DMS-4 Bass, third build

Hi All,

Ran into a couple of problems.

First, the strings are wearing grooves in the frets really fast! An ideas on how to remedy this?

Second, I did the fret job, then tung oiled the fret board. I did not do a good clean and the dust from the fret board got into the grain. It left the fret board a dirty grey. Frustrating. My own fault. Any thoughts on a remedy?

Attachment 38486

Attachment 38487

Body is not yet finished. I am going to try including an Arduino based tuner and paint it surf mist with matt clear.

Well, short of refretting... Flat wound and even more so tapewound strings will wear the frets a lot less, but you do have to like the resulting sound.

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Originally Posted by JimC

Well, short of refretting... Flat wound and even more so tapewound strings will wear the frets a lot less, but you do have to like the resulting sound.

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And the price! Even with round wounds and 2 less strings than the guitar princesses we still get stung on string price. Both tape and flat wounds are even pricier than round wounds, but the sound is definitely a different experience.

I noticed that bass strings are more expensive, but some people run the same bass strings for decades.

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Originally Posted by Dwubyd

I noticed that bass strings are more expensive, but some people run the same bass strings for decades.

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Guilty as charged.

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I noticed that bass strings are more expensive, but some people run the same bass strings for decades.

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What?... you're supposed to change them???????

Regards,
Not A. Bassplayer

(that owns one bass)

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Originally Posted by Dwubyd

I noticed that bass strings are more expensive, but some people run the same bass strings for decades.

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Aaaaand some people replace them after every gig :D..........

I find roundwounds go off and lose their zing after a while, especially the bottom string, but tapewound don't have any brightness anyway. My first bass has tapewounds, and the current set have been on it since the late 70s or early 80s, but to be fair they've hardly been used for most of that time. I only bought my first ever set of flatwounds recently, so can't comment on those.

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...and the current set have been on it since the late 70s or early 80s...

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Well that makes me feel a whole lot better!!!

The strings on my one (short scale) bass are about a year old. Probably had about 2 hours total playing time and it's mostly just the E & A strings :o

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Originally Posted by JimC

I find roundwounds go off and lose their zing after a while, especially the bottom string, but tapewound don't have any brightness anyway. My first bass has tapewounds, and the current set have been on it since the late 70s or early 80s, but to be fair they've hardly been used for most of that time. I only bought my first ever set of flatwounds recently, so can't comment on those.

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Funny you should say that, in an interview Steve Harris replied to:

"You use flatwound strings, and yet you’re known for a bright, trebly sound. It’s a bit of a contradiction."

with:

" It is. The unfortunate part is that I have to change strings every gig. It’s because I sweat so much onstage that they just go dead. That might happen with roundwounds as well, but having said that, the flatwounds also stop all the screeching when you’re playing quieter, slower stuff."

Herbie Flowers (Sky, Space Oddity, Walk on the Wild Side, lots of etc) was one high profile user of the black tapewound Rotosound strings who kept them on for years at a time.

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Originally Posted by JimC

Herbie Flowers (Sky, Space Oddity, Walk on the Wild Side, lots of etc) was one high profile user of the black tapewound Rotosound strings who kept them on for years at a time.

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I think it's modern day consumerism that dictates how often guitar strings are changed.
The same crowd that put a massive dollop of toothpaste on their brush every day.

cheers, Mark.

Oh, you had to bring up the big dollop of toothpaste thing! It makes me crazy. Some people think you have to put it on like in th adverts.

Bass player in Khrangbin never changes her strings.

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Originally Posted by Dwubyd

Oh, you had to bring up the big dollop of toothpaste thing! It makes me crazy. Some people think you have to put it on like in th adverts.

Bass player in Khrangbin never changes her strings.

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...and she plays an SX bass. The only thing she says she's changed on it are the pups. I have a very similar one that I got for less than $100. Seems talent may be more important than equipment. She consistently sounds better than I do.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by king casey

I think it's modern day consumerism that dictates how often guitar strings are changed.

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Oh no, I definitely hear it when my bottom string goes off - anf it always is the bottom string. It really affects my playing too, even if a significant percentage of the public won't know the difference.

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Originally Posted by fender3x

...and she plays an SX bass. The only thing she says she's changed on it are the pups. I have a very similar one that I got for less than $100. Seems talent may be more important than equipment. She consistently sounds better than I do.

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I had an SX... I dismantled it and threw it in the bin. The Toby I replaced it with feels and sounds so much better. Once I threw in a little Rumble into the mix I was where I wanted to be. My shoulder is happier too!

Depends how much you use them but I like to change strings before a gig or recording. The brightness wares off after about a month of playing regularly. If you are just jamming they will last quite a while until they get rusty, depends on how much you sweat, the weather etc always a good idea to wipe down after playing as this will extend the life

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Originally Posted by Rabbit

I had an SX... I dismantled it and threw it in the bin. The Toby I replaced it with feels and sounds so much better. Once I threw in a little Rumble into the mix I was where I wanted to be. My shoulder is happier too!

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I like my SX, but it took a little work to get there. I got it as a backup and for a while all I had done with it was to swap out the stock pickups for DiMarzio J's. It sounded OK and played OK. When I started gearing up to do a proper set up on my first PitBull kit, I put a bone nut on it, dressed the frets and did a proper setup. After that it played great, but it still sounded just OK. I did a little routing and got a new pickguard to put in a P pup where the neck J pup had been, and swapped out the pickups for some EMG Geezer Butlers. Neck dive was cured with Gotoh Res-O-Lites. I think the only the bridge is stock and unmodded at this stage. I do hear you about the weight though. It's on the heavy side of the normal range for a P/J bass at about 4.5kg.

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Originally Posted by Barry snook

Depends how much you use them but I like to change strings before a gig or recording. The brightness wares off after about a month of playing regularly. If you are just jamming they will last quite a while until they get rusty, depends on how much you sweat, the weather etc always a good idea to wipe down after playing as this will extend the life

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That makes sense. You'll hear yourself better in the mix when the strings are a little brighter. I think it depends a bit on your playing style as well. I like them a little dull, except for slap...which I am very bad at and don't do much ;-)