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Dunlop Super Bright Nickels Should Be Called....

#23
mmbongo said:
I also want to add that SuperBrights (SuperCrunch!) are the best 'dead' strings I've ever heard. Even when they are dead they sound fantastic. I usually replace mine just because it's been so long and they are so cheap, not because they sound bad.
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I love dead roundwound strings when they sound good and I hate them when they don't. Now how's that for a simple way of looking at it?
 
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#24
Doner Designs said:
I only play flats but am curious about the reason people play nickel rounds. I was thinking that rounds bring a bright growling tone and if you want to be less bright, why not use steel strings and roll off the treble a tad (which would have the added benefit of reducing noise/hiss)?

Is there some other reason for nickel rounds other than to sound less bright? Do they feel better?
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IMO, stainless rounds get kinda hollow sounding when the tone is rolled back and are...um, super bright when the tone is up ;). The exception I found to that was Labellas Deep Talkin rounds, but I'm not sure they even make those anymore. For someone coming off flats or looking for the next thing outside of half rounds or compressed (their own weird thing), nickel is the best choice. All IMO, IME, etc.
 
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#25
Fender_Bender said:
Nickels generally do feel more polished and finger friendly than stainless. The couple of times I have used stainless rounds I've gone over them with 1000 grit sandpaper where my fingers were making the most contact. I find rounds to be "livelier" and more responsive than flats and I do have TI flats on my p bass. I generally dislike the zinginess of new rounds and am much happier with them after a couple of weeks.
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I don't think I've tried stainless rounds since I tried a set of Swing Bass in the 1990s after Blue Steels became hard to get in the UK. I find Blue Steels to be better strings for me than Swing Bass, but the nickel Rotosounds better still. The Dunlop 'ordinary' nickels I like, and DRs, and still the Rotosound SM66N. TI rounds have very small wrapping but are too light for many, but flat players may like the smoothness, but they have an atypical voice.

I haven't tried the super brights, but the name wouldn't tempt me as I'd have to dial out the zing, and a tone control on a bass is a blunt instrument. Rich and full range up to that point isn't bad, though, which is not a characteristic of TI rounds, but is of the SM66N and to a fair extent the DRs. I did try the Harley Benton nickels, and they are good for the incredibly cheap price but the voicing is more mid forward a little like TI rounds, but much stiffer, partly due to minimum gauge.
 
#26
-Asdfgh- said:
I don't think I've tried stainless rounds since I tried a set of Swing Bass in the 1990s after Blue Steels became hard to get in the UK. I find Blue Steels to be better strings for me than Swing Bass, but the nickel Rotosounds better still. The Dunlop 'ordinary' nickels I like, and DRs, and still the Rotosound SM66N. TI rounds have very small wrapping but are too light for many, but flat players may like the smoothness, but they have an atypical voice.

I haven't tried the super brights, but the name wouldn't tempt me as I'd have to dial out the zing, and a tone control on a bass is a blunt instrument. Rich and full range up to that point isn't bad, though, which is not a characteristic of TI rounds, but is of the SM66N and to a fair extent the DRs. I did try the Harley Benton nickels, and they are good for the incredibly cheap price but the voicing is more mid forward a little like TI rounds, but much stiffer, partly due to minimum gauge.
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See there's the problem with the name. For whatever reason, people think SuperBrights are zingy and clanky. Quite the opposite is true.
 
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#27
mmbongo said:
See there's the problem with the name. For whatever reason, people think SuperBrights are zingy and clanky. Quite the opposite is true.
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That's why I haven't tried a set, because super bright is the last thing I'm looking for in a string. After reading your take on them, I want to give them a try.
 
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#31
mmbongo said:
I also want to add that SuperBrights (SuperCrunch!) are the best 'dead' strings I've ever heard. Even when they are dead they sound fantastic. I usually replace mine just because it's been so long and they are so cheap, not because they sound bad.
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Just about to post the very same thing.
I was changing them around every 2 months or so. About 8-9 months in on the current set and they still sound great.
Love them fresh from the pack, but they settle into this thick, low-mid umph and growl, for me at least.

** I've also have zero issues with the SBN over the last 15 or so months.
 
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#32
With people mostly saying that they are cheap I often find it means $10 in the USA but £40 in the UK but they are actually only £17 here ($25?). Almost as hard to get as hen's teeth but not so expensive.
 
#33
Maybe I need to try a nickel set. After hearing all the rave reviews about these strings, I just put a steel set on and I couldn't get them off my bass fast enough. Thin, tinny, metallic sounding, and ewww were the adjectives used. My fretless is pretty picky with strings so I thought that was it but they sound just as lame on my P bass. I honestly debated contacting Dunlop about getting my money back...
 
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#34
DiabolusInMusic said:
Maybe I need to try a nickel set. After hearing all the rave reviews about these strings, I just put a steel set on and I couldn't get them off my bass fast enough. Thin, tinny, metallic sounding, and ewww were the adjectives used. My fretless is pretty picky with strings so I thought that was it but they sound just as lame on my P bass. I honestly debated contacting Dunlop about getting my money back...
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Yeah you might just not like steel strings is all. Nickels are much warmer.
 
#35
DiabolusInMusic said:
Maybe I need to try a nickel set. After hearing all the rave reviews about these strings, I just put a steel set on and I couldn't get them off my bass fast enough. Thin, tinny, metallic sounding, and ewww were the adjectives used. My fretless is pretty picky with strings so I thought that was it but they sound just as lame on my P bass. I honestly debated contacting Dunlop about getting my money back...
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If you are playing fretless I'd suggest TI rounds if you like low tension. You might even like the EB Cobalt Flats, but they are a different sound to TIs. TIs are more focused, with much mwah, and the EBs have a big sound.
 
#37
DiabolusInMusic said:
Maybe I need to try a nickel set. After hearing all the rave reviews about these strings, I just put a steel set on and I couldn't get them off my bass fast enough. Thin, tinny, metallic sounding, and ewww were the adjectives used.
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I will say that the nickel are much different than the stainless. I found the stainless to be like a slightly mid forward version of DR Hi Beams. These nickels are much different than most other nickel rounds too. To my ears they are very aggressive in the mids without being super bright out of the box. I read that the guitar version of nickel super brights is actually a 2% nickel plating vs the standard 8% for most other strings. I wonder if the bass version is this different alloy as well because these Dunlop Super Bright Nickels are certainly unique.
 
#38
I've been playing these for about a year now. They sound great just as everyone describes, not what the name implies. They are not what I call bright but more midrange. They feel fantastic with a very smooth finish.

The biggest thing with them that I've experienced different from other strings is the low tension. It feels great but I've had a problem getting them setup right on one of my basses. And the low tension causes me to dig harder even though I try not to.

I want to go back to something with a more regular tension for mediums but I wish I could find something that feels as smooth as these do.
 
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#39
As a few others have said, I've avoided these as well based on the name....I don't want anything close to "Super Bright". However based on feedback here I may give them a try. I use nickle DR Lo-riders on my Jazz Bass...how do the nickle Super Bights compare?
 
#40
FirewalZ said:
As a few others have said, I've avoided these as well based on the name....I don't want anything close to "Super Bright". However based on feedback here I may give them a try. I use nickle DR Lo-riders on my Jazz Bass...how do the nickle Super Bights compare?
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The first thing you'll notice is that LoRiders sound like a wet blanket compared to SuperBrights. Its not that they're brighter, it's that ALL frequencies just jump off the strings and they are so much clearer in the mids.

Second thing is you'll find that SB are much more flexible and supple feeling.

Both of these things really are personal preference though. You just have to try them to see.
 
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