Modern metal and Nickle strings

[Seth DuSith]

Honestly that could be it. It actually had to intonate the E string all over again and had to do some truss rod adjustment. Maybe you guys are right about pickups too, ill give em an adjustment too

 

[J Posega]

Make sure the strings are properly seated at the nut and bridge by setting witness points... press down firmly with the pad of your thumb just in front of the bridge saddle and after the nut.

Make sure your pickups aren't too high.

Don't treat exact frequencies suggested by other players/engineers like a cure-all. Every bass, every mix, will be different. Where you can generally rely on suggested EQ settings to ballpark a tone, you need to rely on your ear to find what works more specifically for your individual needs.

Read up on equalizers and their frequency curves. Different EQs do different things and one EQ unit's 500hz could have a much wider Q that boosts/cuts in a bell curve from 300 up to 600hz, where another EQ might have a tighter Q that only impacts 475-525hz.

 

[Seth DuSith]

Make sure the strings are properly seated at the nut and bridge by setting witness points... press down firmly with the pad of your thumb just in front of the bridge saddle and after the nut.

Make sure your pickups aren't too high.

Don't treat exact frequencies suggested by other players/engineers like a cure-all. Every bass, every mix, will be different. Where you can generally rely on suggested EQ settings to ballpark a tone, you need to rely on your ear to find what works more specifically for your individual needs.

Read up on equalizers and their frequency curves. Different EQs do different things and one EQ unit's 500hz could have a much wider Q that boosts/cuts in a bell curve from 300 up to 600hz, where another EQ might have a tighter Q that only impacts 475-525hz.

Thank you, I forgot about the bridge saddle thing. I didn't do that on this bass.

You're totally right on the point of EQs. All of the post was right, tbh. I'll give these a try out today

 

[perfektspace6]

Interesting to me that you are experiencing such a dramatic difference between nickel rounds and steel. I never found the difference to be that significant and go back and forth. Nickel are a little mellower. Could be the brand you swapped to. I have some Ken Smith nickel rounds on my Spector right now and it sounds nice and aggressive but with less string noise than steel rounds.

 

[Dincrest]

Dunlop's new Dual Dynamic Hybrid Nickels https://www.talkbass.com/threads/du...kel-steel-for-bold-assertive-grooves.1625604/ seem to be a nickel-steel hybrid string that works in a modern metal context.

That being said, I'm more of a "steel is real" guy, because my body chemistry kills nickels quickly. Steels last longer for me. DR Lo-Riders and Hi-Beams last forever and feel great. On the other hand, Dunlop SuperBright steels went ploppy dead on me almost immediately. Maybe I got a bum set, because most people adore them. SuperBrights have a smaller diameter hex core, giving them a more supple, round-core feel.

And +1 on LaBella Rx steels offering a "nickel" feel in a steel string. They have a smooth texture and a "just right" feel that balances flexibility and stiffness in a way that I like. I have those on a bass with EMG-HZ soapbars and a passive VVT electronics, and they sound killer. I use the 40-118 set and the low-B is thunderous. I don't know what sorcery LaBella does to make a 118 low B that good.

 

[Seth DuSith]

Interesting to me that you are experiencing such a dramatic difference between nickel rounds and steel. I never found the difference to be that significant and go back and forth. Nickel are a little mellower. Could be the brand you swapped to. I have some Ken Smith nickel rounds on my Spector right now and it sounds nice and aggressive but with less string noise than steel rounds.

Well, I also mentioned a few times the first set of strings were piss poor quality haha. I can't emphasize it enough. They weren't good quality and they weren't designed for multi scale. The strings I switched to are dingwall nickles

The original strings were so bad quality my hands would turn grey as I played

Just in case you only read the first page, which is understandable. Sometimes I do that too

But I do find stainless steel to have scooped mids, and especially low mids, or rather, my ears "hear it that way" due to the highs being sharper. This seems to make my playing a little more clear

But my jazz bass with nickels is more clear than my Stingray with steels lol. So I imagine pickups are a huge factor

 

[Seth DuSith]

Dunlop's new Dual Dynamic Hybrid Nickels https://www.talkbass.com/threads/du...kel-steel-for-bold-assertive-grooves.1625604/ seem to be a nickel-steel hybrid string that works in a modern metal context.

That being said, I'm more of a "steel is real" guy, because my body chemistry kills nickels quickly. Steels last longer for me. DR Lo-Riders and Hi-Beams last forever and feel great. On the other hand, Dunlop SuperBright steels went ploppy dead on me almost immediately. Maybe I got a bum set, because most people adore them. SuperBrights have a smaller diameter hex core, giving them a more supple, round-core feel.

And +1 on LaBella Rx steels offering a "nickel" feel in a steel string. They have a smooth texture and a "just right" feel that balances flexibility and stiffness in a way that I like. I have those on a bass with EMG-HZ soapbars and a passive VVT electronics, and they sound killer. I use the 40-118 set and the low-B is thunderous. I don't know what sorcery LaBella does to make a 118 low B that good.

I wonder if these strings come in multi scale sets? Heck, I'm even considering just getting long scale, as the high strings don't seem to need taper as much as thick strings do anyway, and my low strings are definitely long scale

 

[GTHintz]

I wonder if these strings come in multi scale sets? Heck, I'm even considering just getting long scale, as the high strings don't seem to need taper as much as thick strings do anyway, and my low strings are definitely long scale

Id see how Ken Smith Rockmasters work. They are 38" from ball to taper and maybe will fit a bit better. Or maybe MTD strings. Mtd basses are 35" scale many times so i know those strings are a bit longer to accommodate. I played Ken Smith strings for years and they always sounded nice and bright and would work well with your humbuckers. I used them on a muddy bass that really hit the spot for it. As it pertains to mids everything i suggested has more mids than most steels. I only play steel but i like mid content.

 

[Seth DuSith]

Id see how Ken Smith Rockmasters work. They are 38" from ball to taper and maybe will fit a bit better. Or maybe MTD strings. Mtd basses are 35" scale many times so i know those strings are a bit longer to accommodate. I played Ken Smith strings for years and they always sounded nice and bright and would work well with your humbuckers. I used them on a muddy bass that really hit the spot for it. As it pertains to mids everything i suggested has more mids than most steels. I only play steel but i like mid content.

Thanks dude, I'll give em a try that sounds exactly like what I want

 

[GTHintz]

Thanks dude, I'll give em a try that sounds exactly like what I want

Wading through the tons of strings available its easy to get lost. Ive tried so many brands now its hard to remember them all. I know Spector has 38" long scale strings too. Also Peavey elements are stainless and are made extra long. Not sure about tone on those 2 because ive never tried them but I've seen them around.

 

[Seth DuSith]

Okay the EQing advice helped. I started from a flat EQ and messed around, individually sliding each slider up and down to see how it reacted with my tone. Weirdly, boosting 500hz a little works really well with these strings, when I used to have to cut it. The strings and bass, together, work really well with a Sansamp pedal simulator too, much better than my old strings.

I also focused my high mids around 800-1.2k rather than 1.8-2.5k, it seems to just bring a really nice sound out of it.

I couldn't replicate my old sound exactly but I ended up finding one I enjoy. Thanks guys

Maybe I'll try different strings 5 months from now haha. When I'm done with these ones

 

[GTHintz]

Okay the EQing advice helped. I started from a flat EQ and messed around, individually sliding each slider up and down to see how it reacted with my tone. Weirdly, boosting 500hz a little works really well with these strings, when I used to have to cut it. The strings and bass, together, work really well with a Sansamp pedal simulator too, much better than my old strings.

I also focused my high mids around 800-1.2k rather than 1.8-2.5k, it seems to just bring a really nice sound out of it.

I couldn't replicate my old sound exactly but I ended up finding one I enjoy. Thanks guys

Maybe I'll try different strings 5 months from now haha. When I'm done with these ones

I find i have to re eq my sound every time i change strings. I also change my action and truss rod as needed too. Small adjustments really can alter your sound.