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New EB Cobalt Strings

#121
I gave these a try (please note that I am not a Slinkies fan).

If you are not a fan of Ernie Ball strings I don't think this will convert you. They do feel rough and I am just not sure about the tone on these. They might sound great in the mix but I don't like them solo'd. I would almost say that I prefer the tone of standard Slinkies. These might last longer than those but I won't know as I don't think I will keep them on.

For the price I wills till take DR. They are trying something new but I don't see enough of a difference between these and standard steel to really warrant the marketing hype.

I still love that Ernie Ball as a company really pushes innovation and new things.
 
#126
I just put a set of cobalts on one of my Jazz Basses. They don't seem any rougher to me than stainless steel rounds -- so the feel is just fine for me. For those used to nickel wrapped strings they are going to seem a little rougher. As far as tone, they sound like a really aggressive set of day old steel rounds, and the tension seems about the same as XLs/Slinky's in the same gauge -- I like them so far. I'm curious how they will break in and sound in a band context.
 
#127
I did my first gig with the Cobalts on one of my Bongo 5HHp's last weekend. The biggest thing I noticed was the clarity and punch of the B string. It was strong and clear without a lot of excessive overtones. I've been using Elixirs since 2007,and now I'm switching.Just ordered 5 more sets. :hyper:
 
#132
Finally got these put on my SR5 HH which still had the stock EB nickel Slinkys on it.

Definitely like the Cobalts better. I wouldn't say the output level was noticeably hotter but the tone in general seemed "meatier" to me and I really like the low B in comparison to the nickel Slinky. I don't find them to be too rough but then again I've been getting used to a variety of steel strings on my Spectors so I may not be a good judge. That said, I played nickel strings exclusively (XLs and Slinkys) until last year so I'm used to that smoother feel, and I wouldn't see the texture of the Cobalts as a dealbreaker.

These will likely be my go to strings on my Stingrays for now. Not sure if I'm going to try them on the Spectors yet - I'm pretty happy with Fat beams on those.
 
#134
73jbass said:
I did my first gig with the Cobalts on one of my Bongo 5HHp's last weekend. The biggest thing I noticed was the clarity and punch of the B string. It was strong and clear without a lot of excessive overtones. I've been using Elixirs since 2007,and now I'm switching.Just ordered 5 more sets. :hyper:
Click to expand...

I loved your elixirs, this is high praise for sure
 
#135
BassBob1 said:
Just put a set (45-100) on my jazz. I just played them for about 2 hours so I'm only sharing my first impression. The last set of rounds on my jazz were DR stainless steel lo-riders and for the last week or so I had my trusty old chromes back on it.

First, they are a noticeably rougher to the touch than the DR's but the DR's were pretty rough at first too. I'll be interested to see if that rough, almost stickiness, fades like the DR's did. I hope so anyway. When I plugged in I did notice an increased output. They also sound "bigger" than other rounds. I would characterize the tone so far as a cross between nickel and stainless rounds. There seems to be the high-mids and harmonic characteristics of nickels but with the bottom and top end of stainless. I'm certainly not sold on them yet. I'll have to let them break in some and will hopefully get to test them out in a band setting this week. I'll post again when I have a verdict.
Click to expand...

Above is my original post. As it turns out, I'm just not feeling 'Em. The roughness didn't really fade. I prefer the feel and sound of other strings. I tried them briefly on my p bass but no dice there either.
 

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