high tension strings

[sky]

just wondering what people think the highest tension brand for roundwounds?

[Pow_22]

I have Fender 7150m's on my roundwound basses.  Lovely fundamental and good amount of tension for added thump

[Munurmunuh]

Someone on TB posted this list, putting 45-105 nickel-plated steel hexcore roundwounds in descending order of how tense / stiff they feel

 

 

I've recently tried Nos. 1, 3, 5, 8 + 9, and agree with the order for them. In my perception XL Nickels, Roto Bass and GHS Boomers are all pretty close, but the Fender and DR have a meaningful degree of softness in comparison with them.

 

And then there's the Fender Pure Nickel 7150s, just mentioned. Their 45-105 set is on another level of tension, and with an entirely different character. I tried them on my P and took them off within half an hour 😅 I tried giving them away but no one was interested! 

[sky]

12 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

Someone on TB posted this list, putting 45-105 nickel-plated steel hexcore roundwounds in descending order of how tense / stiff they feel

 

 

I've recently tried Nos. 1, 3, 5, 8 + 9, and agree with the order for them. In my perception XL Nickels, Roto Bass and GHS Boomers are all pretty close, but the Fender and DR have a meaningful degree of softness in comparison with them.

 

And then there's the Fender Pure Nickel 7150s, just mentioned. Their 45-105 set is on another level of tension, and with an entirely different character. I tried them on my P and took them off within half an hour 😅 I tried giving them away but no one was interested! 

are those fenders still about, i think i messaged but decided someone whod definately get use out of themwould be better, if could i get them, with the high tension they might be good to go to like drop c or something ?

[sky]

i was thinking of getting the rotobass set in 50 to 110 as i should be getting a new bass some time soon and i like swapping tunings constantly and dont mind a lot of tension i was looking for 115 strings but ghs and dunlop only seem to do them and theyre on the pricy side, id love to try dr ddts but i cant justify £30 on strings so theyre out teh window although maybe ill crack and sell some stuff and give into the lust for dr ddts

Edited April 29, 2022 by leojb23

[Munurmunuh]

9 minutes ago, leojb23 said:

are those fenders still about, i think i messaged but decided someone whod definately get use out of themwould be better, if could i get them, with the high tension they might be good to go to like drop c or something ?

 

Yeah they're very stiff but we agreed the sound is absolutely not what you're after, there's no bite to it at all, it's very mellow vintage thing.

 

As for the RB50, I've only ever found one youtube clip of them.....and I thought they sounded fantastic. 

[sky]

2 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

Yeah they're very stiff but we agreed the sound is absolutely not what you're after, there's no bite to it at all, it's very mellow vintage thing.

 

As for the RB50, I've only ever found one youtube clip of them.....and I thought they sounded fantastic. 

well i do go for a sort of thumpy doom metal kinda sound maybe theyd work, i had flats a bit back and they sounded good but couldnt get along with the feel

[Delberthot]

Unless something changed when Fender switched manufacturers, the D'addario EXL165 and Fender 7250M at one time were pretty much the same string - I used to use both of them at the same time on different basses as the Fenders were also made by D'addario. They're exactly the same gauge, core etc. the only difference was the colour of the ball ends

[Munurmunuh]

1 hour ago, Delberthot said:

Unless something changed when Fender switched manufacturers, the D'addario EXL165 and Fender 7250M at one time were pretty much the same string - I used to use both of them at the same time on different basses as the Fenders were also made by D'addario. 

 

I've no idea about the past, but now the Fender 45-105 have a more relaxed feel than the Daddario 45-105, despite putting the same load on the neck. Its been all but confirmed that atm Daddario make them for Fender, to Fenders specs (a guy who was at Fender when the strings were being developed is on TB)

 

To me, it seemed that Fenders were better at flattering my Precision, bringing out the growl etc. 

[Delberthot]

Do you mean that the compliance is different rather than the tension?

 

A string of the same gauge on the same bass tuned to the same pitch is going to be the same tension.

 

if you change the core size or shape, wrap wire material, number of wraps etc then that could affect the compliance but it would still be the same tension as long as the above remain the same. Changing the scale length would change the tension as well as a few other things.

[Munurmunuh]

1 hour ago, Delberthot said:

 

A string of the same gauge on the same bass tuned to the same pitch is going to be the same tension

 

Published figures for 34" scale length, 0.085" strings tuned to A:

 

Daddario Pro Steel – 44.17 lbs

GHS Contact Core Super Steel – 44.4 lbs

Daddario NYXL – 44.58

Daddario XL Nickel – 45.34 lbs

Rotosound Swing Bass – 46.80 lbs

GHS Progressives – 49.1 lbs

GHS Roundcore Boomers – 49.3 lbs

GHS Hexcore Boomers – 49.4 lbs

GHS Precision Flats – 51.2 lbs

Daddario XL Chrome – 51.67 lbs

 

Edited April 30, 2022 by Ricky Rioli

[sky]

1 hour ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

Published figures for 34" scale length, 0.085" strings tuned to A:

 

Daddario Pro Steel – 44.17 lbs

GHS Contact Core Super Steel – 44.4 lbs

Daddario NYXL – 44.58

Daddario XL Nickel – 45.34 lbs

Rotosound Swing Bass – 46.80 lbs

GHS Progressives – 49.1 lbs

GHS Roundcore Boomers – 49.3 lbs

GHS Hexcore  Boomer – 49.4 lbs

Daddario XL Chrome – 51.67 lbs

GHS Precision Flats 51.2 lbs

hmm maybe i should go ghs then lol, the 50 to 115 set of boomers did intrigue me

[sky]

On 29/04/2022 at 22:00, Ricky Rioli said:

 

Yeah they're very stiff but we agreed the sound is absolutely not what you're after, there's no bite to it at all, it's very mellow vintage thing.

 

As for the RB50, I've only ever found one youtube clip of them.....and I thought they sounded fantastic. 

have had rb50s on for a bit now and i can say the rb50s are great for me! : )

[Munurmunuh]

11 hours ago, sky said:

have had rb50s on for a bit now and i can say the rb50s are great for me! : )

 

Really glad you tried them and that they are indeed just right for you  They're a nice price too. 

[rmorris]

On 30/04/2022 at 14:53, Delberthot said:

Do you mean that the compliance is different rather than the tension?

 

A string of the same gauge on the same bass tuned to the same pitch is going to be the same tension.

 

if you change the core size or shape, wrap wire material, number of wraps etc then that could affect the compliance but it would still be the same tension as long as the above remain the same. Changing the scale length would change the tension as well as a few other things.

 

No. The string tension required for a given frequency is proportional to the mass of the string. The mass of strings with the same gauge may differ (albeit slightly) due to different string construction - core size / wraps  / material etc.

So actual Tensions can be different as well as compliance.

[fretmeister]

I would imagine a set of

 

.175

.135

.115

.095

 

usually used for basses with a low F# but tuned to E standard would be as high a tension as anyone could ever want.

[sky]

4 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I would imagine a set of

 

.175

.135

.115

.095

 

usually used for basses with a low F# but tuned to E standard would be as high a tension as anyone could ever want.

lol ive snapped a few .065s tuning them to the F in drop c, si that would probably snap real quick