Why did Labella stop producing Hard Rockin Steels?

[GTHintz]

I wanted to throw this out there and see. Just like in the title why are these not still being produced? The black Silk is really sleek and cool looking. The feel and tone of these is great. They sound very deep and can be great for lots of different music. Overall very classy and are everything the current RX strings OUGHT to be. I know LaBella is all about their flats and they make tons of different strings for violin, cello, banjo, you name the stringed instrument they probably make strings but I just wonder what was going through their minds when they ditched the hrs for only the RX. if they were going to pick one they should have kept the hrs and ditched the RX. This rant comes as I got a very good deal on a set of Hard Rockin Steels and I got them on my bass. As I get time on them I'm really impressed with the tone and how they feel nice for being rounds. They don't feel loose but not tight either so it's a great balance. Having tried RX strings I don't see the same quality. Not only did I get a complete defective string in my set but they weren't even very uniform in feel or color. It looked cheap to me and that's not good as I've found better quality strings coming from no name places on eBay nobody's heard of. So let's see what happens in this poll.

 

[GTHintz]

just for full disclosure the b string is indeed a labella Rx from the botched set I have been keeping since I bought them. The b is actually ok luckily.

 

[Rocket Queen]

I wanted to throw this out there and see. Just like in the title why are these not still being produced? The black Silk is really sleek and cool looking. The feel and tone of these is great. They sound very deep and can be great for lots of different music. Overall very classy and are everything the current RX strings OUGHT to be. I know LaBella is all about their flats and they make tons of different strings for violin, cello, banjo, you name the stringed instrument they probably make strings but I just wonder what was going through their minds when they ditched the hrs for only the RX. if they were going to pick one they should have kept the hrs and ditched the RX. This rant comes as I got a very good deal on a set of Hard Rockin Steels and I got them on my bass. As I get time on them I'm really impressed with the tone and how they feel nice for being rounds. They don't feel loose but not tight either so it's a great balance. Having tried RX strings I don't see the same quality. Not only did I get a complete defective string in my set but they weren't even very uniform in feel or color. It looked cheap to me and that's not good as I've found better quality strings coming from no name places on eBay nobody's heard of. So let's see what happens in this poll.

Maybe @LaBellaStrings can tell us.

 

[GTHintz]

That would be great to hear some insight. I know some people like really low tension strings and they hate silk on their strings but it's good to have both. Jon from ghs says himself that rounds outsell flats 10:1 so it just makes sense to have options. Maybe labella will make custom sets that resemble hrs strings or maybe black label sadowsky strings are the hard rockin steels but slightly altered so they figured it's pointless to package the same string in 2 different names. Either way I'd love to see the hrs make a comeback.

 

[Luckydog]

For a while (after the demise of the HRS), La Bella was selling what they called just stainless steel:

They retained the same model number- M45, and I think they are identical to the original HRS, sans the red packaging of the HRS. I bought 6 sets a year or so ago, for a good price, likely due to La Bella discontinuing that line. You can still find them online, and perhaps on some store shelves, but if you truly like the HRS, you should snap these up if you find them. I consider them to be nearly identical in tone/performance as DR stainless Lo Riders, but I haven't truly done any side by side tests.

 

[GTHintz]

I get the LoRiders comparison. They are a good string too. I just wonder why they would get rid of that. Dunlop still has their original rounds as well as the super bright series. The original stainless are really good strings. I had them for a while before trying others.

 

[tindrum]

I get the LoRiders comparison. They are a good string too. I just wonder why they would get rid of that. Dunlop still has their original rounds as well as the super bright series. The original stainless are really good strings. I had them for a while before trying others.

Recently I’ve been using the regular (not Super Brights) Dunlop Stainless strings. They are excellent! I’ve used DR LoRiders many, many times and can say they are extremely similar. The Dunlops might be a tiny bit more flexible but otherwise they are pretty identical.

 

[michael_t]

Maybe part of the reason why La Bella decided to discontinue the HRS line, and also the Deep Talkin' Rounds, is there are too many out there that are similar, such as the DR SS Lo-Riders and the regular Dunlop SS rounds already mentioned. That would in turn allow them to focus their attention on what they've always excelled at, ie making flats that are uniquely La Bella.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Maybe part of the reason why La Bella decided to discontinue the HRS line, and also the Deep Talkin' Rounds, is there are too many out there that are similar, such as the DR SS Lo-Riders and the regular Dunlop SS rounds already mentioned. That would in turn allow them to focus their attention on what they've always excelled at, ie making flats that are uniquely La Bella.

Or, they have RX rounds and don't need to confuse consumers with extra lines.

 

[Gustopher]

The answer 9 times out of 10 is demand/product overlap.

 

[micguy]

My guess is they weren't selling. People tend to go to La Bellas for flats; their other offerings are like basses from fender that aren't a P or J - not enough people buy them to make it worth their while, so they get discontinued. The RX might have been a resurrection attempt - you have a decent product already developed, but it's a flop in the market? Try rebadging it to see if it'll sell under another guise.

I once bought a set of their quarter rounds (which sounds like rounds with most of the winding hacked off). Actually, they were more like 3/4 rounds - rounds with just a little bit hacked off. I kinda liked 'em, but by the time I got to ordering another set, they were gone.

 

[Rocket Queen]

Or, they have RX rounds and don't need to confuse consumers with extra lines.
View attachment 4611294

Possibly, although the OP thought that the RXs weren't as good and should have been discontinued instead.

 

[GTHintz]

I'll admit that I'm biased due to the fact I got 2 decent strings out of a pack of 5 when I tried RX. The inconsistency of the strings was really sad. I know 1 pack is a very small sample size but still I got a good set of hrs that have been sitting for years and they strung up great. But like I said from a business standpoint it's just a good thing to have options especially for rounds that people buy much more often than flats. Have silked stiffer hard rockin steels and put them next to the more flexible and unsilked RX. That's enough to cover most people who like rounds. Especially having both stainless and nickel steel. But to comment on Michael T's post I'd say if I'm LaBella I'd want to be getting the business for Dunlop instead of them. Sure it can be similar but sales are sales and as a consumer we get competition which makes the product better and cheaper and more options which is all around better. Open market economies are what keeps the playing field fair and competitive.

 

[Vinny_G]

They kept the Super Steps, however, which are exposed core stainless steel strings. They've even updated the packaging, which must mean they're selling well.

 

[iiipopes]

Um, because they didn't sell enough that it continued to be economically feasible? Problems with suppliers getting the spec's core and wrap wire for the strings? Changes in the technology or manufacturing that made other strings "better"? the President of the company woke up one morning and just didn't care for them anymore? Problems in the supply chain for packaging? There are many reasons, none of them exclusive. But most are driven by economics of the market.

 

[trothwell]

Perhaps the lesson for us here is that if we really like some particular string, we need to purchase it in ridiculously huge quantities, to both stockpile it for ourselves and promote its economic success.

 

[iiipopes]

Perhaps the lesson for us here is that if we really like some particular string, we need to purchase it in ridiculously huge quantities, to both stockpile it for ourselves and promote its economic success.

Yes. I have lost count over the decades the number of string sets I liked and were then discontinued. So I have several sets of D'Addario 170BT plus 130 singles for the B string, and when Gibson discontinued their Masterbuilt 80/20 strings a couple of years ago (I don't know what the new ones are or what they claim to be) I did order a dozen sets to have on hand. I change strings on my J-45 about once a year since I don't play it that much, so this should last me awhile.

 

[bucephylus]

I recently acquired a bass from another TB’er, said bass arriving with some of the best SS strings I’ve ever played. I’m a long time DR player; but, these really impressed me. Turns out they are RX steels. So, I’m a bit surprised by all the negative comments in this thread. The set I’ve still got on the bass is outstanding.

 

[GTHintz]

I recently acquired a bass from another TB’er, said bass arriving with some of the best SS strings I’ve ever played. I’m a long time DR player; but, these really impressed me. Turns out they are RX steels. So, I’m a bit surprised by all the negative comments in this thread. The set I’ve still got on the bass is outstanding.

Op here, the only reason I was disappointed with these was that the pack I bought had strings that were different shades, different tone from each oth and the d string was absolutely dead on arrival. Also customer support was not very supportive. I was supposed to get a replacement d string but never did. I will say that the b string and e string are both nice and they sounded good strung up. So if I would have gotten a whole pack of strings like the b&e then I'd have been praising them too. I also talked about how I used the b from the Rx pack and completed a set of Hard Rocking Steels which LaBella used to make and I've been playing them for months and been really happy. I was thinking about how quality control must have gone down and that they should bring the hard rocking steels if they can't seem to get the Rx strings right. However I'm really glad you got a bass with the strings performing the way they ought to be! It's good to hear some positive experience with them too!

 

[TomB]

Love the nickel RX 5- string sets. Totally consistent sound and appearance.