Stings on new Gibsons...

uwe · December 19, 2013, 08:25:01 AM

It makes sense in so far as fretting chords on a fretless can be tricky if you are not hellishly accurate. 0n an 8- or 12-string you are always fretting a "chord", yet you won't sound out of tune.

gearHed289 · December 19, 2013, 09:29:24 AM

When I saw the Ghost in the Machine tour, Sting played the Steinberger. He played keys on Invisible Sun, and a roadie played the white Spector. Next tour, the Spector was his main bass.

uwe · December 20, 2013, 08:13:18 AM

Now that you mention it, I do remember the Spector. His first battery bass was the Ibanez Musician.

Granny Gremlin · December 20, 2013, 08:35:48 AM

Quote from: uwe on December 19, 2013, 05:12:40 AM
Summers was a Hamer endorser early on, they even built a signature model for him in the early eighties which was first called the "Prototype"

Yeah I remember that thing. Triple coil pup like an Ibanez ATK bass. Always thought they were kinda cool (for a Hammer; generally a pretty looked down upon brand around here).

uwe · December 20, 2013, 09:59:22 AM

Our guitarist had one back then - the Prototype right off the Frankfurt Musik Messe. It was an ill match, Thomas was really a "Hiwatt and Telecaster"-guy, hardly any distortion (and only from the amp) and no effects at all, a (very good) rhythm guitar player with little solo aspirations. He sold it off decades later to someone with an effects-laden sound who almost fell to his knews for that thing. I "arranged" the deal when I heard that guitarist's mouth water about the "original Hamer Prototypes".

I've always been suspicious of guitars without a neck pup.

Blackbird · December 22, 2013, 01:46:20 PM

EXL165 Nickel Wound Bass do the trick nicely. Much nicer.

uwe · December 23, 2013, 08:05:45 AM

Anybody tried those new D'Addarios that are supposed to have near to equal tension on E, A, D and G? Interesting concept, not that I ever bothered about the unequal tension (with D being the tautest and consequently suffering a bit on scales in excess of 34").

Blackbird · December 23, 2013, 08:31:21 AM

Quote from: uwe on December 23, 2013, 08:05:45 AM
Anybody tried those new D'Addarios that are supposed to have near to equal tension on E, A, D and G? Interesting concept, not that I ever bothered about the unequal tension (with D being the tautest and consequently suffering a bit on scales in excess of 34").

I did Uwe. I used the 120E set, super heavy. We were dropped C on my T-bird, and they were actually quite good for that and I liked them. I'd say give a set a try, D'addario's are not expensive - here anyway.

Dave W · December 23, 2013, 09:07:22 AM

Quote from: uwe on December 23, 2013, 08:05:45 AM
Anybody tried those new D'Addarios that are supposed to have near to equal tension on E, A, D and G? Interesting concept, not that I ever bothered about the unequal tension (with D being the tautest and consequently suffering a bit on scales in excess of 34").

Grrr. I blame that tin-eared idiot at Zachary Guitars for this trend.

The reason we have various combinations of string sizes is because they sounded good to numbers of people. We didn't know what the tension measurements were, we just knew they sounded right to us.

If you choose strings based on having equal tension instead of whether or not they sound good together, then IMHO there's something wrong with your thought process. Not that these sets necessarily sound bad or out of balance, I'm sure some of them are fine. But it's not the right way to choose strings.

Blackbird · December 23, 2013, 09:19:49 AM

Quote from: Dave W on December 23, 2013, 09:07:22 AM
Grrr. I blame that tin-eared idiot at Zachary Guitars for this trend.

The reason we have various combinations of string sizes is because they sounded good to numbers of people. We didn't know what the tension measurements were, we just knew they sounded right to us.

If you choose strings based on having equal tension instead of whether or not they sound good together, then IMHO there's something wrong with your thought process. Not that these sets necessarily sound bad or out of balance, I'm sure some of them are fine. But it's not the right way to choose strings.

For me at the time was using a nice heavy E set for dropped C tuning, and it did a nice job.

uwe · December 23, 2013, 10:03:47 AM

I'm just curious, I give any new string idea a try, hex or round wire, coated, colored, neon, cobalt, if they had ones sanctified by the Vatican (for the saintly bassist like me), I'd buy those too - variety is the spice of life! D'Addarios are cheap and ubiquitous in Germany too. The most prevalent string brand even ahead of Rotos, GHS or Warwick.

Why has no one yet come up with strings made from salvaged parts of the Titanic, Hood or Bismarck? For those really deep sounds.

Blackbird · December 23, 2013, 05:03:08 PM

today I grabbed some nickel Rotos for the NR. My Ebony bird, which I've had for 7 years, has never been gigged. She gets her first go this Saturday.

Dave W · December 23, 2013, 10:04:03 PM

Quote from: uwe on December 23, 2013, 10:03:47 AM
...

Why has no one yet come up with strings made from salvaged parts of the Titanic, Hood or Bismarck? For those really deep sounds.

Wouldn't surprise me. Someone's always coming up with a new gimmick, and some others will follow. It's all snake oil to me.

westen44 · December 24, 2013, 08:44:21 AM

I also wondered if this might mean Sting had started playing Gibsons. I wouldn't be surprised, since Gibson is so known for snatching famous artists to endorse them.

TBird1958 · December 24, 2013, 01:38:59 PM

Quote from: uwe on December 23, 2013, 10:03:47 AM
Why has no one yet come up with strings made from salvaged parts of the Titanic, Hood or Bismarck? For those really deep sounds.

Hey, That's illeagle!