Smythe

I'm with you on those statements. Love Elixirs and I'd rather use no strings on my bass than use a set of Rotosounds lol! The most important thing I look for in a string is their playability, their comfort and string tension. (I like a medium tension, I have quite a heavy attack). I don't really know what the fuss is about a tone of a string. I like a fairly neutral sounding string. I want the tone to mainly come from my fingers, the tonewoods, pickups and preamps not from my strings! I run Elixir nickels on both my Maruszczyk basses (Jake and Elwood) I love the balanced tension and clean rounded tone they have. I've had them on both basses for 7months now and they haven't dulled from installation yet from medium usage. I normally use D'addario EXL-170-5 on my Lakland 55-02, historically theyre the string I've used the longest. A true benchmark string in terms of feel and universal usage. But, currently, I've got D'addario NYXL45130 on it but the jury is unanimously out on them for me personally which I'm gutted about. I had such high hopes for them.. The tone is good, nice and bright, but they have too low and an uneven tension for me. The E and A strings flap around like carrier bags in the wind! The fret buzz I experience is horrendous. I've bowed my neck a bit and raised the saddles and I can it fret buzz free with the action on both E and A strings around 3.5mm at the 12th fret, Which is quite extreme for me! I've ordered another set of my treasured XLs which will arrive tomorrow. On my fretless I use d'addario Chromes 45-100. Another brilliant, rounded flatwound string .I love their tension and slightly bright tone with flatwound fundamentals. On my PJ I use GHS Pressurewounds ML7200 . Another favourite string of mine. Slightly higher tension but it's even across each string. They have a rap fundamental sound. Like a growly roundwound for the first 4 or 5 months and they gradually start to enter the best qualities of rounds and flats after this period. I can get around 18months of medium to regular usage out of them.

Seen this before on R&T website and thought you'd maybe interested. They're a great bass, I have the limited edition passive 2013 model with a maple fingerboard. I actually prefered the sound of the active model but went for the passive mainly because they were made in fewer numbers.

Have a look at some of the stock they have in R&T Music in Barrow in Furness. They've moved into selling higher end, professional gear over the last few years. They had numerous classic rock basses in there last time I looked. It's not too long a drive from up the coast there's only that perilous road to contend with!

They certainly are now!

Same material. Nickel frets on both. The Elwood had Dunlop Super bright Steels on pretty much from when I bought it 8 months prior to installing the Roto RB40's with tiniest signs of fret wear underneath from the Super Bright Steels. The Roto's caused significantly more wear in their time scale on the bass (around 6 months) . Fortunately, the frets don't require a dress yet, they just have slight flattening of the crowns where the strings go over them.

I put a set of Rotosound 40-100 nickels on my Maruszczyk Elwood. They were nothing amazing. Very high tension for 40-100 probably the same as a standard set of 45-105 strings. I had them on my bass for six months so they didn't owe me anything once they were done. The problem arose when it came to changing the strings out. The fretwear presented to me was on par with what my 14year Lakland has that has only ever worn Prosteel and Elixir SS strings it's whole life! This is from 6months usage of the nickel set! I can't imagine how bad itd be from using Rotos flag ship Steel strings!

Thanks for the feedback, chris_b. The 5502 I have is one of the earlier Korean models, most likely made in the Ibanez factory. It feels and sounds different to the later Plek'd models made in the Cort factory. It has the same Hanson pickups and LH3 preamp, but the overall tone sounds much fatter/meatier and more overpowering in the lower frequency end even when cutting the bass EQ. It doesn't have much high mids or treble end shine that the later Indonesian made models have. I've tried tweaking the internal pots to find a better mid attenuation but I just can't find a sweet spot that I like. Its a perfect instrument for someone into reggae/dub or Ska etc. The low end is off the richter scale and the low B is the best one I've ever experienced. I'm reluctant to switch the electronics out on the bass as it's the same electronics that go into the £3.5k+ American counterpart models so they shouldn't be an issue. It's going to get sold at some point this year, unfortunately. I'm after a Maruszczyk Elwood or Sandberg California 5 string with a similar J-MM config.

Best purchase : Darkglass Vintage Deluxe . Awesome preamp section . I use the drive on it very discreetly, but I use it for all my passive basses as the primary preamp. Clear, concise and very authorative. Worst purchase : Lakland Skyline 55-02. I'm not trying to be contrary here btw, zranyard lol. They're really good basses if they're your thing, but I don't find the 5502 tonal pallette to suit my preference. I used to own a 4402 many,many years ago and I remembered loving it, but it sounded different to the 5502. In the meantime I've bought lots of Fender passive basses and a couple of Maruszczyk custum builds between owning the 4402 and the 5502. That's where my idea of tone lies. In the passive P and J echelons. Bought the 5502 second hand on whim around April time and really regret it now. I've had it up for sale on different platforms to Basschat for a few months.

Sold Ryan an Owen Electronics Bass Bomb Driver, good communication and prompt payment, a pleasure to do business with. Thank you.