My take on Stainless Steel Strings

[dbsfgyd1]

My quick and non-scientific review: Lo Riders Steels don't have the RS66 magic, but are kind of in the ballpark, with better longevity. So, they've been a favorite of mine for years. I prefer them to Hi Beams, which are 'cleaner' sounding... I'm looking for clang, not ping*.

I wish the LaBella Hard Rockin' Steels were still around, they came even closer to the RS66 magic. Yes, I still do use RS66es sometimes, but they don't seem to last as long under my grubby fingertips.



*Just as I said, non-scientific!

i agree, I think RS66 are the best sounding strings ever, but the tonal degradation happens way too soon IMO. I can get 75 to 100 hours of play out of Lo Riders. I also agree that Lo Riders offers a more refined tone that RS66, which fits that type of music I play.

 

[kcducttaper]

I also find it interesting how in another thread you mentioned DR Hi Beams had the worst longevity for you, the complete opposite that most here believe with both strings. Just like how I'm firmly in the "Ernie Balls don't last" camp while others here claim to use them for a year straight.

I wonder if this is due to different body chemistry's reacting to different alloy formulas, or is it really just our ears telling us what we like to hear?

Another big one is GHS Boomers: Some of the most polarizing opinions of probably any string from what I've read.

If I were to speculate, I would suggest that people are defining Hi-Beams as being 'dead' differently. Hi-Beams are notorious for sounding super bright straight out of the package and then wear in after a handful of hours to be much less bright and a lot more 'growly'. Many folks (such as meself) prefer the sound after they've 'dulled' a little bit and that growl comes through while other may simply hear the tone changing from new and declare them 'spent' at that point. My Lo Riders do this to an extent as well, but not as drastically. I'll play them specifically to wear off the 'excess shimmer' at times.

GHS Boomers = crap. I played an electric guitar set once and they were nearly immediately mush. Granted that's a different beast than bass strings, but it just ruined the GHS name for me much like Fender's Rumble 15 and Squier P bass ruined Fender for me. No doubt they make good gear, but those we absolute pieces of garbage and just ruined the Fender name for me. I understand they're budget, but the Rumble 15 especially was embarrassingly horrible and should never have had a 'high-end' brand name attached to it.

 

[Bob_Ross]

RotoSound SM66 Swing Bass 40-60-80-100

Sound: Straight out of the box the sound in these strings are magical. Growly, gritty and snappy aggressive with some thick mids and I have never heard a tone like this from my bass before. Unfortunately that did not last very long...

Yep, that's precisely why I stopped using RotoSounds 40 years ago: They sound great ...for about a week, and then all the magic disappears. No amount of wiping, boiling, "snap-cleaning" (?!?!), or sacrificing a live chicken will get them to sound as good as they did when fresh. Life's too short to waste time (and money) on strings that are that ephemeral.

 

[kyral210]

Rotoscounds die way too fast for me too. Guitar or bass, or doesn’t matter, I’ve always seen them as the cheaper/ worse choice.

D’addario are my go to, but I should try more

 

[Parzival]

ETA: and I find it very weird that I'm paying approximately the same for them as I was 45 years ago. Who knew bass strings were immune to inflationary forces?

 

[DCErik]

View attachment 7157954

Captain Tightpants knows whaddup.

 

[Mastiff_5]

If I were to speculate, I would suggest that people are defining Hi-Beams as being 'dead' differently. Hi-Beams are notorious for sounding super bright straight out of the package and then wear in after a handful of hours to be much less bright and a lot more 'growly'. Many folks (such as meself) prefer the sound after they've 'dulled' a little bit and that growl comes through while other may simply hear the tone changing from new and declare them 'spent' at that point. My Lo Riders do this to an extent as well, but not as drastically. I'll play them specifically to wear off the 'excess shimmer' at times.

GHS Boomers = crap. I played an electric guitar set once and they were nearly immediately mush. Granted that's a different beast than bass strings, but it just ruined the GHS name for me much like Fender's Rumble 15 and Squier P bass ruined Fender for me. No doubt they make good gear, but those we absolute pieces of garbage and just ruined the Fender name for me. I understand they're budget, but the Rumble 15 especially was embarrassingly horrible and should never have had a 'high-end' brand name attached to it.

Yeah, I had that experience with the Boomers… not just ‘meh,’ but ‘oh, I wasted my money and need to go back to the music store.’ In fairness that was a long time ago for me, maybe they’ve improved, but I tried them once and moved on immediately.

 

[Barghest]

Roto's, at least the RS-66, are my single favourite sounding string that I've ever played. Love that high end that they give you, that attack, that cut that they produce. Just wish I could make them last.

These days, I'll mainly use D'Addario strings, but when it comes to studio time, I always pick up a set of Roto's. At least if I'm playing something aggressive.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Bring back the Super Rounds!
You may not be able to tell, but my Avatar picture bears Rotosound Swing Bass on the Rick! My e string died about a month after this gig with not a lot of playing time on the strings. Heck, the bass probably only did one set to two sets that night so it really wasn't an all nighter. Sorry, Rotosound, you'll need to do better than that to get my $ but the tone is to die for. As alternatives to 66s, I humbly suggest Marcus Miller Dunlop Super Brights or DR Lo-Riders.
Martin, looking forward to more reviews and I'll subscribe.
Contessa, when are you and I going to walk off into the sunset together, then lobby Dean Markley to come back and while they are at it, bring back Super Rounds?!

Somewhat the same here. I've been using the Swing bass strings almost since their inception

If they stay fairly consistent as they die, I dig that and work with it. I am digging the MM Super Brights as well

 

[Iristone]

The Rotosound longevity issue is what led to my trying DR, La Bella etc. I've settled on La Bella Super Steps as of now: the exposed cores give a bright, consistent response with long life.
The Rotosounds have a growl and sheen when new, but on my Thunderbird it wears away in one week. DR (even coated) is better but not entirely a game-changer. La Bella is a bit inconsistent on the lower strings, and the mid-range is a bit more contained.

 

[Salem6127]

The Rotosound longevity issue is what led to my trying DR, La Bella etc. I've settled on La Bella Super Steps as of now: the exposed cores give a bright, consistent response with long life.
The Rotosounds have a growl and sheen when new, but on my Thunderbird it wears away in one week. DR (even coated) is better but not entirely a game-changer. La Bella is a bit inconsistent on the lower strings, and the mid-range is a bit more contained.

This reminds me, I've heard exposed core strings are the holy grail of "piano like tone"

Been meaning to try some, but they're very hard to come by.

 

[Pier_]

I wonder if this is due to different body chemistry's reacting to different alloy formulas, or is it really just our ears telling us what we like to hear?

Another big one is GHS Boomers: Some of the most polarizing opinions of probably any string from what I've read.

that's how it works, exactly! our bodies are different, sweat different, so everyone here will experience different things from various sets of strings.

I don't like DR because every time I've used them, they went dead after few hours, as other strings.

ironically, Rotosound, Ernie Ball and GHS Boomers are the ones I use mostly, because they last a lot under my hands I like them and they are my usual choice based on the sound I want from the specific instrument.

 

[GIBrat51]

I really like stainless steel strings; as long as they're stainless steel flat wounds... I only have one bass that wears rounds - out of 27. They're TI JR324 Jazz Rounds - and, I only use them because the bass sounds like crap with any other strings I've tried on it. So, I use them because I pretty much need to - and they're not stainless; they're nickel wound...

 

[MartinSwe]

#2 Mark Strings Energy Series 40-60-80-100
Packaging: Foil packaging for a long lasting shelf life, and the strings were not individually packed. And oddly enough there was this fresh smell of lime emerging from when I opened the package. Magnificent! 5/5
Tension: A little hard tension maybe, but not so much that I needed to adjust the truss rod or risk breaking the neck or such, but they felt a bit ... tough ... I guess. 4/5
Feel: No. These were awful to touch. They felt really dry and they looked just as dry as they felt, very "dull" in the colour almost like the metal was going bad or something? I do not know how to explain it really, but I did not enjoy playing on these strings. 1/5
Sound: They sounded absolutely amazing - for about a week, and then the E-string died, followed by the A-string maybe two weeks later. From start the E and A had a really nice metallic growly and clear sound and the G string especially had a super nice and twangy sound to it. But this faded away and now I have to tune the E, A and G strings after maybe 20-30 minutes of jamming. The D string still sounds like new, which is interesting, it still has a crisp and twangy sound, but all strings still feel dry and awful to the touch. 2/5
Longevity: About 5 weeks, just as the Rotos. Except the D-string I consider these strings dead. 2/5

Score: 14/25

Comment: These strings were fairly cheap, but I had to order them from Germany. € 24 is not that bad of a price for bass strings, but of this quality even though the packaging is bragging about some Italian Quality from the Abruzzo Factory its just not worth it paying for it once a month. This is by far NOT a superior product in any way and I can not recommend anyone to try these out, even though they are MarkBass's own brand of strings. All this superior and innovative materials and ultimate quality control bragging on the back side of the packaging should be considered as a sarcastic warning-text and nothing else. A "superior product with exceptional performance, amazing feeling, intonation and reliability" is just BS in my opinion. These are by far the worst set of strings I have played on - yet.

(NB: I couldn't find a way to edit the OG post so I guess I'll just have to post further reviews this way)



#3 Dean Markley Blue Steel 40-55-75-95
(Keep your pants on, the review will come when these strings are dead in my ears )

 

[Parzival]

#2 Mark Strings Energy Series 40-60-80-100
Packaging: Foil packaging for a long lasting shelf life, and the strings were not individually packed. And oddly enough there was this fresh smell of lime emerging from when I opened the package. Magnificent! 5/5
Tension: A little hard tension maybe, but not so much that I needed to adjust the truss rod or risk breaking the neck or such, but they felt a bit ... tough ... I guess. 4/5
Feel: No. These were awful to touch. They felt really dry and they looked just as dry as they felt, very "dull" in the colour almost like the metal was going bad or something? I do not know how to explain it really, but I did not enjoy playing on these strings. 1/5
Sound: They sounded absolutely amazing - for about a week, and then the E-string died, followed by the A-string maybe two weeks later. From start the E and A had a really nice metallic growly and clear sound and the G string especially had a super nice and twangy sound to it. But this faded away and now I have to tune the E, A and G strings after maybe 20-30 minutes of jamming. The D string still sounds like new, which is interesting, it still has a crisp and twangy sound, but all strings still feel dry and awful to the touch. 2/5
Longevity: About 5 weeks, just as the Rotos. Except the D-string I consider these strings dead. 2/5

Score: 14/25

Comment: These strings were fairly cheap, but I had to order them from Germany. € 24 is not that bad of a price for bass strings, but of this quality even though the packaging is bragging about some Italian Quality from the Abruzzo Factory its just not worth it paying for it once a month. This is by far NOT a superior product in any way and I can not recommend anyone to try these out, even though they are MarkBass's own brand of strings. All this superior and innovative materials and ultimate quality control bragging on the back side of the packaging should be considered as a sarcastic warning-text and nothing else. A "superior product with exceptional performance, amazing feeling, intonation and reliability" is just BS in my opinion. These are by far the worst set of strings I have played on - yet.

(NB: I couldn't find a way to edit the OG post so I guess I'll just have to post further reviews this way)



#3 Dean Markley Blue Steel 40-55-75-95
(Keep your pants on, the review will come when these strings are dead in my ears )

Thanks for the review on the Mark Bass steels as I have seen them and thought about giving them a try. They are actually more expensive than most of the alternatives here in the states. Well, at least they were at GC.

Look forward to the review of the Blue Steels. I used to use those back in the 90's and like them about as much as Rotos but I have heard people say they are not the same anymore so I have been hesitant to try them again.

 

[MartinSwe]

Thanks for the review on the Mark Bass steels as I have seen them and thought about giving them a try. They are actually more expensive than most of the alternatives here in the states. Well, at least they were at GC.

Look forward to the review of the Blue Steels. I used to use those back in the 90's and like them about as much as Rotos but I have heard people say they are not the same anymore so I have been hesitant to try them again.

If you can afford to try out the Mark ones maybe you should, but I really can't recommend them from my experience and settings. Maybe they'll work better for you? I've never played on Blue Steels prior to this, so I can't compare to previous versions unfortunately.

 

[GTHintz]

Well I have a set of these Energy series on my Warwick Streamer right now. I've tried them on a couple basses and my personal take away is that they are a bit stiffer than say Dunlop, Dean Markley, Labella, even Dunlop but not as stiff as Pro Steels. They seem to respond more to low mids and highs than high mids but you're trading a little bit of grindy growl for more pronounced bite followed by the thicker sounds of the lower frequencies. Probably not going to be everyone's taste on every bass and tone sculpting wishes but like always you have EQ and I can see it sounding great for many types of playing. Also these have held up pretty well. They are on their second bass and getting played once a week and not loosing tone as fast as others. I'd say they are longer lasting than Rotos and just about tied with Labella or Dunlop Stainless steel.

Thanks for the review on the Mark Bass steels as I have seen them and thought about giving them a try. They are actually more expensive than most of the alternatives here in the states. Well, at least they were at GC.

Look forward to the review of the Blue Steels. I used to use those back in the 90's and like them about as much as Rotos but I have heard people say they are not the same anymore so I have been hesitant to try them again.

I would revisit Blue Steel especially if you happen to find a deal on them. I like both those and the SR2000. They really have a nice musical tone that really gets aggressive sounding moreso than most other strings I've tried. Also they do hold up for me very well. I prefer how these play to Rotos so I haven't really used Rotos in a while. I'll try a set of I feel like they might be the trick for a particular bass but Blue Steel seem to be the go to. Those and Dunlop are always consistent and deliver a good tone on everything I've used them on.

 

[dreamadream99]

The first owner of my secondhand bass did all the string research. I just inherited his final pick: GHS super steels custom set, with taper core low B. But I have been happy with them for 30 years. I know they aren't on very many people's radar, but I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[michael_t]

The first owner of my secondhand bass did all the string research. I just inherited his final pick: GHS super steels custom set, with taper core low B. But I have been happy with them for 30 years. I know they aren't on very many people's radar, but I would love to hear your thoughts.

I do like the Super Steels as they have a nice bite in the mids once broken in without being zingy bright. I've used the 40-58-80-102 set either with the non-tapered .126 or the Contact Core .125 on my (now gone) Yamaha BB435 and liked them a lot.

 

[eriky4003]

Looking forward to the DM Blue Steels review. One of my favourite strings. Haven't tried them since Dean Markley shut down, however.