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What is so bad about Rotosound strings?

#44
JTE said:
My experience with Rotosound RS-66 is that they do die faster than other strings. It's likely that some folks like how they sound when they're aged quite a bit, but I didn't. I sold strings (managed a guitar store for 11 years) and tried about three sets over a span of time and had the same issues. One gig the guitarist asked why my sound changed with every song on the first set. John Entwistle (how seemingly helped design them) said they didn't last long, Anthony Jackson used to change them every TAKE in the studio, and Chris Squire said he changed them every day.

BUT- they have a very characteristic sound that I've not found in any other string. It's not one I want for myself, but it's a great sound. My take is that if the strings that give you the sound you need don't last long, then you just resign yourself to changing strings a lot.

As for the feel, I don't know because it's been decades since I used a set. But the alloy they use combined with the coarseness of the outer wrap wire combines for their deserved reputation as a fret chewer. If your fretting hand is gentle, and you don't bend strings at all that's probably not an issue but I've seen enough chewed up frets from RS-66L to know it's a common issue. Of course, most stainless strings will do that to some extent.

John
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You always have really useful info but from what I've heard is most astists change their strings often. Like jaco, lemmy, and harris to name a few
 
#45
Meatrus said:
There you go :smug:, I believe frets were softer then (more Nickel in them), if you have a newer bass you will find them not so bad on frets. I have played them for a few years on modern basses and noticed no problems.
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I would really have to have proof of this before I believed it. No offense, but I've not heard of this.
 
#46
kimokeo said:
Rotosound usually has two complaints on TB:

1. They do not last as long as other strings.
2. The feel rough compared to DR, Labella, so on and so on.

I have found (this is for me only) Roto's last just as long as other strings I have used. They also give me better tone than other strings. I use EB on my MMSR5. They feel just as rough as the Roto's. I guess I do not understand what all the negative comments are about. I currently have 6 basses strung with Roto's and love them. Best string on the market, IMO.
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If they work for you, then the rest of it doesn't matter. Case closed. :hmm:

MM
 
#48
JimmyM said:
I would really have to have proof of this before I believed it. No offense, but I've not heard of this.
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No offense taken, I read it once about Rics in bass player, it was the article on Chris Squire, you can check to make sure I didn't misunderstand it.

I know that was only referring to Rics at the time, so in theory other makes could be different, but I had also read it a couple of other places. Also anyone who has ever complained about fret problems with Rotos has been referring to a vintage bass (as I "guessed" you were), which could be a coincidence admittedly.

It does make sense also that frets would have become more advanced in that time.

But really my point was if you have a vintage bass, don't use them if your bothered about the frets. If you have a new bass I very much doubt you will have any problems. I have been using them for a relative short amount of time compared to a lot of people here (2 years), but in that time there is nothing resembling wear.
 
#49
Meatrus said:
I have been using them for a relative short amount of time compared to a lot of people here (2 years), but in that time there is nothing resembling wear.
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The same for me. I think to have 'chewing fret' it's not only a matter of what kind of strings and the nature of the fret. You have to grind the frets with the strings. For this, you have to make a lot of bend or having a problem of 'frets buzz' when the string vibrate on the fret. It's not my case and it's not the case of all the people I know who's playing rotosound. I've only heard this kind of issues since I read on the internet. But It's my 2 cents...:)
 
#50
Meatrus said:
No offense taken, I read it once about Rics in bass player, it was the article on Chris Squire, you can check to make sure I didn't misunderstand it.

I know that was only referring to Rics at the time, so in theory other makes could be different, but I had also read it a couple of other places. Also anyone who has ever complained about fret problems with Rotos has been referring to a vintage bass (as I "guessed" you were), which could be a coincidence admittedly.
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I don't think a 76 qualifies as a "vintage" Fender, though people posting ads for them love to use the term ;) Back then I could be pretty hard on frets...I did a lot of string bending and vibrato. Still do, but since switching to nickels, I don't have near the fret problems I used to have.
 
#51
JimmyM said:
I don't think a 76 qualifies as a "vintage" Fender, though people posting ads for them love to use the term ;) Back then I could be pretty hard on frets...I did a lot of string bending and vibrato. Still do, but since switching to nickels, I don't have near the fret problems I used to have.
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Yeagh maybe not to a lot of people. But it could be hard to decide when something qualifies as vintage, it just means old to me (probably wrongly) and 1976 seems old to me (for a bass). The points I made are still valid to a 1976 bass, the bassplayer article was on 70s Rics.
 
#53
Gin said:
I have a set of RS66 on my 75 Ric that I just got, I totally dig the sound, but Im worried about the frets. I think Ill have to switch brands for awhile.:bawl: Would D'addario Pro Steels eat away frets like the Rotos do?
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It could have just been a phase they went through with soft frets, which may not include 75. I cant remember the date in the article, you may be able to find it online. I remember it saying something like "at the time they were making there frets with very soft material" but I cant remember the exact date, somewhere in the 70s though.

I have heard pro steels are quite rough also. It could be possible that your bassmay have been re fretted at somepoint (if you havent had it since new) if they were as soft as they sounded. In which case you wont need to worry, I would just keep an eye on it, and keep using the strings you like.
 
#56
Interesting thread... back in the late 70's early 80's I had Roto's on my 4003. I had a similar experience as other here in that they didn't last long and they did chew up my ricky's frets.
Fast foward to today and I was asking my tech about putting SS on my Roscoe and should I worry about fret wear. His answer was simply, they aren't making frets like they used to and you should not worry about excessive fret wear with any string you decide to use.
Jsut thought I'd pass that along.
Fishheadjoe
 
#57
I just strung up my 1st set of Roto's last nite (RS 66 LD) and the 1st thing I've noticed about these is there's an almost church bell like quality to the sustain on 'em. Seems like there's less note decay as they sustain than the Pro Steels that I'm used to. They're also a lighter guage than I normally use so it might have to do w/my heavy attack also.

Either way I like 'em so far. The feel is a bit different than I'm used to, and they are a tad coarse, but sonically they're very snappy. If they go dead quickly tho like all the EB Slinky's I've ever tried then I'll prolly go back to my Pro Steels... but I tried these out cuz they were a gift from a very generous TBer who had a (very astute) hunch I was neglecting my strings and wanted me to try his favorite brand. (Thx Allen.... you ROCK!!!)
 
#58
I'll weigh in with a vote "for" RS66. The bright sound you get when you first put them on does go away but the hair cut analogy from Prodigal Son earlier really hits the nail on the head.

Also I heard once years ago that you can bring these strings back to life by boiling them for a few minutes!
 
#60
I've used Rotosound strings since 1981 with a few years off in the 90's when I was getting sets that had dead strings. For that time I used DR Hi-Beams and they were OK but nothing like the sound that the 66's have.
I used all kinds of different strings when I first started in 1981 like GHS Boomers and Dean Markley's , Fender etc... (I worked in a music store in 1982 and tried lots) just to see what else there was out there and I always went right back to the Rotosounds. I remember the GHS Bass Boomers were close to the sound...for part of a day... and then they were DEAD. The players I most admired when I started playing bass used Rotosound 66's and their tone was what I was after.
I heard that sound with the first set I tried. Hard to pass on that. I think they are the most badass bass strings available and nothing comes close to their tone.
 
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