Strings without silks look unfinished to me

[GwenOnBass]

but that's because I am old lol.

and I did it anyway



This marks the first time this bass has worn stainless steel rounds in 10 years.

"Brighter", I tell Jason when I am moving on from Smith Compressors. "Hi-Beams," he replies, and I buy both Hi-Beams and a set of Black Beauties.

Black Beauties because I played them before and liked them. Also because I didn't feel ready for stainless steel rounds again. Those first Rotos when the bass is new are neither kind to my bass nor my fingers. That's my memory of it. Didn't stop me from playing them (but graduated to Dean Markley Super Rounds, as many of us did).

To my great surprise, I am digging these .040 - .095 Hi-Beams. They are not the cheese graters of my memory. The StingRay sounds all properly snarly, as it should. The swap out from the .040 - .100 Black Beauties is painless. Never touched a hex wrench or screwdriver.

oh, it was a close one. I really wanted to install Slinkys again. The only reason I didn't



is because I flipped a coin and it came up tails.

 

[michael_t]

I'm usually a nickel guy and have had love-hate relationship (love the tone, hate the feel) with stainless steel rounds in the past.

When I acquired my second 5-string, Ibanez SR505N, a couple of months ago, I decided to give SS rounds another chance.

GHS Super Steels 40-58-80-102-126 turn out to be a very pleasant surprise as they're a lot smoother in surface feel than I would expect SS rounds to be.

And you know what... I love the grey silk on them because I'm old.

 

[michael_t]

 

[Salem6127]

I personally like the Smith stainless rounds myself, kinda like if roto 66s kept their tone consistently for a few months (and that beautiful royal purple silk!). Only downside is they are quite rough... The Hibeams are definitely one of the softest SS out there, so I can see why Jason recommended them if feel is a strong factor.

Curious, any reason you're craving Slinkies? I seem to remember them mellowing into darker territory than most nickels.

 

[GwenOnBass]

I personally like the Smith stainless rounds myself, kinda like if roto 66s kept their tone consistently for a few months (and that beautiful royal purple silk!). Only downside is they are quite rough... The Hibeams are definitely one of the softest SS out there, so I can see why Jason recommended them if feel is a strong factor.

Curious, any reason you're craving Slinkies? I seem to remember them mellowing into darker territory than most nickels.

Winding length and pulling tension were the top concerns I shared with Jason. Winding length because the bass is through-body, and pulling tension because the truss rod is as tight as its going to be pulled. My (likely faulty) memory of coarse Rotos is the reason I gave stainless steel rounds such wide girth over the years.

Been moving toward brighter for a while because I believe I remember the 'Ray in full flight on stainless steel rounds. Other basses here can fill the "darker" needs.

My experience with Slinkys is brief but positive. I never played a set into Miracle Max' place. EB strings sound good on EB basses <shrug>

 

[bassdude51]

On the positive, strings without silk match any color of bass.

I don't like silk colors that clashes or is mismatched with the finish color on my bass or basses.

 

[michael_t]

Here's the classic red silk on GHS Boomers...

And here's the Boomers without silk, ie the new "Solidwound Boomers"... The same strings otherwise.

 

[GwenOnBass]

Silks look classy to me. Arguably, Pyramid Golds are classy strings.

 

[michael_t]

I don't like silk colors that clashes or is mismatched with the finish color on my bass or basses.

The only time I didn't care for the silk color was when I had GHS Balanced Nickels (green silk) on my classic sunburst/tort/rosewood P bass.

And of course, I've always loved the cool black silk on GHS Pressurewounds as it goes with just about any color.

 

[Passinwind]

but that's because I am old lol.

and I did it anyway

You know where I stand on this. Less bling is mo bettah, almost always. Frets, plastic, paint, ashtrays: bah! Amps, on the other hand...

But seriously, glad it seems to be working out for you.

 

[Zigmundfloyd]

I just purchased my first set ever of DR strings, nickel lo-riders, and I was a bit surprised when I saw they had no silk. Felt a bit cheap at that time but so far they sound great.

 

[Yahboy]

but that's because I am old lol.

and I did it anyway

View attachment 7504256

This marks the first time this bass has worn stainless steel rounds in 10 years.

"Brighter", I tell Jason when I am moving on from Smith Compressors. "Hi-Beams," he replies, and I buy both Hi-Beams and a set of Black Beauties.

Black Beauties because I played them before and liked them. Also because I didn't feel ready for stainless steel rounds again. Those first Rotos when the bass is new are neither kind to my bass nor my fingers. That's my memory of it. Didn't stop me from playing them (but graduated to Dean Markley Super Rounds, as many of us did).

To my great surprise, I am digging these .040 - .095 Hi-Beams. They are not the cheese graters of my memory. The StingRay sounds all properly snarly, as it should. The swap out from the .040 - .100 Black Beauties is painless. Never touched a hex wrench or screwdriver.

oh, it was a close one. I really wanted to install Slinkys again. The only reason I didn't

View attachment 7504263

is because I flipped a coin and it came up tails.

Agree !

I also hate the string end without silk just damage the chrome/nickel coat tuning post surface or leave ugly sign on black tuning post.

I hope EB introduce the super long EB Cobalt flatwound bass string asap to replace the NYXL MS set on my Ibanez SRMS725.

Here is the GHS custom gauge precision flat on it, but she make the Fishman pickup sound like poopie after a month.....

 

[Iristone]

I'm a fan of red silk, and I can also accept black, solid green, or light blue silk. Non-silk doesn't bother me that much, though.

 

[GTHintz]

Silk is always nicer than no silk. I like the added protection against scuffs on the tuning pegs as well.

 

[Pier_]

most of my basses have strings with silk ends. my favourite of all is the GHS silk, because is the only brand that ALWAYS have silk at the same exact length.

with Rotosound, there can be even a centimeter in difference:

look, the A string is shorter:

New photo · Friday, May 16, 2025 📸

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another example, with the D string shorter:

New photo · Thursday, Feb 6, 2025 📸

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Rotosound RS77LD:

New photo · Monday, Nov 25, 2024 📸

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sometimes they match:

New photo · Tuesday, May 19 📸

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this is probably the worst:

New photo · Friday, Jun 14, 2024 📸

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my only bass without silk is the one with Elixis strings.