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Rotosound Ultramag

#141
michael_t said:
There are two people I normally deal with for ordering singles and custom sets - Jason at Fret Nation ([email protected]) and Matt at Strings By Mail ([email protected]). Maybe you can get in touch with either of them and ask if the single Nexus 130B can be ordered and what the cost would be. Just because they don't list that specific item on their websites doesn't mean it can't be special-ordered.
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I actually have an account at Strings by Mail, though I haven't dealt with Fret Nation before. I will check with both of these places when it's time to buy again. Thank you! Sweetwater special ordered that .130 for me. I remember being shocked at the total price, but I didn't remember how much it was, so I looked it up. It cost me $26.32. :jawdrop:That's a bunch o' money for one string. At the time, a friend had given me a set he'd taken off one of his 4-strings almost immediately because he didn't like them, so all I needed was the 5th string. Maybe if I was buying the 4+1 it would've reduced the price of the single.
 
#142
HaphAsSard said:
Neither "nexii" (it may have been had the the singular been "nexius"), nor for that matter "nexi":
unlike "cactus", which is originally a Latin -o- stem 2nd declension male noun, Lat. "nexus" is the 4th declension (-u- stem) "supine", or verbal noun, of "nectere" = "to bind" , meaning "the binding/bond/connection"; 4th declension nouns had plurals in -ūs (in other words, the only difference with the singular is the long "u").
However, usage of Latinate plural "nexus" in English is rare outside philosophy books: "nexuses" or "nexusses" are more common.
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Thank you for clearing that up for me! :wacky::help::)
 
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#146
I asked Rotosound Jack about buying from them directly. After all, they do have a "cart" icon at the top right of their website, though no string prices are shown. He answered very quickly and said they do not sell strings directly from the website...only merchandise. They don't want any conflict with their dealers. That makes sense, though they do have a "Rotosound Store" on Amazon, which seems like a conflict to me. Companies like D'Addario, DR, and Elixir sell directly to the public, but I find that if I buy through Sweetwater (for example--no affiliation), it's cheaper because of the free shipping.
 
#148
Good to know. When I bought that single .130 from Sweetwater, they shipped it to me free, but they charged me for the string plus what Rotosound charged them for shipping it to them. I wasn't in any hurry for the string and could've waited until they placed their regular Rotosound order, but that option wasn't presented to me so I don't know if it even existed. Oh well, these days 26 bucks barely buys a Happy Meal, so I'm more confused by it than worried or mad about it.
 
#149
jglunt said:
When I bought that single .130 from Sweetwater, they shipped it to me free, but they charged me for the string plus what Rotosound charged them for shipping it to them...
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I spent a number of years in retail business so I know too well how some retailers resort to a tactic such as this. They call it "free shipping", which is not really free as the shipping cost is built into the price of the item. I hate it when they do that!
 
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#151
sumeursault said:
I would imagine the combination of MFD pickups and Ultramag strings would be a bit overkill in the magnetism department, but I don't have personal experience with G&L
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I have a G&L Tribute LB-100, which is G&L's version of a P-bass. I put one of G&L's MFD spit coil pickups into it, which was a drop-in. I had already installed a Seymour Duncan concentric 2-band active EQ in this bass because the original Cort alnico pickup was kinda wimpy IMO. That made it sound really good. I was just experimenting with the MFD pickup, which I took out of my G&L SB-2. I wanted to see if it would overdrive that preamp, and it didn't. It sounded so good I left it in there and bought a new MFD pickup for my SB-2. Eventually, I put Roto's Nexus strings on the LB-100--Ultramags with a polymer coating. That turned it into the finest-sounding bass I've ever heard. It's a brilliant combination. What I need to check out now is how Ultramags sound compared with, say, regular nickel roundwounds on a bass with alnico pickups.
 
#152
jglunt said:
What I need to check out now is how Ultramags sound compared with, say, regular nickel roundwounds on a bass with alnico pickups.
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I've NEVER been able to get nickel rounds to work for me. Not enough attack/punch and not enough midrange information. I much prefer a worn-in set of steel rounds. New steels sound absolutely atrocious to my ear, but once all that chimey unmusical top end wears off, they're great. The Ultramags definitely had more attack/punch than standard nickel, but they lacked a bit in the midrange department.
 
#153
sumeursault said:
I've NEVER been able to get nickel rounds to work for me. Not enough attack/punch and not enough midrange information. I much prefer a worn-in set of steel rounds. New steels sound absolutely atrocious to my ear, but once all that chimey unmusical top end wears off, they're great. The Ultramags definitely had more attack/punch than standard nickel, but they lacked a bit in the midrange department.
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That's very interesting because they're rated as having a bit of a midrange emphasis on the Rotosound website. It wouldn't be the first time I received faulty info from Rotosound.
 
#154
sumeursault said:
The Ultramags definitely had more attack/punch than standard nickel, but they lacked a bit in the midrange department.
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jglunt said:
That's very interesting because they're rated as having a bit of a midrange emphasis on the Rotosound website. It wouldn't be the first time I received faulty info from Rotosound.
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The Ultramags lacking in midrange?? Not in my experience! As far as I'm concerned, Alloy 52 is all about the mid-forward character.
 
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#155
michael_t said:
The Ultramags lacking in midrange?? Not in my experience! As far as I'm concerned, Alloy 52 is all about the mid-forward character.
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I mean it's all subjective. They certainly had more midrange information than standard nickel. But for me, I still prefer well-worn-in steels (which are worlds different than new steels, btw...). Roto's tonal suggestions are probably more based on how new sets sound, and in that case I would agree, the new UMs definitely have more midrange than a new set of steels. But personally, I don't care how a string sounds new. That's not how I'm going to play them. I won't gig on a set of strings until I've worked them in for a couple of weeks, at least. And I'll use a set of Swing Bass 66s for several years.
 
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#156
That being said, GHS Pressurewounds were, for me, a bear to work in. I hated their sound for weeks & weeks on my G&L SB-2, then suddenly they changed and are, if not great IMO, at least pretty decent. Of course, they're a roller wound, and an Alloy 52 roller wound at that. I must say, as far as the Rotosound Nexus, I liked them immediately and still do after about a year on my LB-100.
 
#157
sumeursault said:
I mean it's all subjective. They certainly had more midrange information than standard nickel. But for me, I still prefer well-worn-in steels (which are worlds different than new steels, btw...). Roto's tonal suggestions are probably more based on how new sets sound, and in that case I would agree, the new UMs definitely have more midrange than a new set of steels. But personally, I don't care how a string sounds new. That's not how I'm going to play them. I won't gig on a set of strings until I've worked them in for a couple of weeks, at least. And I'll use a set of Swing Bass 66s for several years.
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Yes, you're right; it's all subjective. And yes, you're right; Roto SB66 are mid-heavy once broken in.

My experience with stainless steel rounds is very limited as I've always been a nickel guy. That said, I've been playing the GHS Super Steels on my Yamaha BB435 for the last month and am starting to really like them for their midrange bite and articulation. I like them enough to stick with them to see how they age.
 
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#158
My opinion is that there are just too many darned kinds of strings available. We're bass players! A chosen few of us might be considered bassists! We've only recently become literate--at least some of us have if the words aren't too big. Why should we be burdened with the responsibility of choosing between scores of strings?? It boggles my mind. In fact, my mind is so boggled I think I'll go watch some Elmer Fudd cartoons to ground myself. :wacky::help: That's all, folks!
 
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