Is this is steel string thing, or a Rotosound string thing?

[Munurmunuh]

I've just replaced the GHS Boomers nickel coated rounds on my BB424 with a set of pure steel Rotosound Swing Bass.

The Boomers made a very pleasing consistent tone, easy to play. The Swing Bass strings seem to have a much wider tonal spectrum available, but that means it's harder to control the tone: harder to maintain an even line, easier to play a bum note.

Is what I'm experiencing because that's how pure steel strings are, or because that's how Rotosounds behave? I'm curious to know whether if the nickel coated Rotosounds (either Roto Bass or Swing Bass Nickels) would have the same tonal range, or if the nickel coating will inevitably narrow the options.

[Skybone]

To the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody...

"Is this a steel string,

Or is this just Rotosound

Caught in a quandry

No escape from tonality"

Sorry...   

[Munurmunuh]

12 minutes ago, Skybone said:

Is this a steel string,

Or is this just Rotosound

Caught in a quandry

No escape from tonality

[Supernaut]

They're brighter, hence treblier, so bum notes will stand out more.

Give it time and they will lose a little brightness or just turn down your tone knob slightly. 

[Moos3h]

I’d say that’s largely the new string effect. They’ll dull down pretty quickly and become more consistent. Shame though, as I LOVE the sound of new strings!

Edited May 10, 2021 by Moos3h

[Munurmunuh]

18 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

They're brighter, hence treblier, so bum notes will stand out more.

Give it time and they will lose a little brightness or just turn down your tone knob slightly.

It's not just that they're brighter, they have a wider tonal range than the Boomers. I can still get a warm mellow sound from them, but playing them is a lot more of an expressive experience.

This is not a problem, I don't want to shut them up, I'm happy letting my fingers learn how to control them.

I would just like to know whether this extra benefit is coming from the nature of Rotosound strings, or if all pure steel strings are going to be more responsive to touch than their nickel-coated equivalents. Specifically, will the nickel coated @Rotosound strings be lacking this degree of expressiveness? 

[Munurmunuh]

25 minutes ago, Moos3h said:

I’d say that’s largely the new string effect. They’ll dull down pretty quickly and become more consistent. Shame though, as I LOVE the sound of new strings

I got two months out of the Boomers before they suddenly changed character (and rendered the tone knob useless) Which is pretty good, I guess.

[Killed_by_Death]

 

Actually, they're both steel, but one is NPS, Nickel-Plated Steel, & the other is Stainless Steel.

I love stainless strings & since I got an instrument with stainless frets, I used stainless strings exclusively on it.

 

[shoulderpet]

3 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

I've just replaced the GHS Boomers nickel coated rounds on my BB424 with a set of pure steel Rotosound Swing Bass.

The Boomers made a very pleasing consistent tone, easy to play. The Swing Bass strings seem to have a much wider tonal spectrum available, but that means it's harder to control the tone: harder to maintain an even line, easier to play a bum note.

Is what I'm experiencing because that's how pure steel strings are, or because that's how Rotosounds behave? I'm curious to know whether if the nickel coated Rotosounds (either Roto Bass or Swing Bass Nickels) would have the same tonal range, or if the nickel coating will inevitably narrow the options.

I have used both the Steel Rotos and the nickel  plated Rotos and the Nickels are much darker sounding and are rather than most other nickel strings the Nickel version starts off really bright but loses the brightness very quickly.

With regards to the stainless steel Rotos they are not unusually bright for stainless strings but that upper mid grind they give is divine, used lots of other brands bit always come back to Rotosound

[Killed_by_Death]

for the last time, they're BOTH steel

😀

[Munurmunuh]

39 minutes ago, shoulderpet said:

I have used both the Steel Rotos and the nickel  plated Rotos and the Nickels are much darker sounding and are rather than most other nickel strings the Nickel version starts off really bright but loses the brightness very quickly.

With regards to the stainless steel Rotos they are not unusually bright for stainless strings but that upper mid grind they give is divine, used lots of other brands bit always come back to Rotosound

I've been trying to read as many opinions of the swing bass nickels as I can find. The approval they get is never anything like the approval the regular steel version gets.

[shoulderpet]

3 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

I've been trying to read as many opinions of the swing bass nickels as I can find. The approval they get is never anything like the approval the regular steel version gets.

The nickels are not bad strings just very warm sounding for rounds, they sound after a week's break in like most strings sound after a couple months break in time, some people dig that broken in tone

[Munurmunuh]

14 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

The nickels are not bad strings just very warm sounding for rounds, they sound after a week's break in like most strings sound after a couple months break in time, some people dig that broken in tone

I found somebody clearing up the confusion between the Roto Bass Nickels and the Swing Bass Nickels. And if I was looking for approval of the 66 Nickels, here it is:

"Rotobass and Roto 66 nickels are NOT the same ... I suspect several of the comments in this thread about Roto nickels being dull, muffled and indistinguishable from other cheap NPS strings must be about the cheaper Rotobass sets ... after a couple of weeks the Rotobass set will be muffled/dead and the Roto 66 nickels will still sound reasonably fresh ... The Roto 66 nickels are VERY different to Rotobass and MUCH better quality IMO. They have more uniquely voiced mids, somewhat more aggressive, edgy and metallic sounding than the Rotobass sets ... last considerably longer ... Very unique sounding, nothing else out there like them."

 

[Supernaut]

1 hour ago, Ricky Rioli said:

I found somebody clearing up the confusion between the Roto Bass Nickels and the Swing Bass Nickels. And if I was looking for approval of the 66 Nickels, here it is:

"Rotobass and Roto 66 nickels are NOT the same ... I suspect several of the comments in this thread about Roto nickels being dull, muffled and indistinguishable from other cheap NPS strings must be about the cheaper Rotobass sets ... after a couple of weeks the Rotobass set will be muffled/dead and the Roto 66 nickels will still sound reasonably fresh ... The Roto 66 nickels are VERY different to Rotobass and MUCH better quality IMO. They have more uniquely voiced mids, somewhat more aggressive, edgy and metallic sounding than the Rotobass sets ... last considerably longer ... Very unique sounding, nothing else out there like them."

 

Which is complete BS.

Rotobass are Roto Swing 66 nickels without the silk. Exact same string otherwise. 

[Munurmunuh]

On 10/05/2021 at 16:19, Moos3h said:

I’d say that’s largely the new string effect. They’ll dull down pretty quickly and become more consistent. Shame though, as I LOVE the sound of new strings!

A fortnight later, and the new string brightness has slipped away from the set of Swing Bass. However it's still offering a wide range of sounds - everything from a lithe shimmer to a plump warmth - and also the strings are still very responsive to variations in touch....

....which is my way of saying that I'm still having real trouble getting a nice smooth line with consistent tone and volume when playing gently with fingers.

Great strings but perhaps for the time being I should only put them on a bass with an easier neck. At the moment there are a bit too helpful at pointing out the infelicities in my playing 🤕