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Has Dunlop Made Changes In Their Strings?

S

shoot-r

May 26, 2007
4,107
3,849
Illinois
#1
Been gigging with Dunlop's Super Bright Nickel Bass Strings 40 to 100's for several years now.

I've had better longevity of tone/brightness with these strings than anyother I've worked with.

I went from changing strings every 2 to 4 jobs when I was using Su*bea*s, to getting 10+ jobs with the Dunlop's.

Several months back I bought 18 sets of SBN's from Sweet*ater.
At this point I've used 6 of those sets.
Every set thus far has lasted only 1 or 2 gigs before the E and A string has went totally flat.

Does anybody know, has Dunlop made changes in their manufacturing process, or the materials used for their Super Bright Nickel strings?
 
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#3
shoot-r said:
Been gigging with Dunlop's Super Bright Nickel Bass Strings 40 to 100's for several years now.

I've had better longevity of tone/brightness with these strings than anyother I've worked with.

I went from changing strings every 2 to 4 jobs when I was using Su*bea*s, to getting 10+ jobs with the Dunlop's.

Several months back I bought 18 sets of SBN's from Sweet*ater.
At this point I've used 6 of those sets.
Every set thus far has lasted only 1 or 2 gigs before the E and A string has went totally flat.

Does anybody know, has Dunlop made changes in their manufacturing process, or the materials used for their Super Bright Nickel strings?
Click to expand...
After using them for years I encountered the same exact problem. I had E strings going dead in mere days rather than months. This happened on numerous basses so I know it was the strings. Went to DR and have had zero issues.
 
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#5
tindrum said:
After using them for years I encountered the same exact problem. I had E strings going dead in mere days rather than months. This happened on numerous basses so I know it was the strings. Went to DR and have had zero issues.
Click to expand...



Think I'll research DR strings some.

Which DR strings would you recommend and how close to the "old" Dunlop superbright nickels do you think they'd sound?
 
#6
I only use one brand and type of strings….. but I will pass on I got a e-mail from Music…Frie… and they had Rotosound nickel rounds for $15.99 a set. Just if ya want to try a set for seems like a good price??
 
#7
Doug P said:
they had Rotosound nickel rounds for $15.99 a set. Just if ya want to try a set for seems like a good price??
Click to expand...

Rotosound nickel rounds are very different from the Dunlop Super Bright Nickels both in tone and feel, the Roto being noticeably stiffer. The OP would be better off trying DR Sunbeams or Pure Blues for similar feel (= flexible) and tone even if they cost a little more as their longevity would make up for it.
 
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#13
From what I understand, the main person behind Dunlop strings is an ex-DR person, so DR Sunbeams or Pure Blues might get close to what you like about Dunlops. The thing with SuperBrights is that though they use a hex-core rather than a round-core (like on DR 'beams and Pure Blues), it's a much thinner hex-core for that slinkier feel.

I generally like DR strings. Their Hi-Beams feel great, sound great, and still sound great a year later. The Sunbeams are excellent strings, but they were too spongy feeling for my tastes. Lo-Riders steels and nickels are great; a bit stiffer and definitely take some time to grow on you. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of the Pure Blues. They feel and sound wonderful for several months, but in my experience they died (we're talking corpse-dumpster-tone dead) suddenly after that long honeymoon. Like, they didn't just gradually fade. They went from full speed to dropping off a cliff like Wile E. Coyote.

I had a set of Dunlop SuperBright Steels put on a bass earlier this year and though I love their feel (in terms of both flexibility and texture) they went corpse dumpster dead on me in less than a month, and I'm back to good ol' D'Addario ProSteels on that bass.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who got a short life out of Dunlop SuperBrights. You know... GHS Boomers may break in quickly and lose their brightness in a matter of days, at least they keep that nice broken-in tone for a few months. The Dunlops sounded great for a short while and then dropped off a cliff like Wile E. Coyote.
 
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#15
BassFalcon said:
A while back weren’t there a lot of Dunlop die hards that jumped shipped for SIT? Or am I misremembering that or maybe it was just a local thing…
Click to expand...

Now that you've mentioned SIT...

SIT came out with the "Foundations" line of rounds, both SS and NPS, with the same idea as the Dunlop Super Brights, ie thinner hex core for added flexibility and responsiveness. Something @shoot-r might want to consider trying aside from the DRs already mentioned.
 
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#16
Oh yeah, good call on the SIT Foundations.

I haven't tried those, but I have tried SIT Silencers and both steel and nickel PowerWounds. SIT makes great strings at competitive prices. I see them as competition in the D'Addario, GHS, Ernie Ball bracket. Among those, D'Addario is my favorite, then SIT, then GHS, then Ernie Ball (I don't like Ernie Ball strings at all).
 
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#17
O.P. here.

Put a new set of Dunlop Super Bright Nickels on the old, passive, 4 string Jazz last Friday morning.

Played last Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon.
These gigs were all low humidity, indoor, 4 hour jobs.

E string was noticeably losing it's "zing" after Saturday's gig, (8 hrs. of use.)
A string was noticeably losing it's "zing" after Sunday's gig, (12 hrs. of use.)
D and G strings rounded out very nicely with plenty of zing left in their sound at 12 hrs. of use.

This morning I put on fresh E and A strings keeping the used D and G strings on.
Sounds GREAT!

I may see if there's a online store that will sell individual Dunlop SBN, E and A strings.

Playing Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this week.....we'll see what happens.
 
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#18
shoot-r said:
I may see if there's a online store that will sell individual Dunlop SBN, E and A strings.
Click to expand...

I once contacted Matt at Strings By Mail regarding the availability of Super Bright singles. He told me he could special order singles as long as you're willing to order six of the same string at a time. That was a couple of years ago, though, so I would suggest you get in touch with Matt at SBM ([email protected]) or Jason at Fret Nation ([email protected]) to find out if you can order extra E's and A's as singles.
 
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#19
michael_t said:
I once contacted Matt at Strings By Mail regarding the availability of Super Bright singles. He told me he could special order singles as long as you're willing to order six of the same string at a time. That was a couple of years ago, though, so I would suggest you get in touch with Matt at SBM ([email protected]) or Jason at Fret Nation ([email protected]) to find out if you can order extra E's and A's as singles.
Click to expand...



Thank-you sir!
Will contact both.
Thank-you again!
 
#20
michael_t said:
Rotosound nickel rounds are very different from the Dunlop Super Bright Nickels both in tone and feel, the Roto being noticeably stiffer. The OP would be better off trying DR Sunbeams or Pure Blues for similar feel (= flexible) and tone even if they cost a little more as their longevity would make up for it.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. Just this week A/B'd DR Pure Blues and Dunlop Super Brights on a P bass.

The PB had more flex, upper harmonic content, more presence in the vocal range, and a more classic P tone. PBs on another bass mellowed with age in the direction of the DSBN.

Sunbeams similar or greater flex to the PB and are great on my active EMG fretless, but mark up the ebony fretboard.
 

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