The drummer in my instrumental prog-jam trio feels the same way. He bought a Jazz a few months ago and loves SB Nickels on it, too.
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Dunlop Super Bright Nickels Should Be Called....
- Thread starter GK Growl
- Start date
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- bright dunlop super super bright
Pbassmanca
In the pocket n' thumpy. So woody, so greasy...
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
I've used SB in Stainless Steel on several basses. Works great on some, not so much on others. Never tried the nickels, but maybe I should. Certain strings work on certain basses for me, but currently no two are alike.
My Drake 35" scale is a somewhat dark sounding bass. SS Lo-Riders (50-110) do the trick nicely. Currently running heavy gauge Cobalts, which aren't amazing or terrible.
My Gretsch SpectraSonic has tried a few things, but Dunlop flats (45-105) seem to be the ticket. My '76 Pbass sounded terrible with SS Super Brights, so I put LaBella (50-110) flats on... not crazy about that either. Trying out 50-110 SS Lo-Riders and we'll see. Thinking of trying some Pure Blues on that one.
Just got a Warmoth/frankenbass really cheap that has the worst sounding Bart MM pickup ever! Got a Nordy Bigman to try. Gonna initially set it up with 45-105 SS Super Brights. We'll see!
And on Wednesday I'm expecting a new Epi Embassy Pro. No idea what the best option is for that bass, but I'm thinking Nickel Super Brights would go well with the TBird pickups
My Drake 35" scale is a somewhat dark sounding bass. SS Lo-Riders (50-110) do the trick nicely. Currently running heavy gauge Cobalts, which aren't amazing or terrible.
My Gretsch SpectraSonic has tried a few things, but Dunlop flats (45-105) seem to be the ticket. My '76 Pbass sounded terrible with SS Super Brights, so I put LaBella (50-110) flats on... not crazy about that either. Trying out 50-110 SS Lo-Riders and we'll see. Thinking of trying some Pure Blues on that one.
Just got a Warmoth/frankenbass really cheap that has the worst sounding Bart MM pickup ever! Got a Nordy Bigman to try. Gonna initially set it up with 45-105 SS Super Brights. We'll see!
And on Wednesday I'm expecting a new Epi Embassy Pro. No idea what the best option is for that bass, but I'm thinking Nickel Super Brights would go well with the TBird pickups
Looking forward to your comments on the Embassy once you get it.
I'm real excited about those pickups, w/ the SBN to boot.
Great pack of instruments you have there BTW.
That Drake is sexy.
I'm real excited about those pickups, w/ the SBN to boot.
Great pack of instruments you have there BTW.
That Drake is sexy.
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
Looking forward to your comments on the Embassy once you get it.
I'm real excited about those pickups, w/ the SBN to boot.
Great pack of instruments you have there BTW.
That Drake is sexy.
Thanks! For a full time player, I don't have that many basses, but I love all of em and each one brings something a little different to the party. No idea if the frankenbass will, but I'm optimistic
The Drake is my ROCK bass. It's dark, growly and huge sounding. I shipped it to SoCal yesterday to get a makeover by @JIO. He's going to very slightly reshape the body, add a pickguard and chrome hardware. It's one of my favorite basses I've ever owned, but visually doesn't fit into a lot of the types of gigs I do. Should be fun and I can't recommend Andrew Drake highly enough for a custom build!
I also just put a set on my other Jazz...its a 77, heavy as heck and has an old set of Barts from the 80's. Compared to my other Jazz, it was a bit darker and not as clear or snappy, which is Interesting given the 70's spacing, but likely because these old barts roll the highs back a bit. However, with the SB's it too has come alive, I can already tell the notes are much clearer and its easier to play. I think I had an old set of Lo-Riders on it, which I also like, but I got used to the lower tension SB's, and the fairly high tension Lo-Riders were starting to wear on me when switching between the two.
Same experience here. I played nothing but steel Lo-Riders and Fat Beams for years. I tried the Dunlop NPS about 4-5 months ago (largely because of Paul Turner's endorsement), and I couldn't be happier. The sound is an improvement for me - some more depth and roundness without losing clarity. But the playability was a huge factor as well - I always thought I preferred high tension until giving these a shot.
They definitely do not last as long as DRs in terms of maintaining that bite and top end, but they are easy to replace at 1/3 of the price...
Hi,
I'm hoping to get some feedback on the 'bass-ness' of the Dunlop Super Bright Nickels...
I've been using R.Cocco Fat Pak's on a Cort Elrick 5 that has bart soap bars and the aguilar OPB-3 pre. The rig is SWR 750x, Aguilar GS 4x12.
I needed to change the strings (broke the B!) and didn't have any more sets of the R.Cocco's - I did have a set of Dunlop Super Bright Nickels that I'd received in a give away.
I read some reviews of the Dunlops. I expected that they'd be way different from the Fat Paks, but I decided to try them out since I thought the added high end would appeal to me.
I REALLY like the clarity - the top/mids are much more present than the Fat Paks as expected. In particular, for playing chords/double stops I liked the Dunlops much better than the Fat Paks.
But, I was surprised that I found the Dunlops to be very bass-shy.
To get close to the same kind of "umph" that I'm used to with the Fat Paks I had to really juice the bass control on my rig. Even with that, I still wasn't quite getting the low end that I'm used to with the Fat Paks.
I thought that maybe I was experiencing and 'ear illusion' where the extra high end content seemed to make the low end less obvious. But, I think after experimenting with the eq, I'm pretty sure the Dunlops are really producing less bass than the Fat Paks.
From your experience, is that par for the course with the Dunlops?
If less-bass is a characteristic of the Dunlops, do you have a recommendation for a Fat Pak nickel round replacement that keeps the low but adds some mid/top?
Thanks for any and all thoughts!
I'm hoping to get some feedback on the 'bass-ness' of the Dunlop Super Bright Nickels...
I've been using R.Cocco Fat Pak's on a Cort Elrick 5 that has bart soap bars and the aguilar OPB-3 pre. The rig is SWR 750x, Aguilar GS 4x12.
I needed to change the strings (broke the B!) and didn't have any more sets of the R.Cocco's - I did have a set of Dunlop Super Bright Nickels that I'd received in a give away.
I read some reviews of the Dunlops. I expected that they'd be way different from the Fat Paks, but I decided to try them out since I thought the added high end would appeal to me.
I REALLY like the clarity - the top/mids are much more present than the Fat Paks as expected. In particular, for playing chords/double stops I liked the Dunlops much better than the Fat Paks.
But, I was surprised that I found the Dunlops to be very bass-shy.
To get close to the same kind of "umph" that I'm used to with the Fat Paks I had to really juice the bass control on my rig. Even with that, I still wasn't quite getting the low end that I'm used to with the Fat Paks.
I thought that maybe I was experiencing and 'ear illusion' where the extra high end content seemed to make the low end less obvious. But, I think after experimenting with the eq, I'm pretty sure the Dunlops are really producing less bass than the Fat Paks.
From your experience, is that par for the course with the Dunlops?
If less-bass is a characteristic of the Dunlops, do you have a recommendation for a Fat Pak nickel round replacement that keeps the low but adds some mid/top?
Thanks for any and all thoughts!
Can't say it was my experience with the Dunlops, but to each their own.
Yeah I would say the Super Bright Nickels have a huge, deep, clear bottom end. You just may be used to the mud that you get from other strings...seriously.
I used them on my basses for a while until I played a bud's bass with NYXLs.
Main reason was DSB B string was a bit floppy. They sounded great, no complaints on tone. None.
NYXL B is a bit stiffer. Although not quite as bright, they are balanced extremely well across the spectrum. All my bases went to NYXLs.
On impulse a few weeks ago, I picked up a set of Peavey Cirrus 5 strings. I put them on my Ray 5. Damn good strings. Have no clue who makes them for Peavey but very satisfied with them...
Main reason was DSB B string was a bit floppy. They sounded great, no complaints on tone. None.
NYXL B is a bit stiffer. Although not quite as bright, they are balanced extremely well across the spectrum. All my bases went to NYXLs.
On impulse a few weeks ago, I picked up a set of Peavey Cirrus 5 strings. I put them on my Ray 5. Damn good strings. Have no clue who makes them for Peavey but very satisfied with them...
I have two Jazz Bass's...a 77 with an old set of barts and an 80's MIJ with NJ4's, Ive been using nickel SB's on both. Ive found that I really like them on the 77, they really liven up and balance out the usually "tame" barts. However, on my MIJ with the nords, Im not getting the fullness or warm low/low mids from the tone that i like. Ive used pressuewounds on this bass, and really like them but wanted more of an "edge" and as they age the PW's get more "flat-ish". Anyone else run into this with SB's, they sound great on one bass, not so much on another? Im going to try roundcore boomers next.
Thanks all for the insight!
Yeah - that is certainly a possibility. Given that, I think I'll leave them on (since I dig everything else about them except for my current perception of the low end) and see if I end up adjusting to their lows.
Yeah - that is certainly a possibility. Given that, I think I'll leave them on (since I dig everything else about them except for my current perception of the low end) and see if I end up adjusting to their lows.
[QUOTE="FirewalZ, post: 21607085, member: 266617"...a 77 with an old set of barts and an 80's MIJ with NJ4...However, on my MIJ with the nords, Im not getting the fullness or warm low/low mids from the tone that i like. ...[/QUOTE]
Just curious - are the barts single coils like the nords?
Just curious - are the barts single coils like the nords?
The bass is a real 77 and was my older bro's, he put barts on it sometime in the mid/late 80's, so it would have been whatever they were selling back in those days. Sonically, while they dont have the "snap" the nords do, they do have a nice full low/low mid sound, so the SB give it the upper/mid boost needed. Now if I can only do something about the fact the bass weight like 13lbs
The 86 MIJ Jazz with nords has a super light body(prob basswood) and a rosewood FB, its a naturally bit darker sounding and not quite as tight in the low mids as the 77.
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DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
Thanks! For a full time player, I don't have that many basses, but I love all of em and each one brings something a little different to the party. No idea if the frankenbass will, but I'm optimistic
The Drake is my ROCK bass. It's dark, growly and huge sounding. I shipped it to SoCal yesterday to get a makeover by @JIO. He's going to very slightly reshape the body, add a pickguard and chrome hardware. It's one of my favorite basses I've ever owned, but visually doesn't fit into a lot of the types of gigs I do. Should be fun and I can't recommend Andrew Drake highly enough for a custom build!
Where can I find a follow up on the Drake? I think it looks great as is although I get why it wouldn't fit, particularly with a rock band. I am curious to see what it looks like today.
I just installed new NPS super brights on my scroll DP custom and am happy again. The bass was delivered with Ken smith burner lights and I wasn't a fan. I then installed my go-to at the time, elixirs, and they were weak as well. After spending elixir money I only had enough scratch left for the new to the market super brights. They were ah-maze-balls. I used them for a long time, very happy. I then got a great deal on some SS lo-riders once replacement time came, and I was very happy as well, but over time, the light gauge just didn't feel right so today I put on these medium super brights and it is all well in the world. $12, what a steal. Why try anything else?
My only gripe, they are about 1/4" too short to the taper to fit my ovation magnum. Blast that huge bridge!
My only gripe, they are about 1/4" too short to the taper to fit my ovation magnum. Blast that huge bridge!
Resurrecting old thread here for some old strings. I’ve had the Dunlop 45-105 SB nickels on 3 of my jazz basses that I use in a regular rotation for several cover bands for the past two years and all I can say is they have fallen into this perfect broken in state for each bass, still just enough highs to keep the tone rolled back 1/2 way until I need it up for some slap but the low mids are absolutely heaven. I keep thinking I need to change them but there is no reason! Even my BB3000s I use in an original rock band where I need more of an edge tone and drive some pedals, the same set has been on for 18 months of solid playing on a weekly basis and still growl like nothing else. I think these strings are magic, or just haven’t completely died yet?
