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Circle K vs Conklin... Extended range strings

Bagusys

Bagusys

Sep 5, 2012
134
32
#1
Hey all, was wondering if anyone else has gone way way down to those almost brown notes and experimented with Conklin Snakeskins or Circle K strings and opinions...

Here is my use for them...

My former 2 bands were both Dropped C and my 4, 6, 8, and fretless are all tuned to that, and our one song that used 7 string (5 string for me) went to dropped G. This is when I first went to find weird strings, I bought a Conklin .174 and LOVED IT!!! So I decided to experiment with another one of my 4 strings and see if I could drop an octave. Conklin got me the string they thought would work and the top 2 were perfect, the bottom 2 not so much (.194, .165, .135, .95). So then I found Circle K and saw their even thicker strings, so my suboctave bass became 2 Circle K and 2 Conklins sub octave CGCF. (.254, .174, .135, .95). Ultimately, it sounded better, the bottom 2 strings were not so wobbley, but that low C is still kinda loose, but functional, it sounds perfect at D.

A new band I joined has me at F#, B, F#, B. I set up a 4 and 6 string for this band with extra thick strings I had laying around and ultimately went with Circle K.

My opinion, I love the tone of Conklin snakeskins better, but I hate the way their wound and it has the plain steel wire at the base. I feel like they would break to easily. Circle K's are great and built right, but have absolutely no life in their sound.

Anyone else have any other opinions...
Thx!
 
#2
Bagusys said:
Circle K's are great and built right, but have absolutely no life in their sound.
Click to expand...
I personally take offense to that last part. When I first tried Circle K Strings I thought to myself this is the best my bass has ever sounded. I've been using them ever since. To compair the low F# strings is debatable (I know which one I like) but any lower than that it's Circle K all the way.
 
#3
Conklin strings are contract strings, so instead of Conklin, I would try La Bella or D'Addario for the single gauges if you don't like CircleK. CircleK strings have a lot of nickel in the alloy, and my hand perspiration kills nickel, so even though they sound great at the start, I also kill CircleK strings. That's why there are so many different brands, models and gauges of strings. The OP's comment is not meant to diss CircleK strings, just that they don't work for him. GHS Boomers don't work for me, either, but Progressives do, because of more iron in the alloy of the wrap wire.
 
#4
iiipopes said:
Conklin strings are contract strings, so instead of Conklin, I would try La Bella or D'Addario for the single gauges if you don't like CircleK. CircleK strings have a lot of nickel in the alloy, and my hand perspiration kills nickel, so even though they sound great at the start, I also kill CircleK strings. That's why there are so many different brands, models and gauges of strings. The OP's comment is not meant to diss CircleK strings, just that they don't work for him. GHS Boomers don't work for me, either, but Progressives do, because of more iron in the alloy of the wrap wire.
Click to expand...

Yeah, of course not dissing Circle K, I still use them because there the only ones I know of that go to my requirements and won't break.

Didn't know D'addario made extended range, all I could find in their singles was .160
Didn't find anything on La Bella...

a couple people told me to stay away from Octave 4 Plus, I didn't really look at their strings cuz I already ordered from CK and Conklin.
As far as I know Snakeskin, CK and O4P are the only 3 extended range strings I can find, looking to see if anyone knows anymore
 
#5
Invalid Link Removed
^ Pyramid strings of Europe do .017w to .175 roundwounds in steel or pure nickel, and can do larger on request.
Years ago i tried the Snakeskin / SIT .165, they may have changed since then, seemed a good string but the contact core tapered section was too thin and too long, causing a strange tone. The Kaliums (CK) have a short and fat tapered section as it should be.

Kalium are about to launch their range of stainless steel roundwounds which should be brighter, i feel this will help with very low notes.
 
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#6
You are referring to the exposed core.

The wraps are not load bearing / ie holding the tension of the string... Exposed core or not, it is the core wire holding the strings tension.

D'Addario makes up to a .160

La Bella makes up to a .150 but I have had larger made by request.

Rotosound has a .175
 
#7
SLaPiNFuNK said:
You are referring to the exposed core.

The wraps are not load bearing / ie holding the tension of the string... Exposed core or not, it is the core wire holding the strings tension.

Rotosound has a .175
Click to expand...

Wouldn't the extreme vibration and weight of the string put more stress on the string over the roller where it holds the tension, with the coil around it, it still makes it a thinker base and absorbs some of the tension, and protects it from breaking faster
 
#10
I was Roto only for many years. Needed to try something different and Kalium fit the bill with balanced sets allowing lower tuning. The taper core did concern me but I've been beating them with no failure. Have been experimenting going as light as possible for BEAD but at the moment back to a .130 to .55 set. When setting intonation on a 34" scale bass the bridge is typically set for EADG tuning. So the B saddle needs to be pulled back a bit more during the conversion. Having the taper relieves the break angle over the saddle. This helps eliminate stress on the core over the course of the string life. Longevity will remain to be seen. Have had no distinct loss in clarity just yet on the sets I have in service now.
 

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