New String Day!

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December 10th, 2015, 08:09 PM
marnold

New String Day!

Since the bass forum is a bit dusty here, I thought I'd put up a quick post. I switched from the DR Marcus Miller stainless strings on my LTD to my old GHS Bass Boomers. The Miller's were awesome for slap but a little too clangy for everything else for me. Since I was in need of a string change anyway I decided to give GHS a spin again. They definitely have that more classic rock/blues thing going on. If I go on the EMG MMTW pickup, crank the treble, and scoop the bass I get a very nice slap tone indeed. Not quite the "rip your face off" thing that the DRs did, but still very usable. I'll want to give them a few months to see how my opinion may change as the strings get broken in a bit.
February 9th, 2018, 09:02 AM
marnold

Since this forum seems to have fallen into disuse, I will reply to my own post :)

The great string experiment is over. I replaced my strings yesterday with DR Fat Beams (AFAIK it is the same as the Marcus Miller set, except the man himself moved to Dunlop). The Boomers couldn't give the sizzle and growl that the Fat Beams can. They still can be kind of clangy with a pick, but rolling off the treble on my bass's pre-amp largely fixes that. In a mix, it probably wouldn't even be noticed.

I still use Boomers on both of my guitars. Just replaced those strings too. This just in: it is much easier to change strings on a bass than it is on a guitar with a floating Floyd.
February 9th, 2018, 09:29 AM
stingx

I don't change strings any more. I just rub bacon grease on them.
February 9th, 2018, 03:46 PM
tjcurtin1

Quote:

Originally Posted by stingx

I don't change strings any more. I just rub bacon grease on them.

Ha ha - who was the blues player who supposedly regularly rubbed a piece of fried chicken on his strings and never changed them?
February 10th, 2018, 12:51 PM
Jimi75

The strings on my ES-339 have more than 12 month on their agenda. They still sound pretty good.
February 10th, 2018, 02:01 PM
marnold

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimi75

The strings on my ES-339 have more than 12 month on their agenda. They still sound pretty good.

Thankfully my body chemistry is VERY kind to strings. I usually can't tell their age by looking at them. The first way I tell is usually when my Floyd becomes very hard to keep in tune properly. The strings lose just enough flexibility. Bass strings I probably could keep on forever.