StevieD_FenderP2009 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Hey Right, for the last 3 years, i've exclusively used Rotosound RS66-LE 110-50 gauge strings on my basses (Tobias, BC Rich, Fender, Epiphone) and I've loved them... but now I'm not so sure on them. For the first week, the initial brightness and (excuse the term) "zingy slap" that comes from them as they clank on the fretboard is orgasmic, but over the last few months I've noticed that after the first week/two weeks, they go really dull and thuddy. I must add that I change my strings every 6 weeks to try and keep the bass sounding fresh as I do a lot of recording work for various people and I also play in quite a few bands (currently in 4, 2 prog rock bands, a hardcore band and a death core band. Why the deathcore one? It's a bit of a laugh haha) So, I need some advice on what strings to change to. I don't want to change the gauge, they must be 50 - 110 as I have one bass in E standard/Drop D and the other one in Drop C/Drop C#, basically, for the bands my tunings are: Crimson Dream - E flat/drop C# Deez Sluts - Drop C Ayfx - Drop D For playing at home I normally play in E standard as I play alot of Iron Maiden and Rush when I'm at home. The deathcore band, I Eat Ghosts, play in Drop A# but I've got a bass specially set up for that. Anyways, I need you to recommend some strings in that gauge that are very bright/high treble end and that will stay bright for a decent amount of time. I don't care what make they are either. I don't want to go to Flatwounds either as they hurt my fingers. Thanks guys! Stevie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieD_FenderP2009 Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 PS, I REFUSE TO USE ERNIE BALL! Bad experiences with them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 You manage to get a week of zinginess out of Rotos? I stopped using them a few years back and have since tried a whole load of different strings. Have now settled on DR Highbeams, plenty of oomph and they seem to stay nice and bright for a good long time. Not cheap initially but they last and last. Can be found cheapish on ebay from various U.S. sellers (although there has been talk of same fakes of late). If you are on a tight budget it might be worth considering the seller on Ebay who does three packs of Hartke strings for about £12. I've had them in the past and been quite happy with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewart Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Give Elites Stadium (heavy) a try - good life for roundwounds, and very consistent in my experience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttitudeCastle Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Easy, use the Steve Harris set instead He did say they were designed not to go dull when he sweats on them 24/7 haha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieD_FenderP2009 Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 [quote name='gary mac' post='1227052' date='May 11 2011, 06:50 AM']You manage to get a week of zinginess out of Rotos? I stopped using them a few years back and have since tried a whole load of different strings. Have now settled on DR Highbeams, plenty of oomph and they seem to stay nice and bright for a good long time. Not cheap initially but they last and last. Can be found cheapish on ebay from various U.S. sellers (although there has been talk of same fakes of late). If you are on a tight budget it might be worth considering the seller on Ebay who does three packs of Hartke strings for about £12. I've had them in the past and been quite happy with them.[/quote] Thanks very much dude, ive heard nothing but good things about DR strings so I'm going to give them a go. Rotosound just seem to be really sh*t in the last year but I stuck with them in the hope they'd get better. I'll skip the Hartke ones though thanks I don't like anything to do with Hartke. Never been a fan of their equipment. Cheers Stewart, someone else mentioned Elites so I'll give them a go on another bass to see how they hold up. And lastly, Attitudecastle, neeeeever again will I use SH's sig set. They go dull after a few days and as I said before, flatwounds hurt my fingers. Steve never uses the same set for 2 shows on the trot either. Mike Kenney changes them everyday for him which is how he retains the brightness to them. I've had 5 sets of them at various points over the last few years and everytime I've questioned why I had bought them. I then bought the Steve Harris Fender Signature Bass and it came with those fitted so as soon as I could afford some new ones, i restrung it with the RS66LE 50-110 set Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Hve you thought about coated strings? Elixirs tend to last a while (unless you play with a pick, which just shreds them) though they're not [i]quite[/i] as zingy as new uncoated roundwounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Unless you're lucky the road to finding the right strings for you and your bass can be long and expensive. I quite like the following: La Bella Hard Rockin Steels SIT Power Steel Stainless Overwater Steels However just because I like them doesn't mean that you will too. The only way you can know for sure is to buy a set and try them. For instance DR strings have lots of fans here. I have yet to try a set that I didn't think felt and sounded totally horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 DR for me..but D'addarios aren't too bad at keeping their brightness. I am not such a fan of the overall sound..too bassy for me in a string. Don't get me wrong, I want lows..I just don't need this help from a string so that is why I use them less.. but they are mid priced and last ok. FWIW, I think 2 weeks is about right for a 'live' sound. The other thing about DR is that they don't have any silk winds so if you are careful winding them on they clean up well and often, IME. I'd get at least 5 runs out of them, I'd think, if the strings didn't flatten for any reason. Expensive..but the best I have used, IMO. La Bella super steps are nice but I doubt you'll like the exposed core.. and you need to protect that core over the bridge to avoid breakage.. which might be hard if you clean them out.. so all in all..back to DR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73Jazz Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 (edited) On a P, DR Lorider 110 (Steel) sound really nice for Rock. The mentioned Elixirs good be also a good choice for you, are they available in 110? If you want to try bright flats, or better the advantage of flatwound strings with the sound of rounds you should try(cheap) d´angelico smooth rounds. I tested a lot of strings and those d`angelico are now my favourite ones Edited May 11, 2011 by 73Jazz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 [quote name='StevieD_FenderP2009' post='1227202' date='May 11 2011, 09:58 AM']Thanks very much dude, ive heard nothing but good things about DR strings so I'm going to give them a go.[/quote] So you haven't read the posts about their quality control being sh*t & getting dud strings again & again? I stopped using them (on bass & acoustic guitar) for this reason & my local shop stopped stocking them because they were fed up with the failure rate. I use Labella's now ("Slappers" & "Deep talkin' bass") - half the price & never had any problems at all. They last a long time too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 [quote name='RhysP' post='1227298' date='May 11 2011, 11:20 AM']....So you haven't read the posts about their quality control being sh*t & getting dud strings again & again?....[/quote] I only use 1 or 2 sets of DR strings in a year (for the last 10 years or so) and I've never had a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73Jazz Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 [quote name='chris_b' post='1227346' date='May 11 2011, 12:46 PM']and I've never had a problem.[/quote] +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 [quote name='StevieD_FenderP2009' post='1227202' date='May 11 2011, 09:58 AM']Thanks very much dude, ive heard nothing but good things about DR strings so I'm going to give them a go.[/quote] And as I said in my first post string choice is entirely subjective. I'd heard lots of good things about DR strings too, but when I came to try them for myself I really couldn't see what was so special about them. To me they felt sloppy and sounded dull. The best you can hope for from a thread like this is a huge list of potential strings to try and vague hope that you'll find ones that suit your bass, your playing style and your ears sooner rather than later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 [quote name='chris_b' post='1227346' date='May 11 2011, 11:46 AM']I only use 1 or 2 sets of DR strings in a year (for the last 10 years or so) and I've never had a problem.[/quote] I've gone through far more than that in a week just trying to find a set that weren't f***ed. (That's mail order as well as from a local shop so it wasn't just a case of one place having a faulty batch. One very well know online string retailer told me they send more sets of DR strings back because of faults than any other brand). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moos3h Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Do yourself a favour and get some Legacy strings from Stringsdirect - they ARE Rotosounds, and half the price so you can change 'em more often! I use them and love the sound for the first gig - I trash strings with a remarkable speed. Thinking of trying Elixirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttitudeCastle Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I guess i've always been lucky with Rotos then! the Harris ones are the only Flats i'll use as they always last me in brightness for ages (saem with the Sheehan set, minus the last ones i got!) But fair call! Try Dean Markleys they stay bright for AGES and can take heavy punishment! and +1 to Moos3h! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 [quote name='StevieD_FenderP2009' post='1227034' date='May 11 2011, 04:20 AM']PS, I REFUSE TO USE ERNIE BALL! Bad experiences with them...[/quote] [quote name='StevieD_FenderP2009' post='1227202' date='May 11 2011, 09:58 AM']I don't like anything to do with Hartke. Never been a fan of their equipment.[/quote] What's up with Ernie Ball? I use them loads and they've always been great. Don't dismiss the Hartke strings too quickly either,they are decent strings and cheap-they are very similar to the Fender strings. Other than that,I like Fender,D'Addario,and GHS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) [quote name='StevieD_FenderP2009' post='1227202' date='May 11 2011, 09:58 AM']I'll skip the Hartke ones though thanks I don't like anything to do with Hartke. Never been a fan of their equipment.[/quote] That's up to you, but I wouldn't be surprised if the only involvement Hartke have in these strings is allowing the printing of their logo on the front of the pack. They're great strings for the money and I use them almost exclusively. Edited May 12, 2011 by neepheid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I've had a recent bad set of DR's... but that was the only one in years of buying them. I am still trying to clean them up as we speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I've had a recent bad set of DR's... but that was the only one in years of buying them. I am still trying to clean them up as we speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepbass5 Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I started out on Rotosound, 15 years then went to Elites 5-10 years with a few jump backs to Roto solo bass now use GHS boomers nickle, love them they feel warm and have a lived in feel, no clanky zingy suprizes to EQ out. (Fingerstyle pop covers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Moos3h' post='1227409' date='May 11 2011, 12:35 PM']Do yourself a favour and get some Legacy strings from Stringsdirect - they ARE Rotosounds, and half the price so you can change 'em more often! I use them and love the sound for the first gig - I trash strings with a remarkable speed. Thinking of trying Elixirs.[/quote] What he said. ...or elixirs, which he also said. Um. Listen to him!! Edited May 12, 2011 by gafbass02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) Have you tried Roto 55 Compressors? All right, green silk, but....... G. Edited May 12, 2011 by geoffbyrne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS73 Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Is it me or do the RS66 seem sharper and are not so fast when new to fret quickly, I find too that they graze my plucking fingers quicker than most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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