I haven’t tried the Jazz Rounds yet, but they are next on my list... and now, thanks to you, the PowerBass set!
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Pure Nickel Alchemists Union
- Thread starter e-flat
- Start date
Haha...At least you can try the PowerBass set! I'd love to try the two La Bella sets you mentioned but no such luck! Going to have to keep better tabs on La Bella for their limited release sets. May order a set of the Chicago's that I'm curious about just to have on hand since they are in stock and not expensive. I'm kind of a self proclaimed string junky like you and it's only gotten worse during this pandemic. Curiosity always gets the best of me and I have to know what something sounds like for myself and on my gear.
I'll play the heck out of the PowerBass the rest of this week and next week. Dial them in clean and with effects an give a little update to see if I'm still in the honeymoon phase. From what I remember they settle pretty quickly.
The only pure nickel strings I've tried are the GHS balanced nickels, but I have absolutely loved them on p style basses. I'm glad this thread is here because I came to the strings section specifically to find info about other pure nickel sets. I'm interested to see what this thread has to offer.
I’m glad it’s helpful, @Brent's Groove ! I’ll edit the first post to include a list of all known pure nickel sets (Rounds & Flats) and update the list as people mention new sets.
Jazz Flat Wound Bass Guitar | Guitar Strings | Products | Thomastik-Infeld Vienna
Trying to come to terms with TI's statement "The outer winding is a true ribbon flatwound constructed of a special nickel alloy."
Almost sounds like either monel, or maybe alloy 52.
Who knows? But it sure doesn't sound like pure nickel.
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Exactly. But nobody's calling it pure nickel.How about DR's "Quantum nickel"?
How about DR's "Quantum nickel"?
According to one poster in another thread, Quantum Nickel is a kind of nickel-steel alloy, vs. nickel-plated steel.
I was just joking about the marketers' creativity with the name
And it was probably those same marketing people who named their "quantum nickel" strings "Pure Blues".
And it was probably those same marketing people who named their "quantum nickel" strings "Pure Blues".
Brought to you by the legendary creators of the "Dragon skins"!
So not having yet pulled the trigger on a pure nickel set... would it be a correct assumption that Pure Nickel is going to have the smoothest tone or least amount of growl I guess? I'm loving the Power Bass set I just put on my P but dang are they growly now that they've opened up. Think that must be why I liked em on my J years back when I had a set. Had to massively lower the PUPs to reign it in. Thinking of either trying the GHS Balanced nickels or splurging on a set of TI Jazz rounds here shortly and was curious as to how Pure Nickel performs in that sense.
Anyone have any good recommendations for a specific 5 string pure nickel set? I've had tape wounds on for a while for various reasons, but they're getting a little long in the tooth. Would love a flat and a round suggestion, will probably get both.
I think of the "NPS to Pure Nickel Transition" in these terms:
- Pure nickel has a lower output, generally. Of course, factors like core wire etc probably have a big impact, but when going from NPS to Pure Nickel I usually hike my pickups up a little to find the "sweet spot"
- Pure nickel will give a little less treble and high midrange. This makes them seem "darker" when swapping from NPS, but really I think they just aren't "hyped" in the high end. To me, it sounds like the center mids and low mids of Pure Nickel speak with a little more authority and the highs are chilled out.
NOTE: The GHS Balanced Nickels have a very sweet high midrange, but nothing like the presence of, say, DR Sunbeams. The GHS also mellow nicely over time.
The GHS BNs would be a great first step into pure nickel, IMO.
The La Bella Chicago Style pure nickel 5 string set is on sale on Reverb. That would be a good first set to try!
La Bella "Chicago Style" Pure Nickel Bass Strings 5-String 45-130 | Chicago Music Exchange | Reverb
Great breakdown of them.
Pure Nickel sounds like it could be the ticket for a round on my Moollon. The PowerBass are great and are pretty chilled on the highs but it's a really high output string. The PUP on the Moollon is already so hot that I think a lower output string along with the chilled out highs would be a good thing.
BN's are a little higher tension from what I've read. Go for the light 40-101 or medium 44-106?
BNs are higher in tension (as in pulling weight) due to pure nickel being a heavier metal than SS or NPS. In terms of stiffness/flexibility, however, there is a degree of suppleness to them due to the round core.
For example, GHS Pressurewound ML7200 44-58-80-102 are 169.3 lbs. in total tension, while the BN 40-101 weigh in at 172.3 lbs. But in terms of overall playing feel, the PWs are the stiffer of the two due to the hex core.
Agreed on all counts - I don’t think of the BNs as “tight” at all, and it’s probably due to their round cores. They’re akin to the Fodera NPS strings in tension, and ever so slightly more taut feeling than Sunbeams - and those are both round core strings, too.
What I like about the round core strings by GHS, both BNs and RCBs, is they provide the suppleness of the round core without ever feeling too loose or floppy like some round core strings. DR Sunbeams, for example, were a bit too loose-feeling for my taste, although that was 7 yrs ago and I might feel differently about them if I were to try them again today.
