Do stainless steel strings loose there sound quicker than other material

[Dr 360]

Im a long time player but have been playing a lot more gigs lately. I bought DR hi-beams bright stainless steel/ round cores. I've had them on my Ernie ball Stingray5 HH special bass for 2 months and I feel they have lost their brightness. Not sure if it's because I'm playing out 2-3x a week for 3 hour gigs. Or is it the stainless steel that looses its sound quicker. How often do you bassers change your strings.

 

[michael_t]

Im a long time player but have been playing a lot more gigs lately. I bought DR hi-beams bright stainless steel/ round cores. I've had them on my Ernie ball Stingray5 HH special bass for 2 months and I feel they have lost their brightness. Not sure if it's because I'm playing out 2-3x a week for 3 hour gigs. Or is it the stainless steel that looses its sound quicker. How often do you bassers change your strings.

This depends on your tonal goal. If you need the fresh zing of stainless rounds, then you end up having to change them often. As far as stainless rounds go, I actually prefer their "nicely broken in" tone over the zingy brightness straight out of the package.

2-3x a week for 3 hour gigs? I would think getting 2 mths out of the Hi Beams is actually pretty good.

 

[bobomatic]

You're pretty high on the usage scale. It's not time necessarily… it's mileage, and as much as you're working I wouldn't be disappointed.

 

[bwildt]

My experience is that SS strings last longer than nickels. For my basses with rounds, I usually run DR SS lo-riders because they seen to last well and I like the low-mid boost as opposed to hi-beams. On the other hand, I don't care for really bright strings and tend to roll the top off of most any roundwound strings I use. That makes most any string last longer in my use case, since I don't want a really bright top end.

 

[onda'bass]

When I was gigging, I'd change every month, especially in the summer. Steel last about the same time with the same use in my exp.

 

[5StringBlues]

Loose like a goose.

 

[ImTheOnlyOne]

Username includes "Dr"
User Joined today.
First post is commenting on DR strings with conspicuous spelling errors.
Referred to TB'er as "bassers".

Legit human user?

 

[GTHintz]

Steels last longer than anything else.

 

[hbabels]

This depends on your tonal goal. If you need the fresh zing of stainless rounds, then you end up having to change them often. As far as stainless rounds go, I actually prefer their "nicely broken in" tone over the zingy brightness straight out of the package.

2-3x a week for 3 hour gigs? I would think getting 2 mths out of the Hi Beams is actually pretty good.

I agree that's a good run on strings. I'd have changed them at least once or twice in 2 months of that heavy use. I do love the new string zing though to be fair.

 

[Iristone]

IME Rotosound and DR stainless strings tend to "break in" rather quickly. They're not unplayable after that but certainly lose a lot of their new string zing.
Some "smoother" stainless strings such as Sadowsky retain the zing for longer. Personally I find them a bit scooped, though, and could be best paired with mid-punchy pickups such as P or Thunderbird (and your Stingray, too).

 

[baxter_x]

My experience with SS strings is they actually last forever!
I replace my set of Sadowsky black label once a year and I'm always disappointed. The new set sounds like the old one.

 

[SC Bassboy]

Im a long time player but have been playing a lot more gigs lately. I bought DR hi-beams bright stainless steel/ round cores. I've had them on my Ernie ball Stingray5 HH special bass for 2 months and I feel they have lost their brightness. Not sure if it's because I'm playing out 2-3x a week for 3 hour gigs. Or is it the stainless steel that looses its sound quicker. How often do you bassers change your strings.

Any set of strings would lose their brightness in that time period with that many shows. A fresh set of SS strings usually lasts me 2 or 3 shows before they are dead and need cleaning. A set of nickel strings only lasts one show for me, so in my experience SS will still last longer.

 

[baxter_x]

A fresh set of SS strings usually lasts me 2 or 3 shows before they are dead and need cleaning.

What set do you use?
My set of SS strings last at least one year!

 

[hbabels]

What set do you use?
My set of SS strings last le at least one year!

You must not like that new string zing?
I've never had a set of strings sound good after a year of regular playing unless I was going for that dead sound which I'm usually not, except on 1 P bass just to have around

 

[baxter_x]

You must not like that new string zing?

Actually that's exactly what I am after! I love that "zing".

 

[rodak]

Actually that's exactly what I am after! I love that "zing".

It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that zing

 

[hbabels]

Actually that's exactly what I am after! I

Interesting and you find the Sadowsky Blue Label strings keep it that long ??

 

[baxter_x]

Interesting and you find the Sadowsky Blue Label strings keep it that long ??

I use the black label, not the blue.
And yes, those strings last the longest I have ever owned.

 

[ElectricBass72]

Steels last longer than anything else.

Not Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats. Cobalt Flats will survive the apocolypse with roaches.

 

[iiipopes]

Not Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats. Cobalt Flats will survive the apocolypse with roaches.

EB Cobalts are just that: cobalt. They are NOT stainless steel. My experience with the round version is that they will last and last, and then one day they go clunk without warning.

Generally, a good set of stainless flats, as opposed to stainless rounds, will last for years.