Fretless Bass String Comparison: Which Ones are the Best for You?

Hey friends! Which strings do you use on a fretless? Flats, rounds or half rounds? Today we’re doing a fretless bass string shootout with all three. We’ll listen to some demos using some popular fretless bass hits and find out which sound (and feel) the best. Thanks to ‪@daddarioandco‬ for making such great strings for many decades. Also a big thanks to ‪@chicagomusicexchange‬ for the great Sire P7 fretless bass.
Links to the strings used in this video:
www.daddario.c...
www.daddario.c...
www.daddario.c...
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Timecodes
0:00 Intro
0:56 String Theory
2:30 Pino Palladino Demos
11:28 Tony Levin Demos
16:00 Tony Franklin Demos
19:52 Slap Demos
22:00 Final Thoughts
#daveplaysbass #fretlessbass #daddario
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, commenting, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

[@LouisCiarlo]

A very informative video. I'm just restarting my fretless journey and I think I like the sound of the roundwound strings the best. Flatwounds feel nice, but they lack that pop and accentuated "mwha" sound. I plan to go with a set of D'Addario EXL220 40-95. I normally play a medium gauge of 45-105, but I read somewhere that light strings will make it a little easier for me when trying to develop my technique.

[@DavePorterBand]

Thanks for watching and for your comment. I agree, flats feel the best for fretless but round wounds really sound the best and I'm not sure half rounds really worked for me. Those lights should be easier to play and I think you'll be able to lower your action a bit more with those too. Good luck!

[@StephenWhite55]

With all steel-core strings*, the diameter of the string's central 'core' wire (that the string is wound around) is the main factor determining the amount of tension a string produces. this means that you can have different strings with the same outer diameter (the same 'gauge'), which nonetheless have very different amounts of tension. For example, GHS strings typically have relatively thick (larger gauge) core-wires, whereas Thomastik-Infeld 'Jazz' series have have extremely thin core-wires - these strings couldn't be more different, in both sound and feel. *There are a small number of strings that do not have a single steel core wire - these strings use either 'rope core' construction (with a group of extremely fine steel wires collectively taking the tension of tuning the string up to pitch), or with a synthetic 'plastic' group of threads, which take the string's tension. These are mostly guitar strings, but a very few bass strings are made this way - Thomastik-infeld acoustic bass guitar strings are one example of this type of construction.

[@DavePorterBand]

Hey Stephen, thank for watching and for the great info about string gauges, much appreciated!🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@Kolavskaya]

The other factor that changes not so much the tension but the flexibility of strings is whether the core is a hexagon or round, the latter of which can make them more comfortable to play (useful, if you don't want too low an action). Many DR strings have round cores. I used to play GHS Boomers 45-105 on my fretless Jazz bass, with a very high action (nice double-bass-like sound) some 30 years ago. But I'm too old now and it hurts my knuckles. (So, currently I'm using 40-100 Rotosound Nexus, but they are too tinny on old Jazz PUs in dire need of rewinding.) But GHS now do the 45-105 also as a round-core string, as opposed to the old hex versions (perhaps they always existed, but I didn't know about them), and I'll be dead curious to see how I get on with them, coz they make that bass sing like no other (and I've tried quite a few). I had round core strings on my fretted 5-string - super comfortable to press down. But the bridge breaks them and they unravel (though body with virtually a right-angled kink - what on Earth were Hipshot thinking? So I'm stuck with hex-core strings on that one. But the Jazz bass has a super-flat Schaller bridge on it that won't sever the round-cores. Maybe I should try some Thomastik's, but the thicker core gives strings a higher output (and the PUs are 46yres old). That said, I'm just re-listening to the pressure-wound sample again, and that's also very attractive for a fretless.

[@Kolavskaya]

Superb comparison video. Thanks for all the work - including truss rod adjustments - you put into this shootout!!! You got yourself a new sub (should have done this a while back, TBH). I currently use tape-wound strings, but the core is too light for my bass' ancient passive PUs. Commenting further below on round-core GHS Boomers, which I'm gonna try next, so I might be able to get the gauge back up, plus the fatter core that GHS' tend to have. BTW, round-wound string don't just wear frets down faster, but frets also wear strings down faster. On a fretless, I use round-wounds for absolute ages. I don't even like the sound of brand new strings. And I'm lucky that I have very dry hands, even on stage, even in hot weather, so the strings don't build up grime fast; and a well-aged, fine-grained rosewood fingerboard lets you use round-wounds for many-many months of daily working (when I still did that). Rotosound and GHS do 'half round' strings; they just call them pressure-wound; but same difference. The No.1 player who got me to finally go exclusively fretless for a couple of decades was Mick Karn! Saw him live in 1984 and, whilst I never got a Wal Mk1, I did manage to find the amp he was using. Innovative playing-wise, for me, he was the Jaco of pop, rock and avantgarde (and he'd played with many great artists, and his solo work was mind-blowing). R.I.P. to both of them. Both stunning in their very different and yet similar ways, taking bass playing to an 'out-there' level.

[@DavePorterBand]

Thanks so much for watching and for your reply. I agree, Mick Karn was an incredible bassist and innovator. I should have included him in this video. Thank again!

[@garyslavinsky4201]

Thanks for this video. Ive been playing bass since 1963 but I just bought my first fretless (not counting double bass). While waiting for its arrival in 2 days, I've been wondering about the best strings for it. This is a huge help.

[@DavePorterBand]

Awesome, I'm glad it was helpful! Enjoy your electric fretless journey and thanks for watching.

[@annode]

Before I forget I stopped the vid to write this : At the start of this vid you say you've always used flat wound, then on the 'Sledgehammer' (round wound) you say 'It's just what I'm used to, (referring to the round's smoother pluck) 'I guess I'm not used to the flat wounds' . What's up with that? ...and what I learned as a piano tech is that the string mass is proportional with the string tension brought to pitch. That would mean the round string is heavier then the flat.

[@DavePorterBand]

Yeah, that's what I get for going off script! 😎 I think what I meant was 95% of the time, I'm playing round wounds on a fretted bass... so that's what I'm used to. But when I do have an opportunity to play fretless in the studio, it's almost always with flats. Thanks for watching!

[@YTRopp]

The flatwounds give the best thump-attack, which I like. I've used many years roundwounds on my fretless, but the last 10 years I went back to the roundwounds (after flattening the fretboard to get rid of the roundwound-damage). Just like the thump and the silkyness of sound and feel.

[@michaelblaney4461]

I think I like the Rounds better , ive used GHS pressure wound a lot on fretless .

[@WowIndescribable]

This is excellent. Thank you.

[@DavePorterBand]

Thanks for watching!

[@boblove2912]

GHS Pressure wounds and D'Addario Black Nylon on a fretless P bass and Ernie Ball 40-95 Cobalt round wounds on a fretless Stingray.

[@WyattLite-n-inn]

Great playing , great comparison .

[@DavePorterBand]

Thank you and thanks for watching!

[@georgebowling842]

Nice really thorough review 👍 I have Elite grounds on my fretless P bass they sound mwah 🙂

[@DavePorterBand]

Good choice!

[@inkeye1]

Hey Dave - I think flats or half-rounds work well for those slides. Excellent production, dude.

[@DavePorterBand]

Thanks, Billy! I really appreciate your support.

[@thomasfioriglio]

Really great demo of the different strings. In my own experience, I currently used roundwounds on my fretless. The DR Sunbeams, which is what Tony Franklin uses. I had used Ernie Ball Cobalt flats for while. Switching to roundwounds, I noticed I can move more fluidly. They have less tension than the flats, and I had less friction on the strings to do slides or glissandos. I found with the flats, my fingers would stick to the strings a little more. Thanks for sharing! Great stuff.

[@DavePorterBand]

Hey Thomas, thanks for your comment. Yes, I've had the same experience with flats feeling sticky.

[@kuslers]

I use either Ernie Ball Cobalt flats if I want the round wound brightness.But for my fretless jazz I use in worship praise and church I use the LaBella Gold Flatwounds for that smooth slides and transitions I go for there.I have though about half wounds.I do not wanna tear up my fingerboard and i like my frets to last on my other 3 basses.

[@DavePorterBand]

Hey Jonathon, thanks for watching. I'll have to try out the Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats, thanks!

[@jdpatel7575]

​@@DavePorterBandt😊aUu3uíi3❤ii4oi4i3ii😊

[@chinatosinthiti3076]

I am going to convert my first bass (Yamaha RBX170) into a fretless and start learning fretless from it. So far I'm pretty sure I'm going to start with flatwounds, your video also confirmed this. Although this was the first time hearing halfwounds, I will come back for them. BTW my fretless hero right now is Dominic Forest Lapointe of the metal band First Fragment

[@DavePorterBand]

Cool, I'll check out First Fragment. Thanks for watching!

[@hepphepps8356]

Flats sounds the most apropriate and tasteful and blenda the best with the music. Rounds almost sounds like a Trombone player with a wah-mute. It is simply too expressive and demands too much space and attention. Good for Jaco, but all around Jacoing is usually not a good strategy.

[@prestachuck2867]

You forgot about tapewounds! The brightness and flexibility of light nickel rounds with the softness, smoothness, and lack of fret and finger noise that you get from flats.

[@DavePorterBand]

I did forget about tape wounds and I’ve never played them… 🤦‍♂️ I see a new video in the future, thanks!

[@mariosangermano]

Round wound on fretless for me. I use Dunlop extra light 30, 40, 60, 80, 100.

[@HuwFoster]

Thanks for the vid - really useful! Can I just ask what lapel mic you're using?

[@DavePorterBand]

Thanks for watching! It's a Hollyland Lark wireless lav.

[@rcimerman68]

Jaco 1st Pino 2nd

[@gorgoncorpsus1277]

You do realize that Mick Karn is the designer and engineered the concept of the frettless bass? He’d decided one day that the removal of the fretts would give him more of a branding and assist him in creating his own style and sound during his early years in the 70’s.

[@DavePorterBand]

Thanks for watching! Mick Karn is an awesome fretless bassist but he didn't invent the fretless electric bass... that credit is widely given to Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones who, in 1964, removed the frets in his bass to get rid of fret buzz. A year later, Ampeg started producing the AUB-1 fretless bass and Wyman endorsed the instrument. Thanks again for watching!

[@gorgoncorpsus1277]

@@DavePorterBand I’d watched an early interview with Mick Karn when he had mentioned removing his frets from his bass and, perhaps, didn’t hear the entire statement that he’d made in that I think he was, more, or, less, stating that he was doing this in effort to create an authentic sound of his own making and this was, indeed, during the early 70’s/late 60’s. He had been around for many years , but, had, sadly, passed away from cancer during his solo career. Some of my knowledge on his history is a bit scattered and iffy, but, for certain, he was one of the greatest frettless bass players in the world, as well as, one of the most obscure and unique. Thank, btw, on, indirectly, correcting me and on my spelling of the word “fret”. Google wasn’t translating it for me, haha!

[@DavePorterBand]

@@gorgoncorpsus1277 Karn is truly one of the greats! He and his band Japan had a huge influence on New Wave bands like Duran Duran and Visage.

[@ColonelAngus2023]

I put LaBella White Nylons on my fretless bass. They are fantastic.

[@DavePorterBand]

Thanks, I'll have to give those a try.

[@user-ew9or6kw8e]

Yea "Chromes" ARE the the Ish!!

[@user-gn6jx8my6e]

Rounds on fretted or fretless sound superior

[@RumblinMan]

Subbed.

[@This_Fretless_Guy]

Awesome video, thx.🙂 My personal heroes are Jaco, Percy Jones, Alain Caron, Tony Franklin, Steve Bailey, Mick Karn, Gary Willis, Mark Egan and Michael Manring. In terms of metal there are Jeroen Paul Thesseling, Sean Malone and Dominic Lapointe which are absolutely mindblowing.🤯 They all have their own personal style and a unmistakable voice on the instrument.

[@DavePorterBand]

Hey Nobel, thanks for the comment. We share many of the same fretless influences! I need to listen to the metal players you mentioned. Any suggested albums?

[@This_Fretless_Guy]

@@DavePorterBand Cynic with Focus(Sean Malone), Obscura with Cosmogenesis/a Valediction(Jeroen Thesseling), Beyond Creation with the Aura/ First Fragment with Dasein(Dominic Lapointe)

[@DavePorterBand]

Awesome, thank you!

[@ansaransar-wg8sb]

​ 🎉🎉😮😅😅🎉

[@bmatchick]

Do you have a sealed fingerboard? If so, with what? Just curious (not sure who even does that work). My Lakland has ebony and I love mwah, but think I have plenty even though I've thought about looking into having it epoxied or whatever.

[@DavePorterBand]

The Sire bass in this video has either an acrylic or polyurethane coating but I also have a fretless with an ebony fretboard like your Lakland. Ebony is so hard, I don't think it really needs to be sealed but it's a personal choice. Thanks for watching!🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@bmatchick]

@@DavePorterBandThank you!

[@Nikosi9]

Why no tapewounds? Otherwise good video...

[@DavePorterBand]

Not including Tapewounds was certainly a mistake. I'll include them in the next comparison video, thanks!

Halfs sounds spot on!

[@gorgoncorpsus1277]

Mick Karn from Japan and Dalis Car is THEE BEST!❤❤❤

[@user-cw4pt1ky7y]

Mick Karn

[@DavePorterBand]

Totally agree! His work with Japan started the New Wave movement (IMHO) but his solo work is even more impressive. Thanks for watching!

[@gorgoncorpsus1277]

Wow! I’d never realized that there was a frettless bass in that Paul Young track “Every Time You Go Away”. I’d always hated that track. Very contrived and commercial. It doesn’t reflect the 80’s music scene very well.

[@zeusapollo8688]

Groundwounds are hideous

[@jonathanosborn4800]

I like them, a good compromise

[@NelsonMontana1234]

Roundwound grind up the fretboard. Flats produce a dull sound. Half Rounds are the worst of both world -- they have drag and no tone. The best string for fretless are the nickel compression series. They're oval shaped roundwounds that have clarity but aren't as abrasive.