educate me on bass strings please

[midget donkeys]

So I am not much of a bass player, but I do have a crappy bass for laying down lines on the songs I write.

What type of strings are better for getting a clanky bass tone? Brighter or more mellow.

I put on a set of D'Addario half round .055-.110 tuned to "d" standard last night, set the action as low as possible and got them to intonate. It is pretty clanky. But half rounds are around the middle ground of D'Addario's brightness chart.

Would going up to prosteels increase the clankage?

 

[jotun725]

The pro steels definitely would. Also Dean Markley Blue steels, or I'm partial to DR Hi-Beams.

 

[BLUElightCory]

Steel roundwound strings are the way to go.

I'm also partial to DR Hi-Beams.

 

[53Crëw]

My favorite strings these days are Dean Markley Blue Steels. Good tone, good price, and they last a while. DR Hi Beams would be my second choice. But yeah, stainless steel strings FTW.

 

[midget donkeys]

Thanks for the replies fellas. Looks like I need to get my mittens on some steel strings.

 

[Mago]

warwick red label also recorded pretty well for me
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3961577/Mixes/Mago_NewBass_Clip1.mp3

 

[Josh Burgess]

I have D'Addario Half Rounds on my bass right now and I like them better than the D'Addario Prosteels I had on it before. I got the Prosteels, because a number of guys on here claimed stainless steels were best for really grindy/clanky metal bass tones....... also used DR stainless steels right before that, but I don't like the stainless steels all that much. Way too much finger noise and too thin/bright sounding.

I say get the normal nickel rounds if metal is primarily what you're playing or just stick with the half rounds if you want more versatility. The half rounds are about 80% as bright as the nickel round wounds, but much less finger noise, and they can pull off deeper/warmer sounds too (like for jazz or reggae). My bass is more versatile using them... It can still pull off bright/grindy/slap tones with the treble boost on the bass turned up, but is not limited to that sound... of course, this bass has an active EQ and active EMGs... so, a passive bass might work better with stainless steels...

 

[tempe]

I 100% agree with you Josh, when I was playing with a little more variety, Half Rounds were amazing. These days though I tend to just stock up on DR Hi-Beams for clank glory.

 

[Maybelater]

Love the Blue Steels.

 

[midget donkeys]

That sounds really cool Mago. My bass is sounding no where near that good. My bass guitar is crappy though, it is the cheapest Ibanez Gio that I could get my hands on a few years ago. I think I am never going to get it to sound as cool as I want it to.

I am thinking about borrowing a better bass from a friend of mine. Or better yet kidnapping a real bass player.

I hear what you are saying about variety Josh. Thing is I am only interested in getting bass lines for my metal songs down. I actually never even touch my bass except when I have the guitars all done for a song.

I am trying to put more effort into getting a good bass tone and bass lines for my ep and it is proving to be harder than I thought.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

What about pickups for bass? What do you all recommend for clanky metal bass pups?

 

[jotun725]

Pickups might get you even more varied opinions. I like Bartolini's in my Ibanez for a more scooped tone that clanks, but my alltime favorite tone come froms my P-Bass with a Seymour Duncan Quarterpounder. I get instant Steve Harris epic clank without trying. Guys who play pick may have completely different opinions though.

 

[Josh Burgess]

That sounds really cool Mago. My bass is sounding no where near that good. My bass guitar is crappy though, it is the cheapest Ibanez Gio that I could get my hands on a few years ago. I think I am never going to get it to sound as cool as I want it to.

I am thinking about borrowing a better bass from a friend of mine. Or better yet kidnapping a real bass player.

I hear what you are saying about variety Josh. Thing is I am only interested in getting bass lines for my metal songs down. I actually never even touch my bass except when I have the guitars all done for a song.

I am trying to put more effort into getting a good bass tone and bass lines for my ep and it is proving to be harder than I thought.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

What about pickups for bass? What do you all recommend for clanky metal bass pups?

Yeah, I was just saying stainless steels aren't completely necessary. It really depends on the bass. Spectors sound similar to Warwicks, but a little warmer with more low mids AND I have it strung with Half Rounds and I can still get bright clanky tones out of it with the treble knob on the bass turned up. The active EQ and pickups probably help that a lot though.

I could see really warm/round sounding passive equipped basses sounding best with stainless steels. The right bass with EMGs can get clanky enough with normal round wounds or even half rounds.