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Review: GHS Balanced Nickels 4M-NB

#282
Sandwell said:
Just put these on my Jazz. Literally fiddled with them for 10 minutes but they sound a lot better than the Fender 7150's, which sounded a bit odd to me (I had the new ones made by D'addario who changed them for the worse I hear). I've never heard rounds with this amount of low end and lack of zing, I'm very impressed.
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That's interesting. I've had 7150's on my Jazz for maybe a year-and-a-half, and after my last show I find that they have finally lost enough of that top end zing that they have a good smooth fundamental tone now. I probably have approximately 30 to 40 hours of actual gigging time on the strings as I switch between different basses for different shows. When did D'Addario start making Fender 7150's?
 
#290
Linnin said:
Review: GHS Balanced Nickels 4M-NB


These are new roundwound bass strings from ghs. They are a pure nickel final wrap on a round steel core. There are a lot of new innovations in these new strings. First is that each string has two wraps on the core wire rather than the usual one for the G; two for the D & A and three for the E. Second is that each string has the very same number of wraps. This is significant. From the package we learn “This yields a tone that is deep but focused, with an extremely even response, no matter where you are on the fretboard. The end result is a balance between tension, flexibility, tonality and playability.”

The 4M-NB set is: 0.044 G @ 47.5lbs; 0.060 D @ 46.1lbs, 0.080 A @ 45.8lbs, and a 0.106 E @ 44.8 for a total set tension of 184.2lbs and an average string tension of 46.05lbs. Most strings are well within a pound of tension of each other with the E being 1 and a quarter pounds off the average which just so happens to be 0.05lbs from the D string. So, yes, very well balanced indeed!

The proof is in the playing, and let me tell you straight away that the playing is good. The amount of finger pressure to intonate a note is so even from string-to-string on the same fret as to be imperceptible of any differences no matter how slight. String-to-string balance of tone and volume is as close to perfect as is humanly possible.

As the package states the “tone that is deep but focused”, and so it is. Not just a little, but a lot. The low end is excellent in every respect. It took some time for the E to settle in, but once it did the fundamental really opened up and roared to life. The other strings were just fine from the get go. The set settled in at about 10 hours of playing time.

The highs are plentiful and sweet and creamy like ice cream (but not sticky or melty). The high mids are rather unique in that they are mellow and smooth like a well-aged whiskey. And just like whiskey they are strong and powerful – an intoxicating force to be reckoned with. The low mids exhibit that classic ghs growl we all know and adore. The bottom end is deep; taut, and well-focused. The entire sound spectrum is broad and well amalgamated. There is nothing that overpowers or overshadows one nuance over another. In so many other roundwounds the total sound is wickedly awash in overtones so much so that the stringset is completely unfocused and whatever fundamentals there may be are drowned out. Not so with ghs Balanced Nickels. In fact they are a sonic lifesaver to pull your bass out of a sea roundwound mediocrity.

I will be posting updates and this stringset ages. As always I will attempt to keep track of playing hours, but will inevitably go astray. I will also post a head-to-head comparison & contrast with D’Addario EXL170BT.
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#291
How are these aging? I ordered a set and should have them soon. I tend to like well worn in strings over new, which sound squeaky and harsh.
On paper, these look like a great solution to an age old problem. I have high hopes.
Bass is a wildly dynamic instrument by nature without unbalanced string tension and mass adding to the problem.
Cudos to GHS for making this available. Like I said, I have high hopes!
 
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#292
hollowman said:
How are these aging? I ordered a set and should have them soon. I tend to like well worn in strings over new, which sound squeaky and harsh.
On paper, these look like a great solution to an age old problem. I have high hopes.
Bass is a wildly dynamic instrument by nature without unbalanced string tension and mass adding to the problem.
Cudos to GHS for making this available. Like I said, I have high hopes!
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Still have the set on my Gibson 5 string, still sound great, still very even. They take a few days to break in tension wise but the sound seems to be very consistent to me. Very nice strings. Nice to have that kind of even sound on all strings especially the B and G string.
 
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#293
hollowman said:
How are these aging? I ordered a set and should have them soon. I tend to like well worn in strings over new, which sound squeaky and harsh.
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The 4L-NB set on my P is now 3 mths old. These pure nickels come out of the package sounding like well-broken-in NPS without being squeaky or harsh. After a day or two of initial break-in period, their tone has stayed very consistent so far.
 
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#294
hollowman said:
How are these aging? I ordered a set and should have them soon. I tend to like well worn in strings over new, which sound squeaky and harsh.
On paper, these look like a great solution to an age old problem. I have high hopes.
Bass is a wildly dynamic instrument by nature without unbalanced string tension and mass adding to the problem.
Cudos to GHS for making this available. Like I said, I have high hopes!
Click to expand...

Superbly. They sound good out of the package. They sound great after a few hours of playing.

What I personally like the most about these is they have excellent depth of tone. Many roundwound string sets lose fullness of tone below roughly the low A, while many flatwound strings still sound strong and full down to the E (at least). These Balanced Nickels retain a full tone like the flatwound strings do. And then, playing higher, they still sound rich and full. Good, solid tone all the way up and down.
 
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#295
hollowman said:
How are these aging?
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For some reason, I thought I had already written a 90 day report, but no so here it is. ;)
They age so gracefully as to be art. As the highs slowly recede the serious bass beef is the sirloin steak of your sound. These sound exactly the way I want roundwounds to sound on my Precision. The taut bottom attack coupled with the midrange growl gives depth and thickness with a solid presence you have to hear live to appreciate. These are staying on. I'll let you know when I change.
 
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#296
I wanted to ask - has anyone else had trouble with the strings slipping in the tuner post? I have a set of 40-90 and the G string slips. It seems the outer winding breaks/cuts at the post and then the string slips. Just the outer winding, the string core remains fine.

Using great tuners, BTW - Hipshot ultralight.

I've never had this issue with any other string.
 
#298
trothwell said:
What I personally like the most about these is they have excellent depth of tone. Many roundwound string sets lose fullness of tone below roughly the low A, while many flatwound strings still sound strong and full down to the E (at least). These Balanced Nickels retain a full tone like the flatwound strings do. And then, playing higher, they still sound rich and full. Good, solid tone all the way up and down.
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^^^Well Said! I Concur^^^:thumbsup:
 
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#299
bdplaid said:
I wanted to ask - has anyone else had trouble with the strings slipping in the tuner post? I have a set of 40-90 and the G string slips. It seems the outer winding breaks/cuts at the post and then the string slips. Just the outer winding, the string core remains fine.
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Can we get a close-up photo of the G tuner post? Are you talking about the 4L-NB (40-101)?

I personally have had no issues whatsoever with any of the GHS strings slipping at the tuner post.
 
#300
Some pics. It's hard to illustrate, look closely. I finally got it to hold using a kind of a cross-wrap.

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