New string day.

Just bought me some RS 66LC stainless steel this time! Crazy hard on the fingers but they sound amazing, build up my calluses. Medium gauge, I was hoping for light gauge but they had none. I like this gauge cause its 40-95 (although I don't know what me G string was) I normally have 100 or 105 E strings. I have a video if anybody wants me to upload it but as usual, its pretty bad.

rs66lc ... thats what i been playing lately, but only on the stainless steel fretted bass ... dont want to ruin the nickel frets on the washburn. rotos chew nickel frets up.

They are simply amazing aren't they. I don't care about frets, basses are made to make sounds not to stay in perfect condition. I had a set long ago but its been a while

No other string can touch that TWANG.

No bass strings scream like Rotos do!

God... I may never switch back!

clank and twang for 3.00 a set..."story of my tone" to follow someday


.
"I don't care about frets, basses are made to make sounds not to stay in perfect condition. I had a set long ago but its been a while"


^^^^ ya until you can't play it anymore from premature fretwear, and you like the unit and want it fixed....

Awright Mike. You've peaked my curiosity! Tell me more about those Guitar Research bass strings.

1. They sound that good for only $3 a set?

2. How well do they stay in tune on a trem?

3. How long do they last as far as brightness and tone?

4. How long do they last until they break?

5. Are they pure stainless, or nickel?

6. Who really makes them?

7. Where can I get them for so cheap?

EricHaven wrote:

Awright Mike. You've peaked my curiosity! Tell me more about those Guitar Research bass strings.

1. They sound that good for only $3 a set?
2. How well do they stay in tune on a trem?
3. How long do they last as far as brightness and tone?
4. How long do they last until they break?
5. Are they pure stainless, or nickel?
6. Who really makes them?
7. Where can I get them for so cheap?

1. they are not 45.00 strings you want me to mail you a set and see how quick you can kill them?
2. I have used these strings for 3 years on the old black kahler bass, and now the white one
3. on my main players I cant tell a difference even 6 months later.
4. break a string? how do you do that? ( n/m I shouldn't ask )
5. probably a mix of metals, but the ad says nickel.
6. I have no clue
7. Sam ash always has a monthly sale on either the lights 45-100 or 50-105 mediums I just bought 6 more packs.

8. the first batch I got 2 years ago of 30 sets were a 66 cent sale.
9. the latest batch were 3 bucks a piece ( 3 packs for 9.99 ) and I bought 6 more sets.
10. I'll use em till there are no more as I used to use ALICE strings for 2-3 bucks a pack and they DID suck!!!
11. never a defective core, or ball end that snaps off from mis-winding.


and now for the let-down Eric...the price went up to 14.95 for 3 packs, but still cheap......

If you are willing to cut loose a set, I would love to try them out! I'll PM you my mailing address. Let me know if you want me to send you some money for the set.

I figured they weren't like a set of $45 strings would be, but I also know that the mark-ups on strings (and most every other piece of musical gear in existence) is ridiculous. A cousin of mine once worked for Guitar Center, and he told me that even though they sold sets of Rotosounds for $45, they paid only $12 for each set. So you have to figure that if $12 a set is enough of a wholesale profit for Rotosound, there is no way they have anywhere near $45 worth of cost in them.

I did see the Sam Ash listing of $15 for three sets, and that's still not bad. At $5 per set, plus shipping, that's actually pretty decent.

LOL! I have also tried those Alice brand strings. Let me guess....you found yours on eBay, right? You're right. They're trash.

How do I break a string? Heck, how don't I break a string!

Oh, and I did notice that set of D'Addario XL's in the picture. A local music shop just opened, and they are selling XL bass strings for $12. so I grabbed a set. After only about a week of playing (well, OK....after a week of what I do to strings!), they are already dead as a doornail. Never again, unless I'm desperate!

those alice were a 6 pack for 20 bucks on ebay and i probably went thru 6packs in 6 months. they could go dead just sitting in the case they were so bad, but whoever makes these GR's, although I would never recommend them for a highend or any bass trying to be as crystal clear as possible with very little overtones or distortion coming from a "low quality controlled" string manufacturing plant, but for you and me and a million others looking for the grind..they work.

the XL's were a 10pack for 10 bucks so I bought em and actually only used 2 sets in a long time since I don't play the giutar too much anymore and I got both your PM and I'll put it in the mail tomorrow,

Lucky you Mike. I got Like $3.95 in my paypal, I'm curious to try these out too!

I'll prolly use these for my trem bass. But for my other basses (that don't break strings easy) I'm a lot more willing to use expensive strings.


Oh and a 100 E isn't light. These Roto medium's E is 95. lol I wanna try like an 80 E

EricHaven wrote:

Oh, and I did notice that set of D'Addario XL's in the picture. A local music shop just opened, and they are selling XL bass strings for $12. so I grabbed a set. After only about a week of playing (well, OK....after a week of what I do to strings!), they are already dead as a doornail. Never again, unless I'm desperate!

EB super slinkies are sweet! Last I checked they were $17 and I just has a set last me 2 years until d string broke. They got dead a long time ago but they sound much better than any dead roundwound I've ever had.

amimbari wrote:

I got both your PM and I'll put it in the mail tomorrow,

Thanks, Bro!

I'll let Eric try a 3 pack, and if he gives them good reviews, then I'll buy 500 more and say they are endorsed by EH, and make some money, and his commission will help pay his bills for a month

as a sidenote since this IS a board about trems, and Eric's music is based upon it, this will give me the opportunity to also see what they can take because for the most part, I just use mine as a fancy fixed/floating bridge with the occasional 1/2 step 1 step pull and bend

I would LOVE to have multicolored strings to match the basses, or rounds that are soooo smooth you start sliding around the frets with zero squeek, but the cost goes way up, and I still have the 3 year old DR's on my Tbird, and it always sounds the same since I put em on.

my point is yes I could buy 1 set of $$ strings for each bass and call it a day but the problem is I like to buy and sell and everything that comes to the house gets strings on it 5 minutes after I play thru my amp and that's where the need for cheap strings comes more into play here.

You just gotta be awesome like me. I got a free set of NEW DR black beauties. I don't really like em much tho.

T. Gunn wrote:

You just gotta be awesome like me. I got a free set of NEW DR black beauties. I don't really like em much tho.

1 free set is no good when there's a dozen more behind that one waiting to be strung

amimbari wrote:

I'll let Eric try a 3 pack, and if he gives them good reviews, then I'll buy 500 more and say they are endorsed by EH, and make some money, and his commission will help pay his bills for a month

Man....you are putting WAY too much faith in me! More like, I endorse them, only to discover that nobody gives a rat behind, which will put us deeply in debt, so we'll have to request a government bailout package!

amimbari wrote:

as a sidenote since this IS a board about trems, and Eric's music is based upon it, this will give me the opportunity to also see what they can take because for the most part, I just use mine as a fancy fixed/floating bridge with the occasional 1/2 step 1 step pull and bend

Now here is something I can definitely be of help with, because to say that I torture my strings would be a serious understatement! So I will give the GR strings my usual treatment, and I will report my findings here. I am hopeful they will work well, since it would be nice to find a brand of strings that actually work well for what I do without breaking the bank.

amimbari wrote:

T. Gunn wrote:

You just gotta be awesome like me. I got a free set of NEW DR black beauties. I don't really like em much tho.

1 free set is no good when there's a dozen more behind that one waiting to be strung

I keep all my old strings in case of emergency. Dead strings are better than old strings.

T. Gunn wrote:

amimbari wrote:

T. Gunn wrote:

You just gotta be awesome like me. I got a free set of NEW DR black beauties. I don't really like em much tho.

1 free set is no good when there's a dozen more behind that one waiting to be strung

I keep all my old strings in case of emergency. Dead strings are better than old strings.

you know what's funny, I still have a few good sets hanging on a hook in the jamroom that probably have years of life IF I were to clean em up but there's no need.

Remember, if I had 1-3 basses the cheap string thing would not be a factor, but to spend 200-300 on strings every few months as I buy and sell is kinda steep. That JX I just bought has dead strings on it, so there's another good example of "oh hell not another 40 bucks again"

That is especially true in your case, Mike. Since you own so many basses, I can well imagine it being a nightmare having to keep all of them with good strings.

Yeah I only have 4 basses that use strings, and I have no plans to sell lol

Does that mean you own some basses that don't use strings, T?

ok ... i've seen other gr products and always opted to go with the name brand instead. if its an instrument cable ... i might as well spend $3 more for the peavey or $6 more for the dimarzio (i just bought 3 new 20' dimarzio cables after having to re - solder my 3 no name brand cables 3 or 4 times). i've just shyed away because i always viewed them as a guitar center special. no thanks.

when it comes to strings ... i am real particular. i guess i just play because i enjoy it. if a brand of string takes away from that enjoyment ... i wont use it.

it doesnt come down to a money thing. maybe it just because i'm in the metropolitan philadelphia area ... all strings are about $20 +- a few bucks. elixer's are $27 ... dr's are $18.

over the last 4 years i've gone thru all the brands of string i could find because rotosound was having a quality control issue ... cores kept snapping. $20 a pack ... i had to find something else.

dr's, ernie ball, d'addario, ken smith, blue steel, fender, dunlop, hartke, ghs ... not happy with many of them. all of these, the ken smith's were the best. all ran about $20 a set.

then i found the curt mangan strings. heavier than rotosounds. dont have that roto crispness out oif the pack, but where the rotos go flat in time, the mangans hold their response longer ... like a month longer. also, the mangan SS sets dont do fret dammage like the rotos do.

i heard reports here, and other places that roto addressed their quality issues ... so when i got the bass with the stainless frets ... i went back to them.

so ........

rotosounds on the p bass with the kahler.

curt mangans on the 2 washburns.

i think i'll try a set of these guitar research strings ... just to try ... but i suspect they wont have any ring to them, will loose their ring real qick and go flat or will just flop around under my right hand fingers like dr's do and i just wont like em.

and yes ... to whoever said it ... i save my old strings too; wrapped up in the package from the new strings, throw the old - old ones away and keep the machine head curl on it (if i have the quick load bridge) so i can throw one on super quick at a practice or a gig if i need to.

I have like 5 sets sitting in my dresser. 2 flats and 3 various rounds!

I would never try to overwhelm someone with something I like but they may not. I hope that Eric and Mike find one more "alternative" to try, and nothing more. why not right?

If the strings were 20 bucks a pack, or 2 bucks, if they are something you can use then great and everyone wins, if they don't then the lost cash is not monumental and you just won't ever buy them again.

Believe me, Mike. If I like the strings, I will become quite the loud advocate for them. And if not, I'll be honest about why.

I'm hoping you'll hate them, because when SamAsh has a sale if you tell 25 people to buy them, and they each buy 24-36 sets I may not be able to get anymore before the website says "no more in stock" ..hehehe

the package is on the way and on the slip it says ETA Monday 7-12, so I guess by the end of next week, we will have a review you can START A NEW THREAD with please...

you know:

"My testdrive of GR cheapies" or something like that..hahaha

You got it, Bro!