The first ones I tried out are the Rotosound SM66 (40-100). They don’t feel very harsh compared to what I’ve played on before, but maybe a bit stiffer. I really love the sound they produce though. But I have a feeling they won’t last very long, can’t say why as they are built very good and all that, and they do feel like high quality strings, but there is just this feeling I can’t explain.
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Best stainless steel strings?
- Thread starter MartinSwe
- Start date
Please report back if you try the Apex. I'm curious about them, though I'm really happy with my SIT Power Steel and have a good number of sets here. Same tonal qualities as the SIT, but stiffer, would be perfect for me.
Mixed opinions here. Used to use DR SS LowRiders until I switched to Dunlop MM SS SuperBrites. Started having QC issues, E and A strings going dead VERY quickly! Tried several sets with no remedy.
Switched to ProSteels and am happy. Feedback on Dunlop MM SS SB. Hope they fix QC, want to love them , but ProSteels are the winner for now.
Switched to ProSteels and am happy. Feedback on Dunlop MM SS SB. Hope they fix QC, want to love them , but ProSteels are the winner for now.
Honestly the super bright stainless were kinda disappointing when I tried them. The standard series or original stainless steels by Dunlop are heads and shoulders better sounding to me. The super brights just didn't really have the biting tone I like. I was definitely expecting more especially considering how growly and responsive the regular stainless strings are.
I was also disappointed in the Super Brights. The Standard series (black box) I love the feel of, but not the tone. I find them very dark for stainless steel strings. I have them on a Carvin right now with jazz pickups since I wanted to tame them. On my Gibson Thunderbird, they sounded like my SIT Power Steel when they go dead.
Those are great strings! And the people at Apex are fantastic! Great customer service!
I once cut an E string too short, my fault entirely, trying to multitask. I reached out to Apex and they had a new E string in the mail that day at no cost to me.I found the Apex Cryos to be less grabby than the regular Blue Steels and maybe just a tinge more flexible? Great stuff! Not too expensive either.
Kindly,
Brent
I am all in on the DR roundcore strings. The Hi-Beams are my go to SS strings.
Those are great strings! And the people at Apex are fantastic! Great customer service!
I found the Apex Cryos to be less grabby than the regular Blue Steels and maybe just a tinge more flexible? Great stuff! Not too expensive either.
Kindly,
Brent
TBD on their customer service.
I emailed them last week asking what difference I'd experience in tone and feel between their Traditionals and Traditional Cryos, and no response yet.
Hi,TBD on their customer service.
Here is the response I received to that very question a couple of years ago. I hope this helps!
Brent
"Hey Brent,
I apologize for my delay in responding. This time of year is always a bit nuts.
As for the question, you kind of answered it yourself. The major difference between the two are that the Cryos offer a grittier tone. Kind of a dark harmonic taste if you will. Many players love that tone. Some don't. Kind of like the difference between Chocolate and Fudge (the metaphor I use).
It is good to hear that, moving the set, you tuned, de-tuned, and re-tuned and the strings still performed well.
It is always great to hear from you. I thought that I saw that you are playing in Northern Indiana soon. Time permitting maybe I can drop around just to say hi!
Happy New Year,
Jeff"
Thanks! Still not really sure what that description means, other than the gritty part. It's too bad there's no relatively inexpensive way to try them out, like throwing them in with a larger order. Only Apex themselves seem to sell them.
Rotosound 66 are my all-time favorite. The issue is they last about 2 gigs before they start to lose that sound I love. They still sound really good, just different. Very thumpy once worn in. I like them best right after one gig. Perfect. Sadly, I am finding that about one out of every two packs I buy now come deader already for some reason. Not close to what they should be. It may be that I got about 3 packs off Amazon with gift cards. Used to get them at my local GC but they only carry a weird gauge now that I don't want. I told them to get in my regular gauge and I would buy them and turn their inventory. No one else seems to buy them.
I did give the Marcus Miller Super Bright Steels a try and they were very good. I played the Super Bright nickels in the past and liked them ok. These sound better. Lasted a good 3 gigs and still had that zing. I may give them more reps with different basses. My #1 Jazz has only ever worn Rotos, except when new from Fender, but I may try the MMs on it.
I did give the Marcus Miller Super Bright Steels a try and they were very good. I played the Super Bright nickels in the past and liked them ok. These sound better. Lasted a good 3 gigs and still had that zing. I may give them more reps with different basses. My #1 Jazz has only ever worn Rotos, except when new from Fender, but I may try the MMs on it.
Have you spent much time with the DR Lo Riders? I’ve gone back and forth a lot between Roto 66’s and LR’s. To me, they have a lot of sound similarities but definitely outlast the Rotos in longevity.
Just wanted to bump this thread and mention something about sit power steel since they were mentioned and this is a thread about steels. So I had a set of these hanging out for a bit and today I gave them a shot. No offense to the guys at sit or the players who use them but I can't believe how bad these sounded. It's almost as if they were all dead as soon as they were strung up. No weird overtone or rattles just super dead. I know I got the cores straight and took care to make sure I installed them the right way. I've been stringing basses and guitars since I was a kid. They sounded so bad I literally cut them out of my bass and tossed them. First time I've ever actually done that with strings. Also if you have a B string and you're trying to insert the end into certain tuner keys like Warwick or Ibanez tuners you might not be able to actually get the end in there due to how fat they make the taper. I was overall shocked at how piss poor these turned out. I've tried so many different strings and never ran into this before. Just wanted to pass this experience on and let people know. These are definitely not the best steels by far. Lol and I have tried other strings from SIT and they were nothing like this. If you want steel from SIT try fusion wound or maybe foundations. They were actually useable.
I'll have a chance to verify this for myself next week. I have the Power Steels 40-100 to try on a Yamaha TRBX504 to see if they're as bad as you say they are. Stay tuned...
EDIT: I also have DR Lo-Riders 40-100 and GHS Super Steels 40-102 to try on that bass for comparison.
What bass? Strings can be so dependent on the bass and pickups. On my Gibson Thunderbird, I think they sound and feel amazing. I've gone back and forth between Power Steel and Fusion Wound Steel and don't notice a difference. That said, I've tried them on other basses and wasn't thrilled. Not bad, just not inspiring.
Well I hope the set you have doesn't have any duds. Luckily you don't have to contend with a b string either so they should at least go into the tuners ok.
So the bass is a Warwick streamer 5 with the stock Warwick tuners. Something to note is that I believe the tuners on a Thunderbird are going to be similar to a fender so even a b string ought to fit in the tuner just fine. They have a larger opening I believe. I know my old fender precision had good sized openings. What's weird is that I have tried fusion wounds on the same bass and everything string up just fine. Same medium light gauge and everything. The tone wasn't as inspiring as I'd hoped but they were definitely useable. These power steels sounded like year old roto sounds do when they lose all the brightness. Quite bizarre that they could be so dead right out of the package.
So weird. I'd love to say you got a fluke, but who knows. Maybe they're just not your string. The Power Steel and Fusion Wound are really the same string, just with the Fusion Wound having that bonding of the core to the outer wrap.
There is a layer of phosphor bronze fused to the core wire on the Fusion Wound. The Power Steels don't have that.
