GHS Balanced Nickels are too stiff!

[The Great Genius]

I can't believe that these so called round wounds are much stiffer than their Precision Flats. How can this be?

I love the latter, but they don't make them in a balanced short scale set.

 

[Jon Moody]

This is all very vague. More information would be helpful.

What specific gauge sets are you comparing? What bass is this going on?

FYI, there's nothing "so called" about BN being round wounds. They are. It's a fact.

 

[michael_t]

I can't believe that these so called round wounds are much stiffer than their Precision Flats. How can this be?

I love the latter, but they don't make them in a balanced short scale set.

I've used the BN 40-101 set on my P bass in the past and that's the bass that's wearing the Precision Flats 45-95.

I wouldn't consider the BN "stiff" as such. Yes, they're surprisingly firm in feel (which I like personally) if one is used to the loosey-goosey feel of round cores by DR. Also, keep in mind pure nickel is a heavier and denser metal than stainless steel and it takes more tension to be tuned to pitch.

I like the 45-95 of the P Flats for tonal balance on my P bass as the 95E provides punch and definition without getting thuddy or muddy. They do sound and feel nicely balanced despite what the tension figures might suggest.

 

[michael_t]

I can't believe that these so called round wounds are much stiffer than their Precision Flats. How can this be?

Are you talking about the short-scale BN (44-106) vs. the short-scale PF (45-95)?

BN short-scale 44-60-80-106 = 143.3 lbs. in total tension.
PF short-scale 45-60-75-95 = 122.2 lbs. in total tension.

 

[iiipopes]

Hmmm. With the round core, the BN's should feel more supple, even if the set has more spec tension than certain set(s) of the flats.

 

[The Great Genius]

This is all very vague. More information would be helpful.

What specific gauge sets are you comparing? What bass is this going on?

FYI, there's nothing "so called" about BN being round wounds. They are. It's a fact.

I am comparing a short scale set of Balanced Nickels with a set of short scale Precision Flats.

What I really need is a balanced set of Precision Flats.

 

[The Great Genius]

Hmmm. With the round core, the BN's should feel more supple, even if the set has more spec tension than certain set(s) of the flats.

You would think so, but this doesn't appear to be the case.

 

[nozkcb]

I can't believe that these so called round wounds are much stiffer than their Precision Flats. How can this be?

I love the latter, but they don't make them in a balanced short scale set.

I have a set on my Sandberg Lionel (30" scale) and it not only addressed the string floppiness, it also addressed the sudden string death syndrome on the bass.

But Yes! I could only image how stiff they would be on a full scale bass. Short scale is very nice IMHO.

 

[Jon Moody]

I am comparing a short scale set of Balanced Nickels with a set of short scale Precision Flats.

Ah okay. More of an apples/bacon type of comparison; they’re vastly different.

What I really need is a balanced set of Precision Flats.

If you’re looking for regular scale, the CM3050 set fits the bill. If you want a short scale set, that’s not on the radar at the moment.

I could only image how stiff they would be on a full scale bass. Short scale is very nice IMHO.

Unlike other string sets, where the only difference between long scale and short scale strings is the winding length, I designed the short scale set based on the instrument it was going on.

The idea behind that was to have a set of BN on your 34” bass and 30” bass and have both feel the same.

 

[The Great Genius]

I have a set on my Sandberg Lionel (30" scale) and it not only addressed the string floppiness, it also addressed the sudden string death syndrome on the bass.

But Yes! I could only image how stiff they would be on a full scale bass. Short scale is very nice IMHO.

I am refering to the short scale. I have small hands, and find these strings harder to play than the flatwounds they replaced.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I can't believe that these so called round wounds are much stiffer than their Precision Flats. How can this be?

I love the latter, but they don't make them in a balanced short scale set.

Cool. Cause I use higher guage strings so as to make them stiffer.

 

[two fingers]

I can't believe that these so called round wounds are much stiffer than their Precision Flats. How can this be?

I love the latter, but they don't make them in a balanced short scale set.

@Jon Moody is the guy to answer your question. (As always, THANK YOU Jon for making yourself available to us!)

That said, your OP seems a bit of a blanket statement. Flats aren't necessarily more "stiff" than rounds. There are plenty of flat-wound strings that are way too floppy for my taste. And there are plenty of round-wound strings I find to be super stiff. It's all in how they are designed, the materials used, speaking length, etc. Lots of factors go into how stiff a string feels. Flat vs round is but one on a long list of those factors.

 

[whero]

I can't believe that these so called round wounds are much stiffer than their Precision Flats. How can this be?

How can this be? Well, I'm no expert on string design. Fortunately @Jon Moody is, which is why all my bases are strung with GHS (currently Balanced Nickels and Bassics, but I've also used Precision Flats and Bass Boomers in the past). But what I do know is that all the information you need to know is on the GHS website.

Here's the information directly from the GHS Bass String Guide about the short scale BNs:

and here's the information about the short scale PFs:

So, with the orange shading indicating the higher numbers, here's my comparison:

It's pretty clear the Balanced Nickels are going to be the stiffer set.

I literally spent several hours doing all the comparisons (as above) for many different sets before I bought the Bassics for my Squier 5 string recently, and as a result I knew exactly what I was getting, and was extremely happy with the results - particularly the B string which has great tension and definition (it's probably the best B string I have ever played). In fact, I was so happy I left a positive review on the GHS website, and I never leave reviews on websites.

Anyhoo... my point is that there's so much information out there about strings these days, it's hard to see how anyone can be surprised, if they do the research.

 

[The Great Genius]

Anyhoo... my point is that there's so much information out there about strings these days, it's hard to see how anyone can be surprised, if they do the research.

The part you are missing is that string tension doesn't always equate to perceived stiffness.

None of the reviews on the BN's indictate that they have the stiffness level of a medium guage flatwound.

 

[winston]

FWIW, I don't find the long-scale Balanced Nickel Lights any stiffer than other roundwounds of similar gauges...actually the round core feels a tad more flexible than say D'Addario XLs.

 

[iiipopes]

Remember: raw tension and feel are two separate items. You can have a roundwound string with a thin core that has more raw tension at pitch than a flatwound that is not as flexible due to the ribbon wraps being tight together. And that's just one difference in string-to-string.

 

[Jon Moody]

The part you are missing is that string tension doesn't always equate to perceived stiffness.

You hit it on the head; perceived stiffness. And that's why you don't have much info on it, as that will vary from person to person.

None of the reviews on the BN's indictate that they have the stiffness level of a medium guage flatwound.

To be fair, you're comparing the 4700 short scale Balanced Nickels (44-60-80-106) to the 3020 short scale Precision Flats (45-60-75-95). The latter is not medium gauge, which would explain why there's such a difference in "perceived stiffness."

 

[michael_t]

It has been my observation most posts about short-scale string sets are about them being too light and floppy. The BN short-scale set is specifically designed to provide short-scale players with something with decent tension and stiffness as well as optimal balance both in tone and feel.

So, the good news is, if the OP is finding the BN "too stiff", there are plenty of other options for short-scale sets that are lighter and more flexible.

 

[The Great Genius]

So, the good news is, if the OP is finding the BN "too stiff", there are plenty of other options for short-scale sets that are lighter and more flexible.

A list of them would be helpful.

 

[The Great Genius]

To be fair, you're comparing the 4700 short scale Balanced Nickels (44-60-80-106) to the 3020 short scale Precision Flats (45-60-75-95). The latter is not medium gauge, which would explain why there's such a difference in "perceived stiffness."

So balanced strings are typically stiffer? My main complaint about the PF's are that the E and A sound like a bass, and the D and G sound like a guitar.