rotosound 66

harpguy74 · #1 10-25-2011, 08:02 PM

i whant to try these but i have read that they chew up frets really fast. i play blues and some classic rock nothing to agressive and i dont play any slap at all.

SLaPiNFuNK · #2 10-25-2011, 08:18 PM

66's are great strings all around...

But if you are playing blues and classic rock,there are some other string types out there that may fit the bill better... Especially if no slap.

Pressure Wounds / Half Rounds / Flat Wounds will soon be your close friends

Rotosound makes Pressure Wounds and Flats that will work well for you as well as many other manufacturers...

FWIW - I play a lot of blues and use either Pressure Wounds (Nickel alloy variety that are slightly darker unlike the Rotosound Stainless) and use Flatwounds as well.

SLaPiNFuNK · #3 10-25-2011, 08:30 PM

In a more direct response to your OP. Any round wound string or any string for that matter will eventually accelerate fret wear.

It all depends on the type of frets and your grip also has a factor.

Rotosound Stainless Steel are aggressive... They do have a Nickel Plated Steel option as well.

skychief · #4 10-25-2011, 08:37 PM

Yah, the 66's made a real mess of the frets on my EB-2. But they sounded so good doing it!!

Tanner5382 · #5 10-25-2011, 08:38 PM

I've had some Roto 66's on my Gibson Money bass for some time now, and I haven't noticed any fret wear at all. I too am a classic rock player. I think the Rotos would be a great choice for you since a lot of the classic rock "icons" (Entwistle, JPJ, Chris Squire, etc.) used them. Hell, Entwistle helped invent them. Listen to what SLaPiNFuNK is saying.

darkstorm · #6 10-25-2011, 10:48 PM

As long as your bass has decent qaulity frets, no cheapo soft ones, it'll take long tome to get significant fret wear. So long as your not grinding the strings into frets with fretting. Roto 66 where my main strings for over 3 decades. Great strings.

SLaPiNFuNK · #7 10-26-2011, 05:05 AM

OP: I feel I need to apologize for my first post. I did not mean to voice my opinion on which strings that I would / do personally use for that style of music. So if I came across too harsh sorry about that

**cfsporn** · #8 10-26-2011, 08:49 AM

I have Rotosound SB 66s on all but one of my basses, and I have not noticed the slightest fret wear. Keep in mind that I am very hard on my frets (lots of bends and vibrato with a very strong left hand.).

Konigstiger22 · #9 10-26-2011, 08:52 AM

Love them! Nice and growly and great texture. I love the grip I get on these strings!

heavyfunkmachin · #10 10-26-2011, 08:52 AM

IMHO you'll like to switch to Rotosound solo bass (they are halfground or groundwound or something like that).

They are like broken in roundwounds without the excesive fretwear,,,

I love them!

winterburn69 · #11 10-26-2011, 02:28 PM

I had nothing but Roto 66s on my Thunderbird for three years until I tried the Roto 77 flats recently, and yeah, a bit of fret wear but nothing terribly noticeable.

Great strings. Only con is that they die quickly and are quite rough to the touch.

punkinfantry · #12 10-26-2011, 02:30 PM

i put ghs fast fret on mine and it keeps them bright and smooth! your mileage may vary though

harpguy74 · #13 10-26-2011, 07:53 PM

i find it a bit funny that every time i say i like playing classic rock and blues everyome seems to say flatwonds but that is not what any of the bass players i like and play use them. jack bruce, tommy shannon,noel redding,john paul jones, and so on all use brighter rounds. one of my favorite players is Orlando Wright from the buddy guy band and he used prosteel. the only strings i have experience with are xl`s and they are ok but i was thinking of going brighter not duller. would it be better to use the amp and bass to back off some zing but have it if you whant it than to get a string that has no zing. these are all just new guy questions. sorry

SLaPiNFuNK · #14 10-26-2011, 08:32 PM

It is not so much the music you play, but when someone is worried about feet wear the first instinct is to direct them away from full round wounds.

Pressure wounds and half round can still have the lifelines of round and definitely less fret wear however any metal string will cause some wear over time.

If stainless steel is the sound you want you have to make some sacrifices. Check out the Rotosound solo bass 55 which are still stainless steel but less aggressive on frets that full round wounds.

harpguy74 · #15 10-27-2011, 05:48 AM

what would you recomend if i whanted to order a flat set halfround set and a ss set to try each without blowing my whole paycheck.. thanks for all the info.

Floyd Eye · #16 10-29-2011, 05:10 AM

Stick with the Rotos IMO. Also +1 to the Fast Fret. I get a lot of life out of my Roto 66s and only minimal fret wear.

D'Addario makes a groundwound string on the cheap.

rockscott · #17 10-29-2011, 05:55 AM

The use the rotos on my thunderbird, they are the only strings that can give me the sound i desire on the bird!