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All I can say is that their strings are wonderful. Rather have a delay in getting them from folks passionate about their craft than get daddarios in two days from amazon
D'Addario strings are wonderful and those folks are passionate about their craft as well.
You are right, didn't mean to slight the good folks at daddario. I keep their half rounds on my p. My Bass VI is only happy with Kaliums though!
Well, I personally have never had a problem with an order, and I have a closet full of Kalium strings in custom gauges. But, yes, they're not the fastest shipper around. Then again, they have to hand assemble the sets when I order.
Half rounds eat the skin off my fingers, and always sounded a bit clunky to me. For a flattened round, I loved the D'Angelico ground rounds, but they got bought out by someone and then stopped production.
Half rounds eat the skin off my fingers, and always sounded a bit clunky to me. For a flattened round, I loved the D'Angelico ground rounds, but they got bought out by someone and then stopped production.
All my basses are strung with Kalium exclusively as I have fairly exacting tastes when it comes to gauge and tension.
-They do not have great customer service.
-Orders often can take a week or more before they ship. (Took me just shy of two weeks to get my last order, and I'm still waiting on another order that I had placed the same day.)
+ You WILL always get your order.
+ They will respond to your email EVENTUALLY
+ The strings themselves are fantastic.
So certainly some upsides and downsides to the company. I've concluded that it's worth it overall. I just order at least two or three weeks before i actually need the strings.
I've never not gotten my strings, I've never been completely ignored, l've never gotten a dead string....I've also never gotten my strings fast.
-They do not have great customer service.
-Orders often can take a week or more before they ship. (Took me just shy of two weeks to get my last order, and I'm still waiting on another order that I had placed the same day.)
+ You WILL always get your order.
+ They will respond to your email EVENTUALLY
+ The strings themselves are fantastic.
So certainly some upsides and downsides to the company. I've concluded that it's worth it overall. I just order at least two or three weeks before i actually need the strings.
I've never not gotten my strings, I've never been completely ignored, l've never gotten a dead string....I've also never gotten my strings fast.
They are notorious for slow shipping, customer service is non existent.
daddario has plenty of gauges for custom sets and half the price. I have prosteel on two basses and decided to try kalium again. To my ear the Kaliums dont sound any better.
PLus i find the .150 to have too much flop for A tuning and the .145 Daddario is more usable and just plays like a typical string.
daddario has plenty of gauges for custom sets and half the price. I have prosteel on two basses and decided to try kalium again. To my ear the Kaliums dont sound any better.
PLus i find the .150 to have too much flop for A tuning and the .145 Daddario is more usable and just plays like a typical string.
Yeah, what systolic said.
For my longscale Dingwalls, the choices used to be fairly limited, and Kalium could produce a very nice set. They just took a long time to arrive.
If you need custom strings, Kalium will get it done.
Moral of the story: you can't rush this.
Now, Dingwall has upped their string options, and partnered with Bassstringsonline.com. Payson makes excellent strings for the longscale Dingwall basses as well.
Have any of you European guys used Sansone strings?
For my longscale Dingwalls, the choices used to be fairly limited, and Kalium could produce a very nice set. They just took a long time to arrive.
If you need custom strings, Kalium will get it done.
Moral of the story: you can't rush this.
Now, Dingwall has upped their string options, and partnered with Bassstringsonline.com. Payson makes excellent strings for the longscale Dingwall basses as well.
Have any of you European guys used Sansone strings?
I ordered just before Christmas and my strings arrived (in Australia) about the 12th Jan. No issues at all with Kalium. They did sit in San Francisco for about 7-10 days with USPS (or whoever they shipped with). So my issue was with the Shipping Agent not Kalium.
Great strings and well worth the wait. Just don't wait until the last minute to order.
Great strings and well worth the wait. Just don't wait until the last minute to order.
My experience with Kalium is very much the opposite of this. They've always been quick to get packages to their shipper, and in more than one case Kalium reached out to *me* when they saw my order and thought I screwed it up.
That's not to say customer experience can vary, a little or a lot. I'm just a customer who doesn't have anything to complain about.
Whenever I've looked at their facebook I get the impression that they're a small company, so the business and communication will be quirky sometimes, and on a personal level I'm OK with that. It's not like buying strings from Bass Strings Online, Amazon, or Sweetwater. You might not be OK with spending your money on that, but some people are.
As far as the kind of products they sell, are there really any other options/competitors? I need to string up my Dingwall NG-2 for F# in the near future and I was assuming I'd get some strings from Kalium, but if there are any other options for a good set of strings for that tuning I'd be willing to try it out and report back.
That's not to say customer experience can vary, a little or a lot. I'm just a customer who doesn't have anything to complain about.
Whenever I've looked at their facebook I get the impression that they're a small company, so the business and communication will be quirky sometimes, and on a personal level I'm OK with that. It's not like buying strings from Bass Strings Online, Amazon, or Sweetwater. You might not be OK with spending your money on that, but some people are.
As far as the kind of products they sell, are there really any other options/competitors? I need to string up my Dingwall NG-2 for F# in the near future and I was assuming I'd get some strings from Kalium, but if there are any other options for a good set of strings for that tuning I'd be willing to try it out and report back.
"Good guys" who are "eccentric and disorganized"? I'd rather do business with good guys that are not eccentric and are organized.
Thanks for all the feedback everyone.
Due to the fact that I'm purchasing from the uk, I'm would be paying more for the shipping than the strings, so I'm glad i actually ordered two sets of strings as the shipping cost was the same and hopefully by the time i need another set, the issues with the company have been resolved. But to be honest, they've failed to provide any level of customer service to me and have provided a 16 day delay in shipping with no explanation and that's unacceptable. As i mentioned, finding a heavy gauge Bass VI set is not easy in the uk but I'll just have to go with the standard set from d'adarrio or something. Kalium have lost my future business and i regret giving them my business in the first place.
Due to the fact that I'm purchasing from the uk, I'm would be paying more for the shipping than the strings, so I'm glad i actually ordered two sets of strings as the shipping cost was the same and hopefully by the time i need another set, the issues with the company have been resolved. But to be honest, they've failed to provide any level of customer service to me and have provided a 16 day delay in shipping with no explanation and that's unacceptable. As i mentioned, finding a heavy gauge Bass VI set is not easy in the uk but I'll just have to go with the standard set from d'adarrio or something. Kalium have lost my future business and i regret giving them my business in the first place.
One experience with Kalium-- quite positive. I ordered a custom 5 set and they were delivered quickly and are very high quality.
f!
f!
And what would make you think that? Yup, you busted us. We just like to come on here and make up stories about Kalium and their crappy service.
This is my experience with Kalium as well. I order in bulk and have my sets hanging on a nail inside my bass closet ready to go. When I'm down to the last set hanging on the wall, I place my order. Slow at times, but never fail to get my strings. To me, the product is worth living with the eccentricities.
Said the guy with the creepy bass closet.
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