Ed Friedland's 10 year old steels

[sigmafloyd]

I was watching this youtube video of Ed Friedland demoing a dimarzio pickup when he mentioned having a 10 year old set of Labella Hard Rockin Steels on his P bass.

I haven't really considered steels that much (mostly flats and nickels), but the sound of those made me change my mind. I had no idea people left steel strings on that long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6XQN0QLzNY

[Modern Growl]

Steels left on for a while provide a warm, yet very articulate (fast reacting to the touch) tone.

I leave my steel strings on a while. They dont have the sluggish response I hear from nickels. They "react" quick to the touch.... and as they age, they "warm" up.

I don't know about 10 years tho.... I'll usually go about 3-6 months depending on how much that specific bass is being played.

[Mikhail1]

Ten years is nothing, I once left a set of Rotosounds 66's on an Aria Precise bass for fifteen years. In all fairness, I had gigged them for only about 3-4 years and only occassional jamming with them after that. In fact they were still on the bass when I sold it. They definitely needed replacing but still held tune and had a very mellow, nickel like tone. Since I always wiped them, they still looked good and had little if any tarnish.

[Josh Pelican]

Man, do they ever sound good. Those harmonics are beautiful.

[jasper383]

Wow, ten years.

Stainless steel strings sound really good when they are old. I had a set of Fat Beams on a bass for three years, and they sounded great.

They do have a more immediate sound than nickels, but are still very warm.

[SolarMan]

Yeah, we did this thread already and Ed pops in to clarify his position:

Dead string stash found!

Ed has 2 posts starting on #22

[edfriedland]

Yup. When I break on string on that bass... I'll have to put it on a wooden raft, set it on fire, and float it down the Colorado river....

I have a few basses with "heritage" strings on them. My 72 P bass has 15 year old LaBella flats on it. My Roadworn Jazz has 3 year old GHS flats, my 51 RI P has 4 year old LaBellas...

There are a few factors at work here - 1) My taste has changed a bit. While I used to think the bright, shiny Marcus Miller tone was my ideal (it still is for the right gig)... I don't have much use for that sound anymore as I play very little fusion, funk, or modern R&B. 2) My hands are dry, and I try not to play with dirty hands, so my strings last longer. 3) I have a lot of instruments to play, so no one bass gets that much use... the string wear gets spread out over time.

But I do change out the strings on my Lull MV5 fairly often, maybe every 3-4 months. It's an active Jazz-style bass, and I don't care for the dead string tone on that.

[VeganThump]

Originally Posted by edfriedland

Yup. When I break on string on that bass... I'll have to put it on a wooden raft, set it on fire, and float it down the Colorado river....

Lol, a viking funeral...

[MrLenny1]

Now there's a working musician stretching a buck.
My LaBella tape wounds have 6 years on them.
You got me beat Ed.

[dougjwray]

You guys are all wimps. I have a Fender P-Bass with nearly 17-year-old GHS Precision Flats on it.

[wrench45us]

I am impresssed with the record keeping you guys maintain to be able to state with authority how many years a given set of strings have been on a bass.
Do you guys keep notebooks of service records or what?

[dougjwray]

Originally Posted by wrench45us

I am impresssed with the record keeping you guys maintain to be able to state with authority how many years a given set of strings have been on a bass.
Do you guys keep notebooks of service records or what?

No, it's just that I seem to dedicate a functioning part of my brain to remembering such things. Like, I can remember putting those strings on, back in the spring of 1996... but I can't remember what my wife just asked me to pick up at the supermarket.

[pickles]

I had a 5 string set of HRSs from before they ruined them by making the E nontapered. Played them for years and they sounded perfect. Just a little edge left with loads of growl and low mids.

[darkstorm]

No wonder his bass playing to me sounds like bass with strings well past needing replacing.