GHS Pressurewound Flats demo

[one bad monkey]

Alright guys, much of how this demo is laid out is because of feedback that I got on here, so I thought it best to show you guys what I came up with. The GHS staff love how I set the "old strings" and "new strings" against each other, citing that it makes it very easy to hear the nuances that change as the strings get broken in. Enjoy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci1uINTqcp8[/youtube]

[Chankgeez]

Nice, one bad monkey.

I have one suggestion for you though. It sounds like your mic is picking up too much acoustic extraneous string noise. Maybe try placing the mic farther away from the actual bass?

Edit: I was just typing this while listening and I got to the end of the video where you state you recorded this direct. Is there some way to EQ out the string noise? Or maybe you need a better interface? Or something? IDK, maybe it's just me and this is a stylistic/aesthetic consideration? IDK, maybe?

[one bad monkey]

Edit: I was just typing this while listening and I got to the end of the video where you state you recorded this direct. Is there some way to EQ out the string noise? Or maybe you need a better interface? Or something? IDK, maybe it's just me and this is a stylistic/aesthetic consideration? IDK, maybe?

Thanks for watching and the comment. I initially thought about that, but you could easily make the argument that by EQing out any extraneous sounds, it wasn't a true representation of the strings. That's why I went direct; no amp, no pre, no EQ, no anything. What you're hearing is as close to what you're going to get with these strings, and as we all know, strings sometimes make more noise than we'd like.

[Chankgeez]

Yeah, after I typed that comment I was thinking about it more.

You can say that even recorded directly, it's not a true representation of what the strings actually sound like. I think next time maybe you can use a number of recording techniques for an even more encompassing review of the strings. I know it's more common for basses than other instruments to be recorded directly, but I'd wanna at least hear the strings through an amp or even through a pre-amp into your recording device. Might give people a better idea of how they sound in various situations.

As far as hearing more string noise than I'd like, that's why I play flatwounds. (And I like 'em well played in.) It definitely is an aesthetic choice. I don't wanna hear much, if any, string noise. Some people don't mind it, some people do.

[one bad monkey]

You can say that even recorded directly, it's not a true representation of what the strings actually sound like. I think next time maybe you can use a number of recording techniques for an even more encompassing review of the strings. I know it's more common for basses than other instruments to be recorded directly, but I'd wanna at least hear the strings through an amp or even through a pre-amp into your recording device. Might give people a better idea of how they sound in various situations.

That's something to consider, but again, if I do use other things someone can always make the argument that "Well, that's not how my amp sounds" or "the preamp used is known for having a very definite character." Keeping it straight direct is the simplest way to remove as many possible variables (outside of bass choice) out of the equation.

But for the next string demo, that's a possibility. The long term goal was to make all of the demos the same, so if someone wanted to know the difference between the Pressurewounds and Progressives, it would be easy to pull up the vids and compare, since everything was recorded the same.

[Chankgeez]

Yeah, I was just thinking out loud, but I'm not your target audience anyway.

I preferred the sound of the old strings in all of those examples up to and possibly including the slapping.

[one bad monkey]

Yeah, I was just thinking out loud, but I'm not your target audience anyway.

Trust me, I went over as many parameters as possible. When GHS approached me about this (June), we had a lot of ideas on how to make this as simple and easy as possible, with little room for argument. Lot of them got thrown out, a couple stayed in. I'll revisit it again before doing the second video and chat with the AR to see if he's heard anything we can do to improve upon it.

I preferred the sound of the old strings in all of those examples up to and possibly including the slapping.

Nothing wrong with that. Truth be told, so do I with this set. That's probably why they stayed on so long. With some of the other sets I've used (and will demo in the future), when they die, they sound like dull thuds. These keep that nice low end with a lot of definition, and that's what a lot of people wanted to know from string demos.

[Chankgeez]

Yeah, these strings sounded nice. The newer ones had a little too much of a top end edge for my taste. They seemed to mellow and round out with age once they've been played in.

It's interesting that the difference in strings is sorta like the difference in die off characteristics of carbon vs. alkaline batteries. Some sound great and then at a certain point take a nose dive and some stay sounding consistently good throughout their entire lives. I'm broke and like thuddy sounding strings. So, I play my strings until they develop tuning problems, but if I needed a string that sounded a particular way, I suppose it'd be good to know what's what. Thanks.

[metalmariachi]

Nice video.
I agree for string comparison direct with no eq is the way to go.

[Josh Pelican]

Pressurewounds are the best strings I've put on my P-bass so far. I've tried six sets of strings, but I think I'll be sticking with them. Next year if all goes according to plan, I'll be going on tour with several sets on hand.