SIT PowerSteels vs PowerNickels vs Elixirs w/ soundclips

Seems people are always asking about the sound of Elixirs vs other strings... so... here's some direct comparison's all recorded back to back on the same bass direct into the same PreSonus Firebox (Please excuse the slight but ever present Firebox hissssss, the bass itself is dead silent).

I realized tonight that I have a set of broken in SIT PowerNickels on my bass. And a set of SIT PowerSteels with a couple gigs on them, and a very well broken in set of Elixirs (White just starting to show on them).

So, I decided to make some direct recordings with each on my bass. The bass used is a non-stock Schecter Studio5. It has custom wound Kent Armstrong pickups in EMG40hz shapes, and an Aguilar OBP-3 preamp. The pickups/pre are wired Series/Parallel via Push/Pull volume knobs, and an active/passive switch.

I recorded each set of strings 3 ways... Both pickups Full Vol with the knobs pulled (punchiest), both pickups 1/2 volume with knobs in (series?), and Bridge pickup alone passive. The 3-band PreAmp is set completely Flat on all of these clips.

Here's the clips: (I used the same recognizable classic rock lick on all the clips)

- Elixirs -
http://artdroid.com/uploads/KentArmstrong_Both_Elixirs.mp3
http://artdroid.com/uploads/KentArmstrong_Both_Half_Elixirs.mp3
http://artdroid.com/uploads/KentArmstrong_Bridge_Elixirs.mp3

- SIT Power Nickels -
http://artdroid.com/uploads/KentArmstrong_Both_SITNickels.mp3
http://artdroid.com/uploads/KentArmstrong_Both_HalfVol_SITNickels.mp3
http://artdroid.com/uploads/KentArmstrong_Bridge_SITNickels.mp3

- SIT Power Steels -
http://artdroid.com/uploads/KentArmstrong_Both_SITSteels.mp3
http://artdroid.com/uploads/KentArmstrong_Both_HalfVol_SITSteels.mp3
http://artdroid.com/uploads/KentArmstrong_Bridge_SITSteels.mp3


The Elixir's and the Nickels have seen the most play time. The Nickels are broken in enough via several practices and 2-3 gigs that they've lost their bite and have gotten mellow. The elixir's are elixirs... they sound about the same as when they were new.


I'm surprised that the Elixir's sound as close to the PowerSteels as they do, but I also think that you can hear some of the 'sterility' that people have complained about in the past with Elixir's. However, they also last months and months longer then a set of steels. The steel's however cost 1/2 of a set of Elixir's. You can also hear the added warmth from the Nickels compared to both of these.

I'd often wondered these things myself, and am glad I did the comparison clips for reference. In review I think I'm going to keep PowerSteels on this Schecter with the Kent Armstrongs in it rather then the Power Nickels that I'd been keeping on it.


Hope this comparison is of some help to Talkbass users, and hopefully I haven't offended to bad with my playing.

 

Coming back to this thread, I'm still surprised how close the Elixir's sound to the Steels. I've been through a few sets of steels since the thread was posted and I know I'd still be using the same set of Elixir's. Hmmm... I know damn well that for live use no one would know any difference.

Starting to think that at least for my main modern sounding bass the Elixir's might get a revival of sorts.