Longevity of half rounds

blr2 · #1 11-27-2010, 07:48 AM

Several days ago I decided to try D'addario half rounds. So far I am quite pleased with their tone. The reported stickiness went away after a couple of hours of playing.

Does anyone know what is the life expectancy of these strings, compared to, say roundwounds? So far, my strings are fresh and sound good, after about ten hours of playing. How long could I expect this to last, and how will the sound change with age?

blr2 · #2 11-28-2010, 01:31 PM

mowburger · #3 11-28-2010, 05:33 PM

probly doesnt help but I put my Daddario half rounds on in early October and altho they've mellowed out a bit I suspect I would keep them on for at least 6 mo. it really depends on your own sweats chemical recipe and how often you play of course. as mine mellow I am realizing I crave more of a flatwound sound and feel so I will probably replace these before thier useful life is up, you may get a year out of them, also depends how brite you want them to stay, they do have lil grooves between the windings that are gonna fill with funk so they do keep mellowing and sounding darker with age.

blr2 · #4 11-29-2010, 12:02 AM

Thanks for the reply mowburger. I use flats on another bass. On the one that is currently fitted with the half rounds (Am Dlx Precision Special) I normally use rounds, but wanted something warmer with more punch. I play on average 1.5-2 hours per day and with normal rounds I have to change once a month, or after about 50 hours total playing time. I hope that the half rounds will last longer than that, and after the initial break-in, they will keep their tone for couple of months. BTW I like the tone. Yesterday I tried them on a band practice with very good results. I cut through the mix better than with rounds, and to my surprise the half rounds made my bass quite grawly.

mowburger · #5 11-30-2010, 05:28 PM

nice glad you like em' I will be changing over to Thomastik-Infields jazz flats maybe around christmas $-willing. Also I found I will need a super-long set as the polished part of the half-rounds didn't quite make it to the nut when strung thru-body on the B and barley made it over the nut on the E (thrubody) I ended up top loading the B which is fine (I'm not OCD) lol but would like my new set to be ALL strung thru-body (maybe a lil ocd) haha I will prob buy a 36" set btw my bass is a new american standard P

JimmyM · #6 12-01-2010, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blr2

Thanks for the reply mowburger. I use flats on another bass. On the one that is currently fitted with the half rounds (Am Dlx Precision Special) I normally use rounds, but wanted something warmer with more punch. I play on average 1.5-2 hours per day and with normal rounds I have to change once a month, or after about 50 hours total playing time. I hope that the half rounds will last longer than that, and after the initial break-in, they will keep their tone for couple of months.

half rounds will keep their broken-in but not dead tone about the same amount of time as rounds imho. but if you're into a flatwound tone, you probably won't mind it as much.