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Steel Roundwounds. Who knew?


funkle

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On 07/03/2021 at 16:52, shoulderpet said:

Funny enough I have switched to Rotosound swing bass nickels, I wanted a bit more mids so switched to nickel but honestly these are just great strings, really surprised just how much I like these, lots of midrange growl, quite aggressive sounding

Aaaaand I spoke too soon, seems the new string zing lasts longer than most strings, then poof the high mids and treble dissapear, nevermind

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On 14/02/2021 at 21:44, Killed_by_Death said:

 

 

If you want even brighter, try Cobalt.

Cobalt flats sound close to roundwounds & will last forever.

Cobalt rounds are the brightest strings out there.

 

What is the tension like on te Cobalt flats? I love flats but but find tge tension on some too much for my aging fingers,

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12 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

What is the tension like on te Cobalt flats? I love flats but but find tge tension on some too much for my aging fingers,

I didn’t find them any different from D’Addario EXLs in the same gauge when I changed over IIRC. I certainly don’t remember having to adjust the truss rod at all.

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What's the deal with Cobalt's?

Are they coated with cobalt, a high cobalt content steel or pure cobalt?

Reading the blurb on the EB site, there is no info regarding what the cobalt content actually is, and how it contributes to the sound.

Confused....

Ah, bit of t'interweb digging... an alloy of Iron & Cobalt.

I'll stick with the Dunlop DBS.

Edited by Skybone
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On 15/02/2021 at 07:24, funkle said:

The biggest problem I’m looking at now is I have 8 basses and might want steels on all of them 😂

Anyone have a good supplier for D’Addario?

I use mainly D'addario pro-steels on my basses I tend to recycle them. There are basses that I prefer a warmer sound from (for example reggae or my p-style bass), and those where I want to use a brighter tone mostly. So The new strings go on those and once they mellow and need changing, they go on the basses that need a warmer tone. 

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I would highly recommend the Elixir Stainless Steels, not as initially bright as Roto's or D'Addario's but they do last a very very long time. I have had a set on for a year now and they still sound great, and that's on a bass I play daily

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I much prefer steels but now all my basses are medium scales (32") the choice is very limited in my preferred (stupid light) gauge.  I tried the Roto medium scale steel strings recently but found them very rough, so just stick to Newtone strings on all my basses as they're made to order.   I can't say enough about them, they're terrific.

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1 hour ago, Bass Culture said:

I much prefer steels but now all my basses are medium scales (32") the choice is very limited in my preferred (stupid light) gauge.  I tried the Roto medium scale steel strings recently but found them very rough, so just stick to Newtone strings on all my basses as they're made to order.   I can't say enough about them, they're terrific.

I have been thinking about getting some Newtones and you have just convinced me. 

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2 hours ago, Bass Culture said:

I much prefer steels but now all my basses are medium scales (32") the choice is very limited in my preferred (stupid light) gauge.  I tried the Roto medium scale steel strings recently but found them very rough, so just stick to Newtone strings on all my basses as they're made to order.   I can't say enough about them, they're terrific.

I have tried the Rotosound medium scale strings but they are not very good, lots of strange overtones and really odd gauges, I use the long scale Rotos now and cut them down, works fine

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I took my 1977 Precision in for some TLC from a "luthier".  He told me to ditch the steels, as it was wearing out my frets. I'm pretty sure he said something about they are great if you have stainless frets....  It was a while back, and I switched all of my basses to Nickel - which I found were fine, as long as I changed them fairly regularly (Ernie ball hybrid slinky).  I like a bright sound and play mostly with a pick. I should add, that maybe he said that because the bass was otherwise 100% original, and the lacquer on the fret board may have been compromised with a re-fret.

 

Edited by Phil C
additional clarification!
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10 hours ago, Phil C said:

I took my 1977 Precision in for some TLC from a "luthier".  He told me to ditch the steels, as it was wearing out my frets. I'm pretty sure he said something about they are great if you have stainless frets....  It was a while back, and I switched all of my basses to Nickel - which I found were fine, as long as I changed them fairly regularly (Ernie ball hybrid slinky).  I like a bright sound and play mostly with a pick. I should add, that maybe he said that because the bass was otherwise 100% original, and the lacquer on the fret board may have been compromised with a re-fret.

 

I never really get the thing about steels and fret wear.  I mean, whatever strings you use (round wound anyway) there's going to be metal on metal contact and some wear involved.  If you keep a bass long enough it seems to me a fret change every 10 years or so falls into the category of reasonable maintenance.  Not using strings you prefer the sound of because of potential fret wear seems a rather self defeating deprivation to me.

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4 minutes ago, Bass Culture said:

I never really get the thing about steels and fret wear.  I mean, whatever strings you use (round wound anyway) there's going to be metal on metal contact and some wear involved.  If you keep a bass long enough it seems to me a fret change every 10 years or so falls into the category of reasonable maintenance.  Not using strings you prefer the sound of because of potential fret wear seems a rather self defeating deprivation to me.

Yep. I think you are right. I suppose if you wear out your Nickel frets with stainless strings you could consider stainless frets when re-fretting! Anyone know of downsides to stainless frets?

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4 minutes ago, Phil C said:

Yep. I think you are right. I suppose if you wear out your Nickel frets with stainless strings you could consider stainless frets when re-fretting! Anyone know of downsides to stainless frets?

I've got another Zoot custom in preparation at the moment so I'd be interested in this too.  The last one had Jescar Evo gold fret wire, which I'm really liking - no idea what they're made of but they look pretty! :)

 

Edited by Bass Culture
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8 minutes ago, Phil C said:

Yep. I think you are right. I suppose if you wear out your Nickel frets with stainless strings you could consider stainless frets when re-fretting! Anyone know of downsides to stainless frets?

Yes because they are so hard they are a b*gg*r to work with when levelling, crowning.

Edited by Chienmortbb
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1 hour ago, Phil C said:

. . . . . . if you wear out your Nickel frets with stainless strings you could consider stainless frets when re-fretting! Anyone know of downsides to stainless frets?

IMO if anyone is wearing holes in their frets they're gripping too hard.

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