Curt Mangan String Quality

[madasahatter]

This is the first time I'm trying out some Curt Mangan Bass strings. I generally use Ernie Ball. As I'm winding the G string (.030 gauge) I didn't even get it all the way up to pitch before it snapped. I think it broke when I was around the pitch of E so not all that much tension on it yet. I checked tuners and everything for sharp edges and burrs. All looked fine. No issues with the other strings in the set; yet.
I don't know if this is a common occurrence with Curt Mangan strings or if I was unlucky enough to get the one bad string of thousands that slopped past QC. Either way it's my first experience with this brand and impressions are starting off a little rocky.
Have any of you had bad experiences with quality or am I just unlucky?

 

[two fingers]

I had an endorsement from them years ago. (Pretty much anyone who wanted one could get one back then. And I was doing over 120 shows a year at the time.) I kept snapping A strings until I couldn't use them anymore. It's pretty bad when you can get strings for the price of shipping (which was stupid cheap back then) and can't use the strings.

That was almost 20 years ago. So take that for what it is.

 

[Bobbadfinger]

No experience with their bass offerings, but for guitar strings, one of the worse I ever tried.
My luthier is using those; stringed my Les Paul Custom with them, has a defective low E (it vibrates in an odd way), ended swapping it for Addario.
Then he made a paint job on a Tele, that returned with them again. If I didn't knew the strings, I would say nitro screwed with the guitar tone...

 

[madasahatter]

Well, that's not too encouraging. They were the only place I could find that have 16 gauge strings with a bass ball end. Other places only went down to 18 gauge. Maybe I'll email stringjoy to see if they can do something for me.

 

[Laughing Hyena]

I don't know. My experience has been just the opposite. I've had good luck with both the steel and nickel wound bass strings on my P and J bass. 45-105. Sound great. I also love their guitar strings.

 

[JPK_DK]

This is the first time I'm trying out some Curt Mangan Bass strings. I generally use Ernie Ball. As I'm winding the G string (.030 gauge) I didn't even get it all the way up to pitch before it snapped. I think it broke when I was around the pitch of E so not all that much tension on it yet. I checked tuners and everything for sharp edges and burrs. All looked fine. No issues with the other strings in the set; yet.
I don't know if this is a common occurrence with Curt Mangan strings or if I was unlucky enough to get the one bad string of thousands that slopped past QC. Either way it's my first experience with this brand and impressions are starting off a little rocky.
Have any of you had bad experiences with quality or am I just unlucky?

That is, of course, a very bad experience indeed! Sorry to hear that!
So far, I had a few sets of the Curt Mangan nickel round wounds and I both like the sound and the feel of these strings... and the fact that you can easily get individual strings and put together your own "signature" set with the gauges you might prefer.

For what it is worth, Le Fay (German boutique basses) seem to put Mangan strings on their basses when they get shipped out. So, I guess, they must live up to their quality requirements!?

 

[GTHintz]

I've played on a set before because I was sold from a music shop owner's high praise. I wasn't very impressed sadly. There are too many other strings that will give me more sound and last longer. I had the set on for a while but they didn't have a very good broken in tone. For instance I'm playing a set of Blue steel strings from Dean Markley and they are holding up very well. I've had them on for months now. Even if the bass sits for a week or so it stays almost perfectly in tune. And I believe blue steels are going for slightly cheaper than mangan strings if I'm not mistaken.

 

[madasahatter]

A quick update:
I contacted Curt Mangan shortly after making my initial post. They got back with me the next day asking if it was the core wire that broke and where at. I gave them the details and they responded back saying that a new string would be sent. About 3 days later the new string was waiting in the mail box. I've had no issues with the new string.

I'm not able to comment much on their durability or longevity other than the one that broke, but my customer service experience has been good. They accepted my return without any hassle even though it was 30 days past their return period and promptly sent me a new one. I'm assuming they asked where the string broke to ensure it was a bad string and didn't get caught on a sharp edge; which is understandable.
I haven't had any issues with the other string I ordered so maybe I was just unlucky enough to get a dud. I like how they sound on this bass so when it's time to change strings again I'll give them another go.