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D'Addario NYXL Bass Strings

#101
After a few days I'm more or less undecided. There is definitely pluses and minuses when compared to the regular XL's. The slightly higher tension is taking a little getting used to. I do like the lesser amount of "clank", but they are missing something the XL's have. Not sure I would buy these.

Are you guys using them on 34" or 35" instruments? They seem stiffer on my 35" compared to the XL's on the same instrument.
 
#103
gustobassman said:
After a few days I'm more or less undecided. There is definitely pluses and minuses when compared to the regular XL's. The slightly higher tension is taking a little getting used to. I do like the lesser amount of "clank", but they are missing something the XL's have. Not sure I would buy these.

Are you guys using them on 34" or 35" instruments? They seem stiffer on my 35" compared to the XL's on the same instrument.
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+1 to this. I've had these for 2 weeks and they're just meh. They do stay in tune well and have good sustain but there's something missing. They are a bit higher in tension than regular XLs and the feel was initially rougher. Either my fingers got used to them or they smoothed out some.

After over a week of playing just the bass with the NYXLs, I picked up my bass with nickel Super Brights and can say that I prefer the SBs.

I may put the NYXLs on my other bass to see if that makes a difference.
 
#104
I'm always curious about how the maker adjusts the ratio of core and wrap diameter. The first thing I do when I test a new string is to gently flex each string before installing to get a feel for its relative stiffness. The NYXL's seemed average in this regard, with the B string being more rigid than most .130s.

Whatever the composition of the NYXL core is, it is apparent that it has good elasticity- I abused the heck out of the set for 15 minutes after bringing it up to pitch, and the pitch barely budged.

My feeling after playing and listening was that I would like to try the same set, but with a slightly thinner core diameter, just to see... Otherwise, the playing qualities and tone of SB nickels were, by far, more pleasing.
 
#105
I put mine on my SBMM SUB Ray4 with modded electronics (Full EMG system). I like them. Very clear and articulate. Not as much twang as the XL's and slightly more tension. Just enough to be comfortable. They cut through like a knife. It depends on the price whether I'll buy these on a regular basis. I like the sound and price point of the XL's. I like other strings as well. Stay tuned.
 
#118
Long-time D'Addario endorser here. The new NYXL bass strings are the 3rd "prototype" string I have tested from the company. The NYXL's are the first of those 3 that I love! (Stainless steel rounds not being 'my thing' & I don't personally need the whole balanced tension thing.)

Straight out of the package the NYXL's seemed a little bright, but not moreso than traditional XL's. They did break in much quicker though! I was happy with where they settled after about an hour of playing time. (Most strings take at least 3x that before I'm happy.)

Tuning stability is definitely improved. I'm a compulsive show-tuner. I check tuning on a pedal tuner about every 2 songs on a gig! (I know, I know, that's entirely unnecessary. I'm a stickler for pitch is all...) The NYXL's just refused to drift! Very impressive.

The tension might be slightly higher. However, the NYXL's certainly bend easier at the same time. ? It's almost like they 'give' when really pulled hard but have better tensile 'memory' when released.

The selling point for me, though, is more output! I was already familiar with NYXL guitar strings so I expected this. I set up a recording session before swapping a new set of XL's with the NYXL's. The output volume increase was instantly noticeable and I hear more upper mids.

So far so good! (I've only been using them for a week.) For my basses that I tend to use for rock, the NYXL's are a likely go-to string for me. EXP coated XL's are on many of my basses now as well as traditional XL's, with Chromes on a few specialty basses. I see NYXL's fitting into a very useful niche in my tone arsenal.

20151108_104740_zpsv7ad4lqk.jpg
 
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