I used DR's for years too. Recently started using the Dunlop's (Mike Lull basses come strung with Dunlops) with my new Mike Lull modern 5. The feel and tone are spectacular - "why fix it if it ain't broke".
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Dunlop Strings - one word "Wow"
- Thread starter Maiden Bass
- Start date
Just realized the ones I have are the nickel coated steel ones. Not bad strings at all. Remind me a lot of D'Addarios.
I just picked up a set yesterday just to see what all the fuss is about. I very recently started using nickel rounds so I thought these would be interesting to try. I didn't think it was possible but these really beat the hell out of the Sadowskys I was using. They have a nice smooth feel and the tension is, dare I say? Perfect. They have really nice top end when brand new, I'm interested as to how the sound will progress as I break them in. And only 20 bucks? So far I have nothing bad to say about them. I went for the 105 gauge because the Sadowsky (40-100) were a tiny bit lacking in the low end. very comfortable to play and sound great for finger style and slapping, havent really experimented much with pick on them yet. Very impressed. And btw the Walter Cronkite video on the first page was too f'in funny.
To my ears they are brighter than D'addario XL nickels, and they have more mids than the Prosteels.
After further review...
Well, I still really like the Dunlop NPS strings so don't get me wrong, HOWEVER, I found out one not so good thing about them, and I am very sorry to say this but when played in a loud hard rock band the D'Addario Prosteels sound better!
The Prosteels just cut better and have more audible punch.
So, if you are NOT playing in a real loud hard rock band the Dunlops are a great choice. The biggest endorsers playing Dunlop NPS strings are Nathan East and Jimmy Haslip and both of them are not real hard rock guys, so I guess that's a good example.
Well, I still really like the Dunlop NPS strings so don't get me wrong, HOWEVER, I found out one not so good thing about them, and I am very sorry to say this but when played in a loud hard rock band the D'Addario Prosteels sound better!
The Prosteels just cut better and have more audible punch.
So, if you are NOT playing in a real loud hard rock band the Dunlops are a great choice. The biggest endorsers playing Dunlop NPS strings are Nathan East and Jimmy Haslip and both of them are not real hard rock guys, so I guess that's a good example.
To be fair though, you are comparing nickels to steels. Of course the steels will cut better and have more punch.
Indeed dunlops makes pretty good bass strings. I have a set of dunlop nickle-plated strings on my ibanez bass and they sound fantastic. I've recently put on a set of dunlop stainless steel strings on my dean bass and they sound awesome. I definitely recommend those strings.
Just bought a couple sets and put them on one of my J's and my Decade...WOW! Love 'em! The tone, and the feel! I have one bass that I like running steels on for more top. Should I buy Dunlop steels, or put nickles on it. I've always been a nickel man, but steels really work on this bass. The nickels do seem brighter than other nickles...so I'm not sure. Any idea?
IIRC, they're very cheap there, try the nickles, first, easy to change to steels if you don't like what you hear.
Yeah...they are cheap for sure...it's just a 40 mile drive to pick them up in my neck of the woods, unless I order them.
Ah, bugger, that I do understand.
Hmmm, I want to tell you to go with the nickles, but thats because "I" prefer them to the steels, and IMO, seem to last longer too.
But honestly, its a tough one.....
After further review...
Well, I still really like the Dunlop NPS strings so don't get me wrong, HOWEVER, I found out one not so good thing about them, and I am very sorry to say this but when played in a loud hard rock band the D'Addario Prosteels sound better!
The Prosteels just cut better and have more audible punch.
So, if you are NOT playing in a real loud hard rock band the Dunlops are a great choice. The biggest endorsers playing Dunlop NPS strings are Nathan East and Jimmy Haslip and both of them are not real hard rock guys, so I guess that's a good example.
Yeah totally agree. I just put the Dunlop nickel plated steel 5 string set on my G&L 2500. Feel real nice but noticed a loss of punch and cut through. This played through a Hartke setup (3500 head/4.5XL cab) with DR Lo-Riders just crushes through the mix, but yeah the DR's are also steel. One good thing though is that the Dunlop strings took some clickity clack away from the G&L. Tone is smoothed out, not as edgy.
I'm going to keep them for a while, really feels good on the fingers and the different tone im getting is kinda cool.
I have gone through a couple sets now and they are perfectly consistent. A bit brighter for the first couple days and they they settle in to a nice even punchy tone with a bit more of a low mid emphasis than others I have tried. I found pro-steels boomy on my bass (L2000 which are not good with steels) but these are perfect.
I killed them the other day by wiping them down with an alcohol wipe (i know, stupid) and put a set of pretty fresh XL nickels I had laying around till I could get more Dunlops. The D'addarios just didn't have the same mojo.
Using Medium light gauge and loving the lower tension.
I killed them the other day by wiping them down with an alcohol wipe (i know, stupid) and put a set of pretty fresh XL nickels I had laying around till I could get more Dunlops. The D'addarios just didn't have the same mojo.
Using Medium light gauge and loving the lower tension.
+1... just put on a couple of new sets (on different basses) and I can't stand 'em. :scowl: I'm not ready to jump on the Dunlop bandwagon yet, but I'm willing to try some alternatives.
I replaced my Sunbeams with Dunlops. Better strings (more consistant, better feel), half the price = win for Dunlop!
I tried a set of the Nickels...they didn't really do anything for me.I didn't think they were that bad a set of strings,alot like any other Nickelwound.
That's odd....because they're not designed or made like any other nickelwound. In fact, they're quite different..they're almost like stainless strings. What other nickel wounds did you compare them to?
