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D'Addario...Flex Steels?

#181
Maiden Bass said:
Just tried Flex Steels. Do not like them at all, sort of like high beams with less highs. Highs are closer to nickels than stainless steel to my ears. Probably depends a lot on the way you attack the strings, so if you are a fingerstyle player who likes that SS zing then stay away from these. You've been warned!
Pro Steels are much better for that sound, trust me!!!
Click to expand...

That's what I was afraid of. The whole purpose I use SS rounds is for the very bright quality. I've found that D'Add Prosteels have about the most zing for SS rounds, and they have nice deep tight lows - plus the price is right. I'll stick with the Prosteels.

Thanks for the warning.
 
#182
ArtechnikA said:
After a couple of weeks I still like them, but I am having intonation issues on G and C I never had with the Nickel Rounds. I'll lower the bridge saddles a little more and see if that helps things. I had thought lower tension would reduce, not increase intonation issues, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Puzzling...
Click to expand...

Neither string tension nor saddle heights should impact intonation. By G and C do you mean G & C strings or G & C on a particular string? Could be that you have a bad string(s). It happens. Or could be change as a result of material. Have you tried adjusting pickup heights?
 
#183
Britbonic said:
Neither string tension nor saddle heights should impact intonation. By G and C do you mean G & C strings
Click to expand...

How could action height -not- affect intonation ?
Yes - G and C strings.

Not sure how pickup heights would affect intonation tho... Please elaborate.

On B through D, when the intonation is right at the 12th stop, the others line up where they are expected. On C and G, I have to play way off the dot to get the note in pitch. This was all fine with the Round Nickel.

I do have a spare set of Flex, so I may just try those to check the bad string theory. Maybe there are still kinks in the early production process. Worse comes to worst, I'll go back to the Nickels - I have a spare set of those too...
 
#184
If your pickups are too high the magnets can exert too much pull on the strings, pulling them out of tune and affecting sustain.

Anytime you change strings you may have to re-adjust the intonation. I assume that was done? And yes, changing saddle height can change the intonation as well.
 
#185
scotch said:
If your pickups are too high the magnets can exert too much pull on the strings, pulling them out of tune and affecting sustain.
Click to expand...
I see your point on the pickups - but I'd naively expect that more on the lower strings than the skinny ones...

Anytime you change strings you may have to re-adjust the intonation. I assume that was done?
Click to expand...
That's the process I'm in now. It was fine before the change, and they (G and C) are fighting me now. B-D came in fine.
 
#186
Sorry, should have been more clear with my answers.

Scotch answered the pickup height question.

My point about saddle height was assuming you had already rechecked intonation after changing strings. Obviously changing saddle heights can change intonation, usually very slightly. I've just never had a situation where the saddle height impacted getting an instrument to intonate properly. Most times it ended up being a bad string.

Also, you had mentioned string tension (lower vs higher) impacting intonation. That hasn't been my experience. Wondering why that would be the case.
 
#187
Britbonic said:
I've just never had a situation where the saddle height impacted getting an instrument to intonate properly. Most times it ended up being a bad string.
Click to expand...
I haven't ruled that out, but I want to try the cheap and easy things first.

Also, you had mentioned string tension (lower vs higher) impacting intonation. That hasn't been my experience. Wondering why that would be the case.
Click to expand...
What I have read (the Jerzy Drozd setup guide, for instance (p31) ) indicated that the less elastic the string, the more the fretting distortion changes the pitch. (With the corollary that this is why the big strings need their saddles farther back. Which I know is not consistent with these being -more- flexible than what they replaced. Still a mystery...)

And I only bring it up because it (different flexibility) is one of the characteristics of the FlexSteel mentioned early on in the product announcement.

This is the first time I've ever had an intonation issue following a string change, but I haven't changed that many.

So I don't understand it all yet. But it will be something, and I'll post what I learn. And no, I have not eliminated the possibility that it is 100% me doing something wrong. Assume nothing, check everything, back to basics. Since I have had OK success setting intonations before, I thought I understood it, but I'll go through the steps step-by-step again.
 
#188
Am thinking of putting a set of these on my Jazz, but I have such a nice set of 46-something-110 LaBella Deep talkin' rounds on it now that's a year old by now and they rock, I love their tone...
I want a slightly lower tension and mostly play with my fingers with the occacional slap, maybe give these a go? Have tested DR lo-riders, DR nickel lo-riders, Deep talkin flats and GHS flats, and DR fat beams on it before and licked Fat beams the most playing-wise, and nickel lo-riders most tonewise but didn't care for the feel of them, or the honk.
Maybe... but Ooh I love my Labellas haha. Although they ARE very high tension, that's why I'm gonna change them. But I thougt hey, why not test something new.
 
#189
Tried EFX165 FlexSteels strings and love them. Been a long time user of XL165's and thought I'd give the Flex Steels a try. The strings are a bit coarser but have a great mid range punch with a bit of a gritty sound to them. I switched to nickel strings years ago because the steel string I was using at the time had a bad reaction to my skin and my fingers would crack and bleed. very painful. I hope this type of steel works better for me. So far so good. Loving them!
 
#195
ddawson2012 said:
As an FYI - here's our new FlexSteels video - yes this is a somewhat shameless post ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jiYVy3iwjg
Click to expand...

Thanks Don!

It's nice to see and hear these great players jamming them!

I put an accurate (to me) review of these on BassStringsOnLine.com

The singles and a matching B for the ultra light gauge would be a very welcome addition.

Cheers!
 
#196
tylerwylie said:
Hey why are you posting here instead of working on expanding the gauge selection and singles offerings for new Flexsteels, chop chop! :p

They sound great on my fretless. Had to turn my tweeter down until they break in.
Click to expand...

;) Interestingly enough, you're not the first to ask if we're expanding the gauge selection for FlexSteels. We've shared that with our product team and after the stapler went zinging over my head, i said "you'll get back to me then??"

So hopefully, we'll hear something soon once FlexSteels have had a chance to get some wheels at retail.

Don
 
#197
These strings sound very interesting.
For context, can anybody describe how they compare to these strings?
- Rotosound steel 66
- Sadowsky Blue Steel
- DR FatBeams

Specifically I want a thick, midrange-rich sound with a strong attack and fundamental, lots of mid-highs but not too hifi and glassy. And I need a great B string that has continuity with the E.
 
#199
Put these on my AVRI 62 Jazz a couple of weeks OK and finally had a chance to play a gig with them this weekend. More than any other bass I own the, this bass seems to be the most sensitive to things like string changes.

Just listening back to the tracks from that gig. This is a soul and R&B band so I typically play my PBass with flats for old school sound but thought I give the jazz with flexsteels a try. Wow, 'm really blown away with what I'm hearing! Nice full sound, solid bottom and just enough mid articulation to cut through. Punchy but not overbearing. Perfect match eq wise with the drums.

I ran with the tone controls rolled back a bit and favored the neck pickup more but otherwise ran straight into my GK MB800 with tone controls essentially flat and Avatar TB153 cab.

As an experiment ran the PBass with TI flats for the 3rd set. While it sounds good, the bottom was not as tight and the upper mid articulation was missing. Some of this is of course is cause one's a P and one's a J but I found I was much happier with sound of the Jazz and Flexsteels. First stainless strings I've really enjoyed using. Definitely feel different than most nickels I play but very comfortable and flexible.
 
#200
Lorenzini said:
Can anyone draw a comparison between Flex Steels and Dunlop Stainless or Nickels? The Dunlops are my current favorite low tension/flexible hex core string, but the Flex Steels are definitely piquing my interest.
Click to expand...
Can't speak for the Dunlop Stainless but compared to nickels I feel like these are comparable, maybe slightly less tension. Personally, I didn't care for the last set of Dunlop nickels I installed and ended pull them off after a couple weeks.
 

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