"Nickel-plated Steel"... The Boomers are "full sounding", yes, but "very bright"? No. They're all about the low-mid punch with grit and grind. I would never look for a top end presence from them. Not what the OP is looking for.
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Nickel Plated - need more high end
- Thread starter _Some Dude
- Start date
"Nickel-plated Steel"... The Boomers are "full sounding", yes, but "very bright"? No. They're all about the low-mid punch with grit and grind. I would never look for a top end presence from them. Not what the OP is looking for.
I went on a similar quest some years ago:
Brightest Nickel Rounds
The contributions from other TB members were every bit as informative as my own observations in that thread.
Overall, I find that D’Addario XLs still give me what I need in terms of brightness. They last a pretty long time and even after the highs have fallen off the upper mids stick around for a long time so they retain their overall brightness.
Brightest Nickel Rounds
The contributions from other TB members were every bit as informative as my own observations in that thread.
Overall, I find that D’Addario XLs still give me what I need in terms of brightness. They last a pretty long time and even after the highs have fallen off the upper mids stick around for a long time so they retain their overall brightness.
Boomers are one of the perfect examples of differing opinions on sting life. If you like zing, they "die quickly". If you like a full sound, with some (but not gobs of) articulation, they have a very long life - after a break in period, they're sit at one sound for a good long time.
I thought the same…. The Super Brights weren’t particularly bright. I actually like them quite a bit when new. If I could hold that sound longer I would stick with them.
I use Slinkies on most of my guitars. There, I like that they break in pretty quick and hold that sound for awhile.
I like the sound, but I also prefer them because it’s what I know. When I buy a bass it’s because I like it’s sound, so I try to find out what it had when I bought it and stick with it unless I feel there’s some reason for a change.
It’s happened now on a passive P with Dunlops and a passive J with EBs. I switched to the J because I wanted more high end in my sound and didn’t realize it was the strings dying faster than I expect until it happened again.
20 foot cable straight into the amp (SVT), or 20 foot into a pedalboard (Ampeg Scrambler, Dunlop Wah, TU-3, BDDI). I don’t notice it being any better when I’m plugged straight in.
Amp has recently been retubed. First time the strings died off like this I thought it was a sign my power tubes were shot and replaced them. No change.
Now that I’m putting some more thought into it, I never had this issue until I moved to where I live now, so the thing I wonder about is weather. I used to live in a place that averaged around 40-60% humidity an would reliably get 5 weeks out of NPS strings, regardless of brand. Now I live in a place that’s consistently 75-100% humidity and they seem to die a lot faster. I restrung my J on 30 June, we’ve had three band sessions (around 3-5 hours each), and I’ve put a few hours on it at home, and the strings are shot. They were shot last week but I put them through one more session thinking it’s because I plugged straight into the amp and I didn’t use my OD pedal on a couple songs and missed it, but this week the OD just added mud and wouldn’t bring out the top end anymore… hence this thread.
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Elixir Stainless Steel. That barely broken in string sound lasts for months. I used to hate them, but color me impressed. Can’t recommend them enough.
This... it won't matter what strings you use. You can dial in some very nice highs... as well as any other frequencies.
I’ve switched back and forth over the years, but have settled on stainless steel. They just keep the high end longer and react to things like sweat etc less. Roto swings have been killer on my G&L since I’ve switched back.
My problem with SS strings is that they tend to sound scooped in the mids and pingy at the top end. I like my mids. When I am looking for bright, I am looking for upper mids, the presence range, like a snare. I am not looking for top-end ping, like you might hear from a ride cymbal.
I stopped chasing the new strings zing.. I turn up the treble and high mids if I want to penetrate the mix. And GHS fast fret once a week to keep them from going too dull.
Nickels died on me quick too, annoyingly quick, although I liked the sound out of the box. I dislike new SS strings because of too much zing but love them worn in (but for my definition that takes a while), for me they retain crunch much longer. I now use TI flats, once I got used to the tension they seem to just work, for a long time.
i had elixir ss strings on an American Deluxe Jazz for over 6 years, and I still had to use slight treble cut to get the high end to my liking. I concur, they sound great and last a looooooooong time.
A couple examples of the sort of sound I’m going for is AIC’s Would, or STP Vasoline (particularly after 30 seconds in, how the attack and rattle pokes through).
I can get that sound pretty easily, but it’s not lasting as the strings die out.
I used Dunlop Super Brights both Nickel and Stainless for quite a while. The price was great. I like them a lot. I recently, for nostalgia reasons, got a few sets of Roto Swing bass. I think the Super Brights live up to their name and last longer and sound brighter than the Rotos.
I think that is best achieved by cutting bass, and raising the mids, especially around 1.5k. The actual frequency you should boost will depend on your playing style and rig. I also like to add some low-mids to this recipe so that it still sounds fat without being boomy. This is, BTW, my favorite tone. I also think some light overdrive really enhances this tone while still sounding clean.
I call this crunchy bass, not necessarily bright like you might hear with typical slap tones.
D
The problem here doesn't seem to be the AMOUNT of highs but the quick LOSS of highs. Changing to stainless steel won't necessarily fix this. I see several recommendations for Roto 66s but as much as I personally love them they're probably the last strings you'll want as they lose the zingy highs VERY fast. In fact, lots of people dislike them for this very reason. Other stainless strings will retain the high longer than Rotos but if you want that fresh "out of the box" tone you will have to replace them regularly.
If you want strings that retain the highs for as long as possible you may want to consider coated strings like Elixir. They may be slightly less bright than uncoated strings out of the box but they will stay that way for much longer. Whether you will like them is another matter of course but they will last considerably longer than uncoated strings and may be worth a try.
If you want strings that retain the highs for as long as possible you may want to consider coated strings like Elixir. They may be slightly less bright than uncoated strings out of the box but they will stay that way for much longer. Whether you will like them is another matter of course but they will last considerably longer than uncoated strings and may be worth a try.
- Apr 18, 2008
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- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
It’s interesting and amusing to me how different people look to different types of solutions.
Question: How can I increase mids?
Answers:
- Basses forum: Get a P bass, preferably with flats and tort
- Amps forum: Avoid the 2/10/2 Fender tone stack
- Pickups forum: Series wiring, or a three-band preamp
- Effects forum: Chain your Grizzly Guzzler after your compressor, but before your Little Jack Meat Loafer
- Strings forum: NPS or Alloy 52
- Live Sound: Time delay FOH to align with backline
- Luthier’s Corner: Chambered mahogany body and a short scale neck
- Off Topic: Guess who I ran into in midtown today??
Thank you for your truly insightful post. It still does not address the fact that SS strings tend to sound more scooped.It’s interesting and amusing to me how different people look to different types of solutions.
Question: How can I increase mids?
Answers:
- Basses forum: Get a P bass, preferably with flats and tort
- Amps forum: Avoid the 2/10/2 Fender tone stack
- Pickups forum: Series wiring, or a three-band preamp
- Effects forum: Chain your Grizzly Guzzler after your compressor, but before your Little Jack Meat Loafer
- Strings forum: NPS or Alloy 52
- Live Sound: Time delay FOH to align with backline
- Luthier’s Corner: Chambered mahogany body and a short scale neck
- Off Topic: Guess who I ran into in midtown today??
