I used to get a lot of dead Es in the early 80s (Rotosound round wounds), but lately have enjoyed the coated DRs
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Rotosound quality control complaint
- Thread starter 4001
- Start date
Well I had problems with a pack of Roto flats. The G string was really weird, the intonation was totally ****ed. It was perfectly in tune from 1st fret to 6th fret and up the neck from 14th fret to 24th.
The area from D to A on the G string was always ringing too sharp and I couldn't adjust it from the bridge any further. Tried the same pack on many basses, same thing. Not a bass problem. Bought a pack of same flatwounds a few days ago, but I haven't tried them on yet. We'll see. I'll report if it has the same problem
BTW, that G string makes a huge and VERY slow twirling (I'm bad at describing things) motion from side to side when you let it sustain. Weird, I tell you. The other strings vibrate like they should.
The area from D to A on the G string was always ringing too sharp and I couldn't adjust it from the bridge any further. Tried the same pack on many basses, same thing. Not a bass problem. Bought a pack of same flatwounds a few days ago, but I haven't tried them on yet. We'll see. I'll report if it has the same problem
BTW, that G string makes a huge and VERY slow twirling (I'm bad at describing things) motion from side to side when you let it sustain. Weird, I tell you. The other strings vibrate like they should.
I've never encountered a dead Roto, but I switched to Dean Markley Blue steel, which have a nice zing to them. The last few packs of Roto's felt very sticky to me and I didn't like that.
This may seem like Strings 101 but I haven't heard it mentioned so I'll stick my neck out.
Does everyone know that you should make the bend(s) in your
strings before cutting them to length? I even go so far as to
pinch what will become the last 1/2" of the string several times and at different angles with my cutters or a long nose plier, and then make the cut.
This secures the windings from loosening when you make the cut.
I've never had a dead string that way in over 40 years of doing it.
I made this mistake *ONCE* while changing strings in haste... it was the last time I ever made it!!! String sounded like an undercooked waffle!
- Aug 5, 2005
- 7,243
- 92
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: J.C. Basses
I had two Rotosound strings set, and after few days I had them my E string broke...TWICE!!!!
Only good strings from Rotosound were Steve Harris signature strings....no problems with that set!!!
Where did the string break, near the bridge, nut, or post? What kind of style/aggression were you using?
Not meaning to be a jerk, but E strings are phone cables.
P.S. You may need to have nut or bridge filed... any roughness there can definitely cut a string. That you've had no problems with Steve Harris strings makes sense 'cause A) They're flatwound B) They're sub-station cables! (heavier gauge strings)
I've never had a problem with Rotos, and as far as I know, no bassist in my area ever has. I will buy different strings on occasion, but they always have to be SS rounds.
No man...you are right...
That was 7 years ago when I was totaly into Steve Harris, and I played really agressively, my E string broke on the bridge! But in that time I have played many other strings (roundwounds) but nothing similar happened!
Nowdays is totaly different story....
I'm going to reopen this thread here. After 10 years (and a bad set) of Rotosounds I thought I'd give them a shot again as I'd heard they have returned to their former glory. DEAD E string right off the bat! I can't believe it. Like one of the other posters on here said, if I run my fingernail along the windings it doesn't have that metallic sound at all. I didn't even bother stringing up the rest. I'm taking it back to Guitar Center today to exchange it for another pack of Roto's. If this one has the same issue I'm done with them for good and will go back to my trusty Fat Beams.
I spent many years working in a guitar store (in Australia, not a chain store) and never saw *any* issues with Rotosound (plus I've used them on all my basses myself for almost ten years). DR were actually the worst string by FAR when it came to returns as they tended to have a habit of going rusty in the packet. This was probably more to do with how they were transported/stored than the string itself and I would put money on it that nine times out of ten any "dead string" straight out of the packet is on the set-up of the instrument and the person stringing it, not the string itself. Everyone likes to think that they've got all these years of experience when it comes to setting up instruments but, in my experience, most of those years were spent practising doing it wrong.
And I just realised how old this thread was, but felt it important to note that Steve Harris barely feathers the strings, he doesn't play really aggressively!
I've never had a bad Rotosound string.
I used to play Django Reinhardt gypsy jazz on special "petit bouche" acoustic gypsy guitars. Many of the players would complain that the silver-flashed copper Argentine brand strings would be dead when purchased. One of the guitar makers ( John LeVoi) told them to keep the string on the tuner shaft, but, to un-tune the string loose enough to grab the ball (or loop) end and to wind them tighter clock-wise 5 rotations - to tighten up the winding on the string.
I tried this a few times and it worked. I wonder if it would work on bass strings as well?
I used to play Django Reinhardt gypsy jazz on special "petit bouche" acoustic gypsy guitars. Many of the players would complain that the silver-flashed copper Argentine brand strings would be dead when purchased. One of the guitar makers ( John LeVoi) told them to keep the string on the tuner shaft, but, to un-tune the string loose enough to grab the ball (or loop) end and to wind them tighter clock-wise 5 rotations - to tighten up the winding on the string.
I tried this a few times and it worked. I wonder if it would work on bass strings as well?
For the first ten years I played '84 - '95 I used Rotosound 66's all the time. Fantastic strings then. Maybe my Carvin LB75 just doesn't like the new Roto's...I don't know. It's a 1996 with a top loading Wilkinson bridge so there is no way of twisting the string. Maybe it's the Sperzel locking tuners??
Xcuse me for necro-bump. But it is important to revive this thread. I had problems with Rotos SS 66 too. But that they should "twist" themselves around its length is quite a silly idea. I used their Double ball ends, which has no possibility to turn or "twist" or screw themselves, since there are ball ends at both ends. What bugs me - pretty big time - is that their red soft felt wrap stretches too far above the zero fret into the strings speaking length. If you find ideas how to "retract" it back, then the red felt wrapping turns up at the other end, in front of the bridge, at the strings speaking length. Dampening and DEADEN it completely. Now on with regular ball end Rotosound strings...:
Now dead e-strings are most prone to the manufacturing with ROUND CORE. The wraps can unravel if you don't make that bend before cutting. I do solder mine, first! Tin solder and then makes the bens afterwards. That's why they started to make HEX CORE so the wraps stays in place. Hex cores have no problems.
Now, me too, has had a few HEX CORE Rotos that has been DOA. (Dead On Arrival). E-strings mostly. If they're DOA, it's not a problem of stringing them correctly or setting them up correctly. First, we've done that numerous times before, without problem, and the rest of the strings (ADG) are wound upon the tuner posts the same and cut the same way. It should only become a problem when using ROUND CORES (as some DRs do), but AFAIK Rotosound has never made any round core strings, since the early 60's. I doubt even then they didn't... at least not bass strings.
You can actually see and feel it if you draw your finger along the string. All of a sudden you feel as if the string goes up in gauge, or "sinks in" like it does when a string has been too old and the frets has started to wear down the strings considerably at certain spots. Then, take a mild microscope or a huge magnifying glass under strong white light and watch it at those points it felt ... fishy. Chances are that the wraps has been NOT LOOSENED UP cause it didnät stick to the hex core, but more likely it has been poorly manufactured and is just a dud. You can't adjust unraveled windings on a hex core, and "put the wraps back" in line so they'll line up again perfectly. Not even on round cores. It is a dud, and you'll do the best by FIRST contacting them by e-mail, and then send the actual string back to them, then you'll get a new one. Better of, go back to the music shop you bought them, and show it to them.
Rotosound, as well as others, may have had their fair share of dodgy QC, throughout the years. Goes up and down. Batch wise or something else. I think that they would have such margins as if one or two people complains, just send them a new e-string without even asking questions and so on. It's not even measurable when they do audits. I bought a bunch of 5ers sets from THomann Germany a while back. Rotos. However, when they arrived it was 4ers sets. I called them, and it was clear that they made the f*up. My order clearly stated 5ers. I asked them if I had to send these ones back...they replied: No, keep them, it was our fault anyway. So I ended up with 5 sets of 4ers...for free. It was a joint order though...me and a couple of friends. All companys have these margins, that if someone gets a dud, they just send it. If you keep doing this for a whole set, they might get suspicious about it...it's nothing you can put on like a scam, getting free strings all of the time...
They know that if just one people get a dead E-string it's out there on the net, and goes ballistic. Bad rap for them. They should just send one (with proper QC) without asking any question.
Now dead e-strings are most prone to the manufacturing with ROUND CORE. The wraps can unravel if you don't make that bend before cutting. I do solder mine, first! Tin solder and then makes the bens afterwards. That's why they started to make HEX CORE so the wraps stays in place. Hex cores have no problems.
Now, me too, has had a few HEX CORE Rotos that has been DOA. (Dead On Arrival). E-strings mostly. If they're DOA, it's not a problem of stringing them correctly or setting them up correctly. First, we've done that numerous times before, without problem, and the rest of the strings (ADG) are wound upon the tuner posts the same and cut the same way. It should only become a problem when using ROUND CORES (as some DRs do), but AFAIK Rotosound has never made any round core strings, since the early 60's. I doubt even then they didn't... at least not bass strings.
You can actually see and feel it if you draw your finger along the string. All of a sudden you feel as if the string goes up in gauge, or "sinks in" like it does when a string has been too old and the frets has started to wear down the strings considerably at certain spots. Then, take a mild microscope or a huge magnifying glass under strong white light and watch it at those points it felt ... fishy. Chances are that the wraps has been NOT LOOSENED UP cause it didnät stick to the hex core, but more likely it has been poorly manufactured and is just a dud. You can't adjust unraveled windings on a hex core, and "put the wraps back" in line so they'll line up again perfectly. Not even on round cores. It is a dud, and you'll do the best by FIRST contacting them by e-mail, and then send the actual string back to them, then you'll get a new one. Better of, go back to the music shop you bought them, and show it to them.
Rotosound, as well as others, may have had their fair share of dodgy QC, throughout the years. Goes up and down. Batch wise or something else. I think that they would have such margins as if one or two people complains, just send them a new e-string without even asking questions and so on. It's not even measurable when they do audits. I bought a bunch of 5ers sets from THomann Germany a while back. Rotos. However, when they arrived it was 4ers sets. I called them, and it was clear that they made the f*up. My order clearly stated 5ers. I asked them if I had to send these ones back...they replied: No, keep them, it was our fault anyway. So I ended up with 5 sets of 4ers...for free. It was a joint order though...me and a couple of friends. All companys have these margins, that if someone gets a dud, they just send it. If you keep doing this for a whole set, they might get suspicious about it...it's nothing you can put on like a scam, getting free strings all of the time...
They know that if just one people get a dead E-string it's out there on the net, and goes ballistic. Bad rap for them. They should just send one (with proper QC) without asking any question.
About 3 months ago I decided to try some 77 flats on my P Select. They settled in quickly and sound great. The have the thump of flats, but still have some grind to them. I bought another set for my Squier CV P with the same results. I used exclusively Rotos in the 70s and 80s. I've never had a bad string at all. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I just wonder is it really the string?
Could it be a setup issue or maybe an installation issue. If you don't bend before you cut, any string can go bad.
- Aug 3, 2007
- 1,678
- 2,146
- Disclosures
- Current: Blackstar, DR strings, Nady. Previous endorsements with: GK, Rotosound, Ernie Ball, Cleartone, EMG, Dean, Dava Picks, Rebel Straps, Dickies
I've never had a bad rotosound set, but I did AB them with a set of D'addario solid nickels and the difference was negligable. I was on the search for a cheaper set of nickels, and so long as these D's pump out the tone, I'll stick with them.
I played Rotos for 10 years, then started getting random dead E & A strings in packs, and even had a few break on me - the only strings I've ever had fail - and onstage to boot!
I switched to D'Addario 25 years ago & had not looked back - until recently.
Lately I've been experimenting with different string gauges, windings & brands, trying to find the ideal set for each of my 10 basses, and I have found new favorite sets for 5 of them so far...
I switched to D'Addario 25 years ago & had not looked back - until recently.
Lately I've been experimenting with different string gauges, windings & brands, trying to find the ideal set for each of my 10 basses, and I have found new favorite sets for 5 of them so far...
I know this is an old post but I bought 2 sets of Rotosounds in the past 6 months with dead strings, one with a dead G string, one with a dead G and D string. I did in fact contact the company and now a month later haven't gotten any response. And yes, I was polite about it. I used to love rotosound strings but I can't afford to buy sets of dead strings
