Longer lasting roundwound strings

[bassmachine2112]

Hiho,I,ve been using Dunlop super brights steels for s couple of years now and they last.

[GuyR]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1496744105' post='3313537']
Of all the strings I've used over the years, the sets that sounded the best for the longest time were DR's, either Lo-Riders or Hi-Beams.
[/quote]

Strongly agree. I use them on all my basses. I like exactly the sound you describe (apart from chorus) they last ages.

[Cato]

I love Hi Beams but in January I purchased a bass that came with Fender Nickle rounds fitted as stock.

I've actually been very impressed with them, very bright and zingy and they're still going strong after 6 months, which considering I've been working on my slap technique for most of that time is pretty good going.

I will want to put Hi Beams on the bass at some point, if only to see how they sound with that bass, but the Fender Nickles have impressed me.

They're also a fair bit cheaper than the DRs.

Edited June 7, 2017 by Cato

[LITTLEWING]

Gotta put Elixirs up there. They might appear initially pricey, but as they stay sweet for bloody ages, you could buy 4 sets of uncoated at a total of around £80 a year and watch them go dull where Elixirs at around £40 stay consistently full of tone.

I took some off my Squier VM as spares when they finally lost their sparkle and two years later put them on a project P bass and they STILL ring sweet even now.

[Skybone]

I can't fault Fender Stainless Steel strings, last well, sound good, and they're reasonably priced too.

[steve-bbb]

my five all had new strings this time last year with two of them regularly gigged all still sound fine - all swing66 and luckily i dont get clammy sweaty hands when i play

[Conan]

[quote name='LITTLEWING' timestamp='1496953587' post='3314994']
Gotta put Elixirs up there. They might appear initially pricey, but as they stay sweet for bloody ages, you could buy 4 sets of uncoated at a total of around £80 a year...
[/quote]

Go for the Harley Benton strings and your £80 would buy you around 17 sets!

[dmccombe7]

[quote name='Deep Thought' timestamp='1496739483' post='3313482']
Fender strings are made by D'Adarrio, I find those pretty good. .
[/quote]

I didn't know that as i changed from Fender nickel to D'Addario nickel and thought they sounded pretty similar.

Dave

[Owen]

Ugh - bright strings make me

I am aware that this is not a constructive addition to the discussion.

Edited June 9, 2017 by owen

[SH73]

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1497004174' post='3315203']
Ugh - bright strings make me

I am aware that this is not a constructive addition to the discussion.
[/quote]
My flats on p bass have been dead for over a year. A Touch of overdrive makes them happy.

[A.G.E.N.T.E.]

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1497002246' post='3315185']
I didn't know that as i changed from Fender nickel to D'Addario nickel and thought they sounded pretty similar.

Dave
[/quote]
Someone correct me if i´m wrong, but i think fenders are made by D'Addario and in that case, that makes perfect sense.

[NJE]

I love Ernie Ball Strings but I kill them in no time unfortunately. Boiling them did seem to help a fair bit when I was younger and I would get maybe a few weeks more out of them.

I wish I liked D'Addario, they seem like a cool company but again I murder their strings in no time plus I don't get on with the feel and tension. I am yet to try all of their range though so I realise they may offer something that would work well for me. (if your reading D'Addario and want to send me some free ones to try )

Dunlop Super Brights were a real surprise for me, I got a few sets on a 2 for 1 deal when they first came out, they lasted me a lot longer than other non coated strings, and I loved the smooth feel and tension.

For me though Elixirs have been my go to string for most of the past 10 years. The coatings have got stronger and more resilient, they are silky smooth to play and I love the tone from them. They are not quite as bright as others straight out of the packet but I don't like that super 'clanky' top end anyway, however the tone they have lasts ages for me and stay consistent.

I once worked out the cost of how many sets of Ernie Balls I would need to get me through a year of practice and gigging and compared that to elixirs and I was saving 1/3. I cant remember exactly but I think it was £120 of EB strings a year against £80 of Elixirs. I could just about keep EB stirngs for two months at a push but Elixirs easily last me 6 months.

Big initial outlay but worth it for me at least.

[Number6]

I never change the Roto 66s Nickels on my basses. I'm sure other players baulk at this idea but they suit me and i like the sound.

[Highfox]

Crickey, I tend to go about a year on my sets of rounds as long as they still sound even and have harmonics. (don't need to mention the flats )
Mind you I do have a few basses I swap around so guess that lenghtens the overall use time.

The longest I have had a set of strings on without feeling the need to change them and they are still on (of course my bright might be someones's dull) are a set of cheap Bass centre elites nickle plated.
I'll be ordering more for sure when these are done. Not sure who the main manufacture are, anyone else tried them?

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1496742203' post='3313510']
9 months seems incredible to me. Does the coating make them feel any different?
[/quote]

I too have found Elixir nanowebs to be much more cost effective than normal strings - I get maybe 2 or 3 gigs from normal strings compared to 20+ from nanowebs. They do feel different as the coating removes a lot of the friction between your fingers and the strings, not quite like using flat wounds but a definite nod in that direction (which happens to make them a fantastic string for fretless).

Edited June 9, 2017 by bassman7755

[radiophonic]

Well I've wrung out all I could from the EBs and picked up a set of ProSteels. First impression is that they are very solid sounding but of somewhat higher tension than I'm used to. Some of this may be due to having to raise the gauge slightly due to needing a 45 G. My usual 45 - 100 wasn't an option. Possibly denser steel than the Slinky's. We'll see how they fare at the next gig. Less than week to go.

[D'AddarioUK]

[quote name='NJE' timestamp='1497006268' post='3315227']
I love Ernie Ball Strings but I kill them in no time unfortunately. Boiling them did seem to help a fair bit when I was younger and I would get maybe a few weeks more out of them.

I wish I liked D'Addario, they seem like a cool company but again I murder their strings in no time plus I don't get on with the feel and tension. I am yet to try all of their range though so I realise they may offer something that would work well for me. (if your reading D'Addario and want to send me some free ones to try )

Dunlop Super Brights were a real surprise for me, I got a few sets on a 2 for 1 deal when they first came out, they lasted me a lot longer than other non coated strings, and I loved the smooth feel and tension.

For me though Elixirs have been my go to string for most of the past 10 years. The coatings have got stronger and more resilient, they are silky smooth to play and I love the tone from them. They are not quite as bright as others straight out of the packet but I don't like that super 'clanky' top end anyway, however the tone they have lasts ages for me and stay consistent.

I once worked out the cost of how many sets of Ernie Balls I would need to get me through a year of practice and gigging and compared that to elixirs and I was saving 1/3. I cant remember exactly but I think it was £120 of EB strings a year against £80 of Elixirs. I could just about keep EB stirngs for two months at a push but Elixirs easily last me 6 months.

Big initial outlay but worth it for me at least.
[/quote]

It sounds like it may be your skin chemistry that's killing the strings, this is likely the reason why you get on well with the coated Elixirs and not the EBs or our XLs. We have a coated option in our range called EXP, we also have a bass version of our extremely popular premium un-coated [url="http://www.daddario.com/DADProductFamily.Page?ActiveID=3768&familyid=156&sid=b1760462-3452-4fe9-9a45-7dcb839751b9"]NYXL [/url]string designed to give you greater dynamic range, resilience and string life.

Drop me a PM and we'll see what we can do.

[skankdelvar]

I strung my bass up with a set of Elixirs a while ago. They've lost a bit of zing and they're a bit flaky from the pick but they're not bad for 11 years use.

[Phil Starr]

I started with Rotos I hated the clank when first fitted, loved the sound week old ones gave and tended to change them every six weeks or so when I was gigging regularly, they just tended to go dead on me. This worked out quite pricey so I tried Dean Markley Blue Steels which I thought were an astonishing price but they lasted months and just fade over time 6 month old ones sound as good to me as 6 week old Roto's. A couple of years ago I changed the strings on my Jazz and at the same time put some Elixirs on my P-bass so I could compare them both aging. Two years on both still sound OK to me, though I've probably tweaked the eq. I'm going to change the Blue Steels I think to see how much they have gone downhill. You can't be too confident over your ability to detect gradual change so it'll be interesting to see how old ones compare with the new ones.

Anyway in terms of value for money I'd be confident in saying either will last way more than twice as long as Rotosound stainless strings, maybe even more than five times as long, so cheaper in the long term.

Edited July 3, 2017 by Phil Starr

[Guest subaudio]

[quote name='Highfox' timestamp='1497026674' post='3315436']
Crickey, I tend to go about a year on my sets of rounds as long as they still sound even and have harmonics. (don't need to mention the flats )
Mind you I do have a few basses I swap around so guess that lenghtens the overall use time.

The longest I have had a set of strings on without feeling the need to change them and they are still on (of course my bright might be someones's dull) are a set of cheap Bass centre elites nickle plated.
I'll be ordering more for sure when these are done. Not sure who the main manufacture are, anyone else tried them?
[/quote]

I like Elites too, I was a rotosound guy but prefer the Elites, smoother and much better life.

I haven't played in a while so don't know if you can still get them?

I also really liked Warwick black label.

[NJE]

[quote name='D'AddarioUK' timestamp='1499092866' post='3329100']
It sounds like it may be your skin chemistry that's killing the strings, this is likely the reason why you get on well with the coated Elixirs and not the EBs or our XLs. We have a coated option in our range called EXP, we also have a bass version of our extremely popular premium un-coated [url="http://www.daddario.com/DADProductFamily.Page?ActiveID=3768&familyid=156&sid=b1760462-3452-4fe9-9a45-7dcb839751b9"]NYXL [/url]string designed to give you greater dynamic range, resilience and string life.

Drop me a PM and we'll see what we can do.
[/quote]

Thanks for the message!

Yes its definately my weird biology/chemistry that kills them, its a pain because I would love to spend less on strings. I have a set of Nickel XL strings on a fretless at the moment and they are really nice. I don't play a lot of fretless so they are lasting well on that and sound good too. It makes me wonder whether the bass I bought had been strung with XL Steels before I acquired it. It would account for the difference in feel I mentioned.

I will drop you a PM.

[Bolo]

DR Strings for me, the DDT's. Only the low B gets dropped to A, and I get a nice even sound across all strings.
Clean them with FastFret after every practise, a set last me about a year.

[Count Bassy]

[i]You can change strings?[/i]

[Bolo]

No, you get DDTs and stick with 'em

[Bolo]

Darn

Edited July 3, 2017 by Bolo