That slipperiness is why I've not used it much to be honest but I found it actually helped with playing when I did it before band practice. Other times I'd used it I only played it at home for a bit and never really used the bass in earnest as I didn't like the feel. Different matter at band practice though. I'm pretty pleased with it for now.