andyonbass Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Looking for a brighter sound on my fretless, which is currently strung with Status nylons. Anyone tried Elixers on a fretless? Are they less likely to mark the board compared to normal rounds? Thanks in advance Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I can't imagine that Elixers are any less inclined to mark the board than other rounds. TI's are quite bright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I've just had a period of using La Bells's new white nylon wrap (http://www.labella.com/category/products/bass/white-nylon-tape/) on my fretless Wal. Woody yet punchy tone to die for but not quite the right feel for faster finger-style playing up near the bridge. Phil PS. Bass direct have them in stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 It's Elixir btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 I convinced myself that stainless steel elixirs wear the frets less quickly than uncoated steels. I could be talking out of my arse but it's possible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBus Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 You could try Status Hot Wires halfwounds. They give some of the brightness if rounds but feel like a flat and don't mark the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) [quote name='andyonbass' timestamp='1393613033' post='2382637'] Looking for a brighter sound on my fretless, which is currently strung with Status nylons. Anyone tried Elixers on a fretless? Are they less likely to mark the board compared to normal rounds? Thanks in advance Andy [/quote] I would think that Elixirs are not really likely to wear your fingerboard significantly less than uncoated rounds. The coating is so thin that it is unlikely to prevent the usual abrasion. What's more, the fact that they are stainless steel means that they are not really that suited to fretless playing, both tonally and in terms of the extra wear that steel tends to inflict on the fingerboard. If you are going to use rounds then they should at least be nickel plated because it tends to be a little kinder to the board, although nickel rounds will still wear it out eventually. Some folks think that if you use strings with smaller/ narrower windings that it wears the frets or fretless fingerboard less , but such strings are hard to find. Thomastic Jazz Rounds are nickel with smaller than average windings, but they are a very unusual light gauge and are quite expensive, but then again the Elixirs you were considering aren't cheap either, so maybe you could look at them as an option . The Thomastics are a remarkable sounding string and would be great on a fretless, providing you could live with their low tension -feel. Another option would be something like D'Addario XL's , which are relatively inexpensive, sound great and are a popular choice for a lot of fretless players, or the excellent but more costly DR Sunbeams, which are what I use on my fretless . Any of those strings would probably be more suitable than stainless steel Elixirs. Edited March 2, 2014 by Dingus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1393769970' post='2384130'] I would think that Elixirs are not really likely to wear your fingerboard significantly less than uncoated rounds. The coating is so thin that it is unlikely to prevent the usual abrasion. What's more, the fact that they are stainless steel means that they are not really that suited to fretless playing, both tonally and in terms of the extra wear that steel tends to inflict on the fingerboard. If you are going to use rounds then they should at least be nickel plated because it tends to be a little kinder to the board, although nickel rounds will still wear it out eventually. Some folks think that if you use strings with smaller/ narrower windings that it wears the frets or fretless fingerboard less , but such strings are hard to find. Thomastic Jazz Rounds are nickel with smaller than average windings, but they are a very unusual light gauge and are quite expensive, but then again the Elixirs you were considering aren't cheap either, so maybe you could look at them as an option . The Thomastics are a remarkable sounding string and would be great on a fretless, providing you could live with their low tension -feel. Another option would be something like D'Addario XL's , which are relatively inexpensive, sound great and are a popular choice for a lot of fretless players, or the excellent but more costly DR Sunbeams, which are what I use on my fretless . Any of those strings would probably be more suitable than stainless steel Elixirs. [/quote] I thought Elixir strings were nickel ? I've got Status hotwire flats on mine, they sound really nice. I was put off the Thomastiks by the price and huge great B string . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 [quote name='ambient' timestamp='1393770406' post='2384135'] I thought Elixir strings were nickel ? [/quote] You can get both. I think I threw a spanner in the works by mentioning the steels specifically when talking about fretted basses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 [quote name='ambient' timestamp='1393770406' post='2384135'] I thought Elixir strings were nickel ? I've got Status hotwire flats on mine, they sound really nice. I was put off the Thomastiks by the price and huge great B string . [/quote] Erm, on closer investigation it turns out that , yes, the nickel Elixirs are indeed nickel, but the stainless steel ones are indeed stainless steel, so at least I was 50% accurate. I had a set of the steel ones a while back( didn't like them at all) and for some reason presumed they were all steel. Anyhow ,when it comes to fretless bass," nickel good, steel bad" is the overall message. I personally don't care for flats on a fretless. They don't give the same complex overtones as roundwounds and it is even more difficult to make the bass clearly audible and cut through in the mix with flats . For my tastes at least, all the classic fretless bass tones are with roundwounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1393776586' post='2384211'] I personally don't care for flats on a fretless. They don't give the same complex overtones as roundwounds and it is even more difficult to make the bass clearly audible and cut through in the mix with flats . For my tastes at least, all the classic fretless bass tones are with roundwounds. [/quote] I'm with you on that. I've never quite understood why you'd want to put conventional flats on a fretless. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 [quote name='philw' timestamp='1393854920' post='2385024'] I'm with you on that. I've never quite understood why you'd want to put conventional flats on a fretless. P [/quote] I think it sounds really nice, you still get the mwah but it's just a little mellower. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-_R5_iVxZk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-_R5_iVxZk[/url] It may be down to the bass though, Steve's is a graphite necked Modulus, my fretless has a Dyamond wood fretboard, so it's incredibly hard. Maybe with rosewood or ebony you'd lose some of the sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBus Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 I have used flats on my Status S2 fretless and that has a lovely warm full bodied tone. Having said that it has rounds on it at the moment. Flats on a wooden board I am not so keen on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 [quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1393862454' post='2385163'] I have used flats on my Status S2 fretless and that has a lovely warm full bodied tone. Having said that it has rounds on it at the moment. Flats on a wooden board I am not so keen on. [/quote] Yeah, I agree with that. Michael Manring uses Zon basses with phenolic fretboards and light gauge round wound strings, I find his playing and phrasing incredible, but his tone doesn't quite work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 It is of course horses for courses, and possibly even one man's meat is another man's cliche. Flats on my Wal (ebony fingerboard) do have a lovely woody tone, it's just that it doesn't really cut through once the band kicks in. The softer leading edge of the notes with flats AND fretless is just too much. Having said all that of course, flats vary in tone just as much as basses do so it may well be that I haven't found the right flats yet (I mean the LaBella white nylons I raved about further up the thread are effectively flats). P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fender_2009 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 i have elixer nano webs on my TRB fretless and they sound amazing i use elixirs on all my basses. round wound strings give u plenty of mwar sound 2 unlike flats, they get my vote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.gif.9ad672bb8b84505709f76b39c8c256ec.gif)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.