Old D'Addario set; XL Reds R360

[JustDavid]

D'Addario XL reds; what the heck do they sound like?

Grabbed this set of strings awhile back & never got curious enough to plop them on a bass. I figure someone out there must have used them before; I hadn't seen them before or since.

Hex core, nickel plated steel 1st & 2nd windings, copper coated steel for the outer wrap. Final winding is 70% steel 30% copper. "The steel supplies the necessary magnetic qualities for amplification while the copper imparts a piano-like brilliance".

Ring any bells for anyone?

[Buskman]

IIRC, weren't these made/intended for acoustic bass guitars?

[JustDavid]

They sure look it & that was my initial thought, though they are a bit high in tension (~170 lb total). That talk about magnetic properties had me second-guess though. & the piano-like stuff had me wonder if this was an attempt to parallel Steels; they DO look more like what I see inside a piano.

[JTE]

Nathan East used them for a long time, until they discontinued them years ago. So, the early Nathan East work (Clapton's "Behind The Sun", the Kenny Rogers stuff, the first couple of Whitney Houston records, and I think Anita Baker's first album would cerrtainly be in the Reds period. I'm betting the Phil Collins/Phillip Bailey collaborations were in that era too.

They were for electric bass. I tried one set and they were really BRIGHT and twangy. Didn't last very long as I recall either. I think they were shooting for the Rotosound RS-66 users without the fretwear. They were much brighter than their own stainless strings (XLS, not to be confused wtih the XL series) and had a more coarse wrap wire too.

jte

[JustDavid]

Neat!!

Thanks JTE.

BTW, who's your quote from? I like.

[JTE]

That qoute is from a denizen of The Bottom Line bass digest, named TR Kelly. She's got a great way with words, and that line is something I think should be embedded on EVERY musician's brain.

jte

[JustDavid]

Ah! Thought so!!

Thanks.

[GtenderG]

I used these strings and loved the piano-esque twang they had. They went dead after a really short time so I went bak to rotos (swings). Then went with Ken Smiths for a while..