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New Strings from SIT! "Foundations"
- Thread starter Maiden Bass
- Start date
QUOTE="SLaPiNFuNK, post: 20594065, member: 76905"]Sounds good! You should be seeing them Thursday![/QUOTE]
Few hours before gig time and the strings did not arrive USPS today which is cool. I'm in South Carolina and Jason is in California and it takes s little longer sometimes. I didn't want you guys thinking I flaked on you with a review because I ain't got em yet!
Few hours before gig time and the strings did not arrive USPS today which is cool. I'm in South Carolina and Jason is in California and it takes s little longer sometimes. I didn't want you guys thinking I flaked on you with a review because I ain't got em yet!
Few hours before gig time and the strings did not arrive USPS today which is cool. I'm in South Carolina and Jason is in California and it takes s little longer sometimes. I didn't want you guys thinking I flaked on you with a review because I ain't got em yet![/QUOTE]
Expected delivery still shows today by 8pm... If not today tomorrow is a postal holiday so may not get to you till Monday
Cool Jason, no problem! Realistically, I will not gig with them this weekend even if they arrive by 8pm. I got a gig tonight and then have an outdoor one starting at noon tomorrow so no real time to get a good setup on a new type of string anyway. Next weekend I have 3 gigs so they will definitely be put through the paces. Thanks again Jason!
Reminder to everyone, the strings should arrive today and I will post my initial impressions as far as tension, feel, out of the box brightness,, etc plus over the next 2 weeks I have 6 gigs so plenty of follow up impressions as well. These are the nickel 105-45 set and the only other similarly advertised low tension bright nickel sets I've used of this gauge are D'addario NYXL and Dunlop Super Brights nickel so there will be some comparisons to those. I'm very excited!
Ok, strings have arrived and they are on my James Johnston Squier Jazz Bass. Here is my initial review after 15 minutes play time.
SIT Foundation Nickel 105 85 65 45:
First, the packaging. A box with two plastic bags, one with the E and D string and the other with the A and G string which I thought was a little unusual. A SIT Sticker was included which was no surprise considering that a lot of their competitors do this. Second, the ball ends are all red which must be for factory purposes in keeping the different products straight.
Ok on to the feel and sound. Are these Dunlop Super Bright Nickels in SIT packaging?!? I think they are almost identical in flexibility and crunchy midrange. Like the Super Brights, these SIT Foundations have a smaller outer wrap wire (which really started with DR strings) and have a round core feel and sound. They don't have the "wallop" of more traditional hex core strings but are very clear and articulate. One way they differ from Dunlop Super Brights is they feel a little smoother and appear more high quality. One thing that used to bother me about the Dunlops is that the outer wrap appeared to have gaps which made for a rougher sliding surface.
I will gig with these this weekend but I will say my tension and flexibility preference lately has been towards more traditional hex core rounds like Ernie Ball Slinky. For those of you who like the Super Brights, I think you will find these comparable BUT I think the price point on these SITs are probably more.
Overall, I think SIT has done a great job of bringing a string out that meets the demand for more flexible and clearer sounding strings started by DR Strings. I'm not sure if these are something that will suit my live playing style because the Dunlop didn't but maybe I can look into the standard SIT Power Wound line which are more traditional. I will post more later once they get some gig time and I want to say thank you to Jason at bassstringsonline.com for giving me the chance to try these out. Cheers!
SIT Foundation Nickel 105 85 65 45:
First, the packaging. A box with two plastic bags, one with the E and D string and the other with the A and G string which I thought was a little unusual. A SIT Sticker was included which was no surprise considering that a lot of their competitors do this. Second, the ball ends are all red which must be for factory purposes in keeping the different products straight.
Ok on to the feel and sound. Are these Dunlop Super Bright Nickels in SIT packaging?!? I think they are almost identical in flexibility and crunchy midrange. Like the Super Brights, these SIT Foundations have a smaller outer wrap wire (which really started with DR strings) and have a round core feel and sound. They don't have the "wallop" of more traditional hex core strings but are very clear and articulate. One way they differ from Dunlop Super Brights is they feel a little smoother and appear more high quality. One thing that used to bother me about the Dunlops is that the outer wrap appeared to have gaps which made for a rougher sliding surface.
I will gig with these this weekend but I will say my tension and flexibility preference lately has been towards more traditional hex core rounds like Ernie Ball Slinky. For those of you who like the Super Brights, I think you will find these comparable BUT I think the price point on these SITs are probably more.
Overall, I think SIT has done a great job of bringing a string out that meets the demand for more flexible and clearer sounding strings started by DR Strings. I'm not sure if these are something that will suit my live playing style because the Dunlop didn't but maybe I can look into the standard SIT Power Wound line which are more traditional. I will post more later once they get some gig time and I want to say thank you to Jason at bassstringsonline.com for giving me the chance to try these out. Cheers!
2nd update - just spent another 30 mins or so playing some of the heavier music in our set and played them the way I would live and......way too noodly just like the Super Brights, but I suspected this would be the case. I'd have to raise the action higher than I prefer. A stiffer string with a lower action just seems to work better for me overall lately. I think these SITs will have to be relegated to our first more tame set of music at the gig.
Welp.. noted. When I played them they didn't feel like SB's, then again wasn't my bass. I should have known... 
I got some time in with the SS Foundations today ( thanks again to SLaPiNFuNK for the set) I'll give first impressions then follow with some science tomorrow. I have some DR, Dunlop, and Dean Marley strings to compare with and i'll do some eq matching graphs to show the differences in tonal balance (yeah, i'm that big of a tone psycho!)
First - I agree with the Super Bright comparison. Same holds true for the stainless. I actually like the SB stainless so it's a welcome thing for me. They seem a little more crisp in contrast with a little more cut or edge to the upper mid and treble. They also have something the Rock Bright stainless have which is distinct to SIT. There is a chiming, almost metallic overtone on the upper end which is distinct and can be really musical and adds a little sweetness to the top.
These are flexible and that puts them in the Dunlop and DR family as well. Again, I agree that they aimed for it and hit the nail on the head. If you are familiar with the Rock Bright stainless, these are in the same tonal village, but the Rock brights are more thick in the fundamental (i'm guessing a bump around 60hz) and feel more dense. They sound and literally are heavier. There is a definite difference in the weight of the strings with the Rock Brights being heavier and rougher in winding. In contrast, the Foundations are lighter and have more detail in the upper mids and cut.
After comparing for a while, I think these are the new SIT flagship set. The power wounds are good, but the Rock brights sounded like Power Wounds with more clarity and extension in both directions. The Foundations sound like the Rock Brights family with some tighter lows, more detail in the upper mids and snarl if you want it.
More comparisons and EQ graphs tomorrow.
First - I agree with the Super Bright comparison. Same holds true for the stainless. I actually like the SB stainless so it's a welcome thing for me. They seem a little more crisp in contrast with a little more cut or edge to the upper mid and treble. They also have something the Rock Bright stainless have which is distinct to SIT. There is a chiming, almost metallic overtone on the upper end which is distinct and can be really musical and adds a little sweetness to the top.
These are flexible and that puts them in the Dunlop and DR family as well. Again, I agree that they aimed for it and hit the nail on the head. If you are familiar with the Rock Bright stainless, these are in the same tonal village, but the Rock brights are more thick in the fundamental (i'm guessing a bump around 60hz) and feel more dense. They sound and literally are heavier. There is a definite difference in the weight of the strings with the Rock Brights being heavier and rougher in winding. In contrast, the Foundations are lighter and have more detail in the upper mids and cut.
After comparing for a while, I think these are the new SIT flagship set. The power wounds are good, but the Rock brights sounded like Power Wounds with more clarity and extension in both directions. The Foundations sound like the Rock Brights family with some tighter lows, more detail in the upper mids and snarl if you want it.
More comparisons and EQ graphs tomorrow.
I got mine on today and compared them directly to Dunlop SuperBrights and.....
....there's not much else I can say that hasn't already been said. Stiffness wise, they are pretty much identical to SuperBrights. As @GK Growl said, they have a smoother feel and the windings are tighter. I think that translates to their sound, as was also said they have a more metallic top end. I also found the bottom end to be pretty constrained, not clear and fat like SuperBrights. They are not as open sounding as SuperBrights, but if you like a sharper midrange/treble you'll like the SIT's. Digging in with them, the midrange pierces, while with the SuperBrights it crunches, if that makes any sense at all! The SIT's actually kinda remind me of D'Addarrio XL's in sound, but with a lot less tension.
I have a totally non-scientific (but proven!) method of testing string stiffness by just letting them hang. A stiff string will stick out straight, while a noodlier string will hang down. As you can see, Foundations and SuperBrights hang about the same.
....there's not much else I can say that hasn't already been said. Stiffness wise, they are pretty much identical to SuperBrights. As @GK Growl said, they have a smoother feel and the windings are tighter. I think that translates to their sound, as was also said they have a more metallic top end. I also found the bottom end to be pretty constrained, not clear and fat like SuperBrights. They are not as open sounding as SuperBrights, but if you like a sharper midrange/treble you'll like the SIT's. Digging in with them, the midrange pierces, while with the SuperBrights it crunches, if that makes any sense at all! The SIT's actually kinda remind me of D'Addarrio XL's in sound, but with a lot less tension.
I have a totally non-scientific (but proven!) method of testing string stiffness by just letting them hang. A stiff string will stick out straight, while a noodlier string will hang down. As you can see, Foundations and SuperBrights hang about the same.
Oh, my conclusion! Well, these aren't going to unseat SuperBrights for me, especially considering the price difference and availability of SuperBright singles. If you like SuperBrights but want a tighter bottom and sharper mids, try the SIT's.
Thanks for the reviews. I'm a big SIT fan so will probably try these in a heavier gauge than normal.
The string hanging is an interesting idea. though I'd expect there's enough variance in the weight of the ends per different material, coloring and wraps to affect the results.
The string hanging is an interesting idea. though I'd expect there's enough variance in the weight of the ends per different material, coloring and wraps to affect the results.
I wondered about the weight of the ball ends and how that would affect my highly detailed testing method
But in this case you can just feel the strings and tell they are about the same stiffness, and that the GHS is stiffer. I once did that with a LaBella Rx and it stayed almost straight! Those things are so stiff that it's literally almost impossible to coil them up small enough to get them in a string envelope!
I wondered about the weight of the ball ends and how that would affect my highly detailed testing method
But in this case you can just feel the strings and tell they are about the same stiffness, and that the GHS is stiffer. I once did that with a LaBella Rx and it stayed almost straight! Those things are so stiff that it's literally almost impossible to coil them up small enough to get them in a string envelope!
I thought the Rx were supposed to be relatively light tension. I have a few sets, should try them soon. I doubt I'll like them if they're exceptionally stiff. Thanks for that warning.
Just got mine in today. We have the same testing method! I haven't strung them up yet, but the windings do remind me very much of DR's outer wraps.
