• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

The TalkBass String Comparison Sound Clip Thread!

#141
rob_thebassman said:
Great clips mate! I do prefer the pressure wounds as there's more growl and bite.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I think I like the Pressurewounds better too, at least in an isolated clip situation. I haven't had a chance to take it to a gig yet with the flats on it - my sense is that the focused fundamental that the Chromes deliver will become an asset in a mix.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rock Salad and rob_thebassman
#142
Altitude said:
Thank you. I think I like the Pressurewounds better too, at least in an isolated clip situation. I haven't had a chance to take it to a gig yet with the flats on it - my sense is that the focused fundamental that the Chromes deliver will become an asset in a mix.
Click to expand...
Chromes do sound good once broken in, I once had 50 - 110 on my old bass, sounded great
 
#143
Altitude said:
Thank you. I think I like the Pressurewounds better too, at least in an isolated clip situation. I haven't had a chance to take it to a gig yet with the flats on it - my sense is that the focused fundamental that the Chromes deliver will become an asset in a mix.
Click to expand...

heh, I actually liked the Chromes better. For the rock and Latin tracks anyway. Kinda hard to beat roundwounds of any kind if you're doing slap licks though. There's just so much more low end and midrange happening on the chromes, especially playing with a pick, it makes them sound so much huger.


Fun fact, I actually used Chromes when recording my old grindcore band's EP, you can hear em' in action here:

 
  • Like
Reactions: Pugosaurus and Altitude
#144
Alright boys and girls! The first review/comparison of the Chinese Imports!

The first ones I put on were Caye Nickel Wounds. They were the cheapest of the lot. Only 6 bucks for a 6-string set! That's like.... uh....

... (?)

a dollar a string!

Here's what you get:

us7Ud7E.jpg


first red flag: They apparently don't know what note each string is supposed to be. Genuine ignorance here: do they have different words for notes in Mandarin? Could just be a translation issue.

TEjuHKw.jpg


Here's what you get when you pull a string out of its sleeve:

XhyqyDn.jpg


Every one of them was kinked to hell and back.


and get a load of how loose the outer wrap is on the low B string. Have you ever been able to coil any other B this tight without kinking it?

MytHjgS.jpg


And the finale: Outer wraps on the E and B strings are too short:

UWt98RZ.jpg



Now, as you can probably guess, these are the floppiest, noodliest strings on the face of the planet. You can forget about digging in, all you're gonna get is extra fret rattle.

But how do they sound? Are they worth these tribulations? Even if they're uncomfortable, if they sound okay, then for 6 bucks a pack, who cares? Well... short answer: no. Long answer: noooooooooo.

These are the quietest strings I've ever heard of. I don't know if they're using some kind of aluminum string core or something, but the pickups just don't seem to be detecting them as they should. That, and the low end is nonexistent. You'd think that, what with them being bass strings and all, they'd have some bass to them. Noooope, Chuck Testa.

I've paired them up here with DR Sunbeams. The difference is shocking.

 
  • Like
Reactions: BassikBrad, Stefan Verbeeck and BrentSimons
#145
IconBasser said:
Alright boys and girls! The first review/comparison of the Chinese Imports!

The first ones I put on were Caye Nickel Wounds. They were the cheapest of the lot. Only 6 bucks for a 6-string set! That's like.... uh....

... (?)

a dollar a string!

Here's what you get:

View attachment 3140542

first red flag: They apparently don't know what note each string is supposed to be. Genuine ignorance here: do they have different words for notes in Mandarin? Could just be a translation issue.

View attachment 3140543

Here's what you get when you pull a string out of its sleeve:

View attachment 3140544

Every one of them was kinked to hell and back.


and get a load of how loose the outer wrap is on the low B string. Have you ever been able to coil any other B this tight without kinking it?

View attachment 3140545

And the finale: Outer wraps on the E and B strings are too short:

View attachment 3140546


Now, as you can probably guess, these are the floppiest, noodliest strings on the face of the planet. You can forget about digging in, all you're gonna get is extra fret rattle.

But how do they sound? Are they worth these tribulations? Even if they're uncomfortable, if they sound okay, then for 6 bucks a pack, who cares? Well... short answer: no. Long answer: noooooooooo.

These are the quietest strings I've ever heard of. I don't know if they're using some kind of aluminum string core or something, but the pickups just don't seem to be detecting them as they should. That, and the low end is nonexistent. You'd think that, what with them being bass strings and all, they'd have some bass to them. Noooope, Chuck Testa.

I've paired them up here with DR Sunbeams. The difference is shocking.

Click to expand...

Wow.. I'm listening to this on my phone and can tell a massive difference lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrentSimons
#147
Altitude said:
This is a cross-post, apologies for anyone who already saw it on its own thread. Might be a good addition to this discussion too.
____

Recently I decided to try a set of Chromes on my Valenti 5 string J bass. As a contribution to the ongoing "flatwounds vs. roundwounds" debate, I thought it would be fun to create some comparison soundclips of that bass with the rounds and the flats, so that you could all hear them and argue about which sounds better.

First, the bass. This is a Valenti 5-string Jazz bass with a maple neck and an ash body. It has Nordstrand NJ5 pickups and a Sadowsky preamp. This is an incredible bass. It weighs about 8 pounds, the pickups are very growly, and the bass is rather bright by nature. The neck is relatively shallow and feels great to me. @Nino Valenti I have 4 or 5 electric basses, but this one goes to 75% of the gigs I do in the party rock/funk band I'm in. I've had it 11 years.

Here's the bass:

View attachment 3128341
View attachment 3128342

Now for the recordings.

I decided to record simple 16-bar loops for Latin, Rock, and Funk styles and playing as close to the very same bass parts as I could, recording them a couple of weeks apart.

All of the recordings are Bass-->Cable-->iRig-->iPad (GarageBand). The VTC on the bass was rolled off about halfway, the preamp bass was very slightly boosted, and the preamp treble was flat. This is how I use this bass 99% of the time on gigs. In GarageBand I used the simple directbox input setting and added some drums to make the part sound more authentic.

The "roundwound" strings are actually GHS Pressurewounds and fairly broken in, so certainly not as sparkly as roundwound strings can be. Again, this bass is bright by nature, and I've found that I have to move one step in the "mellow" string category direction to get the tone I'm after.

The "flatwound" strings are Chromes, pretty much straight out of the box with perhaps an hour of play time on them. The do indeed still have some zing, which I think you can hear more in the room than you can on the recordings. I might return later and do a third take once these have settled in.

Both sets of strings were medium gauge.

To the tracks. Crank it up!

The Funk Track
I did an aggressive funk lick, vaguely Mark King-ish, and tried to hit all of the strings a little, except I didn't play the B ever.

Pressurewounds:


Chromes:


The Rock Track
Straight 8th notes track, I dug in to try to pull some of the growl out of the bass, which it was happy to provide. I played this with a pick and I am NOT a pick player, so please forgive my terrible technique.

Pressurewounds:


Chromes:


The Latin Track
This is a Mozambique pattern, one of my favorites because I heard Patitucci and Weckl kill it on all those Elektric Band records. On this one I tried to keep the tone of the bass a little smoother.

Pressurewounds:


Chromes:


Conclusions
Given that the Chromes were fresh and the Pressurewounds weren't, I expected the tracks to sound more similar than different, and I think they do. To my ears though, the bass takes to the Chromes very well and I could certainly play a convincing set with my horn funk band using this setup. I wonder whether I will still feel that way after ~20 hours of play time.

I think I like the Pressurewounds better on the Rock track. The added sparkle and additional growl really work well in that style.

The Latin track sounds essentially the same to me with either string - which means I would 100% choose the Chromes if that were my normal gig style, for the feel and ease of upkeep alone.

In any case, I think Pressurewounds and Chromes are both fantastic strings, and the Valenti bass is still a winner 11 years after Nino built it for me (it is #51).

Please let me know what you think too. I hope you enjoy!
Click to expand...

Hi @Altitude,
Very nice playing! :) I really like the way the Pressurewounds sound! and I'm a complete roundwound kinda guy. ;) I tried Chromes many years ago and remember liking them on my fretless. I had tried GHS Brite Flats which I liked as well but found they lacked some of the "mwah" I've come to love on a fretless. I did try D'addario Half Rounds once and really didn't like them. Very grabby and super high tension, at least for me. But the Pressurewounds sound very different here. Nice growl. That's a very pretty bass too! Nice figuring on the top.
Nice job!
Best wishes,
Brent
 
#148
BrentSimons said:
Hi @Altitude,
Very nice playing! :) I really like the way the Pressurewounds sound! and I'm a complete roundwound kinda guy. ;) I tried Chromes many years ago and remember liking them on my fretless. I had tried GHS Brite Flats which I liked as well but found they lacked some of the "mwah" I've come to love on a fretless. I did try D'addario Half Rounds once and really didn't like them. Very grabby and super high tension, at least for me. But the Pressurewounds sound very different here. Nice growl. That's a very pretty bass too! Nice figuring on the top.
Nice job!
Best wishes,
Brent
Click to expand...
Thanks much.

I have a set of D'Addario Half-Rounds on another bass at the moment. They feel entirely different than the Pressurewounds do. My [oversimplified] sense is that Half-Rounds do start with a round wrap, versus a metal tape like a flatwound, but they seem to be ground far more than Pressurewounds are, and by result have a more flatwound handfeel. Those are on my 6-string, which I haven't played outside the house in 7 or 8 years, so no stories from the field.

You should try a set of Pressurewounds, though, if you haven't. There's not much about them not to like. IMO, they essentially sound like nickel roundwounds, but minus about half the excessive noise.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrentSimons
#149
IconBasser said:
Alright boys and girls! The first review/comparison of the Chinese Imports!

The first ones I put on were Caye Nickel Wounds. They were the cheapest of the lot. Only 6 bucks for a 6-string set! That's like.... uh....

... (?)

a dollar a string!

Here's what you get:

View attachment 3140542

first red flag: They apparently don't know what note each string is supposed to be. Genuine ignorance here: do they have different words for notes in Mandarin? Could just be a translation issue.

View attachment 3140543

Here's what you get when you pull a string out of its sleeve:

View attachment 3140544

Every one of them was kinked to hell and back.


and get a load of how loose the outer wrap is on the low B string. Have you ever been able to coil any other B this tight without kinking it?

View attachment 3140545

And the finale: Outer wraps on the E and B strings are too short:

View attachment 3140546


Now, as you can probably guess, these are the floppiest, noodliest strings on the face of the planet. You can forget about digging in, all you're gonna get is extra fret rattle.

But how do they sound? Are they worth these tribulations? Even if they're uncomfortable, if they sound okay, then for 6 bucks a pack, who cares? Well... short answer: no. Long answer: noooooooooo.

These are the quietest strings I've ever heard of. I don't know if they're using some kind of aluminum string core or something, but the pickups just don't seem to be detecting them as they should. That, and the low end is nonexistent. You'd think that, what with them being bass strings and all, they'd have some bass to them. Noooope, Chuck Testa.

I've paired them up here with DR Sunbeams. The difference is shocking.

Click to expand...

@IconBasser thats crazy! I'm listening on my PC and almost have to turn down the Sunbeam portion!
Brent
 
#150
Brief update:

I just put on the Orphee brand strings:

t4if51T.jpg


and guess what? They're the exact same thing as the Caye strings :rollno:

Same material, same feel, same length, same ball ends, same looseness, same inadequate wrap length, and same weird lack of volume.

I don't think I'm going to bother recording these ones, as, well, I already have.

I took a good hard look at the Ziko strings that I also ordered, and they do at least look a little bit different, so there is still some hope that I didn't simply buy 4 rebranded sets of the same crappy string.

So, for future reference (and to make future thread searches easier for people): Caye = Orphee, Caye and Orphee same string,Orphee and Caye are the same, Caye and Orphee same manufacturer, Caye and Orphee suck, Caye and Orphee not worth it
 
  • Like
Reactions: denverbarnes
#151
I
IconBasser said:
Brief update:

I just put on the Orphee brand strings:

View attachment 3143331

and guess what? They're the exact same thing as the Caye strings :rollno:

Same material, same feel, same length, same ball ends, same looseness, same inadequate wrap length, and same weird lack of volume.

I don't think I'm going to bother recording these ones, as, well, I already have.

I took a good hard look at the Ziko strings that I also ordered, and they do at least look a little bit different, so there is still some hope that I didn't simply buy 4 rebranded sets of the same crappy string.

So, for future reference (and to make future thread searches easier for people): Caye = Orphee, Caye and Orphee same string,Orphee and Caye are the same, Caye and Orphee same manufacturer, Caye and Orphee suck, Caye and Orphee not worth it
Click to expand...
It's because of strings like these that Jesus Christ's middle name is F#####
 
  • Like
Reactions: denverbarnes and IconBasser
#152
rob_thebassman said:
I

It's because of strings like these that Jesus Christ's middle name is F#####
Click to expand...

Hah! true that.

another brief update: I already ripped those Orphee's off and chucked em. Just put the Ziko's on. Night and day difference - these things are actually pretty cool!

I'll do a full review when I record the clips.
 
  • Like
Reactions: denverbarnes, Stefan Verbeeck, BrentSimons and 1 other person
#157
rob_thebassman said:
Looking forward to hearing them :) shame they don't do 45 - 100
Click to expand...
Yeah I noticed they don't have many offerings on the lighter side. No 95's either.I'm usually a 45-105 guy and the set I'm getting is a 40-100. I was able to get them on sale. My Cirrus has a 35" scale so I'm hoping the tension will be close. I'm using DR Hi Beams which are pretty flexible and lower tension.
I'll keep you posted.
Cheers!
Brent
 
  • Like
Reactions: rob_thebassman
#158
BrentSimons said:
Yeah I noticed they don't have many offerings on the lighter side. No 95's either.I'm usually a 45-105 guy and the set I'm getting is a 40-100. I was able t kmo get them on sale. My Cirrus has a 35" scale so I'm hoping the tension will be close. I'm using DR Hi Beams which are pretty flexible and lower tension.
I'll keep you posted.
Cheers!
Brent
Click to expand...

I've been tempted by hi beams afew times, only thing that's stopped me is that they're scooped sounding, and would like a flat or low mid/bass sounding string with a tad bit of high
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrentSimons
#159
rob_thebassman said:
I've been tempted by hi beams afew times, only thing that's stopped me is that they're scooped sounding, and would like a flat or low mid/bass sounding string with a tad bit of high
Click to expand...
Yes they are certainly scooped. Lots of low end and sparkling highs.I can't believe how long they stay bright though! Actually I've found that with most DR strings. My Cirrus is very mid focused so they make a good pair. Back a few pages I recorded a clip when they were fresh out of the package. I think they growl fairly well?
Brent
 
  • Like
Reactions: rob_thebassman
#160
BrentSimons said:
Yes they are certainly scooped. Lots of low end and sparkling highs.I can't believe how long they stay bright though! Actually I've found that with most DR strings. My Cirrus is very mid focused so they make a good pair. Back a few pages I recorded a clip when they were fresh out of the package. I think they growl fairly well?
Brent
Click to expand...
Might try at some point, I love 45 - 100 but some strings can feel abit tight, might even try la bella rx again
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back