Author Topic: Roundwounds on a fretless (Read 371 times)

David Houck · « **on:** August 29, 2006, 06:34:53 PM »

In a recent Showcase section thread, a fellow member asked what kind of strings he should put on his fretless to get a Jaco sound. Another fellow member answered that Jaco used Rotosound Swing bass. I didn't want to hijack a Showcase thread, so I thought I would bring it up here. Given the reputation of roundwounds for chewing up fingerboards on fretless basses, I was wondering if there are any fretless players here using them.

Unlike Alembic fingerboards, which are unsealed, Jaco's do-it-yourself-on-the-backseat-of-a-Greyhound-bus fretless was sealed with a generous serving of marine epoxy if I recall correctly. So perhaps that's why he was able to use the Rotosounds.

Just thought it was an interesting question. I'm not looking to change strings.

dadabass2001 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 29, 2006, 08:00:37 PM »

Hi Dave,
I did one set of DR Hibeams on my Epic and changed to TI Jazz Flats when I noticed some wear from what appears to be round wound strings. I'm marginally happy with my sound (some nights better than others), but it's not really Jaco-like. My on-stage choices don't run in that direction (Make it simpler...don't play so much).

Mike
P.S. I'm switching my Distillate to TIs as well on next change.

bsee · « **Reply #2 on:** August 29, 2006, 08:04:28 PM »

If I wanted the roundwound-on-fretless sound, I would go for one of the composite or finished boards. Maybe a Zon or Pedulla.

steve4765630 · « **Reply #3 on:** August 29, 2006, 08:07:53 PM »

I have used them on my Warrior fretless for 9 years without ever refinishing the fingerboard. It has an unfinished purple heart fingerboard. I swear it's the best material for fretless boards. I have talked to so many guys with ebony, pau ferro, maple and rosewood that have to refinish them all the time. The Pedulla Buzz basses have a coating that protects the board. I think the main thing is not to strong arm it. A light touch is always best, IMHO.

steve4765630 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 29, 2006, 08:07:56 PM »

I have used them on my Warrior fretless for 9 years without ever refinishing the fingerboard. It has an unfinished purple heart fingerboard. I swear it's the best material for fretless boards. I have talked to so many guys with ebony, pau ferro, maple and rosewood that have to refinish them all the time. The Pedulla Buzz basses have a coating that protects the board. I think the main thing is not to strong arm it. A light touch is always best, IMHO.

dannobasso · « **Reply #5 on:** August 29, 2006, 08:11:57 PM »

I have my 7 fretless strung with a DM Will Lee set. I have a few slight marks but then again I had that with a Kubiki neck finished with Swedish epoxy. It's all metal in strings. You wanna dance, you gotta pay the band.

olieoliver · « **Reply #6 on:** August 29, 2006, 09:29:42 PM »

I have a 79 Music Man with an unfinished rosewood fretboard that I've used round wound strings on for years. I bought the bass new in 79 and it has some wear on the high end of the fret board but not too bad for its age.
(I used D'addario half rounds for a while but the quality with down after a few years.)

bob · « **Reply #7 on:** August 30, 2006, 12:03:32 AM »

I use TI flats now, but more for the tone and feel, than concerns about wear (on ebony fingerboards). I don't happen to be going for a Jaco sound, but thought I'd add a few notes on wear.

Take a very close look at the strings - use a magnifying glass, a loupe, a good close up lens, or maybe even a 10x microscope. There is a huge difference in the surface finish from different manufacturers, and styles.

TI jazz rounds, and nickel Coco's (my previous favorite), tend to be quite smooth, and of course nickel is much softer than stainless. Some others looks like a chainsaw. (Alembics are actually quite smooth.)

There really is a lot of variation, so if you want to use rounds and are concerned about wear, then take a close look.

jacko · « **Reply #8 on:** August 30, 2006, 03:39:02 AM »

I've been using Roundwounds on my fretless rogue since I got it 18 months ago. Initially Alembic strings but latterly I've been using DR red devils. I've not really noticed any fingerboard wear aside from a slight shine.

Graeme

keith_h · « **Reply #9 on:** August 30, 2006, 04:47:37 AM »

Even with the epoxied neck I recall seeing somewhere Jaco had to have the neck recoated several times due to wear. That being said I am using Di'Addario Chromes which are a flat wound string. I just didn't feel like risking excessive fretboard wear.

Keith

811952 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 30, 2006, 05:52:30 AM »

I used Rotosounds on all my fretless basses through the years. Never had any real problems with wear, and they got played a lot. My fretless Jazz bass (early 70's) had a rosewood board. I had a fretless Music Man Stingray that had a maple board, and come to think of it, it did have uneven wear as though it had only ever played country music (bought it from a country music guy who strangely enough only ever used flatwounds on it). A session in the garage with some sandpaper wrapped around a long straight chunk of walnut took care of that, and I only had to do that once. On my short scale fretless Ovation hollow body electric (shaped like a Guild Starfire), I think the fingerboard was rosewood. It was lined, but I never had any issues with the Rotos. The Carvin fretless 5 that I owned for several years always sported a set of Rotosounds and never had any unusual wear of the ebony board. My brother now owns it and keeps TI jazz flats on the wonderful little bass...

When I saw Jaco in Nashville in '83 or '84 he played a fretted Jazz Bass. He also had a very runny nose.

John

worldfamousandy · « **Reply #11 on:** August 30, 2006, 07:34:10 AM »

I managed to wreck a Jazz in under a year, with D'Addario rounds. The divots in the rosewood were to deep to repair.

Andy Calder
www.andycalderbass

olieoliver · « **Reply #12 on:** August 30, 2006, 10:59:49 AM »

The D'Addario's I used were HALF rounds. I never really liked their rounds. My favorite round strings were John Pearse and they are hard to find.

David Houck · « **Reply #13 on:** August 31, 2006, 01:57:19 PM »

Hmmm ... quite a variety of responses!

keurosix · « **Reply #14 on:** August 31, 2006, 07:37:20 PM »

Rotos use a stst outer winding. They bite into frets easily and will cut into a fingerboard if the player has a hard touch. Looks like most of the fretless players here know how to play the fretless like a fretless so that they get minimal fretboard wear. Just like a doublebass, the technique for vibrato is a wrist movement which rolls the fingertip on the string. This gives a great vibrato with hardly any wear. A fretted player is used to getting vibrato differently by bending the string down the fret. This technique on a fretless will file the outer winding into the wood gouging it in no time at all. I also notice that Alembic's ebony fingerboards are a lot harder than the Fender's rosewood boards. A lot thicker too. More mass for tone generation. Andy, your Jazz bass must've had a really soft piece of rosewood. I've seen a lot of Fender fretless basses with flatwounds and tapewounds for that very reason. (And very paranoid owners!) For a roundwound string on a fretless, I think TI's Power Bass string might work really well. The outer winding is not stst. I personally use the Alembic strings that have a pressed or flattened round winding. They seem to have the best of both worlds - good tone and flexibility. I am hesitant to use flats because of the reduction in feedback from the string to my fingers. Too much tension and not enough flexibilty - makes me work harder - Ouch! However, with Alembic electronics, I can add or subtract from the string if need be, and when strings die so what? But on a flat wound, they start out sounding kinda dead or thumpy. I need to tweak up the high end right from the start. Not my cup of tea.
2 cents?