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Brightest Nickel Rounds

#21
Lo-E said:
I've got a set of the 66 nickels awaiting their turn. Back in my SS days, I used the Rotos for a while, but they didn't last very long. Jason assures me that the nickels outlast the SS by a lot. We'll just see about that.....
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The 66 nickel can last a while, anything between a month to 3 months. Well, depends of what you want out of them. The SS 66 were not my thing at all regarding feel. They are so rough and grabby. The 66 nickel have nice highs, bright but warm. I like them better then D'Adario nickel or EB slinkys. I've put Hartke nickels on my Ric now, but they feel quite rough.
 
#22
I also love Rotosound strings, although I have used the 66 Nickels alot I guess I am just a big fan of both their Nickels and their 66 SS strings, as far as tone I am looking for they can do me no wrong. Of course the problem with them is life span. I like my strings fresh out of the box, the bright zing, the punch, the brand new feel. Rotosounds just seem to lose that way too fast for me, for my perfect sound I would have to buy new strings once or twice a week. That's why I have to use Elixirs. They keep that brand new out of the box feel for a very long time, they stay bright, keep that zing and that punch for at least a month before they start losing anything. Not only that but their lastest strings with the new design are tanks, they can withstand any abuse you throw at them, even the harshest picking won't shred the coating anymore like it used to on the older ones. I do find myself torn between the two brands, but I have to look at the economic way for now.
 
#23
I love my D'addario XL's for a brighter nickel sound. I've been playing them for....seven years now and have pretty much found my tone there. I'll experiment around with other things and bring other strings into the studio if it's called for, but I always end up back at D'add for my main string. Good price and a nice bright tone. They seem to be pretty consistent from string to string too.

Edit: For that matter, a month or two ago I was recording a one time sort of deal with my friend because he needed a bass player. We were going for a rather bright aggressive tone. I tried a bunch of different stainless strings out and while they were bright and aggressive still wasn't a huge fan of the tone I was getting out of them. I ended up going back to XL's in the end anyway. I seem to be able to get a pretty wide spectrum of tone from them.
 
#30
Im an XL's user for more than 15 years now, bright for nickels? yes, but very well balanced too, you can have all the mids and lows you need. But the worst thing with Daddario XL's: they don't really last more than 2 weeks, the zing that you appreciate will disapear quite soon, prepare to clean them in Denaturated Alcohol every 2 weeks, cheaper and better solution to that problem.
 
#31
Have tried now the Hartke Nickels (45-65-80-105) for almost two weeks. They sound nice, feel a bit rougher then the Roto's 66 Nickel. Tone wise I'm not sure. I always change strings when the old sett loses its bite... so if I remember right the 66 are a bit more aggressive and seem to last longer then the Harkte. Maybe it is due to the fact that the Hartke uses larger coils?
 
#32
Well, the SIT RockBrights have been on the bass for about three weeks now and are well worn in. Now I think I'm in a position to make my asessment:

Tone: Not too shabby. Nice detailed top but still plenty of everything else. Not unlike SS strings I've used in the past.

Feel: Not really my thing. I'm finding them to be a little on the stiff side and a little rough on my fingers.

I'll leave them on 'til they're dead ('cause I'm a cheapskate), but I don't think I would get them again. They'd be good for someone who's used to playing SS and wants to try something just a litle warmer sounding.


rimbaud said:
the worst thing with Daddario XL's: they don't really last more than 2 weeks, the zing that you appreciate will disapear quite soon, prepare to clean them in Denaturated Alcohol every 2 weeks, cheaper and better solution to that problem.
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I've used the XLs here and there over the years (and I'm going to try them again), but if longevity proves to be an issue, they'll probably get the boot. I know myself well enough to know I'm not about to start cleaning strings in denatured alcohol. I've tried the Hartkes, too (years ago). I don't really remember my impression of them. I'm not sure I had one.
 
#33
Well, okay!

For those of you still here (who probably thought I had died), I've moved on to string set #2.

The SITs held up really well; over four months. I don't use that bass all the time, but I use it a lot, so SIT gets high marks in the longevity department.

In the interest in having a base line (bass line?) that everybody can relate to, I went with the D'Addario XLs next.

What can I say about XLs that hasn't been said? I haven't used them in a few years, but they still felt familiar as soon as I had them on the bass. They're still brand new, but here are the initial impressions.

Tone: Bright and detailed, but not harsh. The brightness sits at a lower frequency than the SITs. It's smoother, not as strident. It lives more in the upper mids than in the treble. There's also a low-mid bump in there that I'm on the fence about. Nice, but maybe not for this bass. The SITs sounded like slightly warmer SS. These sound like slightly brighter nickel, which is more the direction I wanted to go.

Feel: Smoother on the fingers and lower in tension than the SITs. Very comfortable. They feel a lot like the D'Aquistos I used for so long.

I'll keep y'all posted on the broken-in sound and longevity.
Cheers!
-E
 
#35
slick_tu said:
I've been using Strings and Beyond.com. At least on the TI Jazz Flats I use, there price is the lowest and they have free first class mail shipping on orders over $35. Right now they have a 10% off Labor Day sale.
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Might want to check www.bassstringsonline.com
After the TB user discount, they are a little cheaper.

Plus they also have a 10% off labor day sale for all strings, not just TI.
 
#36
mmbongo said:
Might want to check www.bassstringsonline.com
After the TB user discount, they are a little cheaper.

Plus they also have a 10% off labor day sale for all strings, not just TI.
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They have a 10% sitewide sale also and a 10% TI sale (you don't get both ;) ). I'll check Bassstrings... out, thanks. I just bought TIJF's JF344 at Strings and Beyond for $53.99.
 
#38
Well, I played a gig with the D'Addarios this past weekend, and there seemed to be a fair amount of articulation, but it was through a house amp in a fairly boomy room. Not really an ideal testing environment. Plus, the strings are still really new and pretty zingy.

Will post again with more controlled results.
 
#40
Solarmist said:
For bright tone you need to use stainless steel strings ... just kidding.

I think SIT Powerwound's are some of the nicest sounding nickel rounds being warm/bright at the same time. I think they sound better than D'Add XL's which I've used a lot of.
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Agreed 100%. I'm very impressed with the SIT set I got from Jason at Bass Strings Online.

I finished my latest customized bass...a Lakland 4401, and my normal go-to strings just didn't have enough snap, so the string search began...again!

In the last week I tried:
DR Nickel LoRiders
DR Sunbeams
D'Addario XL's
GHS Progressives
Rotosound Nickel 66's

And finally the SIT's. The only ones that came close to the snap I like were the D'Addario's. I may would have stopped there, but they are not long enough to go through body on my Lakland.

I love these SIT's..but having said that...I think I'm obsessed with trying strings. I just ordered a set of Foderas and a set of Sadowsky's from Jason. I just wanted to try those out and see what they're all about. After these, there's really not much else out there that I haven't tried at some point!
 

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