Which bass strings go dead the fastest?...

[ToneMonkey]

Rotosounds. If you like that zingy sound it only lasts about a week. I get at least three months out of EB Slinkys.

 

[rzero]

I've been using a set of Roto 66 nickels for 7 years now - still sound great!

I need to try Roto nickels at some point. I've seen enough fret wear to be scared off stainless for now (I like to bend), and I just got into Slinky recently after using mostly D'Addario since the 90s. I had just assumed they were the poor man's D'Addario for whatever reason, but I found the stiffness to be more even string to string and they definitely have their own sound, and the E and A outer wrap seems thinner giving a smoother feel. I need to eventually hear what all the fuss is with Rotos. I'm sure it will be a familiar sound, as the Ernie Balls were as soon as I first tried them.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Most of my basses have different strings and I've noticed that the loss of initial brightness varies wildly from one set to another. Thankfully, I don't really mind dead strings at all but I wanted to know what you guys thought the strings were that are most prone to this. I feel like GHS Boomers and Dunlop Superbrights don't stay bright very long. My DR LoRiders, on the other hand, seem to still have much of their initial tone. Your thoughts?

I use Low Riders as well for that very reason. Maybe the hex core has something to do with it.

'My experience with Roto-Sound Swing Bass rounds is they are without a doubt the best sounding bass strings on the planet... for about 30 minutes of reasonable play. JMO.

 

[Killing Floor]

With you, DR strings seem to hold their near new sparkly goodness for quite a while.
Both the Fats and the HiBeams stay pretty consistent for longer than some. I like the glitter on my EBMM basses so the HiBeams fit that bill.

With @Gilmourisgod , Roto rounds sound great but lose the sizzle too soon, that's why I stopped using them. But I love their flats still. If I had an unlimited supply of string GAS (SAS) I'd be cool with a new set of Roto Swings on my Ray about every 8 hours of play. But...nah.

 

[Chrisk-K]

I really love the tone of the DR Pure Blues, but they die much much much faster than the Hi-Beams or Lo-Riders.

 

[Tubehed]

I really love the tone of the DR Pure Blues, but they die much much much faster than the Hi-Beams or Lo-Riders.

"Die", as in totally dead? Or, as in lose their initial brightness?

 

[Dr. Love]

For me it's EB slinkys. They were dead halfway through a 3 hour gig the last time I had to use a set.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Most of my basses have different strings and I've noticed that the loss of initial brightness varies wildly from one set to another. Thankfully, I don't really mind dead strings at all but I wanted to know what you guys thought the strings were that are most prone to this. I feel like GHS Boomers and Dunlop Superbrights don't stay bright very long. My DR LoRiders, on the other hand, seem to still have much of their initial tone. Your thoughts?

Ernie ball. Rust out in a week or so. Die shortly after if they dont. Worst string company in existence.

 

[Le beau JP]

Dean Markley Blue Steel. One of the most delicious tone I ever had but lasted like 1 or 2 weeks. I dont know if they still exist nowadays though

 

[jamro217]

It's a difficult if not impossible task for some of us to remember what strings are on our instruments after four decades. Some brands may now be defunct while their products continue to serve us well. What may have been considered bright strings in 1980 are now considered medium due to the shift in music industry's perception of the standard bass tone. What new strings sounded like back then are but a distant memory. Currently, which strings last longest, retain their tonal character longest, stay pliable longest... depends on the circumstances. Player A strings up a '68 P bass and uses it for recording in his home studio (which is hermetically sealed from cat hair, cigarette smoke and coffee breath). After six months of endless retakes, the strings sound nearly identical to the first tracks recorded. The bass is pampered and the strings are wiped down with a soft cloth before the beloved P is tucked into bed. Player B strings up his gothic schemed T Bird with the same type of strings. He plays in a dirty, sweaty dive bar filled with marijuana smoke, various alcoholic beverages, vomit, saliva, and a list of other unsavory bodily fluids. The bass sits on a stand next to the rest room and is routinely used by inebriated patrons as a handrail. The club is in a dangerous neighborhood and once the gig is done the band throws the gear into the van as quickly as possible and gets out of Dodge. This is done regardless of the weather and in winter the temperature outside is 80 degrees colder than in the club. Five nights a week of rapid extreme temperature changes. The owner is happy to get home safely and doesn't think to wipe the strings down. In this scenario is it safe to assume the neglect on the part of Player B leads to the premature deadening of his strings? If your answer is yes, multiply this by the number of individual cases in the real world. The answer may well be that unless there is one brand that is purposely designed with the sole intention of tonal durability, all brands will be equally susceptible to abuse which results in premature mellowing. As a rule nickel tends to mellow quickly, steel not so much. Flats seem to age slowly because they don't possess the initial snap that rounds do. Not to ruin your thread, Claymore, but merely a perception based on real life results as opposed to laboratory test results. Hope this helps and best to you.

 

[Chrisk-K]

"Die", as in totally dead? Or, as in lose their initial brightness?

What I mean by "die" is they lose their sonic characteristics and no longer sound musically pleasing.

 

[Chamber]

In my experience, Ernie Ball Slinky and Dean Markley Blue Steel.

 

[GlennRH]

For years, I wondered why some sets of strings went dead faster than others. I wondered what in my control caused their going dead and what out of my control caused it. The deadening of strings seemed both inevitable and a puzzle as to the cause(s).

Then, I installed a new set of strings most thoughtfully and found that their useful life life life would last way longer - measured in years; no longer in months.

So, for me, it doesn't seem to be any flaw in any set of strings themselves that causes 'em to go dead. Rather, it seems to be all about the method of installing them.

The Ernie Ball Super Slinky nickel roundwounds I put on my bass in the spring of 2005 sound so great today that I dread having to replace them. Really.

 

[bassobrutto]

If you can afford them and handle the light gauges, just go for the TI Jazz Rounds that JRA mentioned. They are extremely smooth and mellow sounding to begin with and stay more or less the same for long afterwards, as he said. That is their actual sound, because of the interior silk wrap. They would also win my all-time award for the most lovely-feeling strings--very seductively soft, supple, and slinky!

 

[Deleted member 271037]

"Dead" or "broken in"? I guess that will depend on whether you like the broken in sound or not. Of course all strings will truly die eventually but unless they break or are faulty in some way it will take years, if not decades.

The strings I first think of when talking about strings that "die" quickly are the GHS Boomers. I generally like the sound of old strings but Boomers are the exception so for me they go "dead" after just a couple of days.

Rotosound 66 stainless steel also lose the zing very quickly but in this case I like that mellowed out tone so I think of them as "broken in" rather than "dead".

In other words: One person's "dead" will be another person's "broken in".

 

[Iristone]

For my practising (~1hr a day), Rotos lose thire zing after 1 week, and then with judicious cleaning keep a slightly tubby broken-in tone for more than 2 months (before I decided to switch to DR and not to care it at all). My hands happen to kill Optima Golds in 2 weeks, not sure why but they soon became thumpy (and not the good type of it).

 

[rzero]

For years, I wondered why some sets of strings went dead faster than others. I wondered what in my control caused their going dead and what out of my control caused it. The deadening of strings seemed both inevitable and a puzzle as to the cause(s).

Then, I installed a new set of strings most thoughtfully and found that their useful life life life would last way longer - measured in years; no longer in months.

So, for me, it doesn't seem to be any flaw in any set of strings themselves that causes 'em to go dead. Rather, it seems to be all about the method of installing them.

The Ernie Ball Super Slinky nickel roundwounds I put on my bass in the spring of 2005 sound so great today that I dread having to replace them. Really.

How does one go about "most thoughtfully" installing strings?

 

[Ric5]

Rotosounds go dead the fastest

 

[JW56789]

All of them.

 

[DCCat]

Maybe "youthful vigor" is a descriptor that string mfrs should use instead of brightness. After all, new strings are...new, thus "youthful". And vigor=lively. My youthful vigor disappeared many years ago...but I'm not quite dead yet (I don't think I am anyway!). I guess I could call myself "worn in"...maybe my next stage is "worn out"! I do have a few fret dents in me, and my silk started to disappear quite a few years ago!

So maybe it's useful to talk about the "ages of strings", a la the "ages of man". So maybe ...

1. Youth (aka New) - Fresh, bright, zingy, possibly rough/unbalanced
2. Young Adult (aka Settling?) - Still pretty fresh, but smoothing/taming rough edges
3. Middle Age (aka Worn In) - Mellow, smooth, balanced, comfortable
4. Old Age (aka Worn Out) - Dull, thuddy and not much else, boring
5. Dead - Non-functional (e.g. can't tun or intonate), lifeless

Just having fun and throwing out some ideas to help expand the vocabulary. Of course, all of this is subjective. One person's stage 2 can be another's stage 4, and preferences can differ.

Still, given all that, I suspect the OP is asking about how quickly strings move from stage 1 to 2 or 3, rather than 4 or 5.