Beta Test & Review D’Addario NYXL Bass Strings

[lee4]

Love to try a 4 string set for my Country Rock band.They will go onto my Vintage Tony Butler P bass quite nicely!

[DanEly]

I'd like to try out a 4 string set please! Got a couple of tours coming up. Would be great to compare them to the standard D'Addario nickel wounds I'm currently using!

[AndyTravis]

Mine arrived today.

Spent 2 hours playing.

They feel superb, I normally don't rave about strings but they feel great.

I've adapted the songs I use a five string for, and I'll be using the bass at rehearsal on Monday.

https://instagram.com/p/BAnTDMaOQQj/

[Billy Apple]

Mine arrived today. Just need the 5'er to arrive now to put them on!

Cheers Daddy-rio

[Grangur]

Yes please, if i've not missed it.

Either 4 or 5 string. 45 - 100 or 45-130

[SubsonicSimpleton]

My boiler just died, so a set of free strings would cheer me up

[Woodinblack]

Got my strings today thanks, will swap them over after the next gig, see what difference it makes and get back to you!

[Luulox]

Got mine today, thanks very much D'addario. first impressions are good, nice tension on them, will be having a proper go tomorrow.

[gelfin]

Got mine today too. Will need to wait a while for the new J neck that I have fitted to settle and do a proper set up.

However, first impression is good.

[Zenitram]

I'd love to try a 4 set. Am trying to write and record a bass line as part of a piece of music for a play I'm in at a local theatre.

If that's a good reason, then, er, yes please.

[Panamonte]

Swapped these for the Elixirs on my P/J last night. Feel really good under the fingers - more compliant than the Elixirs, but still very responsive. Makes it easier to play fast with good articulation. Initial impression soundwise is that they have a punchy low mid presence and attractive sounding highs - not at all harsh or brittle. It will be interesting to see how they change with playing, but so far I'm very impressed.

Edited January 17, 2016 by Panamonte

[MacDaddy]

I'm back in a band playing bass again (metal \m/ ) and our first gig is on the 31st January.

I haven't settled on a bass string brand yet, I've been using the ones I tend to win in raffles at Bassbashes.

I've been a bassist for many years and would be delighted to provide feedback on your strings.

BTW I'm old school and play 4 string basses.

Edited January 17, 2016 by MacDaddy

[project_c]

Just put these on my fretted Precision and been playing with them for an hour or so, they feel really good, snappy and responsive, not rough on the fingers at all. They sound clear, balanced and confident, no harshness, lots of clarity, can't really fault them in any way. They're really fun to play.

I'm going to wear them in a bit and then they're going on the fretless for band practice, really looking forward to trying them at the rehearsal room.

[D'AddarioUK]

Thanks to everyone for your interest, we have selected our 20 beta testers. Please feedback about your experience with NYXL Bass into this thread.

[Musashimonkey]

Thanks D'Addario, received the strings in record time! I've put these on a 4 string that was in desperate need of a restring. I'd echo the previous comments about tone, smooth with good harmonics and brightness, but not tipping into brittle or harsh territory. Very musical and pleasing to the ear. They really push out a full low end too. It goes to show that anyone having issues with their tone should try a string change first - it can be game changing!

I'm impressed with how well they hold their tuning even when brand new. I'm always reluctant to change strings leading up to a gig, but these really do seem to 'stretch out' very quickly.

I'll keep playing and checking back to see how they last longevity wise... But so far, so very good!

Really enjoying my 6 string playing too at the moment, so very much looking forward to playing an extended range in these when/if they become available.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Musashimonkey

[sifi2112]

Initial impression is very good as these look quality. I strung my Dingwall ABZ5 leaving the B string on (Newtone nickel) & these have a really nice feel to them & a finer wind than the Newtone. Nice brightness but not overly so & the tension also feels good on my extra long scale, unfortunately the E string is about 17mm short of the nut, so I've made a temp shim. Andrew said these were long scale (not super).

Tested them amplified at rehearsal yesterday & I think they are maybe the nicest nickels I've tried in a long time (usually use ss).
Like others have said I found no brittleness or harshness, just a lovely solid tone with a bit of crunch when digging in. Tuning stability seems pretty good too as I didn't even stretch beforehand & only needed a couple of minor tune ups during rehearsal.
I will certainly consider these if I choose nickels tho I might see if I can get a single super long E as I don't fancy gigging with the 'shim'.

I'll report back after they've had a fair few hours of play ... thanks against Andrew & D'Addario

[jazzyvee]

Ok here are what I've found so far.

Bass Used: Alembic Series II Europa 5 String Bass.
Strings Normally Used: D’addario Pro Steels 45 – 130
Bass Rig: Mesa boogie 1x15 powerhouse cab, Mesa Boogie 2x10 powerhouse cab. 2 x Alembic F1-x valve pre-amps, QSC PLX 2402 Stereo Power amplifier.


Other strings I have experience with: Alembic Bass strings. 45 – 128, D’addario Pro Steels & Nickel 45 – 130, Elixir Coated Strings.

First impression after first stringing on bass and tuning to pitch:[list]
[*]Shiny and smooth to the touch and none of the abrasive feel or dragging that I normally experience with D’addario Pro Steels.
[*]Less time to stretch strings in to maintained concert pitch.
[/list]
First impression on playing at home:[list]
[*]Much less finger noise than the D’addario Pro-steels and Nickel strings when first new.
[*]Heavier warmer bottom end response but with less note clarity than my normal pro-steels.
[*]Less clarity and sparkle on the higher frequencies.
[*]Feels like the strings have greater tension which is a double edged sword since while it gives a better more consistent feel on the low B and for some playing techniques like double thumbing I prefer slightly more give on the E,A,D,G strings since string bending is part of my technique.
[*]Tonally these strings are not bright enough or have enough hi-fi sound for my preference when playing my Jazz-funk fusion based material however the extended bottom end seems perfect for warmer genre’s of music such as reggae and soul and with acoustic bands so I plan to try these strings out on my series I bass for reggae gig & rehearsals within the next few of weeks .
[/list]
Tried them out again at rehearsal on Sunday afternoon and at higher than home volume using my Mesa Boogie walkabout head with my normal gigging settings that I'm familar with, into a Peavey TX810 cab. I could hear much more of the top and mid range from the strings than at home which is expected. The only things I wasn’t over the moon with was the notes seemed to break up with an edgy, slightly distorted tone on the G string when playing slap techniques.

On my bass when using pro-steels if I close the low pass filter there is usually still a little of the higher frequencies on the attack still evident and that gives me that note clarity. This wasn't as evident on the NYXK strings so I had to mix in a little of the bridge pickup to get me better articulation. I guess that could me more to do with the characteristic of pro-steels rather than anything lacking in nickel strings which seem to be warmer.

Got a gig tomorrow night so will see how they fare then and report back. So far so good.

Edited January 18, 2016 by jazzyvee

[TrevorR]

What a great idea for a customer feedback road test. Sadly didn't sign up as nickel strings don't suit my skin (I'm a sensitive little soul) but will be watching with interest if there are any future tests for stainless or flats. Really interesting reading folks initial comments and will look forward to more considered thoughts post gigging. We often talk strings in similar ways to wine tasting descriptions but it's so few and far between that cross comparison or consensus is hard to build up. However, having a load of players commenting on the new design all at once and comparing with their previous strings should make for a fascinating experiment. Nice one!

[Luulox]

I put these strings on a squier VM jazz 5 string and as soon as i opened the pack they felt more flexible, not as rigid as the previous D'addario EXL170BT strings on the bass. When i strung them up the tension compared to the other strings was noticeably less and felt softer to the touch. They were easier on the fingers and maybe even slightly easier to play. I also noticed there was less string noise too
Using fingers they seemed to have more clarity and slightly more attack than the EXL170 strings, the notes popped out a bit more. they had a nice thump to them
For me the big difference was with a pick, a lot more attack and clarity, I really liked the sound of them when using the pick. They had a sharper sound, I thought straight away that it would be easy to get something very like the bass sound on peaches with a bit of overdrive? if that was the sound you liked.
The definition of the notes in both cases was really good and I actually prefer them to my EXL170's which are very good strings in any case. I would definitely buy a set in the future if they were in my price range.

Cheers

Pete

[jazzyvee]

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1453121710' post='2956487']
What a great idea for a customer feedback road test. Sadly didn't sign up as nickel strings don't suit my skin (I'm a sensitive little soul) but will be watching with interest if there are any future tests for stainless or flats. Really interesting reading folks initial comments and will look forward to more considered thoughts post gigging. We often talk strings in similar ways to wine tasting descriptions but it's so few and far between that cross comparison or consensus is hard to build up. However, having a load of players commenting on the new design all at once and comparing with their previous strings should make for a fascinating experiment. Nice one!
[/quote]

It's only recently I've started to put two and two together about whether my skin is sensitive to nickel. For years I avoided nickel guitar strings of all makes only because when I was touring and playing on hot stages I realised that when I my fingers got a little sweaty, the coating came off the strings after one or two gigs and break. But when my fingers didn't get hot enough to perspire then I had no problems with nickel strings. Eventually for cost reasons I then tried Elixir coated and stainless steel strings for guitar when touring and nickel for less high temperature gigs. I've used stainless steel on most of my basses for about 2 - 3 years only because I like the brighter tone and the ones with nickel strings I have recently taken note that my fingers get sore when I play those basses and not on the pro-steel strung basses so my guess is it may be some kind of reaction to nickel although i find that hard to comprehend as bass playing fingertips are fairly well worn in. I like the tone of nickel for reggae so my hope with these strings are that being smoother they may not be an irritant. So far they have been fine on a 3 hour rehearsal. :-)

[mr zed]

Received mine on Saturday but didn't want to put them on my Stingray immediately as I had a gig that night. From what others have said so far, I needn't have worried about them staying in tune or being too bright. Will be putting them on this evening then a full band rehearsal tomorrow night so I'll report back then.

[Mcgiver69]

Ok guys,

I'm one of those pesky testers (even though I'm not in the list at the beginning of the thread).

Received my set (45-130) and installed them in my main bass (Aria STP 5), I used them so far in 2 gigs and my impressions are as follows:

- They feel like my beloved EXL but extra smooth I played too gigs and my fingers didn't even notice it.
- The B string feels tight like the EXL but with more body and clarity. It doesn't get buried by my drummer's bass drum.
- The sound seems very open and by this I mean, fuller lows and more presence in the higher frequencies without being glassy or extra silky. The whole sound is just pleasant and for a MM type of bass like this one the G and D strings seem to come out clear and seem to match the other strings which is something I've always been annoyed by.
- The core seems firmer than the EXL which seems to work very well in this case, this doesn't seem to affect the overall feel of the strings.
- I had to change my EQ settings but I got a great sound very quickly (something close to a Nathan East esque sound which is the one I love )

So far I love them and reminds me why I keep coming back to my D'addarios no matter how many times I try other strings, simply because they are great to my fingers, they sound just the way I like, the price is right too and they last longer than the other I've tried.

I'm looking forward to my next gigs as I still have to test their durability but so far top marks.

Oh BTW in case you're wondering I do not work for them.... Just saying.

[LayDownThaFunk]

D'Addario - how do these differ from normal XLs?

[D'AddarioUK]

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1453293247' post='2958112']
D'Addario - how do these differ from normal XLs?
[/quote]

NYXL Bass differ to XLs in two main regards; construction and material. NYXL Bass strings use a different core to wrap ratio compared to our standard XLs, they are made of our proprietary high carbon NY Steel and plated using a reformulated nickel alloy. The effect of this is a stronger string that has better tuning stability, lasts longer and a more dynamic tonal response.

[Dood]

[quote name='D'AddarioUK' timestamp='1453297373' post='2958192']
NYXL Bass differ to XLs in two main regards; construction and material. NYXL Bass strings use a different core to wrap ratio compared to our standard XLs, they are made of our proprietary high carbon NY Steel and plated using a reformulated nickel alloy. The effect of this is a stronger string that has better tuning stability, lasts longer and a more dynamic tonal response.
[/quote]

I love the 'whammy bar' test video D'addario did for the NYXL guitar strings! If that is anything to go by, then these NYXL Bass strings are going to be hard to beat. I agree with the comments above too. They sound REALLY good on my fave P bass - i think it is sounding better than ever actually.