Flatwound V roundwound on a fretless

[Kongo]

I've got a couple of fretless basses, nothing too expensive but I love how they play, especially my recent 5-string.
But I too find that I prefer roundwound strings. I'm a little heavy handed (I think, maybe not as much as I think) and the roundwounds certainly do leave tracks, but I wonder how deep they will actually go?
My main thought it of course as the strings expand and contract (length, not width :-P) etc the tracks will eventually be near smooth than jagged, which could be problematic.
Then again, surely they can only cut in so far?

I'd love to coat them in Epoxy, the snappier attack people say about would be great for me. But it will require sanding and avoidance of air bubbles, something I'm worried I'd mess up. :-P

Edited October 14, 2012 by Kongo

[Bloodaxe]

As far as I'm concerned, bung whatever strings you want on the thing & get on with the business of playing it. I class having the 'board re-surfaced every so often as 'general maintenance', no different to having frets re-crowned to get the dings out, & we all pretty much accept that as a given expense.

Not long had the SB-1000F back for exactly this. Three heavy-handed years of rounds on a rosewood board had tramlined it to the point where it'd choke up a bit around the 7th fretline. The nice John at the Gallery reckoned he only took it down about 0.5mm or so & there's years of life left in the current board. £80-odd quid every few years doesn't seem an extortionate amount to keep it in trim.

It's currently wearing a set of Rotosound pressurewounds which I find a bit easier on the fingers than full-blown rounds (and, oddly, [i]much[/i] easier than flats - they make my fingers sore ).

Pete.

[mep]

Another +1 nickel for nickel round wounds

[dmz]

You could try half-grounds - which as you might expect are a half-way house between flats and rounds. I have a set of Status Hot Wire half grounds on a fretless jazz that has a Status neck - sound ace ! They won't chew up your fingerboard anywhere near as much and have more high frequency presence when you need such things.

Your choice will really depend on what sound you are going far more than anything else - if you want a more double bass kind of sound I'd say try some good flats (TI's) or try some half grounds.

If you want a more modern sound and like to slap/play harmonics - I'd go with the rounds.

[Kongo]

Rounds are all I use. I got by the logic that you can't add what's not there. Flat wounds to me sound dulled from the off, I can't EQ in frequencies or harmonic responses that aren't already there.
Nickel strings would be a happy medium, as they are round, yet softer. However they don't agree with my fingers.
I've been using D'addario ProSteel for the past 7 years now, nothing touches them. But they are quite rough until your used to them, which makes me think of my board. As for soreness, eventually that'll cease to be with regular play on such strings. :-)

Ah screw it, I'm just gonna use what I use and if it needs a re-surface, so be it,

[Jools4001]

Actually, after years of playing with stainless rounds on my fretless, I started to use Elixirs for the last couple of years. I know coated strings are not to everyon's taste but they seem easier on the fingerboard, they're kinder to fingers if you do a lot of slides, the slightly less lively sound seems to suit the fretless tonality and they last a long time. I get about a year out of them instead of 2 months on uncoated strings.

[fretmeister]

Get some GHS Pressure wounds. They are wound and then flattened.

Brilliant strings!