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Which do you prefer Steel or Nickel?

Do you prefer steel or nickel bass strings

  • Total voters
    216
#21
I will not vote in this case for one simple reason: You cannot generalise.

It depends on the bass, your natural finger technique sound and other variables.
A nickel string sounds warmer in general while a Stainless set will bring you a more Hi-Fi scooped slappy tone. For the main sound of the instrument, I prefer nickel strings on a Jazz Bass, stainless works nicely with Stingrays too, but so will Nickels...

There is no shortcut, you have to try it and remember one rule: There are no sets of strings (excluding the cheap sets for 5€) that sound bad, what sounds bad is your integration with the strings. Which doesn't mean you suck at playing. It rather shows you, that your fingers do not respond well to a certain string. Change them, try others, see which fit your playstyle and tone expectation. It's a constant battle.
 
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#27
Victor Wooten and Anthony Wellington use nickel strings for jazz. Hmmm. I guess it really is just personal preference. I would like to try steel strings again but don't want to spend $30 or more for bass strings. I want a brighter string so the Blue Steel would not be a good option as they have a beautiful richer sound
 
#28
The last couple of years I have gone with nickels. They don't seem to have quite the metallic sound, especially when new. I am using Ernie Ball Slinkys on three of my five basses right now, DR Sunbeams on my Jack Casady, and Aurora Gold coated strings on one of my EBMM Sterlings.

My guitar tech keep trying to switch me to Rotosound 66's Stainless Steels, but I keep resisting him. I used them back in the '80's, they are certainly good strings, just not my current cup of tea.
 
#29
Green Lantern said:
Victor Wooten and Anthony Wellington use nickel strings for jazz. Hmmm. I guess it really is just personal preference. I would like to try steel strings again but don't want to spend $30 or more for bass strings. I want a brighter string so the Blue Steel would not be a good option as they have a beautiful richer sound
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Well that would make sense. I can't really imagine a steel string in the traditional jazz sound aspect. Blue Steel is a pretty bright string btw. I don't know why would you want to go brighter than that. It messes up with your instrument response in a mix. You will have a bright sound and will cut through the mix like butter, but no real low end to support it.
 
#30
Sparkl said:
Well that would make sense. I can't really imagine a steel string in the traditional jazz sound aspect. Blue Steel is a pretty bright string btw. I don't know why would you want to go brighter than that. It messes up with your instrument response in a mix. You will have a bright sound and will cut through the mix like butter, but no real low end to support it.
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Have not played Blue Steel in over 10 years, maybe I will have to give them a try again.
 
#34
Moosehead1966 said:
Elixir Steels for me. Not super bright because of the coating yet more 'zing' than most nickels in my opinion. Last a long time which is important.

Marc
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I am a long time user of Elixir products - what I realised after a while is that elixirs, in exchange for a long tone, come with certain major drawbacks.

1. The string itself is slick as hell. It messes up with the grip of the hand on the bass neck and makes your playing sometimes less stable since you are more likely to slip off the string once you apply a bit more force in your grip.

2. The no.1 "drawback" does not bother me that much since you can always overcome certain things with technique. What the no.2 drawback is though, is something that cannot be replaced by technique - it softens your hand. After years of playing the elixir strings I lost basically all the hardened skin on my fingertips, making it really hard to play other strings except the elixirs. I switched back to non coated strings a year ago or so and my fingertips are back to the hardy state.

Makes it easier to play different instruments with different sets of strings equipped.
 
#36
Moosehead1966 said:
Sparkle, obviously well thought out observations. Very interesting. I dig em' though.

Marc
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Oh, by all means, Elixir makes one hell of a string. Great tone, great longevity (it's really rare to hear a string zing after a month of heavy usage (5+ hours daily) and still sounds satisfying even way into the 2nd month and more), great quality also. I remember the nanoweb coating used to tear much more back in the days than it does nowadays. Definitely a must try for every bass player. It's even more amazing how the actual longevity of the string compensates for the higher price. Don't know about the states but here in EU a 4string set of Elixirs will cost you around 45-50€. Yet still ends up being cheaper after you realise you would swap at least 2, maybe even 3 sets of regular non coated strings to sustain the fresh string tone. :)
 
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#38
Depends on the bass.
My JB-2, see my avatar, sounds great with D'Addario Pro steels.
All of my other basses are strung D'Addario XL Nickel-plated steels.
Although, LakLand steel sound great too.

Other strings I've tried:
DR Lo Rider Nickels: have a set on my PJ bass. Sounds good so far.
DR Hi Beams: have a set on my dual P bass. These strings have no bass what so ever and are extremely mid scooped. Me no like!!!
 
#39
I prefer steel strings and specifically my standard at the moment is D'addario pro steels. The only exception to that so far is the NYXL strings which are nickel and I use them on my reggae bass. They sound brighter than the nickel strings but still have a lovely warmth to their tone. They are also really smooth to the touch straight out of the bag which makes them much more pleasant on the fingers than straight out of the bag stainless steel strings.
 

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