Stainless Steel Or Nickel Strings

[Gintaras]

Originally I was all nickel and know only have 2 basses with nickel. DR Lorider Nickel on my T-40 and Sunbeams on my fretless. I use DR Lorider Stainless, Fat Beams and have a set of Jonas Hellborg's on the way for my FrankenP. I am also getting ready to experiment with GHS 3025 stainless flatwounds on my ABG.

My transition to stainless was a slow process when I finally thought that the strings were the last piece of the puzzle to get the sound I want out of a bass. Sometimes it is the first and only adjustment to a bass that is necessary. I have a Grendel 5 which was missing something and i started investigating new preamps. Bought a bunch of strings on craigslist and there was a pack of DR Lorider Stainless with the collection. One day I put them on the Grendel and there was the sound that I was looking for. Left the bass stock and love the way it sounds.

 

[phat daddy]

I was a funk/fusion player for many years and swore by the aggressive sound of stainless steel strings, but the music scene here in Tampa Bay is moving more and more to the Delta blues every day, so I've moved to nickels because I dig pretty hard and need a softer impact from the attack my strings give me. I actually prefer the fingerstyle tone and the slap tone of the nickels now; they are much smoother and have a tighter bass response and enhanced mid when they begin to die. Also the nickels have a much longer life expectancy as they age much more gracefully than the SS's. All in all, I find nickels much more versatile and graceful sounding than SS, not to mention the improved feel and ease on my fingers and frets.

So for now, I'm pretty much sold on nickels, and I really like the D'Addaro XL's.

 

[Solarmist]

Nickel plated rounds - warm, bright, and easy on the fingers/frets

 

[bbell639]

I play Dean Markley Blue Steel (med.-lights) on both my Ibanez Soundgear 5-strings. OK - sure - they cost a bit & you have to build up some callouses, but they sound great & last forever. I'd rather change strings 2-3 times a year than 6-7 (I play 2-3 times a week)... Good tension, great response, super long life -who could ask for more?

 

[fretlessguy]

I like stainless steels for their cutting sound, and they sounded very good when I played in the rock/pop styles I used to play.
Since I have moved to roots music nickel seems to fit these styles better, so use nickel rounds these days. Now, however, I seem to moving to flats these days, and most of them seem to be stainless steel, except for the TIs I have on a couple of basses.