Your honest opinion on rotosounds

Warwickman0810 · #1 05-31-2005, 08:54 AM

Hey, I have recently switched to using rotosound swing bass on my 5-string warwick corvette. Also, they're not tapered-ends so it makes it harder for me to snap a string (as I play quite close to the bridge). Just wondering if you, fellow bassists have experienced any problems with rotosounds in the past (like tarnishing, losing highs or lows etc, etc, etc)?

43apples · #2 05-31-2005, 09:20 AM

Well, i found that rotosounds have a wierd thing going on. When putting on a totally fresh set, they sound *awesome*, but after 5 minutes even without playing, alot of the highs are gone

. They do stay pretty brigth for a pretty long time though.

I use rotos exclusively, and i never had a problem with broken strings

.

-Erlend

PICK · #3 05-31-2005, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erlend_G

Well, i found that rotosounds have a wierd thing going on. When putting on a totally fresh set, they sound *awesome*, but after 5 minutes even without playing, alot of the highs are gone

Agreed, They do lose those immediate highs pretty quickly but after that point they do stay bright for a while. I used them for a few years till i got the Roscoe then i had to change cause they just ain't long enough. Would use them again on something shorter.

Aussiephoenix · #4 05-31-2005, 10:53 AM

I've just changed my strings. (rotosound 45's) They lasted 6 months.
Recently, the strings started getting floppier, deader sounding. up until now, there was no real noticeable change in tone or brightness. kinda went dead more or less suddenly.
I love rotosounds though, great feel, and since I use nickels, they are JUST bright enough, but not TOO bright. love 'em.

line1 · #5 05-31-2005, 11:07 AM

Rotos are one of those hit or miss kinda strongs in my experiance. They are very bright for a while if you get a good set, but sometimes they are dead before leaving the box. They are very good sounding strings, but also very unreliable.

Warwickman0810 · #6 06-01-2005, 05:46 PM

Yeah, I've noticed that the brights have gone fairly quickly but i can still get a pretty good adn crispy adn meaty sound out of them though...Long live rotosounds...

Flatwound · #7 06-01-2005, 10:01 PM

Right now I have Rotosound nickels on my Tobias and I'm impressed. The last few sets of 66's I used were uniformly good and lasted well. RS66's have a midrange character unlike anything else I've used.

CJK84 · #8 06-02-2005, 01:43 PM

Excuse my ignorance, but are rotosounds flatwounds?

Luke73 · #9 06-02-2005, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJK84

Excuse my ignorance, but are rotosounds flatwounds?

Rotosound make flatwounds, tapewounds, round wounds etc etc

If you want to see there range - check out www.rotosound.com

I currently have the RS77 Jazz flats on my BB404 fretless, and I like them alot, but I didn't like the stainless RS66 swing bass strings much on my Corvette. Too bright for me, and I hated the stainless feel. For rounds I've gone straight back to nickle plated GHS Boomers.

I also have on order some GHS pressure wounds to try on my fretless. Should be fun.

tplyons · #10 06-02-2005, 06:46 PM

I like 'em, but I like LaBella Hard Rockin' Steels just a tad better. Good strings, but the LaBellas have the tension I crave.

eric234 · #11 06-02-2005, 07:38 PM

i like my rotosound flatwound strings they are black nylon and are really warmsounding but they do kinda lose the highs after a little while

JimmyM · #12 06-03-2005, 12:05 AM

I loved the sound of Rotos but hated having to get a fret job every year. All strings lose high end as you use them. Never had a tarnish problem, though. I use nickels now because all roundwound strings sound the same when they're dead.

Aussiephoenix · #13 06-03-2005, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eric234

i like my rotosound flatwound strings they are black nylon and are really warmsounding but they do kinda lose the highs after a little while

Rotosound Black Nylons?

didnt know they made any other flats other than the ones i have on my fretless... oh, and the Steve Harris edition. (Anyone tried these? comments?).

The Flats I have on the fretless are great sounding. they actually have that bright edge that most flats dont... though when still rolled up, out of the box, the E looks more preassurewound than flat. the others are pretty much seamless. when it stretches out though, its smooth.

Dell · #14 06-03-2005, 05:10 AM

I used to love Rotosound strings, but, and I dont know if it is my playing that changed, suddenly they just didn't last as long. I've heard rumors that they changed the string design a coupe of years back, but I dont know how true that is.

Anyway, I moved on to fenders for the last year, but now I've found my new poison... Rotosound Steve Harris signature bass strings. They're flat wound 50-105 and I'm loving them at the moment.

Dell · #15 06-03-2005, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aussiephoenix

Rotosound Black Nylons?

didnt know they made any other flats other than the ones i have on my fretless... oh, and the Steve Harris edition. (Anyone tried these? comments?).

The Flats I have on the fretless are great sounding. they actually have that bright edge that most flats dont... though when still rolled up, out of the box, the E looks more preassurewound than flat. the others are pretty much seamless. when it stretches out though, its smooth.

Aye, Ive got a set of black nylon rotosounds kicking about. I put them on my vox but they're stupidly heavy gauge (start at 65, I think??)

like I just said in my post above I'm using Steve Harris signature strings at the moment becuase he gave me some to try. They seems to have a better low end with them compared to the fenders Ive been using, and not as much top but without sounding muddy. Oh, and its saving my fingers a lot of skin. No blisters or torn skin yet

. Considering I'm using a jazz bass, and his head, I can say my sound is pretty much like his now (except I scoop some mid out and add a little more bass)

Gardner · #16 06-03-2005, 05:26 AM

Being British, when I first started playing, I always used Rotosounds because that was all I could get from the local guitar shop (fence/pawnbroker/rip-off merchant). They lost all their brightness within a few days, snapped, stretched and put that nasty red cotton **** all over my fingerboard. Nowadays I stick to D'Addario and GHS.

Whatever happened to 'Heavy Metal' brand strings? I've had a set on my old Guild B301 for about ten years, and they still sound good (is this a record?).