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Am I the only one here that feels this way?

#41
Roland GR 88 said:
Obviously I like 'em and have never had any issues with fret wear.
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because there is NO issue. this legend has it's roots back in the days when the only company making roundwound strings was Rotosound, and being them steel&round against the most common flatwounds, they obviously ate frets.

we know that legends like this are harder to die than John McClane, and even now that there are rougher strings on the market, Swing66 are still considered fret-eaters...

I've used for many years the Swing66 on the same bass, and never had a big fretwear, nothing more than the other basses with nickels or other stainless...

it's just a legend, or in case it's just a matter of scum-alloy used for frets.
 
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#42
Gravedigger Dav said:
Put a set on my MIM P yesterday morning and did a setup. Agree with your opinion. First time, but I think they are going to be excellent. Thinking about putting a set on my American J. I have D 'Addarios Chrome flats on my Squire VM J V that have been on for about 6 months and they still sound like you would want them to. They have that flat thump, but there is enough on top to keep definition.
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Yeah TB member Dave Hill got me on these things. Over the years I've tried all kinds and these are all I care to use now. Got them on all my basses. They sound good when recording too. I'm more impressed with the way they sound straight out of the bag. I'm one who doesn't change strings very often either. I'd of never bought some because of them being Marcus Millers but once I heard them and played them it was over. I will settle for nothing less. Now they will probably be discontinued.

On another note I had to pick up a new charger for an IPod today and I dipped into the local best buy and they had GHS Boomers for $9, Ernie Ball Slinkys $13 and DR nickels for $11. I didn't know they ever sold strings especially bass strings.
 
#43
LOL, have to share this story: I was in the local to pickup a set of EB Cobalts, wanted to try 'em, and I'd just bought a cheapie bass for modding, so I'd try something different for strings on it as well. So I'm waiting in line to pay and the kid in front of me notices the strings I have, so he turns to me and says, "I tried some of those, they sounded killer, but my buddy found out that they are fret killers, so I took 'em off and I'm going back to my old strings." At which point he holds up a package of Rotosounds... I had to explain why this was amusing to me, after I did he saw the amusement, and he put the Roto's to the side, so I guess he decided to stick with the Cobalts he had...
 
#44
10cc said:
Yeah TB member Dave Hill got me on these things. Over the years I've tried all kinds and these are all I care to use now. Got them on all my basses. They sound good when recording too. I'm more impressed with the way they sound straight out of the bag. I'm one who doesn't change strings very often either. I'd of never bought some because of them being Marcus Millers but once I heard them and played them it was over. I will settle for nothing less. Now they will probably be discontinued.

On another note I had to pick up a new charger for an IPod today and I dipped into the local best buy and they had GHS Boomers for $9, Ernie Ball Slinkys $13 and DR nickels for $11. I didn't know they ever sold strings especially bass strings.
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I heard about them reading the strings theads looking for ideas and they seemed to get good reviews and they were on sale for $20.00
There are some Best Buys that carry music gear, but not one near me. I went a long way to get to one they had in Dallas for a while, but was totally underimpressed. I think they have pretty much abandoned the idea, but maybe not where you are.
 
#46
Interesting topic. Having gone through a variety of strings through the years, I sat down and thought: what do I want from my sound. I want a piano sound. I want a woody/double bass sound. I want a rickenbacker sound (Woody/overdriven '75 Geddy) and I want my sound out of the same gear. I settled on nickel wound Picatos-manufactured up the road from me but had a go on the D'addarrio EXL(190's) for me and they are just perfect.
They have:Honk; Clonk and thonk and and even a little bit of klank.and the strings are at least 6 months old. I have found the perfect strings.
And they are kind to my fingers.
 
#48
Bredian said:
Fret wear IS real..... Just refretted my round strung ES335 guitar after 40 years.... But the Fender Precision isn't showing wear for the 10 years I've played it....always rounds! :)
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Same experience here...

My 1974 is in dire need of a fret job and that is why it is string with tapes (I don't want to pay $300+ to refret it right now). It had been heavily played all over the world for all of the 80's and 90's and I played it heavily up until a few years ago. It basically went 30+ years of daily playing with rounds (generally Rotos) before needing a refret.

My 1979 Stingray barely had frets when I bought it, but it was also played daily and gigged 3-4 times a week for decades before I refretted it.

IME, if you play SS rounds for hours every day and maintain your bass properly/regularly (setup/string height, fret crown/level, etc), I can't imagine needing a refret in less than 5 years. There are exceptions, but people saying they need to replace brand new frets after only months of use are doing something wrong or maybe just trying to make a string manufacturer they are mad at look bad on an Internet forum.
 
#49
Baird6869 said:
IME, if you play SS rounds for hours every day and maintain your bass properly/regularly (setup/string height, fret crown/level, etc), I can't imagine needing a refret in less than 5 years.
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I've got a couple of basses that are close to 30 years old with thousands of hours' of use with stainless Swing 66s that haven't needed any fret work yet. Not saying that it doesn't happen, but it hasn't been a problem for me.
 
#50
Baird6869 said:
but people saying they need to replace brand new frets after only months of use are doing something wrong
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or are using ultra-cheap instruments with scum-allow frets...

my main bass, with Rotosound for many years, didin't even need a fretwork, it has only slight signs where the strings touches the frets, but not causing a dip or anything giving trouble with the setup...

and I used to play it every day, when it was my only bass.
 
#51
my favorite bass is an 87 charvel 1b w maple fretboard and i do some slap/pluck stuff sometimes is that a really cheap bass with scum alloy frets? it has no noticeable fret wear so far 29 yrs old and i really wanna try rotosounds.
 
#52
justin fleenor said:
is that a really cheap bass with scum alloy frets?
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probably not. try out some old Eko or similar brands from the 60's or 70's, and the awful cheap brands from the 80's (many "Japan Made" that were total crap, not the good ones, obviously). recent SX and similar brands have hardward made of really light alloy, bending easilly under the only strenght of bare fingers...

I had a Fender Jazz Special made in Japan (even one of the "good" series) wich had the worst hardware ever... once I slipped the screwdriver, and one of the neck screws almost lost it's head, and I needed to cut a line in order to use a flat scrwdriver... the base of the bridge was digged by the saddle screws, almost touching the wood...

E-series Made in Japan... greeeeeat instruments... yes...

I ended up making it fretless after the third fretwork in two years of nickel plated strings...
 
#54
Pier_ said:
probably not. try out some old Eko or similar brands from the 60's or 70's, and the awful cheap brands from the 80's (many "Japan Made" that were total crap, not the good ones, obviously). recent SX and similar brands have hardward made of really light alloy, bending easilly under the only strenght of bare fingers...

I had a Fender Jazz Special made in Japan (even one of the "good" series) wich had the worst hardware ever... once I slipped the screwdriver, and one of the neck screws almost lost it's head, and I needed to cut a line in order to use a flat scrwdriver... the base of the bridge was digged by the saddle screws, almost touching the wood...

E-series Made in Japan... greeeeeat instruments... yes...

I ended up making it fretless after the third fretwork in two years of nickel plated strings...
Click to expand...
Hmm, I have a yamaha RBX-550 from the 80's, musta been non scummy. Ive always strung it with DM blue steels, didnt need a fret job at all, I just brought it in for some other work.
 
#55
davy4575 said:
I have a yamaha RBX-550 from the 80's, musta been non scummy
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yamaha is a wonderful brand... the things I'm talking about are Sakura, Vantage, the chep Aria (not the hi-end ones) and those kind of brands... here in Europe you can still find them sold as "vintage", with over-the-top prices...
you then take a bass and it weights 6kg (13,20lbs), has the worst hardware ever, and it sounds like poopie...

is full of fanatics-extremists buying only japanese crap from the 80's, claiming that they are the best made instruments... only in Italy we have four "well known users" from online markets selling only japanese instruments... luckily the big hype over these instruments is now dead, and these users can't sell a thing :P
 
#56
a good friend of mine was given a mustang bass by my father and he traded it fore a vantage i!wth still has it though and ive played it its actall not that bad really ive played a lot of crappier basses but still seems crazy to have traded a mustang 4 it i guess mustangs werent always worth as much as they are nowadays.
 

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