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Brightest Nickel Rounds
- Thread starter Lo-E
- Start date
.
After following this thread I actually did my own little "shootout" last night between a couple of sets of bright roundwounds I have been wondering about myself:
1. D'Addario EXL170 Rounds (.050, .070, .085, .105)
and
2. Rotosound RB40 Nickel Rounds (.45, .65, .80. 1.0)
Both sets have been played for about two to three weeks (only at home, no gigs) each on the same Fender Jazz bass (obviously at different times!).
NB: I always wipe my strings down after playing and give them a rub over with GHS Fast-Fret.
The test:
I recorded the same basic (finger plucked) bass line on two separate tracks of my Zoom R24, ie in parallel. That way I could flick between the tracks to check brightness on-the-fly.
(If I could remember how to upload sound files I would.... leave it with me.)
Conclusion:
The Rotos are definitely brighter, with a more pronounced upper mid range too. Bottom ends sound very similar to me.
Another interesting point is that despite them both being recorded at the same input level the Rotos are definitely louder than the D'Addarios.
After following this thread I actually did my own little "shootout" last night between a couple of sets of bright roundwounds I have been wondering about myself:
1. D'Addario EXL170 Rounds (.050, .070, .085, .105)
and
2. Rotosound RB40 Nickel Rounds (.45, .65, .80. 1.0)
Both sets have been played for about two to three weeks (only at home, no gigs) each on the same Fender Jazz bass (obviously at different times!).
NB: I always wipe my strings down after playing and give them a rub over with GHS Fast-Fret.
The test:
I recorded the same basic (finger plucked) bass line on two separate tracks of my Zoom R24, ie in parallel. That way I could flick between the tracks to check brightness on-the-fly.
(If I could remember how to upload sound files I would.... leave it with me.)
Conclusion:
The Rotos are definitely brighter, with a more pronounced upper mid range too. Bottom ends sound very similar to me.
Another interesting point is that despite them both being recorded at the same input level the Rotos are definitely louder than the D'Addarios.
.
I have a set of Rotosound RS99 "Piano" strings on my Precision that I'd love to include in the same shootout but I don't want to disturb them.
I'm sure they are brighter again, with even more pronounced upper mids.
I do have a set of D'Addario Chromes on my other Jazz ..... mmmm.... they don't have the loose ball/cone issue of the RS99s .... maybe I'll take them off and fit them to the other Jazz and record that on another track.
I have a set of Rotosound RS99 "Piano" strings on my Precision that I'd love to include in the same shootout but I don't want to disturb them.
I'm sure they are brighter again, with even more pronounced upper mids.
I do have a set of D'Addario Chromes on my other Jazz ..... mmmm.... they don't have the loose ball/cone issue of the RS99s .... maybe I'll take them off and fit them to the other Jazz and record that on another track.
Agreed! The key phrase there is "The audience was perfectly happy". THAT'S how you get paid!
It'll be a while before we hit the Burners. If you go back far enough in the thread I apologize for this being a looong-term little experiment. I usually keep strings on for several months and the Sadowsky's are only a couple weeks old. I promise I'll get to 'em, though! Hang in there!
Another gig with the Sadowskys last night. Better house backline this time. Not great, but better. Sorry for such a long delay... I've been gigging, but other basses were more appropriate for the jobs at hand.
These strings don't have the brightness I'm looking for, but they're really very nice. I like the feel of them and the tone - not bright, but very even - is great. I could - and will - definitely be using these again on a different bass. So I guess the verdict on the Sadowskys is that they don't get high marks in my hunt for bright nickel rounds, but they do get high marks for just being really nice strings.
I'll try to get the Burners on before the weekend is out, but I don't know... busy.
Once again, thanks for your continued patience!
@OzzyGreg: Interesting test you did. Cool that you could A/B the two strings as you did. I agree with your assessment based upon my much less scientific testing. Sadly, I just didn't like the way the Rotos felt under my fingers. How did the Rotos end up lasting for you?
These strings don't have the brightness I'm looking for, but they're really very nice. I like the feel of them and the tone - not bright, but very even - is great. I could - and will - definitely be using these again on a different bass. So I guess the verdict on the Sadowskys is that they don't get high marks in my hunt for bright nickel rounds, but they do get high marks for just being really nice strings.
I'll try to get the Burners on before the weekend is out, but I don't know... busy.
Once again, thanks for your continued patience!
@OzzyGreg: Interesting test you did. Cool that you could A/B the two strings as you did. I agree with your assessment based upon my much less scientific testing. Sadly, I just didn't like the way the Rotos felt under my fingers. How did the Rotos end up lasting for you?
After trying all the above strings, I found D'Addario's and SIT's still to be the brightest. Oddly, Rotos were some of the least bright strings I've used.
Could have just been the particular bass you had them on, I suppose. ...the way they behave with those particular p'ups.
Or maybe a bad batch?
Well I have 4 different basses I tried them on with all types of pickups.
Bad batch? Possible...but honestly they sounded exactly like the Dean Markley NBS, Warwick Nickels, Sadowsky, Smith Burners, and Dunlops I tested at the same time.
Lo-E
I just put D'addario nickels on my bass, and I'm really liking them so far. I think I used them one time several years ago on different bass. However, this is the first time on my current 5 string Wyn bass. These nickels are replacing a set of D'addario SS. I think I like the nickels better because there seems to be a touch more mid-range and plenty of bright highs to go with it.
To me, they're a very well rounded string; a good amount of bottom end punch, mild mid-range growl, plenty of brightness, and above average tension.
I bought a balanced tension set .107 - .045 and added a single .135.
Keep up the string review, I really enjoy it!
I just put D'addario nickels on my bass, and I'm really liking them so far. I think I used them one time several years ago on different bass. However, this is the first time on my current 5 string Wyn bass. These nickels are replacing a set of D'addario SS. I think I like the nickels better because there seems to be a touch more mid-range and plenty of bright highs to go with it.
To me, they're a very well rounded string; a good amount of bottom end punch, mild mid-range growl, plenty of brightness, and above average tension.
I bought a balanced tension set .107 - .045 and added a single .135.
Keep up the string review, I really enjoy it!
I have nickle 66's on my pbass sounded great for about 3 weeks now they are dead and i'm looking for something else to try
I concur. So far, the D'Addario XLs are leading the race, but I still have more to try. I really want to give a fair shake to as many sets as possible. I was hoping to get the Smith Burners on before a gig this past Friday, but life got in the way again.... As it turned out, the house backline was a Crate practice amp, so we wouldn't have learned much anyway.
I'll keep updating as things - albeit s l o w l y - keep happening and, as always, thanks everybody for your continued patience!
Burners are on! Sheesh... took me long enough!
My first impression is that the feel is quite similar to the Sadowskys. The tone's not as even, however. They have a nice, bright top end, but there's an emphasis in the low mids, too. It's pretty noticeable, definitely not as even as the Sadowskys or as upper-mid heavy as the D'Addarios.
I have a small club gig tomorrow night and an pretty big outdoor show on Saturday afternoon, so I'll see how they do live and report.
The blue and red silks are very holiday-appropriate.
My first impression is that the feel is quite similar to the Sadowskys. The tone's not as even, however. They have a nice, bright top end, but there's an emphasis in the low mids, too. It's pretty noticeable, definitely not as even as the Sadowskys or as upper-mid heavy as the D'Addarios.
I have a small club gig tomorrow night and an pretty big outdoor show on Saturday afternoon, so I'll see how they do live and report.
The blue and red silks are very holiday-appropriate.
Played the club gig on Friday night but, sadly, the outdoor gig was cancelled.
I liked these Smith Burners better live than I did in my living room, to be honest. There was plenty of brightness (not as much as D'Addarios, but enough) and the emphasis in the low mids gave me lots of punch without muddying anything up. These are really nice.
The feel of them is just as nice (smooth and not too much tension or stiffness) as the D'Addarios or the Sadowskys but the tone really distinguishes itself from those others. All three have lots of detail, but the D'Addarios have the emphasis in the upper mids, the Sadowskys are even straight across the board and the Burners emphasize the low mids.
So far, these are my three favorite strings in my test (no, I'm not even close to done yet!
). For the particular bass I'm doing this test for, the D'Addarios still have the lead, but I'm glad to be finding other options to use on my other basses.
I'll revisit these Burners when they've been on for a few weeks and then we'll see who's next at bat. Stay tuned!
Hope everybody had a good 4th weekend!
I liked these Smith Burners better live than I did in my living room, to be honest. There was plenty of brightness (not as much as D'Addarios, but enough) and the emphasis in the low mids gave me lots of punch without muddying anything up. These are really nice.
The feel of them is just as nice (smooth and not too much tension or stiffness) as the D'Addarios or the Sadowskys but the tone really distinguishes itself from those others. All three have lots of detail, but the D'Addarios have the emphasis in the upper mids, the Sadowskys are even straight across the board and the Burners emphasize the low mids.
So far, these are my three favorite strings in my test (no, I'm not even close to done yet!
). For the particular bass I'm doing this test for, the D'Addarios still have the lead, but I'm glad to be finding other options to use on my other basses.I'll revisit these Burners when they've been on for a few weeks and then we'll see who's next at bat. Stay tuned!
Hope everybody had a good 4th weekend!
I have to agree that the nickels are not the brightest, but I did like the tone of these strings a lot. Unfortunately, I just didn't care for the feel of them.
As far as steels go, I switched to nickel strings many years ago and I just don't see myself going back, so it's a bit of a non-issue. After using nickels for so long I really can't get behind the way steel strings feel. They sound great and I have no ideological objection to them, but they just don't blow my hair back.
Brightness, longevity, tone and feel? You just described LaBella Nickels (formerly "Slappers").
