What is with all these DOA strings?

[Brian Patterson]

From Quora comments on dead(ening) acoustic strings - may or may not apply to bass strings:

They sound like rubber bands being twanged.

• There is no ‘snap’ (transience in tech-speak).
• The bell-like, ringing, sound is gone
• The maximum volume is less, no matter how hard you play
• Harmonics suffer
• The string goes out of tune on the upper frets
• The string may detune rapidly, meaning you’re always tuning.

Any of these are symptoms of dead strings. The snap and bell-like sound applies more to the wound strings, tuning problems tend to hit the unwound strings first.

I kinda suspected the need to tune each time to my LaBella DTB flatwounds set but I'm convinced now it was the low end OEM tuners on my Yamaha that was the cuprit. Replaced them with Hipshot UltraLite USA machines and all is well!

 

[Dave Hill]

Yes!!! I’ve gone years and years with no problems. Recently, due to dead strings out of the box, I’ve started a collection of the good ones, hoping for replacements and maybe full sets eventually. DR and Labella.

 

[manchego_eggo]

It's definitely rare, but it's happened to me twice with DR's and once with Dunlop Flats (which are infamous for QC issues). I didn't mind the DR's but those Dunlop flats are almost TI expensive so that was upsetting.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I don’t know about any of you, but over the last few years it’s become quite common to get a new pack of strings with one or more of them completely dead.

Most recently I’ve run into this problem with ghs, I got a dead e string in a pack of bass boomers, so I contacted the seller who promptly sent me a replacement. DEAD. I couldn’t believe it.

In the past I used DR exclusively for years, I finally got away from them after getting multiple packs with questionable strings, once in a 5 string pack there were 2 dead strings.

Anyone else?

No, and I change my strings regularly. I also use DR Lo Riders and when they aren’t available, I buy Bass Boomers. This has been going on for almost 20 years now of going through approximately around 30 sets a year. I’ve had exactly one E string over that much time that was dead. And I’ll bet it was me that screwed up installing it.

Not trying to insult you, but I would start there. When there is a 25% + failure rate on strings, I’m pretty sure if that was company wide, nobody would be buying those strings.

 

[Flippy]

I've been using Ernie Ball rounds for several years without any issues

One time I got a dead E string in a pack of DR black beauties, and the rest of the set died soon after I put them on. I was gutted, as these were really expensive and the coating was said to prolong their life.

Somehow I haven't tried a pack of DR's ever since, and from your comments it appears I've been lucky not to buy them again

 

[Brian Patterson]

I'm going to start a poll to determine how the various string brands have performed over time...stay tuned.

 

[JRA]

per the OP: i couldn't say that i've had any issues with string sets i've purchased in the last several years, maybe one bad string in several decades (?). my own take could be based entirely on luck-of-the-draw, but i've been sampling a lot strings the last 5-6 years --- i don't recall any issues. i've ordered/tried sets i didn't particularly care for but they weren't faulty.

i remember getting some roto 66s with some bad strings/sets, but that was years ago IIRC.

 

[funkifiedsoul]

I've never had any DOA issues with DR either.

I stubbornly hung with Rotos a bit longer, like until '96 or so when it finally dawned on me that I couldn't really remember the last time I'd gotten a really good set. It's been a long, long time, but back then I remember being convinced that nothing else sounded or felt like the Rotos. I'm not even sure that was true in reality but it sure was in my mind. In any case, when my thick-headed chasing of the mythological Roto greatness became an obvious enough waste of money, I switched to DR Hi-Beams and never looked back. I used to use Boomers back in the day if the stores in whatever town we were in didn't have Rotos (RS66). Seems like I might have occasionally used GHS Blue Steels for the same reason, but neither did it for me like the Rotos back then.

I don't think it was just in your head. I too felt that no other string sounded and felt like Rotos, but regular DOA's was a drag and too disappointing (not to mention expensive) to keep up with them.

 

[Swerve]

I had been meaning to try a custom set from them but never bit the bullet. Weirdly, after being so against them for 20 years, Super Slinky’s are amazeballz on my Stingray.

I recently experimented with Stringjoy NPS (45-105) and Super Slinky's on my Ray34 and the Slinky's won out for me. The Stringjoy's are not as smooth feeling as the Slinky's and they have these sort of brittle overtones that didn't go away even after two weeks of constant playing. Though that could be a positive for some players. I like that the Slinkys break-in quickly.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

In my experience, GHS has very good QC. Bass Boomers have been my #1 nickel plated roundwounds since the late 80’s/early 90’s. I’ve honestly never had a bad string.

 

[mikeswals]

I'm surprised to see DR mentioned, I've been using them since they came out in '89 and never had a DOR. Back then it was usually Roto-sounds that came with a dead string regularly, which lead me to Boomers for a while until DR's showed up.

I've been using them sing e '96. In '15 or '16 I got two packs where a string broke during install. DR replaced them, good to go.

I do remember once getting a dead E or A in a pack maybe 5 years ago. But been good other than that

 

[Dincrest]

Luckily, most big brands (e.g. D'Addario) are always willing to send a replacement string and "make it right" if you get a dead one. When you're making tens-of-thousands strings a day, a few slip through the cracks. It totally sucks if you're the unlucky one who loses Russian Roulette and get a bad string in the batch, but the big companies are willing to send replacement strings to make it right.

I've had strings from D'Addario and GHS (well a Ken Smith strings, but those are made by GHS) fall apart on me during a restring. I've also had strings from Dunlop and D'Addario appear to me dead on arrival. There have been periods of time when large batches of Dunlop or Rotosound strings were consistently bad (due to whatever circumstances) but they've gotten better as a result because they don't want to repeat those mistakes again.

And, hey, the most trusted luthier/tech I used for all my bass work (until he moved out of state) swore by D'Addarios above all else. And I still like GHS because several of them come in nonstandard gauges that I like. Even if I get a dead GHS string, their customer service is good and will send me a replacement to make it right.

 

[Riff Ranger]

GHS Boomers in diameters .100 and up do often seem dead on arrival. I would have given up on them, except that I pretty much have to go with them for the lower strings on my bizarro B0–B2 bass vi, and the set I’ve had on my Yamaha BB735A for the last year has sounded great. I decided to give their medium light BEAD set another shot on my BB734A and sure enough, the big strings sounded dead—until I plugged in! No metallic “zing,” but plenty lively otherwise. Even so, they’ve just never agreed with my Ibanez ATKs, which want nothing but Ernie Ball Slinkies ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it’s entirely possible you got some bum strings, or that they didn’t go on quite right, or that they just don’t agree with your particular instrument.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Never had a DR issue. The only dead string I’ve had was with StringJoy. Contacted them and they basically shrugged their shoulder and said, “It happens”. So I’ve not bought a thing from them since. This was early on in their start up, so maybe funds were tight. But I didn’t feel the love.

 

[luckydawgg169]

I've been using Ernie Ball rounds for several years without any issues

One time I got a dead E string in a pack of DR black beauties, and the rest of the set died soon after I put them on. I was gutted, as these were really expensive and the coating was said to prolong their life.

Somehow I haven't tried a pack of DR's ever since, and from your comments it appears I've been lucky not to buy them again

Yeah, I tried one set of DR black beauties…. and that was the last time.

 

[GTHintz]

Oddly enough I've had 1 bad string from Labella a few years ago and a couple b strings that died too soon from a couple other brands but for the most part I've had good luck. Dunlop, Dean Markley, DR, I but the most and they have been consistently good for me. Even the last couple sets of Labella Rx I used to see if they would redeem themselves all sounded great and held up to my routine banging on the strings.