I've been playing UB for only 5 months now, but have been playing EB for over 50 years (yeah, I'm an old retired geezer, and love it!). My Shen SB88 laminate bass (Upton setup) came to me with the original (6 months old) Helicore Pizzacato Llghts on it. I was never happy with these strings, as I felt they had way to much point on the attack, didn't care for the tone, were uneven string-to-string, and felt very hard on my left hand fingertips, to the point that I had to stop playing for several weeks. I had commented on these issues in a couple of string threads here on TB.
Last week, I got a nice message from Josephine at D'Addario about my string "issues", and after a couple of email exchanges regarding my instrument and the sound I was looking for, kindly sent me a package of Zyex lights to try out. Here's my report on the first 24 hours with these strings.
I put the Zyex lights on my 2013 Shen yesterday, and then proceeded to play them pretty hard for several hours with my friend Jack on his old Martin guitar. The first thing Paul, our sound guy, and I noticed was the lack of the harsh attack I got from the Helicores. Also, more fullness to the tone, much richer. I could even hear this at the playing position (Paul had the sweet spot about 4 feet from the bass). The bass now has a richer sound, and is actually easier for me to hear while playing. Next was the fact that all the strings are well matched across the set, where as before, the D was way louder than the other strings, and E almost sounded dead. The only downside is that the bass isn't quite as loud as before, but I'll take that in a heartbeat for the improvement in sound. I was having some intonation issues during the evening, but I'll chalk this up to not enough practice lately and the new strings stretching. As the night went on, Jack commented several times on how much better the bass sounds. We play roots, folk, jazz standards, etc. and the Zyex have given my bass a much more "traditional" sound, and still growls when I want it to.
The Zyex are also much easier on the fingertips of my left hand, and I was able to play with more intensity for a longer period of time as a result. Being synthetic core strings, they are softer to the touch and lower tension. This enabled me to play with a lot more expression and feeling. I also noticed the improved feel on my right hand (I play strictly pizz, no arco). I had to retune after every couple of songs last night, but that was totally expected for new synthetic strings, so no surprises there. I tuned them up again before a short practice tonight, and they held much better after being on the bass for 24 hours.
I'll be doing a recording of the bass in a couple of days to compare these strings to a recording of the old ones so I can really hear what's going on with the Zyex. I'll post my thoughts again after that, and also after I've had the strings on for about a month or so. Thanks, Josephine, you have made my Shen sound like a more expensive bass, and its so much more fun to play!
Last week, I got a nice message from Josephine at D'Addario about my string "issues", and after a couple of email exchanges regarding my instrument and the sound I was looking for, kindly sent me a package of Zyex lights to try out. Here's my report on the first 24 hours with these strings.
I put the Zyex lights on my 2013 Shen yesterday, and then proceeded to play them pretty hard for several hours with my friend Jack on his old Martin guitar. The first thing Paul, our sound guy, and I noticed was the lack of the harsh attack I got from the Helicores. Also, more fullness to the tone, much richer. I could even hear this at the playing position (Paul had the sweet spot about 4 feet from the bass). The bass now has a richer sound, and is actually easier for me to hear while playing. Next was the fact that all the strings are well matched across the set, where as before, the D was way louder than the other strings, and E almost sounded dead. The only downside is that the bass isn't quite as loud as before, but I'll take that in a heartbeat for the improvement in sound. I was having some intonation issues during the evening, but I'll chalk this up to not enough practice lately and the new strings stretching. As the night went on, Jack commented several times on how much better the bass sounds. We play roots, folk, jazz standards, etc. and the Zyex have given my bass a much more "traditional" sound, and still growls when I want it to.
The Zyex are also much easier on the fingertips of my left hand, and I was able to play with more intensity for a longer period of time as a result. Being synthetic core strings, they are softer to the touch and lower tension. This enabled me to play with a lot more expression and feeling. I also noticed the improved feel on my right hand (I play strictly pizz, no arco). I had to retune after every couple of songs last night, but that was totally expected for new synthetic strings, so no surprises there. I tuned them up again before a short practice tonight, and they held much better after being on the bass for 24 hours.
I'll be doing a recording of the bass in a couple of days to compare these strings to a recording of the old ones so I can really hear what's going on with the Zyex. I'll post my thoughts again after that, and also after I've had the strings on for about a month or so. Thanks, Josephine, you have made my Shen sound like a more expensive bass, and its so much more fun to play!
ZuluFunk wins the internet today.
