Another datapoint - 5 string Coated Slinkies

[shakinbacon]

see OP. Strings are fading now. Definitely useable still though.

[shakinbacon]

see op

[keko]

Bacon, You counting days, me hours ...I'm running on mine now approximately 110 playing (gigs) hours with Coated Slinkies, don't counting home practice, ...and feels like just burned in!

But noticed that need some more treble boost than at the beginning, when restrung the bass with fresh ones!

From my point of view it's about half of it's life time now!

We'll keep on turning our counters, right?

[danny-79]

Just changed the set (supers) out on my Ray for a new set , got approx 6 months out of them at say 2hrs a day average (thats about 360hrs), thats pretty good going !
It was shocking at how bright the new set are compared to the set that i took off, but also very nice at how quickly they settle in from new.

[keko]

OK, I was stop counting playing hours with the same Coated set, but here we are, last Saturday wedding I noticed that Coated EB slinkies on my Sterling finally "died"!

I tried to count how many gigs we played since my last post and here we are, ... approximately 400 hours of hard work (gigs, weddings, some band practice and home practice), ...changed batteries in that period twice, so that's it!

Now my band have a short break, a few weeks without gigs, only practice, so I'm thinking about cheap temporary strings 'cause my new Reflex is about to arrive in approx. 2 months...etc.

What do You think guys? Or just to put regular EB slinkies on?

EDIT: actually, only two lower strings are dead, upper three are still sounding good, ...but You are getting the point...

[shakinbacon]

OK, I was stop counting playing hours with the same Coated set, but here we are, last Saturday wedding I noticed that Coated EB slinkies on my Sterling finally "died"!

I tried to count how many gigs we played since my last post and here we are, ... approximately 400 hours of hard work (gigs, weddings, some band practice and home practice), ...changed batteries in that period twice, so that's it!

Now my band have a short break, a few weeks without gigs, only practice, so I'm thinking about cheap temporary strings 'cause my new Reflex is about to arrive in approx. 2 months...etc.

What do You think guys? Or just to put regular EB slinkies on?

EDIT: actually, only two lower strings are dead, upper three are still sounding good, ...but You are getting the point...

My hands sweat a lot and I find the uncoated Slinkies lost a lot of mid/highs after less than a month, so I'm definitely putting a coated set on this week.

[Bass Control]

Wow. All of this information and input is great, Bacon! It certainly makes my decision between flats and coats for my new Reflex when it gets here even harder! The coated strings had intrigued me when I first heard about them, but having a "diary" of usage to go off of helps me better understand what to expect from these strings. Very thorough and helpful!

[shakinbacon]

Wow. All of this information and input is great, Bacon! It certainly makes my decision between flats and coats for my new Reflex when it gets here even harder! The coated strings had intrigued me when I first heard about them, but having a "diary" of usage to go off of helps me better understand what to expect from these strings. Very thorough and helpful!

my pleasure. I am glad you find it useful

If you end up trying the coated strings please post back here with your experience.

[keko]

It certainly makes my decision between flats and coats for my new Reflex when it gets here even harder!

I'll put Coats on the new incoming Reflex too, as soon as factory regular slinkies lose tone!

[oli@bass]

What do You think guys? Or just to put regular EB slinkies on?

This.

BTW, does anybody know a way to make those coated strings feeling less dry? Love the sound, hate the feeling...

[shakinbacon]

This.

BTW, does anybody know a way to make those coated strings feeling less dry? Love the sound, hate the feeling...

That's funny, I actually love the feeling now. My hands sweat and it helps to have the dry feeling

[shakinbacon]

Four things struck me

1) How quickly the regular slinkies died this time (3 weeks) likely due to me sweating more in the summer

2) The E and B string intonation had to be adjust due to what I suspect is slightly higher tension in the coated strings

3) How much more I like the feel of the coated strings (feel a bit dry)

4) How much more I like the sound due to the dryness (seems to allow me to get a bit of right hand "release tone" when I dial in more piezo signal)


Yes boys and girls, I am a big fan of these coated strings!