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Time to switch to Dunlop Super Brights!!!

#622
tallboybass said:
I had a dead E in the 45-105 SBN set, emailed customer service at Dunlop over a month ago and....nothing. Resent and got a response: "Sorry, I forwarded your email over to our Customer service person Frank Aresti on 2/18.. I’ve sent it again.."

The email was sent to: [email protected]

Not impressed.
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I spent about an hour on the phone with Frank discussing SuperBrights a couple of years ago. Awesome guy and a really eye opening conversation. Frank is top notch, and he's a killer guitarist. Get some Fates Warning CD's, and don't be afraid to pickup the phone and call instead of relying on email.
 
#623
Remus_Redbone said:
2 Peaveys, 2 Carvins, 3 Fenders, 1 Gibson, 1 Spirit, and Dunlop Super Brights will work on one Peavey and one Fender. The other 7 don't have enought adjustment to get the intonation set correctly.

They sound good and play well on 22% of my basses.
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Odd you say the won't work on a Carvin, when Carvin basses ship from the factory with SuperBrights! You don't have the old Wilkinson bridge Carvins do you?
 
#625
Remus_Redbone said:
Yes, both are from the 90's. Do new Carvins (Kiesels) come with the intonation set correctly?
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Most definitely. But they quit using the Wilkinson bridges around 20 years ago.

I've heard of others having trouble intonating these on odd bridges, so I don't know what the exact issue is. I've gone through hundreds of SuperBrights on six basses and have never even had to move my intonation on any of them so it absolutely baffles me as to why some bridges won't intonate these correctly. But then again, 4 of my basses (one is a Carvin) have Hipshot bridges. One is a Warwick with their bridge, the other is a Lakland with the stock bridge. I don't know.
 
#626
mmbongo said:
Most definitely. But they quit using the Wilkinson bridges around 20 years ago.

I've heard of others having trouble intonating these on odd bridges, so I don't know what the exact issue is. I've gone through hundreds of SuperBrights on six basses and have never even had to move my intonation on any of them so it absolutely baffles me as to why some bridges won't intonate these correctly. But then again, 4 of my basses (one is a Carvin) have Hipshot bridges. One is a Warwick with their bridge, the other is a Lakland with the stock bridge. I don't know.
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My LB75 is a '98 model & it runs out of screw on the D & A before I reach proper intonation. Exactly the same for the BB75, which I think is around a 2000 model, but both have Wilkinson bridges. My '93 Gibson Thunderbird has a Hipshot Supertone Bridge replacing the 3 point stock bridge. It also runs out of screw before reaching proper intonation on the D & A strings. Same for my MIM Pbass with a VM Jazz neck and a stock Fender bent plate bridge. My Peavey G-Bass will intonate with three strings, but not the D. It has the stock Gotoh bridge & is a 35" scale.

The only two bases I have that will adjust enough to get the intonation correct is a Jazz parts bass that has a Schaller roller bridge and my '87 Peavey Foundation S, which has the huge diameter bridge saddle "barrels". The Peavey intonation adjustment screw has just a few threads left in the bridge saddle barrel of the D string when I get it properly intonated. I actually haven't tried the SBs on my CIJ Mustang. It has short scale Chromes on it & it's good to go as is.

I just recently acquired a Spirit by Steinberger, and the bridge saddles, which sit on the bridge plate that is recessed slightly into the body, hit the body before proper intonation is achieved with the Super Brights.

I originally had four sets of the Super brights and I've tried at least two sets on each bass that wouldn't adjust far enough. Same result for any set I tried. I've read through this thread and found a half dozen or so TBers that have had the same issue; couldn't get the intonation set with SBs. As I said; I like them where I can use them.....
 
#629
tallboybass said:
I put a set on my Lakland JO5 and the screws were at their max on a couple of the strings but did barely intonate. No problem on a Fender J and P.
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ShowKing said:
Yeah on both my Lakland's some of the saddles are near max to get it intonated correctly. Lakland bridges are made by Hipshot.
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The intonation on my DJ5 is spot on all strings, I havent needed to adjust the saddles, mybexperience is with .130 and .125 sets nickel and ss

The intonation in my P is also correct.
 
#633
Kenova said:
I did a cover of Pharell Happy, 3 months old strings (lot of rehersals, live playing and practicing) and they sound great <3

https://app.box.com/s/z3mcm8sria7mf4qrak6ywynu7tdr8mks
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VERY nice indeed!

I may hate myself in the morning but I took off my still wonderful sounding 7 month old set of SB's and put them in the denatured alcohol bath. They were starting to sound slightly less cutting in the mix, but I couldn't stand the thought of brand new, super bright strings. Best $11 I've ever spent!!
 
#634
NKBassman said:
I'm really liking these strings so far! I've had them on my passive Highway One Precision for about a month now and they sound great. They were a little zingy for my country gigs at first but now that they've settled in a bit they sound great.

They also completely transformed my active Precision Lyte Deluxe. I had some D'Addario half-wounds on that bass before and honestly hated them. Changing them to Super Brights (nickel) and it's like a totally different bass! They really sound great with the Aguilar OBP-3 preamp! They really make it sound like an "active" bass by giving it that bitey sound.

HOWEVER...... Anyone have issues intonating the high G string? On the Lyte Deluxe I'm totally maxed out in the short direction on my G string saddle but the intonation is still a bit flat at the 12th fret.
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Still no response from my email to Dunlop CS 2.5 weeks ago...
I ended up having to go out and spend $5 for a single G string from Long & McQuade.

Considering the vastly inflated price of ordering the Super Brights through L&M due to piss poor exchange rates etc ($25/pack), and the (in my experience) 50/50 chance of having to spend more money on replacement off-brand strings, I don't think I'll be buying any more Super Brights at this time.

That being said, I do love the way they're settling in and I have no intention of replacing them any time soon. I've been playing my Highway 1 P at least 10 hours a week since putting on Super Brights and they are still sounding great. I almost like it better now that most of that new-string zing is gone. They're rich and phat (but still clear and articulate) when played lightly, and growl nicely when playing hard. I do find myself backing the tone knob off a touch when playing with a pick to get them to sit just right in the mix.
 
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#635
That's pretty atypical of Dunlop not to reply. Possible your message got sent to a spam filter or had some other snafu. Pretty sure their phone works, though. It would be a shame to give up on a string you're really enjoying if it's an honest mistake.
 
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#636
JimmyM said:
That's pretty atypical of Dunlop not to reply. Possible your message got sent to a spam filter or had some other snafu. Pretty sure their phone works, though. It would be a shame to give up on a string you're really enjoying if it's an honest mistake.
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I'm planning a road trip through the US sometime in May... I'll probably pick up a few packs while I'm down there. Just not worth it buying them through L&M again. :)

tallboybass said:
VERY nice indeed!

I may hate myself in the morning but I took off my still wonderful sounding 7 month old set of SB's and put them in the denatured alcohol bath. They were starting to sound slightly less cutting in the mix, but I couldn't stand the thought of brand new, super bright strings. Best $11 I've ever spent!!
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How'd this work out? Anyone else experiment with cleaning old SBs and reusing them? I tried boiling a set of strings years ago and was underwhelmed with the results. Not to mention supremely grossed out by all the gross string crud coming into contact with my "good" cookware.
 
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#637
I used to do it. Returns a lot of the zing, but you get diminishing returns the more you do it. I'd still be doing it, though, but it turns out I like the sound of them when they're dead better.
 
#640
NKBassman said:
How'd this work out? Anyone else experiment with cleaning old SBs and reusing them? I tried boiling a set of strings years ago and was underwhelmed with the results. Not to mention supremely grossed out by all the gross string crud coming into contact with my "good" cookware.
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That reminds me, I gotta fish'em outta there and string'em up! Don't boil...not good.
 
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