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I just ordered a set of the lights, gauge wise they seemed closer to the med lights i usually get. I just put a set of PW's on my P bass, so i dont know if I want to put the BN's on my Jazz or swap them with the PW's on the P. Anyone try these yet on a Jazz?
I have a set on a '62 Jazz and they sound good. Not as good as well worn the Fender Pure Nickles. The BNs are new and will likely change and thicken up a bit, but right now I'm tempted to put the Fender's back on--which is surprising to me--but the Fenders do sound great on that bass.
Finally got the BNs installed on the P5 and I’m pleasantly surprised. From a purely cosmetic standpoint, I really dig the green wraps!
More importantly, they feel and sound great. The tension isn’t as high as I expected from reading reviews, I would say it’s a tad more than the DR Nickel Low Riders that were previously installed. That being said, the tension really is seriously balanced across all of the strings. The B string seems ever so slightly looser, but there’s certainly less variation in tension between it and the other four string than in any other five string sets that I’ve played.
The initial tone seems nice. I played through my amp and crappy cans and the strings have theellow sound that I’d expect from a quality set of nickel bass strings. I’m not a fan of “zing” at all so I’m excited to hear the BNs when the mellow a bit.
More importantly, they feel and sound great. The tension isn’t as high as I expected from reading reviews, I would say it’s a tad more than the DR Nickel Low Riders that were previously installed. That being said, the tension really is seriously balanced across all of the strings. The B string seems ever so slightly looser, but there’s certainly less variation in tension between it and the other four string than in any other five string sets that I’ve played.
The initial tone seems nice. I played through my amp and crappy cans and the strings have theellow sound that I’d expect from a quality set of nickel bass strings. I’m not a fan of “zing” at all so I’m excited to hear the BNs when the mellow a bit.
I currently use BN on both of my G&L s. SB2T and JB4 . The JB set are not broken in yet, but man....THAT GROWL !! The SB2T set are pretty much settled and they do make the most of the MFD pickups. I use the medium set on both and both have the same neck profile. I feel no difference going from bass to bass...only hear it. I am lucky . I have found ( for me ) the right combination of Bass , Neck , and strings. 
Just put a set of BN's on my 2003 Fender Pbass Special the one with the humbucker in the Bridge and they sound amazing on either pickup or both.
I got my set of of BN's in, i went with the 40-101 lights because gauge and tension wise they are pretty close to most brands medium-light's, more specifically the ML7200 PW's. Now I hate nearly every bass string just out of the package, however I actually like these and that maybe a first. My first reaction is yes they have a new string brightness, but not in a clanky, zingy way, more like turning up a treble knob rather than steel zing/clang...if that makes sense. The string seems very clear sounding across the spectrum, solid full lows and fundamental, really good mid growl and just enough highs to add an edge while not being over the top. In most bass string sets the E string is loose, the A is really tight and left hand fretting pressure is different from string to string. The BN's however really are even feeling and sounding across all the strings up and down the neck. And although they are a bit higher tension, the BN lights being very similar ML PW's, they are more flexible and noticeably easier on the fingers. My P bass has a very open or lose sounding E compared to the other strings, as someone mentioned the BN's really tightened up the E string. Time will tell how they age, i dont mind losing brightness but hope they dont go completely dull or lifeless sounding.
I did exactly the same thing when I tried the BNs. Looked at the tension figures and found out the lights would be closer to the PW ML7200.
I had the BN Lights on my P for 8 months. It took only a couple of days for the newness to wear off, then they basically retained the same tone for the entire 8 months. I could have even gone longer if it weren't for my giving in to the irresistible urge to try the Precision Flats on my P.
Thats good to know, i remember the Fender PN's i tried in the past, and even PW's to a lesser extent seem to be fine one day and die suddenly..... and not in a good way, but get dull and generically lifeless.
PS: I love the woodiness of the Precision flats, but the E string never evened out and it was noticeably duller that the other strings. I had the same experience with two sets, both aged and broken in...but never evened out.
The longest I've ever had the PWs on any bass so far is 12 months and I have never experienced their sudden death. I do intend to keep the ones on my J bass till they actually go dead to see how long that would actually take.
The light set of the P Flats (45-60-75-95) I have on my P are only three and a half months old. So far I'm quite happy with them as they do sound balanced enough. The 95E is anything but "dull and lifeless".
I had the same issue with my first set of Precision Flats. I posted about it and Jon Moody recommended taking the string off then reinstalling it making sure the string tightens against the bridge from a relaxed state. It turns out that I twisted my E string when initially installing it. Doing what he said fixed the problem. Lesson learned for installing any string on any bass.
I was using a different gauge..but yea, i did all that and waited a long time for them to break in, although it did get better the E never fully evened out. I read many other comments from folks here on TB that had a similar experience. Maybe next time ill try the lighter gauge. ....but anyway, so far the BN's are great.I had the same issue with my first set of Precision Flats. I posted about it and Jon Moody recommended taking the string off then reinstalling it making sure the string tightens against the bridge from a relaxed state. It turns out that I twisted my E string when initially installing it. Doing what he said fixed the problem. Lesson learned for installing any string on any bass.
Circling back on this thread. I played the BNs on my maple P5 for a couple of weeks but just wasn’t “feeling it”. They felt great, but the B and E strings were almost hollow sounding, with less output than the other three strings. I pulled them off and put a set of used flatwound Chromes on. No dice there either.
So I put on the Pressure Wounds and bingo! Great tone so far, smooth as all get out for rounds. The Pressure Wounds are certainly tighter than the BNs, but a slightly straighter neck and lower action have helpled tame that a bit. There’s still a bit of tonal difference and volume loss on the B and E, but it’s significantly less with the Pressure Wounds. I’m still likely going to swap the stock Fender V Mod pickup out for a Nordy NP5F, but at the very least these strings have killed my desire to sell the bass. I’ll probably try the BNs out again with the Nordy pickup, but right now I’m loving the Pressure Wounds.
So I put on the Pressure Wounds and bingo! Great tone so far, smooth as all get out for rounds. The Pressure Wounds are certainly tighter than the BNs, but a slightly straighter neck and lower action have helpled tame that a bit. There’s still a bit of tonal difference and volume loss on the B and E, but it’s significantly less with the Pressure Wounds. I’m still likely going to swap the stock Fender V Mod pickup out for a Nordy NP5F, but at the very least these strings have killed my desire to sell the bass. I’ll probably try the BNs out again with the Nordy pickup, but right now I’m loving the Pressure Wounds.
Sorry all for resuscitating a thread from late 2018, but it discusses my own internal debate and I'm hoping for your input.
I just set up my new Guild M-85 RI (hollow chambered body; one BiSonic pickup) with Chromes. It made sense to me to use flatwounds on this bass but I'm finding the tone thin and clacky (particularly in my IEM). I've read that BiSonic pickups (similar to dark stars) may sound better with strings that have less tension. I also usually play with a heavier hand which may not be optimal for the BiSonic pickups.
I can play softer, but I'm wondering if either the Pure Nickels or Pressurewounds might actually be a better fit for this bass. The bass came stock with D'Addario nickels, so maybe I should give the GHS BNs a shot. The round cores may help extract the tone from this pickup as well.
Thoughts?
I just set up my new Guild M-85 RI (hollow chambered body; one BiSonic pickup) with Chromes. It made sense to me to use flatwounds on this bass but I'm finding the tone thin and clacky (particularly in my IEM). I've read that BiSonic pickups (similar to dark stars) may sound better with strings that have less tension. I also usually play with a heavier hand which may not be optimal for the BiSonic pickups.
I can play softer, but I'm wondering if either the Pure Nickels or Pressurewounds might actually be a better fit for this bass. The bass came stock with D'Addario nickels, so maybe I should give the GHS BNs a shot. The round cores may help extract the tone from this pickup as well.
Thoughts?
I'm not familiar with that particular bass. Is it a short scale? What would be the winding length (ball end to silk/taper) you need?
30 3/4″ scale length. I ended up using medium scale Chromes as the short scale wouldn't quite fit (I tried). I believe the stock strings were long scale so I'm probably fine with long.
D'Addario "short scale" = 32" winding length.
GHS "short scale" = 32.75" winding length.
I ask about the winding length because the "short scale" BNs only come in 44-106, while the "short scale" PWs only come in 40-96. So, if you want a set with "less tension", the PWs would be lighter overall.
In terms of tone...
BN = pure nickel on a round core = warm and full-bodied with smooth mids.
PW = Alloy 52 (nickel-iron) on a hex core = a little more punch and crunch.
Well would you look at that. I did not pick up on the different winding length by brand. Good catch!
Thanks for this information. Appreciate the insight. As a longtime GHS Boomers player, I've been looking for a reason to try both BN and PW strings for a while now. Maybe I'll just get both and try with a couple other basses while I'm at it. Based on my experience so far, I'm guessing either set would work nicer than the Chromes.
Bass String Lengths by Manufacturer
I'm sure you'll appreciate the unique design features both BN and PW have to offer.
