High output round wounds

[maturanesa]

the louder i tried was Rotosound nickels, i think it was the Rotobass model. Not warm at all but they peak up high

 

[Pyrrho Epoche]

Anybody try the Markbass strings yet?
They offer:
-nickel
-nickel plated steel
-stainless steel
-coated
-something called soft touch
-and a flatwound. But, I could only find the 110 in flats( just did a quick search) Made in Italy.

Mostly interested in the SS and Flats.

 

[Pyrrho Epoche]

Strung up my P with these Sunday night too. Very dark(too dark for P bass punk) even darker than the Ultramags. Excellent balance, feel and boom. Took them off the next day, they were still very dark.

 

[jdjk7]

Was pondering strings and realized high output round wounds might be good to supercharge your passive jazz bass (since they are often a lower output bass)

Advertised as high output:

Rotosound Ultramags
Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalts

Any others? Any opinions on these?

I really like Ultramags-- though Rotosounds' QC seems a bit spotty sometimes. I've put on a few sets of these strings now, and sometimes it feels a little up in the air whether they'll have any quirks or not.

I like the balance they strike between nickel and steel. I don't care for the dullness of nickels, but steels tend to both sound and feel unpleasant to me. Alloy 52 just seems to work for me. As far as ouptut, they seem higher output, but not dramatically so. Actually, on one of my basses, switching to Ultramags necessitated lowering the pickups-- I guess the higher magnetic activity meant that while the previous set of strings (not sure of the brand) was fine, but then the Ultramags had magnetic pull issues from being too close to the pickups. The dynamics do feel enhanced, though I wouldn't call it the primary feature of the strings. For me, the tonal character is where it's at.

I wish GHS Bass Progressives would make a comeback, though.

 

[Pyrrho Epoche]

Markbass Energy strings - Round wound stainless steel are absolutely perfect. Tension is Med+. Punchy, slightly boomy lows--slightly dark. Mids sit perfectly transitioned between the lows and highs... also slightly brighter in the highs, but not too bright. A little smoother on the touch, than say, High Beams. Very little, if no clank on the frets, with a slightly raised action.

Not sure if it gets any better, for a roundwound. Not cheap but not crazy expensive.

Tested on Fender Amer. Pro II Precision bass.

 

[kgbeast]

Yes, need to be more careful with terminology.
From what I understand there is
Wrapped is nickel plated steel wire, which is often labeled as "Nickel". These come in number of brightness. Some are fairly mellow, some are very bright. I think that is achieved with the gauge if the wrapping wire, it's smoothness, and also core type. These are pretty high output in general.
The actual nickel wrapped strings are often called "Pure Nickel" and are generally lower output. Tone can be bright though.
The other interesting type is the colored strings. These are often use steel copper plated wrapping. In my observation, the brightness and output is similar to (non-pure) Nickel and can vary from relatively bright to mellow depending on construction just like in the non-pure Nickel.