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Strings that make ProSteels sound sluggish?

C

Citizen Snips

May 23, 2012
25
0
San Diego, CA
#1
The Peavey Fury I bought on ebay came with a set of awesome sounding strings. I never understood the term "piano tone" until I heard these strings; to me they literally sound like the lower register keys of a piano. I bought 2 sets of ProSteels from bassstringsonline thinking they would be in the same ball park as these, but they sound very sluggish in comparison.:scowl: Acoustically, these strings sounded louder and more vibrant than ProSteels.

There was a string package that says "Funkmaster Superwound 606" in the case that came with the bass. I doubt they're these because they feature a "Piano String Design" that I just don't see. Is it possible, though, that these strings are Funkmasters?

Personally, I think they're the stock strings. They have black silk wraps and ball ends that I've seen on other Fury's. But they're at least 15 years old and I don't know if Peavey still makes these. Does anybody here know?:(

Bottom line/TL;DR, I'm looking for any set of rounds that puts ProSteels to shame. Nothing against D'Addario; I love Chromes, it's just that I'm looking for rounds with a more crisp, articulate sound.:D
 
#5
matante said:
You're saying that you have a set of 15 year-old strings that are brighter than fresh Pro Steels? Is that right?
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Yes! I've been cleaning them with alcohol and they even have this orange rust in between the windings.

As soon as I first strung the ProSteels I could tell the main difference was that ProSteels have thicker windings. I think the stock string windings are a little bit lighter, thus allowing the string to breathe and vibrate more. I feel like ProSteels are more mid-focused and have a muddy low end and the stock strings are everywhere in the frequency spectrum. Maybe I like lighter gauge strings better. Can anyone explain to me what the main tonal difference is between regular vs light gauge strings? Does it explain my issue with ProSteels?


cfsporn said:
Rotosound Swing Bass 66 SS or Ernie Ball Cobalts. Dean Markley SR2000s are good too.

Also, if you buy from anyone other than Jason at http://bassstringsonline.com, you are probably getting ripped off.
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Thanks for the rec's. Seems like I'll be trying Rotos Swing Bass and EB strings sometime in the near future. What is the difference between Cobalts and Stainless Steel?
 
#6
Citizen Snips said:
Thanks for the rec's. Seems like I'll be trying Rotos Swing Bass and EB strings sometime in the near future. What is the difference between Cobalts and Stainless Steel?
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Most SS strings have kind of a scooped sound. So far the Rotosounds and the SR2000s are the only SS strings that have a good amount of mids. The Cobalts have a nice low-mid growl in them and they last forever.
 
#8
sloppy_phil said:
Maybe for you, but definitely not for me. I got 2 hours (1hr rehearsal, 1hr gig) and they were already pretty much toast. I could even tell part way through the gig that a fair amount of the string brilliance had been lost.
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That's weird. I have very acidic hands, and my 5 month old Cobalts are just starting to sound bad.
 
#12
To my ear, ProSteels are quite scooped...that's one of the few sets I've played that *really* didn't work for me, in that they lacked definition. I guess they work for some folks though.

Anyway, for that bright vibe, but much more musical, I like Dean Markley SR2000s. Great strings. LaBella Hard Rocking Steels are also good.
 

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