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*Why* is SS brighter than NPS?
- Thread starter LetItGrowTone
- Start date
@Luckydog,
1. softer nickel conforming slightly where it rubs, giving very slight (but well-distributed) friction compared to harder metals being closer to point-to-point (adapted from @micguy)
2. If the nickel plate is over "regular" (non-stainless, maybe softer) steel, then that could be more absorptive or lossy too. (I was about to suggest this earlier).
**
I shouldn't have said that SS *causes* distortion; stiffness in the string causes enharmonic higher overtones (according to my non-expert understanding), then if SS is brighter it could *expose* this fact. That's what I meant. But so far I have no special complaints about this.
I'm actually much happier with SS than I expected (either round or hex core). I continue working through the options.
Someone should have told us how nice broken-in Roto 66 can be; maybe I just missed it.
1. softer nickel conforming slightly where it rubs, giving very slight (but well-distributed) friction compared to harder metals being closer to point-to-point (adapted from @micguy)
2. If the nickel plate is over "regular" (non-stainless, maybe softer) steel, then that could be more absorptive or lossy too. (I was about to suggest this earlier).
**
I shouldn't have said that SS *causes* distortion; stiffness in the string causes enharmonic higher overtones (according to my non-expert understanding), then if SS is brighter it could *expose* this fact. That's what I meant. But so far I have no special complaints about this.
I'm actually much happier with SS than I expected (either round or hex core). I continue working through the options.
Someone should have told us how nice broken-in Roto 66 can be; maybe I just missed it.
SS round core vs NPS round core test in progress:
Fender J: E,D Hi-Beams, A,G Sunbeams
J-type: E,D Sunbeams, A,G Hi-Beams
Results (not proof, but enough care taken so I can rest with the conclusion):
1) I don't think new Hi-Beams are brighter than new Sunbeams (which reminds me of the exaggerated reputation for brightness of new Roto 66). I think new Hi-Beams and Roto 66 are very crisp, and crispness implies some highs, but I don't think they're brighter.
2) As they break in, the high rolloff of Hi-Beams (and the other SS rounds I'm trying) is natural sounding, like turning down a tone/treble knob, leaving an impression of good mid-focus.
3) But new Sunbeams - and this persists as they break in - in comparison, have a barely noticeable "quack" (I have to turn the tone knob all the way up, which I almost never do, to detect this, so it's no big deal, and I noticed it with Slinkys too). My personal theory I'll go with is that, unlike the smooth rolloff from turning down a tone/treble knob (like Hi-Beams), the NPS string has some damping of highs (as we talked about above), but there remains an artifact - as though the string is audibly a composite structure (which it is of course, as is the SS string, but I'm saying there's a discontinuity in the damping) - that leaves whatever freqs that cause a quack sticking up a little. Barely noticeable.
EDIT: Some people might hear that difference as a bit of extra excitement in Sunbeams, and they might hear Hi-Beams as more plain sounding. I could see that.
I'd say for now that this tiny difference is worth the slightly rougher surface, to me. So when I do round core vs hex core both will be SS.
Of course I could be deaf so don't take it too seriously.
Fender J: E,D Hi-Beams, A,G Sunbeams
J-type: E,D Sunbeams, A,G Hi-Beams
Results (not proof, but enough care taken so I can rest with the conclusion):
1) I don't think new Hi-Beams are brighter than new Sunbeams (which reminds me of the exaggerated reputation for brightness of new Roto 66). I think new Hi-Beams and Roto 66 are very crisp, and crispness implies some highs, but I don't think they're brighter.
2) As they break in, the high rolloff of Hi-Beams (and the other SS rounds I'm trying) is natural sounding, like turning down a tone/treble knob, leaving an impression of good mid-focus.
3) But new Sunbeams - and this persists as they break in - in comparison, have a barely noticeable "quack" (I have to turn the tone knob all the way up, which I almost never do, to detect this, so it's no big deal, and I noticed it with Slinkys too). My personal theory I'll go with is that, unlike the smooth rolloff from turning down a tone/treble knob (like Hi-Beams), the NPS string has some damping of highs (as we talked about above), but there remains an artifact - as though the string is audibly a composite structure (which it is of course, as is the SS string, but I'm saying there's a discontinuity in the damping) - that leaves whatever freqs that cause a quack sticking up a little. Barely noticeable.
EDIT: Some people might hear that difference as a bit of extra excitement in Sunbeams, and they might hear Hi-Beams as more plain sounding. I could see that.
I'd say for now that this tiny difference is worth the slightly rougher surface, to me. So when I do round core vs hex core both will be SS.
Of course I could be deaf so don't take it too seriously.
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This matches my perception of SS strings too. I don't perceive them as "bright" in the same way that other people tend to. I also hear kind of a sizzle or crispness in the highs, but not that they're overly bright. In contrast, I hear NPS as sort of hollow sounding and SS as more even.
I think this is exactly what you mean by "some people might hear [SS] as more plain sounding". I started to really appreciate that tone—especially the way it ages. To me, SS sounds VERY CRISP at first, then quickly much more subdued, and then even SS round wound strings sound good for a long long time (and obviously SS flats are known to age nicely). Whereas NPS, to me, sound way too bright, kind of too bright, kind of fine I guess, and then both dull and bright at the same time. ...both of those are very very exaggerated takes; what I perceive is barely noticeable to me even after many years, but that's how I've been thinking about it.
And, I too have this developed sense that what I'm hearing comes from the purity of the string material instead of the plating. But I have NO idea how the mechanics of that would actually work, and it's probably post hoc placebo kind of confirmation bias.
I think this is exactly what you mean by "some people might hear [SS] as more plain sounding". I started to really appreciate that tone—especially the way it ages. To me, SS sounds VERY CRISP at first, then quickly much more subdued, and then even SS round wound strings sound good for a long long time (and obviously SS flats are known to age nicely). Whereas NPS, to me, sound way too bright, kind of too bright, kind of fine I guess, and then both dull and bright at the same time. ...both of those are very very exaggerated takes; what I perceive is barely noticeable to me even after many years, but that's how I've been thinking about it.
And, I too have this developed sense that what I'm hearing comes from the purity of the string material instead of the plating. But I have NO idea how the mechanics of that would actually work, and it's probably post hoc placebo kind of confirmation bias.
