Stainless Feel....

[Projectile]

Is it just me, or does anyone else here think stainless steel strings feel like sandpaper on your fingers? I kind of like the tone, but I can't stand the feel. They are horribly uncomfortable and leave my fingers raw. (and yes, I have calluses. It doesn't matter)

I just find it strange that there is so much talk about the tone of different strings, like tone is the only thing that matters. Yet, it's so rarely mentioned that stainless steel strings feel drastically different than nickle plated IME. I also find them to be rather noisy because you can hear your fingers dragging all over the surface, and they seem to make a more noisy clank when they touch the frets. Yuck... I can't stand it.

Worse, I went into a local guitar shop the other day looking for some new strings. I told the clerk they had to be nickle plated, and he looked at me baffled and couldn't seem to find any for a few minutes. He told me that he thought that they only made stainless strings now because they sound better and that's all that any of his customers buy anymore. When I told him, "yeah, but they feel terrible." He told me that he didn't know there was any difference! ***? I don't even think I like the way they sound all that much. Am I the only one, or has anybody else had similar experiences?

 

[Bassman316]

I've had the same experience. I've played Fender stainless, D'Addario Prosteel stainless, and Rotosound stainless, and IMO they all have that gritty, harsh feel to them. Lately I've been going to flatwounds on most of my basses, but one of the sets I replaced was a set of Dean Markley Blue Steels. If I'm not mistaken they're nickel plated strings (at least they felt like it) but they had a very bright clear sound. But I agree with you on their sound- I'm not big on the sound of stainless steel strings. Just to show you- I went from a set of Rotosound stainless steels on my SX P-bass to a set of D'Addario Chromes flatwounds. Apples to oranges, baby. I've been really digging on flats lately. But if I'm going round, it's definitely either nickel plated or pure nickel. Peace.

 

[PBass101]

My Rotosound Swing Bass feel smooth as butter to me. My old Thomastik Powerbass nickel-wounds felt (and sounded) too soft.

Finger noise is nothing a little technique woodshedding couldn't (and didn't) fix.

 

[Projectile]

I've had the same experience. I've played Fender stainless, D'Addario Prosteel stainless, and Rotosound stainless, and IMO they all have that gritty, harsh feel to them. Lately I've been going to flatwounds on most of my basses, but one of the sets I replaced was a set of Dean Markley Blue Steels. If I'm not mistaken they're nickel plated strings (at least they felt like it) but they had a very bright clear sound. But I agree with you on their sound- I'm not big on the sound of stainless steel strings. Just to show you- I went from a set of Rotosound stainless steels on my SX P-bass to a set of D'Addario Chromes flatwounds. Apples to oranges, baby. I've been really digging on flats lately. But if I'm going round, it's definitely either nickel plated or pure nickel. Peace.

I've used the Dean Markley Nickle plated stainless as well. Seems like a nice compromise, but they are expensive and died very quickly so I haven't used them since.

I guess the general lack of response to this thread means others disagree, or just can't ell the difference? I'm surprised.

BTW, if you guys know of any roundwound SS sets that are as smooth as nickle plated and feel as nice on your fingers then I would love to know about them.

 

[BobXboB]

I agree and think the feel of stainless versus nickel is a bigger difference than the tone. Tonally I also prefer not having the dog whistle frequencies in my bass tone so it's nickel for me.

The roughness may not be just the material. Nickel may require a polishing before the plating and stainless doesn't have to be plated so there's no polishing steps. Just guessing here.

 

[Smaz]

I'm the opposite... kinda

I've been using Ernie Balls recently, I'd tried rotosound swing bass steels before & did indeed hate the feel of them, which put me off bass playing for a while. I went with the Ernie balls & thought they felt great, nice & smooth, although were quite harsh to the fingers to start with. Eventually I decided to try rotosounds again, and I still hold my opinion on them feeling rough. They sound great though...

I am going to try a nickel set, next month... Maybe I've yet to experience something I've been missing out on?

 

[GrindYourMind]

I agree, they are a little gritty. I dig the tone on them and they tend to live longer (I don't want to spend 35-40 bucks on a good set of 6ers and have them be dull and smelly in in a month) so I accept the tradeoff and enjoy that crispy high end. Yum.

 

[Bassman316]

I must say that the brightest sounding nickel plated wound strings I've played are D'Addario XLs. I've had a set of my six-string for a couple of months now, and they're still pretty bright. Not brand-new bright, but still pretty bright. For the first week or so they rival the brightness of stainless steels in my opinion before they mellow out pretty nicely.

 

[KCPunk]

I've tried nickel, cobalt, stainless, and flats, and coincidentally, flats hurt my hands the most because of all the tension. they put dents in my fingers i love steel strings and dont think they feel any different from nickels, and i think cobalts are rougher. steel strings just have a powerful sound that demands attention that nickels, flats, and cobalts cant capture

 

[Means2nEnd]

I have a story for you it goes like this....

DR High Beams the end

 

[Lowactnsatsfctn]

I also find them to be rather noisy because you can hear your fingers dragging all over the surface, and they seem to make a more noisy clank when they touch the frets. Yuck... I can't stand it.

May I suggest lifting your fingers, instead of dragging them along the strings.

 

[BassPlayer900]

May I suggest lifting your fingers, instead of dragging them along the strings.

+1

Also, if you take the time to break them in, SS round will feel less yucky and sticky. DR's SS strings, when compared to strings like Rotos, do not have that harsh, sticky feel at all. Once broken in, they have great aggressive tone. My set gave me some problems after I played them for a while though.

 

[cfsporn]

I prefer the roughness of SS strings. I find that it gives me extra traction for playing quickly. I also prefer the sharp "pain" that SS strings cause to the duller "pain" that nickels cause.

 

[darkstorm]

Played rotosound swing66 for most of my life since the mid 70's. Never felt they where even close to sandpaper roughness. Their regarded as among the roughest feeling strings made.

 

[son_of_mogh]

Love stainless steel. Love Rotosound. Love LaBella flatwounds,too. Love the raw noise and high end. Love warm thumpy lows. It's the in-between stuff that leaves me flat.

 

[Jay2U]

The roughness is also a matter of finish. New flatwounds usually feel a little sticky. Before installing them I polish them with steelfix and clean them thoroughly with alcohol. Most of the stickyness has gone then.

 

[deeptubes]

I put ProSteels on a couple of my basses. Loved the brightness, but after a while they started to feel sticky. Couldn't stand how they felt. I also think they scraped my nickel frets.