Hi string gurus. Can anyone identify these strings? I read through a bunch of silk color threads but didn’t find a match. They are roundwound, roughly 45-105, have grey silk wrap on the post end (see pic) , no silk on ball end, and a tarnished looking silver ball (all strings same color) on ball end. No idea how old they are (came on a recently acquired used bass) but they feel great and I love the tone I’m getting. Want to try a new set of these on this bass before I go back to my old standards.
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Yet another please identify these strings thread…
- Thread starter cxc
- Start date
Stainless steel roundwound with light silver silk + black ball ends + no exposed core = Dean Markley Blue Steels, confirmed.
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DM Blue Steels are still available, but Dean Markley closed down their own factory a while ago, so the Blue Steels of today are not the same as the Blue Steels of years past.
You might want to check into Apex Bass Strings, which is a company that was started up by people who used to work for Dean Markley.
Apex® Bass Strings - Apex® Strings
Oh boy... Maybe, in fact, that's the Super Steels!
Black ball end at G string:
And light silver/white silk:
Black ball end at G string:
And light silver/white silk:
The grey silk on the Super Steels is darker and the ball ends are silver, not black.
To add...
The GHS Super Steels are 38" in winding length (ball end to silk). The ones in the OP's pic appear to be shorter than 38", more like 37.25" based on where the silks start at the headstock.
You've actually solved a years-old mystery for me. Many years ago (15? 20?) I had a bass that came to me with strings like this on them. I went to a local music shop to ask for help identifying them, the guy working that day was less than helpful. Cut me off before I finished describing them and said "If they're not DRs, I can't help you. DR is the only bass string we carry."
I had actually forgotten that interaction until I saw the picture of OP's strings. So @michael_t , thank you at long last for closure on that!
They might be nickel plated steel but either way I'm pretty certain you're looking at Blue Steels. Yes I am a fan and yes I have a pack of the pure stainless blue Steels ready to go back in once I'm done expirimenting with some Fodera strings. Also very nice strings by the way.
The Nickel version of Blue Steels would have black and blue ball ends, while the stainless steel version would have them all black.
Blue Steel Nickels...
I've had a set of steels that had black and blue ends as well. I know they have been changing things a lot over the last few years.
OK... I'll take your word for it as you have more first-hand experiences with them. I'm just going by what I've read.
I seem to recall them using different silks, different balls, mix and match especially around the time they were changing factories. I remember some of the threads guys have created asking is this real, are they legit, etc. The last set of steels I used had no silk and black and blue ball ends. I think they do those things just to trip guys like us out when we're trying to psychoanalyse strings. Hahaha
