Why did I buy these strings? because I have a problem with a Fender neck -the P'51 U-shaped- that I love, but it's at the limit of the truss rod possibilities. The solution? low, equilibrate tension strings. It's the first ghs strings that I use, so I can't compare with other ghs strings; I can. however, compare with other strings that I use, namely, Rotos and Fender (the short-scale Höfner is another story, so I'm keeping those out).
From the beginning now. Among the low tension, light gauge string sets, the ghs bass boomers 3045 L offered the most balanced tension across the neck. They sound quite bright but not as bright as the Rotosound SM66N (I play Nickel-plated, so warm-sounding strings). Fair enough: I have the Rotos on my Jazz bass, while these are on the p bass. They stay fresh for long time. I play daily, but as amateur I play a few hours a week: 1 rehearsal, some practice, a couple of gigs a year... I want my strings to withstand time, as wear is not the issue here, and these ghs are still fresh after some months.
In spite of the lower-than-usual tension and of the light gauge, I could set the action super-low. Among my basses, this p bass is now the one with lowest action: 1.5-1.7-1.65-1.5 (E to G). Yes, those are mm!
So, all in all I'm really happy with these strings. From the Eq point of view, they don't growl and are fairly equilibrated on the midrange. all in all very pleasant sound rich in details. The playability is good, they are rather fast strings.
One small drawback is that the strings are reaaaaally soft; I place my thumb on the E string when playing D and G, and that was enough to bend the E string so much that it touched the pickup pole. no fret buzz though, so I just lowered the pickups and now the bass has a perfect setup again.
