Stainless ID

[Old Fart]

Several questions, really:

I came upon a NICE '62 Jazz reissue made by Squier (Vintage Modified) which I love. Round-wound strings. This thing has a very bright tone and the strings feel unusually scratchy/coarse. I have heard that stainless strings are brighter, and that they wreak havok on frets and fingers. So....I am thinking these might be stainless strings. The bass is in virtually unplayed condition, so I wonder if these VM basses were shipped with stainless strings. And I am also wondering if there is a way to make a positive ID of stainless strings. Maybe I should hold them next to the strings mentioned below, and see if there is a substantial color difference in the metals.

I have a set of (I believe) non-stainless round-wounds that I removed from my Fender Jazz (MIM) in favor of D'Addario half-rounds (or ground-wounds or whatever they call 'em). FWIW, I've decided I do not like them, and will likely stick to round-wounds. Anyhoo......can those used non-stainless round-wounds be put onto this Squier with good results?

[Old Fart]

C'mon fellas. I didn't ask what strings are best for metal. Justhoping for some information on identifying chrome strings, and about re-using strings. Any problem re-using strings? Are chrome strings shinier?

[AdamR]

If they are the original strings I would think they would be Fender nickles.

[Old Fart]

Thanks Adam. That is helpful. I just don't want to leave them on the bass, since I heard that chromes are hard on frets.

[Old Fart]

I mean.....I don't want to leave them on, if they are chromes.

[cfsporn]

D'Addario Chromes are flatwounds so they do not wear down frets at all (well, maybe a tiny bit)
As for stainless steel roundwounds, your Squier probably didn't ship out of the factory with them. And even if it did, you can leave them on without fear of wearing down the frets. Fret wire takes a lot to wear down. I estimate that if you play often, with brand new ss rounds, with a heavy left hand, and do lots of string bends and slap/pop, it may take you about 5+ years to wear down the frets. This can be delayed by taking good care of the frets in the mean time.

If you like how your bass sounds with SS rounds, use SS rounds. They wouldn't exist if the basses couldn't handle them.

[Old Fart]

Thanks. That too is helpful. I don't think these are stainless rounds, and I do like the tone.