EB Cobalts

nysbob · #1 11-09-2012, 10:03 AM

Thoughts or experience?

I put a set on my fretted bass a couple weeks ago, and I must say they are very articulate and lively so far.

I'm usually a Ken Smith tapercore kind of guy.

Lemon Of Troy · #2 11-09-2012, 11:54 AM

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nysbob · #3 11-09-2012, 02:29 PM

Thanks!

I played a gig in a garage of a bar last night and was able to hear what I was doing a little better than the week prior.

I'll be interested to see how they age and how soon they break...I'm what you'd call heavy handed and nothing (other than flats, and I've broken those too) lasts more than 3 or 4 months.

Margus Alviste · #4 11-11-2012, 08:11 AM

I just LOVE the Cobalts! I am in the middle of a recording session and have tried a number of different basses with different sets of strings. The best sounding is definitely my Alembic Orion with Cobalts! What a sound! All the frequences are there! Who needs an EQ?!

dave_bass5 · #5 11-13-2012, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nysbob

Thanks!

I played a gig in a garage of a bar last night and was able to hear what I was doing a little better than the week prior.

Ive had exactly the opposite results and have taken them off my gigging bass....twice.

I felt they were a bit scooped and lacked mid punch compared to my regular strings. Nice tone at home though.

73jbass · #6 11-13-2012, 03:21 AM

They sound great,although a bit too mid scooped for me. Don't like the way they feel.

Lemon Of Troy · #7 11-13-2012, 07:15 AM

I don't like the very rough feel and added fretwear. Tried to use them at a gig, but what I heard at home did not translate to a live setting. They were very bright and shrill.

Tunaman · #8 11-15-2012, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73jbass

They sound great,although a bit too mid scooped for me. Don't like the way they feel.

I trust this man... so I gotta admit I'm out on Cobalts, especially considering the premium price

For aggressive strings that add mids I'm liking the Dean Markley SS Helix strings BSO recommended me for that purpose

**mjac28** · #9 11-15-2012, 06:15 PM

I had some on a Mark Hoppus I didn't like them at all made that bass sound really harsh and I couldn't get a decent low E sound but it also could have been the basslines I don't like that pickup at all either.

armybass · #10 11-16-2012, 08:19 AM

No likey.....very harsh when put on and died after first week of gigs and were unusable from that point.

dave_bass5 · #11 11-16-2012, 08:26 AM

When i put mine back on (for one gig last week) i noticed quite a bit or tarnishing on some strings. I only played 3 gigs with them before and i dont sweat so not sure why that would happen so quickly. Ive never seen that before.

Put the DR BB's on now and very, very happy with them.

cybersnyder · #12 11-16-2012, 09:03 AM

Tried them twice and really, really dislike. Too harsh and they feel rough. I'll stick with standard Slinkys on my SR5.

nysbob · #13 11-22-2012, 10:02 AM

Update - I've played a few gigs and done some rehearsal on these and I'm pleased with the way they're holding up. Still enough zing in them that I didn't feel compelled to change them for show last night that I usually ALWAYS re-string for. The overall volume and fundamental are both a notch up from the usual contenders.

They are a little stiff, but I'm pretty heavy-handed anyway.

It's going to be interesting to see when how long 'til one breaks.

sloppy_phil · #14 11-24-2012, 01:01 PM

I'll chip in, seeing as this is now the Cobalt thread du jour!

I guess I have an update of sorts as well; I had put the cobalts on my Ric 4003 in August and *loved* the tone. My bass was more powerful sounding with a better fundamentally low sound. And it was less harsh in the top than the other SS strings I was using (mostly Prosteels) but punchier. I used them for a Rush cover band rehearsal and show, so that super-fresh sound was ideal. I could tell part way through the show that it was going on me already. It was offputting that they'd died that immediately, so I ditched them.

Tried a bunch of other strings since, but nothing compared tone-wise to the Cobalts. Thought about it and realized that 90% of the music I play needs a good thump (reggae), so dead strings would be fine, and at least I'd get that good punch at the outset (for fun noodling or the occasional Rush gig). But now that I'm willing to let the strings die, I've noticed that once the initial zing wore off, it maintained a still decent amount of crisp punch. Way more so than the Prosteels, SR2000s, and La Bellas I've tried recently. They all may keep their 'totally new' sound a little longer than the Cobalts, but they still get totally dead first.

Sorry! that was rather longer than it needed to be. Also just wanted to mention that the strings do get tarnished really fast, but there doesn't seem to be any strong correlation b/w increased tarnish and loss of 'newness'.