RayL wrote:Selmer's 'Fender and Gibson Guitars' catalogue (dated August 1963) ... Gibson 'Electric Bass' strings were slightly more expensive (a set was £5 5s 0d). while Selmer 'Electric Guitar Bass' strings were cheaper at 56/- (£2 16s). Neither of these makes are quoted as being flat wound (unlike the Fender Set 80) and since the range of Gibson guitar strings are quoted as 'Sonomatic Electric', 'Electric Spanish', 'Polished Compound Bronze' and 'Hi Fi Flat Wound' it would seem to imply that Gibson bass strings were round wound since flat wound is specifically mentioned when applicable for the guitar range. The Burns Price List for June 1963 lists 'Bass-O-Matic Electric Bass Guitar Strings (for) Sonic and Artist Bass' . No mention of tapewound, whereas tapewound is specifically mentioned when applicable to a range of 6-string guitar strings. For the Vista Sonic 6 String Bass a range of 'Bass-O-Matic 6 String Electric Guitar Strings (Short Scale)' are listed, again no mention of them being tape wound.
Ray
Hi, Ray.
All electric bass strings - at that time - were flatwound unless quoted otherwise. Before 1966, the only company offering a wirewound bass guitar string was Danelectro (and even then, in the UK, the only place they could be found was actually on a Danelectro bass). Rotosound were second off the blocks with their Swing Bass roundwound set, but that wasn't until 1966. The James How Company of Bexleyheath originally sold their own strings under the "Rotop" brand, but they were the OEM manufacturers for several British guitar makers, certainly including Jennings/Vox a few miles away in Dartford and Burns on the other side of the Thames, for both of whom they eventually made guitar strings in a variety of qualities and construction types. JH&Co ought also to get recognition for their (slightly later) Tru Bass set (available from 1966 or 1967), which was essentially a light gauge set of roundwound bass strings covered (and brought up to gauge) by a black nylon flat tape. Those strings had most of the twang of the Swing Bass set but still had the freedom from handling noise that was was demanded by players thus far used to getting exactly that from chrome-plated flatwounds.
Incidentally, one of James How's first direct offerings was the "Jet Bass" set: a set of traditionally-made flatwound bass strings, endorsed by the man himself. They also made a set for the six-string bass (Vox also offered it as an OEM item under the name "Cougar Bass") - flatwound again. Even Fender only sold flatwounds for the Bass VI...
The preferences of guitarists were quite unrelated to this. Right through into the late sixties, whilst there was a lot of ignorance among guitar players ref string construction, gauges, etc, there were two sharply-defined camps as between roundwound users and flatwound users. I only ever tried one set of flatwound strings at the time (Hofner brand, which probably means Pyramid). I found them both heavy (compared to roundwounds) and dull on the bass strings. That doesn't mean that they didn't sound good in the right context of course. Just listen to Joe Moretti on flatwounds. But they weren't for me, though I do now sometimes use them on an appropriate guitar and have several sets waiting in reserve.
I recall the Gibson six-string range you mentioned. "Electric Spanish" were the cheapest set and no better (and therefore worse value) than a British set like Monopole or Rotosound. "Sonomatic" were burnished for less string noise and markedly higher in price. They were good strings at the time, but very expensive (the modern equivalent is an impostor: it has every string except one changed in gauge). The HiFi flatwound set speaks for itself, but the Polished Compound Bronze was really meant for archtop acoustic (not archtop electric) guitars. Some players did occasionally use them on electric guitars, relying upon the magnetic qualities of the steel core on the wound G, D, A and E strings. I encountered a few players who used them - usually pure rhythm players. The thing was that the different qualities of roundwounds and flatwounds were recognised and reacted to. By the end of the 1960s, it was getting difficult to find an American brand of flatwounds in the UK. I dare say that the Selmer shop in Charing Cross Road had a stock of them, but trying to find them in the provinces was starting to be a luckless task. The only brand that was anywhere near easy to find was Rotosound, with their (cheap) Top Tape set.
To summarise, "bass strings" automatically meant flatwound, unless otherwise stated, and that was the case until after 1966.