Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
yes, I use the half round strings on my fretless... I'd love to play fretless bass with round wound strings,
but my fingerboard is so lovely that I don't want to chew it up. The half round strings are a good compromise
for me. I use a little compression when I play the fretless, and that helps give almost enough sustain.
And the D'Addario strings are moderately priced, so you don't have to feel bad about changing them.
You can make up your own mind after trying the half rounds. For me, the round wound strings turn
heads. When we finish a song, and we know we've really nailed it, sometimes the audience will affirm
that by extended applause. And my humble ex-Squier P-bass is still sustaining the last note well after
the applause dies down. I have to turn it off. *grins.
That's the instrument I modded with the Gotoh "high mass" bridge, and it delivers.
I put the same bridge on the fretless, and it doesn't sustain as long, so I think it's the strings.
It's all very subjective, and comes back to what you WANT to sound like.
My idol when young was James Jamerson (the Motown studio bassist) and he played his Precision bass
with the foam pads in place... getting one of the best electric bass sounds that's ever been played...
no one can dispute that. Carol Kaye is another. I've always loved her sounds, and most of my life was
unaware of her name, and that it was her on so many hits. She did a lot of that with a pick. And she'd
buy a new bass instead of getting new strings... *go figure.
but my fingerboard is so lovely that I don't want to chew it up. The half round strings are a good compromise
for me. I use a little compression when I play the fretless, and that helps give almost enough sustain.
And the D'Addario strings are moderately priced, so you don't have to feel bad about changing them.
You can make up your own mind after trying the half rounds. For me, the round wound strings turn
heads. When we finish a song, and we know we've really nailed it, sometimes the audience will affirm
that by extended applause. And my humble ex-Squier P-bass is still sustaining the last note well after
the applause dies down. I have to turn it off. *grins.
That's the instrument I modded with the Gotoh "high mass" bridge, and it delivers.
I put the same bridge on the fretless, and it doesn't sustain as long, so I think it's the strings.
It's all very subjective, and comes back to what you WANT to sound like.
My idol when young was James Jamerson (the Motown studio bassist) and he played his Precision bass
with the foam pads in place... getting one of the best electric bass sounds that's ever been played...
no one can dispute that. Carol Kaye is another. I've always loved her sounds, and most of my life was
unaware of her name, and that it was her on so many hits. She did a lot of that with a pick. And she'd
buy a new bass instead of getting new strings... *go figure.
