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D'Addario XS Bass Strings (New)
- Thread starter Just go for it
- Start date
They certainly sound “normal” and bright enough. I do wish, however, the demo would have used less “colored” bass tones (active electronics). I have both modern, active basses and the standard passive J and P basses and a more neutral sounding bass would best highlight the inherent sound of the strings a little better I think.
I like them on guitar .. They are brighter than the XT. If you one not as bright I think XT would be my choice.
I've been curious about these as well.
Seems like they copied the newest elixir formula. Are they cheaper than elixirs however and also offer stainless steel which to me brightness wise are more like a nickel.
I would love to see rs66's with a modern coating. That would be a game changer for sure.
Seems like they copied the newest elixir formula. Are they cheaper than elixirs however and also offer stainless steel which to me brightness wise are more like a nickel.
I would love to see rs66's with a modern coating. That would be a game changer for sure.
Agreed. YouTube reviews are all over the place for sound demos with processing and YouTube audio compression etc. kind of like bass reviews where they just rip dimed distortion pedals or just slapping. Lol
Every demo this guy does seems to have some sort of overdrive. No matter what it's for. I found this totally useless. I want to hear the strings clean without any coloration. Based on this review, I have no idea what the strings actually sound like. Maybe a fellow TBer can post a clean demo of these strings.
He usually has an isolated DI only section when he reviews certain gear and he has on this one Maybe you want him to play another style but I get the idea with his DI only section
Demo-ing strings for a wide audience, but doing it on very high end basses, through whatever processing was used, along with carefully mixed backing tracks, kinda’ misses the point of the demo. A variety of basses played with the strings installed on them would have been of much more value to many more bassists.
Attaching a solid copper pick to a drill for the fraying test of the coating was pretty ridiculous in my opinion. If the coating is made of anything other than metal, it would have shown some kind of wear. My conclusion is the strings being tested using the copper-pick-on-a-drill method was more sensationalism than an actual coating test. Scraping a couple of the strings with a pocket knife to prove they were actually coated would have been a good follow up to that ridiculous display. I suppose everyone who plays gigs on bass with a pick on a drill got some good out of that part of the demo…
Attaching a solid copper pick to a drill for the fraying test of the coating was pretty ridiculous in my opinion. If the coating is made of anything other than metal, it would have shown some kind of wear. My conclusion is the strings being tested using the copper-pick-on-a-drill method was more sensationalism than an actual coating test. Scraping a couple of the strings with a pocket knife to prove they were actually coated would have been a good follow up to that ridiculous display. I suppose everyone who plays gigs on bass with a pick on a drill got some good out of that part of the demo…
I've seen him demo amps, basses and strings. He always uses some sort of overdrive and aggressive playing and over the top riffs. He is good and I assume he is a metal bassist.
But you wanted clean and for this particular demo he provided it. That's even cleaner than other demos, which is through an amp and maybe even a pedalboard. Yes the front of his video has overdrive and could cause people to just stop seeing the rest. Click on the link I provided. It's just a DI and from what I can hear also flat on the onboard EQ.. Even the tune with the overdrive, you can hear it without Yep metal but as he is a Berkeley grad can probably play jazz or jazz fusion.
I got to try these in beta. Seemed quite good to me, but I didn't stick with them long because they're overly noisy on my basses, just like Elixirs. If I wanted a longer-lasting string, I'd have to stick with XT's (which are perfectly quiet for me, I guess because they're 'treated,' not coated).
I ordered some just because I like trying new strings. I think ill put them on my MetroExpress Modern 5.
Nate does interesting demos, but he'a always playing stuff I would never play....on a bass that I would never buy.
Today, we "learned" that steel is harder than copper (it always has been). And Nate isn't crazy enough to risk that "demo" on one of his high end basses.
Today, we "learned" that steel is harder than copper (it always has been). And Nate isn't crazy enough to risk that "demo" on one of his high end basses.
As I'm playing I'll hear little static-y 'pops' coming from the amp. The wiring in my house sucks, so I'm used to some noise, but the 'pops' are too distracting and only happen with coated strings.
I am wondering if the coating inhibits the string from grounding to the bridge like the elixirs? Bummer. I wish someone would figure out a way to solve that issue! On acoustic guitars the coating can help me make a set last way longer, but don’t use them on electrics for the same “static-y pops” issue.
