Stainless steel or nickel strings, and why?

[fffever2910]

Which do you prefer?

[Mr_Music90]

Stainless Steel. They have the brightest sound of all strings.

[Randyt]

i play both ...depending on what sound Im going after!!..I have SS on two of my basses, and Nickel on the rest....its the guage and tension that Im really particular with!

Nickel: louder, fuller and rounder sound, smoother sound
Stainless steel: zingier, tends to have more upper mid growl to me, some say longer life, preserves original tone longer.

[GroovinOnFunk]

Nickel on one bass, SS on another, flat wounds on the fretless. Have all my needs covered that way

[FourBanger]

Nickel, because I don't want the brightness SS brings.

[Coolhandjjl]

You really have to try each. Each bass responds to a string differently. But once you lock onto the perfect string that matches the tone in you head, it's magical.

[awamori]

I use both SS and Nickel strings.

[Ezmar]

I use stainless Steel, mostly because nickel gets too dull too quickly for me. I probably like nickels better right out of the package, since steels can be a little harsh, but after a couple weeks, I vastly prefer the sound of steels.

[mpdd]

depends on the bass, some basses sound kind of dead and uneven with nickels, some sound way too bright or twangy with stainless

[tylerwylie]

Really depends on the pickups for me.

[JPMo]

Got stainless steels on my Squier VM Jazz and...I hate them! Way too aggressive and harsh but great for slap
This is my first time using SS so I guess I'll wait and see how they mellow out with time.

[Floyd Eye]

SS. I like them brand new right outta the box. Rotos and Blue Steels.

[Andy_D]

Originally Posted by JPMo

Got stainless steels on my Squier VM Jazz and...I hate them! Way too aggressive and harsh but great for slap
This is my first time using SS so I guess I'll wait and see how they mellow out with time.

Aggressive stings on an aggressive bass and you will get that. I used to have a VM Jazz so I know exactly what you mean. I now have a G&L Tribute JB2 which is a little less aggressive and now S/Steels sound great on it. A little less zing and shimmer, and way more punch. However, I really think it's a matter of matching the right string with the right bass. You'll know it when you've found the correct match - Tone Nirvana!!

[JPMo]

Originally Posted by Andy_D

Aggressive stings on an aggressive bass and you will get that. I used to have a VM Jazz so I know exactly what you mean. I now have a G&L Tribute JB2 which is a little less aggressive and now S/Steels sound great on it. A little less zing and shimmer, and way more punch. However, I really think it's a matter of matching the right string with the right bass. You'll know it when you've found the correct match - Tone Nirvana!!

Next set of strings will be DR Sunbeams for sure!

[Duckwater]

I like darker steel strings with a bit of age on them, modern sounding steels don't work well for my hands. Labella HRS are my favorites.

[maturanesa]

Nickel strings because they age better and feel softer

[u84six]

I just had to string up a bass with roundwound for my cover band. I needed more diverse tones for all the different songs we're doing because flats just can't cut it (my preferred string). So, I just purchased DR Hi-Beams (Stainless Steel), Sadowsky Blue Label Stainless Steel, and D'Addario XL Nickels, and compared them over the weekend. After playing through one of my band's sets with all 3 string brands (same bass), I've concluded that the stainless steel strings did the job much better than the nickels. The nickels were a little too dark for the funkier stuff we do. They just didn't have the bite I need for fingerstyle popping and high note punch, etc on some of the songs. I found that stainless still has a better, tighter attack, where the nickels are a little less punchy. Now for the difference between the DR and Sadowsky, to my ears, the Sadowsky Blue Labels were the clear winner! Wow! The DRs seemed a bit lower quality right out of the package and kind of have a tinnier high-end with no noticeable mids at all. The Sadowsky strings have a nice balance across all strings and a very nice balance in tone across the whole spectrum. I think I've found my new favorite rounds!

[JimmyM]

Used to use steels. Needed a fret dressing after a couple years. Switched to nickels. Now I can go years without a fret dressing. Maybe some of you can use steels without eating frets but I can't.

[markanini]

Does OP mean pure nickel or nickel plated steel?

[maturanesa]

Originally Posted by markanini

Does OP mean pure nickel or nickel plated steel?

i think nickel plated with steel core, the typical "nickel strings"