HB Fretless Acoustic - Strings?

Nomad

Was mooching around Thomann for other stuff and spotted this...

http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_30_nt_fl_acoustic_ba_deko.htm

...for 35 quid. I don't need it, I probably don't have room for it, but it was too cheap to resist.

Any suggestions for strings? It would be used amplified (at sensible home volumes) or DI'd for the most part, and I'd like something that leans towards a double bass sound.

ICBM

Flatwounds. Pretty much anything will do.

There seems to be an odd idea that because acoustic guitars use bronze roundwound strings then acoustic basses should too… even on a fretted one they sound crap, and on a fretless they will wreck the fingerboard in a matter of minutes.

I assume you've spotted that they say it's a "decorative article, not for playing" which almost certainly means it has some major playability fault (other than the strings!) and hence they're not guaranteeing it as a musical instrument.

mart

Put some Thomastik Jazz Flats on, and you can genuinely have strings that cost more than the bass itself.  

(That's not an entirely flippant comment. They're the strings I've got on my fretless acoustic, although that bass did cost rather more than the strings.)

Nomad

Alright, flats of some sort it is, then. (Thought it might be, but just wanted to check in case I was missing something.) I'll wait until it arrives before I decide on anything specific - need to check that it's playable first, and I'd like to see what the fitted gauge feels like. I also noticed that it gives the scale as 864mm (34"), but the non-deko ones of the same model say 815mm (32"), so I'll need to measure that as well.

@ICBM, yes, I know it's a deko jobbie. From what I've read, these are generally rather good - flaws are minor more often than not. (The Thomann Kotori flute I got  a while back seems perfect, the only apparent flaw being the scuffed outer box it came in.) At £35 for a bass acoustic, I think it's worth the gamble (hardly worth shipping back unless it arrives in splinters).

ICBM

If it's shorter scale, you could do worse than Rotosound black nylon tapewounds - the sort of thing you put on a Hofner Violin Bass normally. I think they'll reach even on a 32" scale since the Hofner has a trapeze tailpiece, so there must be about 2" of extra length there even though the bass is 30" scale.

Nomad

Just been looking into the Rotosound black nylon jobs, and they come in a range of scale lengths. I might give those a try...

UnclePsychosis

Quite a few guys at basschat have bought deko instruments and I don't think anyone has actually received an instrument that was actually unplayable yet. Lots of them don't seem to have any flaws at all!

I bought a deko baritone and whilst the hardware was utter pony it's completely functional.

Nomad

Bass has finally arrived. All seems okay so far, although I've not gone over it with a fine-toothed comb. No obvious flaws, action is okay, plays fine, dot markers do indeed seem to be at the fret positions, and the electrics and tuner seem to work. Machine heads are okay - no slippage so far, but don't feel especially great. I'll reserve judgement on the tone until after I change the strings - the bronze rounds aren't very good, and the E string is pretty feeble (and turning up the bass on the 4-band EQ doesn't really help it because the lower notes on the other strings get too loud).

Next step is to take some measurements and home in on some replacement strings. I'll probably stick a roll of felt under the strings at the bridge to see if that makes it more thumpy sounding.

Stupidly cheap at 35 quid.

Nomad

Scale length is 32" (or about 815mm). Not what was in the description of the deko page, but matches that of the non-deko new ones.

Fitted string gauges are: 40, 60, 75, 95, which seems oddly light at the bottom end.

I found the flaw. There is some lacquer coming away from the binding on the G string side of the fingerboard, around the 3rd to 4th frets. Occasionally feel it, but not a big deal. It's not loose on the wood, so it should be possible to get the loose bit off and sand it down and keep it within the binding. Could always put a smear of Tru-Oil on it if it seems it would help.

The only other thing I noticed is that the E buzzes or rattles a little at the nut (noticed this when playing acoustically today). It's not hitting the fingerboard, but something to do with how it passes through the groove - I can damp it if I press in appropriate ways. I'll leave this until the strings are changed (might want to work the nut a bit anyway).

ICBM

Nomad said:

Fitted string gauges are: 40, 60, 75, 95, which seems oddly light at the bottom end.

It depends on the core size - a .095" gauge string which is made with a .045" core and a .025" wrap will be a lot higher tension than one which has a .035" core and a .030" wrap, for example. (Just an illustration, bass strings that thick are usually double-wrapped anyway.)

Nomad said:

The only other thing I noticed is that the E buzzes or rattles a little at the nut (noticed this when playing acoustically today). It's not hitting the fingerboard, but something to do with how it passes through the groove - I can damp it if I press in appropriate ways. I'll leave this until the strings are changed (might want to work the nut a bit anyway).

Flatwounds will very likely help that too, even without nut work.

I assume you know that on a fretless, the strings should be almost touching the fingerboard at the nut, which is not how a lot of fretless basses come! Presumably because they are fitted with fretted-bass nuts and never set up properly...

Nomad

ICBM said:

It depends on the core size - a .095" gauge string which is made with a .045" core and a .025" wrap will be a lot higher tension than one which has a .035" core and a .030" wrap, for example. (Just an illustration, bass strings that thick are usually double-wrapped anyway.)

Didn't know that. The E feels a bit lacking in tension, if anything - a bit too easy to get it to rattle off the board with stronger hits at the lower positions compared to the other strings. I guess the rounds on it are a somewhat unknown quantity, so I'll probably just go for something decent first and see how they feel. (Currently a toss-up between Thomastik flats and Rotosound nylon tapewounds.)

ICBM said:

Flatwounds will very likely help that too, even without nut work.

I assume you know that on a fretless, the strings should be almost touching the fingerboard at the nut, which is not how a lot of fretless basses come! Presumably because they are fitted with fretted-bass nuts and never set up properly...

Yes. It needs to come down - could get the proverbial bus under the strings at the nut. I'll wait until new strings are on it, and I get the neck relief set. (Not much mwah at the lower positions at the moment, but pretty decent higher up, so a bit too much relief.)

Was playing it acoustically for a bit yesterday, and there is certainly a woody, double-bassy character to it. Also tried it plugged into the desk and listening on headphones, and that, I have to say, was a tad under-inspiring - sounded very 'piezo'.

Winny_Pooh

If you want I have an old used set of black nylon tapewounds I can give to you if you want to try em out.