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Review: GHS Balanced Nickels 4M-NB
- Thread starter Linnin
- Start date
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- Tags
- balanced tension ghs nickel review
- Sep 9, 2007
- 5,309
- 4,977
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Eventide, GHS Strings, G&L Guitars, NS Design, Tsunami Cables
As far as I know. That would probably be a question for the wire factories. I doubt it's a trade secret; probably no one ever really cared that much to post the question.
Not just that but they're harder on your frets too. Back in the day I used Rotosounds on the 4001 Ric I gigged with (in fact the one in my avatar), in 4 years of 3 - 6 nights a week gigging I had 3 fret jobs and the last one made the bass a de facto fretless (later sold it, unfortunately...). I have a Squier Matt Freeman I got used that has Roto's on it and sure enough the frets are showing damage. Sure, whatever the frets are made of is likely part of it but I've also got an '80 MM Stingray I played regularly for 15 years in a cover band that's only had Boomers on it, the frets show some minor dents but no issues otherwise. A couple of reasons I'm just not a fan of SS strings.
We've gone pretty far afield as is common on talkbass. So lets reign this in a bit. I first installed these Balanced Nickels last Monday, so it's been exactly a week. I've been playing these things for hours every day. I just leave my amp on and grab the bass and go as the spirit moves me. So at roughly 21 playing hours more or less this stringset is completely settled in. The strings have relaxed a tad as they have stretched out and are a bit more flexible and a little easier to fret. The highs are still nice and sweet and I fully expect them to stay that way as they very slowly recede & decay over time. In this respect they are a lot like Pressurewounds in that they have a slow and predictable glidepath down to replacement time. For those that like the tone of a well played in set of roundwounds, this is the stringset for you.
Many basses from decades ago used softer 12% fret wire which contributed to SS strings eating frets for lunch. It isn't as common now ( SS fret wear ) unless your hands are like King Kong.
This is what I've always appreciated about pure nickel strings: Balance. I can cover any genre and not feel the sound is missing something. The bonus is long tone life and they don't corrode/get grungy.
My Balanced Nickel set is out for delivery.
Can't wait to check these out!
Can't wait to check these out!
I had less than an hour of steady play time with these tonight, but initial impressions on my Jazz bass are great.
This is the first set of new roundwounds I've owned that didn't have me reaching for the Tone knob to kill the highs right away. Straight out of the package with the volume and tone pots on my stack-knob Jazz cranked, the strings were INCREDIBLY well balanced across the frequency spectrum. Compared to fresh DR Sunbeams (my main strings for 20+ years) these GHS Balanced Nickels have a much deeper low end and some serious grunt to the low mids without the center mid "bump" of the DR Sunbeams. I do love Sunbeams for their character, but I've been searching for a set of strings that,straight out of the package, resemble Sunbeams after they've been played for about a year. These Balanced Nickels are copping some of that vibe straight away, but there is a beautiful depth and fullness to the fundamental which is beyond what Sunbeams gave me.
I can't wait to put some time on these and see how they age. Honeymoon impression = A+
This is the first set of new roundwounds I've owned that didn't have me reaching for the Tone knob to kill the highs right away. Straight out of the package with the volume and tone pots on my stack-knob Jazz cranked, the strings were INCREDIBLY well balanced across the frequency spectrum. Compared to fresh DR Sunbeams (my main strings for 20+ years) these GHS Balanced Nickels have a much deeper low end and some serious grunt to the low mids without the center mid "bump" of the DR Sunbeams. I do love Sunbeams for their character, but I've been searching for a set of strings that,straight out of the package, resemble Sunbeams after they've been played for about a year. These Balanced Nickels are copping some of that vibe straight away, but there is a beautiful depth and fullness to the fundamental which is beyond what Sunbeams gave me.
I can't wait to put some time on these and see how they age. Honeymoon impression = A+
How does the tension and texture compare to Sunbeams?
You know, I can't compare that aspect with any accuracy because I usually used to play 45-100 Sunbeams, but I decided to go for the Medium gauge (44-106) GHS BN set. First impression is that the Balanced Nickel Mediums are definitely taut when tuned to pitch, and I'll be performing a set up later tonight, but this will probably let me get the action a bit lower than normal too. Trade offs!
I have experience with four different round core sets - DR Sunbeams 45-105, DR Pure Blues 45-100, GHS RC Boomers 45-105 and Balanced Nickels 40-101.
The GHS round cores are firmer than either of the DR's without being uncomfortably stiff, which is a good thing in my book as I didn't care for the way the DR's felt a little too loose and wimpy under my plucking fingers.
As someone who has never ever in 15+ years used a string set lighter than 45-105 (bigger is better, right?!?! 
), what are the virtues of a lighter gauge string?
Is it all in the tension/feel, or is there a tonal difference as well?
), what are the virtues of a lighter gauge string?Is it all in the tension/feel, or is there a tonal difference as well?
As someone who has never ever in 15+ years used a string set lighter than 45-105 (bigger is better, right?!?!
Is it all in the tension/feel, or is there a tonal difference as well?
To me personally, it's more about the playing feel than the tone. It's a matter of finding a good balance between being supple and comfortable for fretting and still being firm enough for plucking.
I agree. When I first tried DR round core strings, I thought the flexibility was pretty neat. But after a while I realized I really didn't care for it -- too flexible for my tastes. I was a bit hesitant to try any other round core strings, but I found those from GHS to be at a good stiffness/flexibility level.
One small observation on the GHS Balanced Nickels after a couple more hours of play time: The string balance is no joke, and I find myself turning off my Diamond Bass Comp (which I almost always set to light compression for my other basses) just to marvel at how even the sound is from string to string. The Diamond Comp doesn't HURT anything, and the compression itself adds it's certain something, but these strings don't need comp the way some other sets I've used do. Pretty rad.
Good Lord Do I Love These Strings! The overall tone is just killer and so is the overall balance.
- Sep 9, 2007
- 5,309
- 4,977
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Eventide, GHS Strings, G&L Guitars, NS Design, Tsunami Cables
You’re welcome
Seriously though, this means a lot. If I haven’t mentioned before, these are the first series of strings that I had full control over, so they’re my kids. It was just an idea I had that, after talking with the Pres and the Production Manager, moves forward.
You've done seriously well bass brother of mine. You deserve a raise.
Let's hope this new kid of yours will have many happy siblings!
