chrisaxe Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Hello, Just wondering if anyone knows the answer to this. I was looking at the Nickel Rotosound Swing 66 bass strings, and noticed that they also sold a cheaper Rotobass RB45 Nickel string. Is this the same string, just without the silk wrapping? Does this matter? Or is it just a cheaper, lower quality string? Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 (edited) I use RB45s as my main roundwound. I used RS66 Swing Bass for decades, but latterly found the quality to be not great. I switched to RB45s and in my opinion they are like RS66 used to be. The fact that they're cheaper is a bonus, you can change them more often if new zingy rounds is your thing. Edited May 4, 2016 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mildmanofrock Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 I switched to Rotobass and the quality seems the same. As far as I can tell, the only difference is that the Rotobass doesn't have the silk windings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SingleMalt Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Same as the others have said here, I've not noticed any difference in quality, sound or lifetime of the strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LayDownThaFunk Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Same string without the silk ends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisaxe Posted May 6, 2016 Author Share Posted May 6, 2016 Just emailed Rotosound and had this response: The Swing 66 Nickel are pure nickel, and the standard Swing 66 are pure stainless, whereas the Rotobass are a stainless/nickel mixture. The price difference in the Rotobass is not as much leaving the silk off as a nickel/steel mixture is usually less expensive when purchasing string making material than pure steel of either nickel or stainless. Now we know! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LayDownThaFunk Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Swing Nickel aren't pure nickel though... It's NPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 The E and A strings are 0.005" thicker on the RB45 too; standard RS66 are 0.100" and 0.080" on the E and A strings, and the RB are 0.105" and 0.085". My preferred gauge, and cheaper too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inthedoghouse Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 They seem exaclty the same to me apart from the silk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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