worst strings I've ever played...

[MoonChild2112]

Recently took my P in to my local shop for a tune up and new strings... unfortunately, he doesn't stock Roto's... had him throw on a set of Darco's ( had never heard of them, but it said they were made by the Martin company)... 2 months later they are still rubberbands... way to "floppy", and sound like crap... anyone else have this experience?

 

[michael_t]

Wow, the name "Darco" brings back some memories from my guitar-playing days...over 30 years ago!

I used to use the Darco 80/20 bronze guitar strings on my Martin D-28 and loved them. But I've never heard of Darco bass strings as such. And I don't think it's a brand I would ever consider for my basses.

 

[mmbongo]

Wow I remember them from the 80's! They were terrible back then too. Had no idea they were still around.

 

[GK Growl]

had him throw on a set of Darco's ( had never heard of them, but it said they were made by the Martin company)... 2 months later they are still rubberbands

So you dealt with this crap for 2 months?

 

[TN WOODMAN]

Probably NOS from the 80s. I remember these for acoustic as well but not electric guitar or bass.

 

[petrus61]

There's a music shop near me that still has Hartke strings on their rack...small wonder so many independent stores get crushed by GC and online sales when they don't care enough about their customers to stock at least a few packs of over priced D'addarios. Bet they had a few sets of those laying around for the guitarists, though.

 

[Axstar]

Never heard of Darco! Worst strings I ever tried were Rotosound 66 Swing Bass. I got them as they were the oldschool roundwound of choice. Chris Squire, Entwistle, yadda yadda. I unpacked four strings that looked and felt like they came from totally different sets, maybe even manufacturers. The E string had no fundamental to it, just harmonic overtone sizzle. The A string had no sustain and was a different colour to the rest. The D string had a solid fundamental. The G string was louder and unbelievably bright. They felt like saw blades and lost their tone within hours of playing. Vastly overpriced, overrated strings, in my opinion. Technology has moved on since the '60s.

 

[jbrew73]

Never heard of Darco! Worst strings I ever tried were Rotosound 66 Swing Bass. I got them as they were the oldschool roundwound of choice. Chris Squire, Entwistle, yadda yadda. I unpacked four strings that looked and felt like they came from totally different sets, maybe even manufacturers. The E string had no fundamental to it, just harmonic overtone sizzle. The A string had no sustain and was a different colour to the rest. The D string had a solid fundamental. The G string was louder and unbelievably bright. They felt like saw blades and lost their tone within hours of playing. Vastly overpriced, overrated strings, in my opinion. Technology has moved on since the '60s.

THIS!!!!!!

 

[lz4005]

OP took a bass to a store to get the strings changed, didn't check to see if they had the strings he wanted then expected them to get less floppy over time.

Totally the store's fault.

 

[Al Kraft]

Haven't heard the name Darco since the mid 80's, and only then as acoustic guitar strings. I was using GHS and D-Adddario strings at the time for bass and on my acoustic guitars.

 

[two fingers]

Yeah I had a set of these until recently. Still in the pack. I gave them to a kid a church not long ago.

 

[tangentmusic]

I'm glad you didn't say Rotosounds..

Never heard of Darco's either.

 

[MoonChild2112]

So you dealt with this crap for 2 months?

unavoidable circumstances... but yeah... gonna break down and hit the GC next time I'm in the city... as I have mentioned before on TB, OKC SUCKS for Bass stuff...


as for expecting them to tighten up... I expected a certain amount of stretch, but it seems like they are still going... tune it to standard (EADG), and within 15 minutes it's flat again... and it's not the tuners, they've always been really good at holding tune for sometimes weeks at a time...

 

[woodyng2]

The worst i tried was An italian made set called Dogel strings.
They made Roto66's seem refined.
They were dirt cheap,and now i know why.

 

[Axstar]

THIS!!!!!!

I never thought my slightly brutal assessment of Rotos would bring so much support out of the woodwork. I feel like I should be 'buying British' and supporting the home team, but I felt like they were akin to owning a '70s British car. Iconic, yes! Historically significant, yes! Famous users, yes yes yes! Quality control issues, yes! Eclipsed and surpassed by foreign rivals, yes! Maybe a good string if you are big enough to buy them by the roadcase-full, and you have a roadie that restrings your twenty basses before each gig and throws out the duff strings with the issues outlined above. Strings for old English geezers who refer to treble as 'top' and who consider double denim, leather waistcoats and greasy ponytails to be the height of sartorial elegance.

 

[MoonChild2112]

I never thought my slightly brutal assessment of Rotos would bring so much support out of the woodwork. I feel like I should be 'buying British' and supporting the home team, but I felt like they were akin to owning a '70s British car. Iconic, yes! Historically significant, yes! Famous users, yes yes yes! Quality control issues, yes! Eclipsed and surpassed by foreign rivals, yes! Maybe a good string if you are big enough to buy them by the roadcase-full, and you have a roadie that restrings your twenty basses before each gig and throws out the duff strings with the issues outlined above. Strings for old English geezers who refer to treble as 'top' and who consider double denim, leather waistcoats and greasy ponytails to be the height of sartorial elegance.

OI! my ponytail's not greasy...

 

[ThudThudThud]

I've posted before about my skin/sweat and the effect on Rotosound strings. Dead within the hour. That said, they're a great string for those few minutes. The 'Superwound' versions were SOOOO bright. Again, for just little while.

I had some Fender strings in the 90s that were just dreadful. Broke so easily (and I wasn't abusing them). I think they've worked through that... I love their strings now.

 

[Obese Chess]

Never heard of Darco! Worst strings I ever tried were Rotosound 66 Swing Bass. I got them as they were the oldschool roundwound of choice. Chris Squire, Entwistle, yadda yadda. I unpacked four strings that looked and felt like they came from totally different sets, maybe even manufacturers. The E string had no fundamental to it, just harmonic overtone sizzle. The A string had no sustain and was a different colour to the rest. The D string had a solid fundamental. The G string was louder and unbelievably bright. They felt like saw blades and lost their tone within hours of playing. Vastly overpriced, overrated strings, in my opinion. Technology has moved on since the '60s.

I only like Rotosounds when they're dead. NOTHING sounds like a P-Bass with dead Rotosounds.

That said, the ones I hated most were DR DDTs - unbelievably high tension, died almost instantly, incredibly grabby and rough on the fingers.

 

[petrus61]

I never thought my slightly brutal assessment of Rotos would bring so much support out of the woodwork. I feel like I should be 'buying British' and supporting the home team, but I felt like they were akin to owning a '70s British car. Iconic, yes! Historically significant, yes! Famous users, yes yes yes! Quality control issues, yes! Eclipsed and surpassed by foreign rivals, yes! Maybe a good string if you are big enough to buy them by the roadcase-full, and you have a roadie that restrings your twenty basses before each gig and throws out the duff strings with the issues outlined above. Strings for old English geezers who refer to treble as 'top' and who consider double denim, leather waistcoats and greasy ponytails to be the height of sartorial elegance.

Poetry

 

[joinercape]

"Ground wound semi-flats". Absolute rubbish.