I had a small mishap yesterday. I went to clean my Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats from my Yamaha TRBX605 in my ultrasonic cleaner. It had been awhile since I put new strings on it and balked at just buying a new set of EBCF's as the price for a 5 string set is now $40.
Lots of gunk came off the strings and I thought I had breathed new life into them... until I went to reinstall them. When I got to the A string, as I tightened the tuning knob the top of the string connecting to the tuner decided to no longer stay connected to the string. There wasn't enough extra slack to keep going. I had no spare EBCF sets or strings.
What I had in my drawer were a new set of D'Addario NYXL's. Until now I had used them exclusively on my Ibanez BTB675. But it needed strings last week and I thought, based on how Ernie Ball (regular) Slinkys sounded on my Ibanez Gio6. $25 for set? Ok, I'll try them. I actually like the sound of them on my BTB and the only spare set I had were NYXL's. So on the 605 they went.
It's a different sound than the EBCF's. Crisper and punchier, but pleasant as well. Back when the 605 was brand new I tried some DR Pure Blues, which saved it from being returning it to Sweetwater. It's only been a day, so the NYXL's have to settle a bit more, but I think I really like them on the 605. We know that the TRBX series, particularly the 605 is really sensitive to everything, especially strings. I have a farmers market gig next Wednesday and I had been contemplating brining my BTB, but I've changed my mind.
The one thing that surprised me a bit was that I had to do a complete setup with the new strings. I had to lower the saddles a bit, bring down the relief a bit and had to reintonate the low E string. But one day after installation it plays and sounds great.
Will I ultimately miss the EBCF's? Probably. They just provided a totally different tonal palette from my other bases that all have roundwounds. I really liked the 605 and EBCF's for recording as well as some gigs. Hopefully someone will have a 20% sale on these and I'll grab a few sets. But for now the NYXL's will stay on and we'll see how it goes.
Lots of gunk came off the strings and I thought I had breathed new life into them... until I went to reinstall them. When I got to the A string, as I tightened the tuning knob the top of the string connecting to the tuner decided to no longer stay connected to the string. There wasn't enough extra slack to keep going. I had no spare EBCF sets or strings.
What I had in my drawer were a new set of D'Addario NYXL's. Until now I had used them exclusively on my Ibanez BTB675. But it needed strings last week and I thought, based on how Ernie Ball (regular) Slinkys sounded on my Ibanez Gio6. $25 for set? Ok, I'll try them. I actually like the sound of them on my BTB and the only spare set I had were NYXL's. So on the 605 they went.
It's a different sound than the EBCF's. Crisper and punchier, but pleasant as well. Back when the 605 was brand new I tried some DR Pure Blues, which saved it from being returning it to Sweetwater. It's only been a day, so the NYXL's have to settle a bit more, but I think I really like them on the 605. We know that the TRBX series, particularly the 605 is really sensitive to everything, especially strings. I have a farmers market gig next Wednesday and I had been contemplating brining my BTB, but I've changed my mind.
The one thing that surprised me a bit was that I had to do a complete setup with the new strings. I had to lower the saddles a bit, bring down the relief a bit and had to reintonate the low E string. But one day after installation it plays and sounds great.
Will I ultimately miss the EBCF's? Probably. They just provided a totally different tonal palette from my other bases that all have roundwounds. I really liked the 605 and EBCF's for recording as well as some gigs. Hopefully someone will have a 20% sale on these and I'll grab a few sets. But for now the NYXL's will stay on and we'll see how it goes.
