My P-Bass isn’t my #1 player, but I’ve had the same set of PressureWound strings on it since 2008...
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The BNs have made me fall in love with my ‘66 P bass all over again.
“Even” is the operative word — even, in tone, feel, output. You’d think that a smooth string like these combined with a bass that’s had 50 years or so to mellow out, it would be too smooth. But it’s beautiful, and it works great in the studio — and while it won’t work for every kind of music, what string does?
Am I the only one who feels it’s ironic that a P bass that’s had flats on it for practically it’s whole life, has a new life now because of some round wound strings? “Flats on a P” — I heard that my whole life ...
“Even” is the operative word — even, in tone, feel, output. You’d think that a smooth string like these combined with a bass that’s had 50 years or so to mellow out, it would be too smooth. But it’s beautiful, and it works great in the studio — and while it won’t work for every kind of music, what string does?
Am I the only one who feels it’s ironic that a P bass that’s had flats on it for practically it’s whole life, has a new life now because of some round wound strings? “Flats on a P” — I heard that my whole life ...
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Hmm... That's gonna be interesting. I haven't tried the Chicago Style Nickels, but if you want the pure nickel tone and loved the 7150s, I have a feeling the GHS Balanced Nickels may not be exactly what you're looking for. I might be wrong of course, maybe you'll love them. They are very nice strings, lots of people love them, but they are TOTALLY different from the 7150s.
7150s: Tight lows, very mid focused, very stiff. For MY taste they were far too stiff, somewhat lacking in the lows and kinda "hollow" sounding in the mids. I didn't like them at all to be honest.
Balanced Nickels: Huge, fat lows. Very smooth mids. VERY supple feel (round core). For MY taste they were a bit TOO supple, and although they sounded very nice out of the box they mellowed out and became a bit too dull sounding for my taste, and it happened relatively fast. They were lacking the midrange presence I needed to hear myself properly on stage. Also, the tone isn't really what I think of as a "pure nickel tone". They sound more like some kind of pure nickel/nickel plated steel hybrid to me. In fact, based on the tone I wouldn't have been surprised if only the outermost wrapping was pure nickel, but if GHS says they're pure nickel I guess I'll have to believe them.
If I had to pick one of them it would be the Balanced Nickels, but neither of them really worked for me, and for COMPLETELY opposite reasons, both with regards to stiffness and tone.
When I use pure nickels it's Pyramid Balanced Nickels 45-105. These feel great for MY playing style (just a tiny bit stiffer than an average set of NPS hex core 45-105). They have a wonderful, warm tone that I love. It's worth mentioning that these strings need to be broken in to develop their signature tone and to really shine. Out of the box they sound ok, but nothing special. Then they go through a kinda "semi-bright" period where I don't like them much to be honest. But once they're broken in they are the fattest, warmest sounding roundwounds I've ever played, without being muddy. They still have enough midrange presence to sit nicely in a mix. They're not just my favorite pure nickel strings, but one of my favorite roundswounds overall. They will need some time to mellow out though, probably closer to months than weeks, depending on how much you play. But once they get there they will last a VERY long time.
I do understand why lots of people love the GHS Balanced Nickels though. They're great strings for a mellow, warm tone. Especially if you have a relatively soft playing style (round core strings can often struggle a bit with fret buzz and "choked" notes when digging in hard, at least unless you raise the action a bit).
I tried the light set (40-101) on my P bass once. Agreed about "huge, fat lows" and "very smooth mids", but I didn't find them to be "very supple" as such. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised how firm (not stiff) they felt for a round core after trying a few of the DR round cores. They stayed on the P bass for eight months, during which time their tonal quality didn't change much at all. They had a nice presence in the mix.
By the way, GHS is only clear about the "final cover" being pure nickel; they actually don't say anything about the material for the inner layers.
I've always been curious about both rollerwound strings and strings with 2 wraps on all strings, so this thread is really useful.
I'm also kind of curious as to how Pressurewound Bronze and Roundcore Boomers compare in tone and longevity, since both strings use similar ideas to the above.
I'm also kind of curious as to how Pressurewound Bronze and Roundcore Boomers compare in tone and longevity, since both strings use similar ideas to the above.
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Very interesting. If they specifically only refer to the "final cover" I have a VERY strong feeling that the GHS Balanced Nickels aren't pure nickel, but a nickel/NPS hybrid. I have suspected this since the first time I tested them, because they really don't sound like pure nickel strings to me. I'm not saying this is good or bad, just different.
Based on my experience, the "rollerwinding method" has far more practical benefit than the "balanced construction", at least for me personally.
Pure nickel is pure nickel... that's the material used for the outer winding.
That said, I don't know how the Fender 7150's are constructed, whether or not they use the pure nickel wire for all the layers. No info on that.
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Not if only the final wrapping is pure nickel. Then it's a hybrid string. I'm not saying the Balanced Nickels ARE a hybrid string, because I really don't know, but based on the tone and what you just explained in a previous post I strongly suspect it. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just a bit different.
The round cores by GHS are definitely firmer in feel than the round cores by DR. I would say the BN 40-101 are fairly close to the Bassics 40-102 in overall playing feel.
One thing about the pure nickel is it's a denser and heavier metal than nickel-plated steel and takes more tension (as in pulling weight) to be tuned up to pitch. The BN 40-101 weigh in at 173 lbs., while the Bassics 40-102 are only 153 lbs. in total tension.
I thought the tension would be more due to the pure nickel material. All but one of my basses currently have La Bella 760FX or GHS Precision Flats light gauge. One has the Bassics in 40-102. I was planning on switching one of my basses with flats to the light gauge Balanced Nickels. Looks like the tension should be there or thereabouts.
“Probably the biggest misconception around pure nickel strings is that the finished string itself is “pure nickel,” core and all. It’s not. Nickel isn’t strong enough to hold up to the rigorous demands placed on core wire or plain strings, as it’s a much softer metal. If you made a nickel-core string, strung it up, and bent it, it would just stay bent and hang off the fretboard. That’s no good. Therefore, pure nickel strings always feature stainless steel cores and steel plain strings, just like nickel wound/nickel-plated steel strings do.”
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I was not referring to the core. The core is obviously steel. I was referring to the multiple layers of wrapping, where the outer wrapping can be pure nickel, while the inner wrapping(s) can be steel or nickel plated steel.“Probably the biggest misconception around pure nickel strings is that the finished string itself is “pure nickel,” core and all. It’s not. Nickel isn’t strong enough to hold up to the rigorous demands placed on core wire or plain strings, as it’s a much softer metal. If you made a nickel-core string, strung it up, and bent it, it would just stay bent and hang off the fretboard. That’s no good. Therefore, pure nickel strings always feature stainless steel cores and steel plain strings, just like nickel wound/nickel-plated steel strings do.”
Which set? I have played all the Pressurewound and BN sets. The Pressurewound sets that most people play are the L 44-102or ML 44-106 sets. Both of these sets have more tenson than the BN 40's 4L, but less tension than the BN 44's 4M.
