Pressurewound vs Halfround

[markdavid]

Hi all ,

Just wondering, I know that half round strings are rounds that are ground to flat finish and pressure wounds are rounds that have been flattened but what is the difference tonally between half round and pressure wound ? Presumably also pressurewound will have slightly more tension that roundwounds or half rounds

[markdavid]

Hi again ,

I decided to bite the bullet and try a set pressurewound strings just out of pure curiousity more than anything else. I bought the Rotosound Solo Bass SM55 pressurewounds and I am absolutely floored by the tone of these strings , they punch like mike tyson and have a brilliance in the treble frequencies that sounds awesome, i was pleasantly suprised by how bright the tone from these strings is , ive always liked Duff Mckagans tone and these strings played with a pick nails that tone.

[Buzz]

They're just different methods of getting the same result, a string that feels like a flat, but has a mix of the tonal qualities of both flats and rounds.

As with any string, the tone generally depends on the string's materials and how they go about producing it per manufacturer, rather than direct comparisons for production methods. After all, there's lots of rounds, they should all sound similar, but some can be quite different, same for flats.

[fretlessguy]

I have used D"Addario half rounds, GHS Brite Flats (half rounds) and GHS Pressurewounds (compressed strings).
The D'Addarios were terrible with their feel and high tension, but their sound was fairly good. I had good success with the Brite Flats. They had the feel of flats with a brighter tone than the flats, but not as bright as roundwounds. I would imagine that with them being groud down rounds, that their service life would be no longer than regular roundwounds.

To me, the winner was the pressurewounds. The tone was like a flat only slightly brighter, but it felt more like a roundwound and even still had the "mwah" needed for fretless playing. The tension was less than a flatwound, but more than a roundwound. Easier to play than the half rounds. Of course, I used all light sets with them, and since most folks play mediums your results could be different.

I have never played Rotosounds of any type, so I cannot help you with them. The new black Nexus strings they make would look fabulous on my black and maple boarded Fender Jazz, so I think I'll give them a try.

FG

[geoffbyrne]

I've had a set of Roto55s on my passive Jazz for over a year now and they are still pretty bright. Admittedly it doesn't get played a lot and my hands are clean and dry.............................

But I have to agree, they sound great. For me they are not dissimilar to DR HiBeams.

I've bought a 5 string set but yet to put them on. Probably go on the Cirrus.

G.