Thomastik Infeld Super Alloy string recommendation... ie something like them but not £40.

[warwickhunt]

Last time I bought a batch of strings (Thomastik Infeld Super Alloys) must be 5 years ago and they cost £13 a set (special offer), the same strings, today are £40+ and sadly I'm not in a position to be paying that as I want a few sets.

 

Hence I'm looking for a replacement nickel, round wound string (probs 45 - 105) that doesn't cost 1/2 my gig money. I'd say the Thomastik are lowish tension compared to a set of D'Addario that I recently got for free but I'm not going to get hung up on that side of things.

 

Ideally if someone has tried the Thomastik Infelds and found something similar, please shout up.

 

Cheers me dears.

[ead]

I use these all the time (£21 for 3 or more sets) and really like them but I have no experience with your TIs I'm afraid.

 

https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/string-sets-c865/bass-guitar-c34/daddario-exl170bt-nickel-wound-balanced-tension-45-107-bass-guitar-strings-long-scale-p3011/s3053?cid=GBP

Edited August 26, 2021 by ead

[Misdee]

Those TI Superalloys are  magnificent strings, like all of TI's bass guitar range. They might be the best nickel rounds I have ever played. You will struggle to find anything that good, in my opinion. The thing about TI is that they are a bit weird in so much as they don't have much (any) variety in terms of gauge. I would cheerfully pay £40 for a set of Super Alloys if they did them in 40-100. Then again, if they weren't a bit weird as a company, maybe they wouldn't have come up with such a unique sound for so many of their bass strings. 

 

If you don't get on with D'Addario XLs , how about Dunlop Nickels? There are the Super Brights which are, well... pretty bright sounding and very elastic- feeling , or the regular Dunlop Nickel  which I  really enjoy and find to be an excellent all-rounder. They are not overly bright and have a nice warm midrange, to my ears anyway, but still have enough bite for most tastes. In terms of tension, they are a nowhere near as slack as the Super Brights , but certainly not tighter-feeling than average.  I would describe them as a good string for middle-aged men. Sensible sound, sensible feel, sensible price.

 

Another option would be Elites Player's series. Fairly inexpensive, readily available and very bright and punchy for nickel strings. Seem to last a long time, too 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Misdee

[warwickhunt]

I know what you mean about the TI SAs; they have an almost compressed tone, yet bright and punchy.  They are supple but not sloppy... great strings but £40 a set when you are stringing a few basses, not good.    I may end up getting 1 set and a bunch of others from Thomann (my order basket sits open from last night).  A very kind BCer is forwarding me a set that he is unlikely to use, so I'm almost at the point where a shoot out of free/cheap/expensive strings is in the offing.    

[warwickhunt]

Decision made!  

 

Order going into Thomann for a set of their own brand strings (>£5), a set of TI SA (£27) and ead's donated RotoSounds (+ a few small items to make the delivery charge worthwhile).  I'm going to attempt to review the differences and possibly record the strings.  No strings will be wasted as I have a couple of basses need stringing; I'll obviously do all of the strings on the same bass before transferring them to another bass. 

 

Wish me luck!     

[fretmeister]

3 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

Decision made!  

 

Order going into Thomann for a set of their own brand strings (>£5), a set of TI SA (£27) and ead's donated RotoSounds (+ a few small items to make the delivery charge worthwhile).  I'm going to attempt to review the differences and possibly record the strings.  No strings will be wasted as I have a couple of basses need stringing; I'll obviously do all of the strings on the same bass before transferring them to another bass. 

 

Wish me luck!     

I had no idea Thomann did their own strings.

 

Are the TI SA 45 gauge similar to other make's 40 sets in tension / stiffness?

[warwickhunt]

14 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

I had no idea Thomann did their own strings.

 

Are the TI SA 45 gauge similar to other make's 40 sets in tension / stiffness?

 

I've just been pondering Thomann's own brand strings.  I very much doubt they own a factory, so they'll likely be buying in from one of the other string manufacturers and packaging themselves.  Which begs the question; How can they retail them at £4.15?

 

The TI do feel supple (even the old ones on my bass now) and yes I'd say the feel like a lower gauge string in tension but still have the same mass as other 45-105 strings obviously.  When I have the 3 sets here I'll measure the actual gauges and see if I can devise some (non-scientific) way of testing the tension.  

[warwickhunt]

 

Just to add that Thomann seem to include all taxes etc in their pricing and at checkout, so hopefully no nasty surprises when my order arrives!    

[fretmeister]

31 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Just to add that Thomann seem to include all taxes etc in their pricing and at checkout, so hopefully no nasty surprises when my order arrives!    

 

I saw they updated that from the vat exclusive prices of a few months ago.

 

Probably got too many complaints from people who didn't read the price information properly.

[Munurmunuh]

52 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

The TI do feel supple (even the old ones on my bass now) and yes I'd say the feel like a lower gauge string in tension but still have the same mass as other 45-105 strings obviously.  When I have the 3 sets here I'll measure the actual gauges and see if I can devise some (non-scientific) way of testing the tension.  

Are the TIs round core roundwounds, and thus more supple than hexcore strings like Daddario and Rotosound? 

 

And are there any roundcores which aren't £££ in the UK? The GHS and DR ones are up near £40 as well.

[Misdee]

 I have found with strings that  more exotic brands such as TI or DR that cost twice as much as Elites or Rotosound ect aren't necessarily any better in terms of quality or tone, just different. It's just a matter of taste and subjective differences. But if you are unlucky enough to prefer the more expensive strings then you have to fork out or feel you are settling for second best.😟

 

[warwickhunt]

15 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

Are the TIs round core roundwounds, and thus more supple than hexcore strings like Daddario and Rotosound? 

 

And are there any roundcores which aren't £££ in the UK? The GHS and DR ones are up near £40 as well.

 

Newtone strings offer a choice of round or hex at £22 - £25.  Nice little vide comparison on their website.

[fretmeister]

3 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

Are the TIs round core roundwounds, and thus more supple than hexcore strings like Daddario and Rotosound? 

 

And are there any roundcores which aren't £££ in the UK? The GHS and DR ones are up near £40 as well.

Dr's pop up on Amazon at about £31 from time to time.

[Lfalex v1.1]

6 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

Are the TIs round core roundwounds, and thus more supple than hexcore strings like Daddario and Rotosound? 

 

And are there any roundcores which aren't £££ in the UK? The GHS and DR ones are up near £40 as well.

DRs are around the £33-35 mark at Strings Direct at the moment. (For a 4 string,  uncoated set- Lo Riders, Hi/Fat/Sun beams etc.)

 

Nearly £40, but not quite. 

[Owen]

I hugely enjoy TI Jazz Rounds on a 35" scale. Bendy and spongy and rubbery. This is a good thing. It put them on a 33" and it was flobbadob central.  Newtone round core nickels got me there.