Product Reviews for Ken Smith Electric Bass Slick Round Nickel Iron Round Wound, .040 - .103, AA-SRL
Ken Smith Electric Bass Slick Round Nickel Iron Round Wound, .040 - .103, AA-SRLJoshua ChandlerMay 8, 2010I have a couple of fretless basses; one is setup with some nylon tapewound strings to get a really funky old school tone. The other is set up to sound more modern, hi-fi. Well, after searching a good long while for a sensible string for this bass that would really allow it to shine without painting it into a corner (rounds are just too bright, flats are just too warm) I found these strings and love them. Keep in mind that I was really skeptical--I actually tried GHS Brite Flats first with more enthusiasm. But the GHS strings were overly bright and had dead spots in a couple of places. I had these strings lying around (in the same gauges as the Brite Flats no less) and slapped them on my fretless... well what do you know! They are definitely bright and sizzly when you are aiming for that but unlike the Brite Flats they seem to have a semblance of true low-tension (think TI JF344s) kind of warmth when played softly. I have been using them to play a lot of modern jazz with some really great tones resulting--no it doesn't sound like an upright, it sounds like a truly modern, fully-evolved fretless. Really a lovely tone. I don't agree with the other reviewer that these strings are grabby. Unless your fingers can only tolerate TIs or D'Addario Chromes, these things are hardly grabby at all--worlds better than D'Addario Half-Rounds, many ground-wounds, GHS Brite Flats, and of course round wounds. And the price is nice. Try them!








