shakinbacon
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2008
- Messages
- 791
Just put them on my Bongo. Will keep you updated.
Generally regular slinkies last 1-3 months depending on how often I play, how much I sweat and how diligent I am with cleaning the strings. With the amount of play these will be getting, the reference is 42 days for regular Slinkies (as you'll see below).
Day 1: 11/30/09 Feel great. Slightly brighter than broken in regular set. Looks identical to me. Tune up just fine. Forgot how much I like round wound strings (replaced EB flats which were great, but there was just something missing - maybe I need another bass and string it with flats? Santa you listening??)
On closer inspection the B string seems brighter in color than the other strings, but only slightly. I had no issues with strings slipping (I use 2-4 wraps around the posts). Based on the string feel, I don't expect the friction to be much different from the regular strings. The piezos worked just fine with the strings in case you were wondering.
Day 2: No surprises. Still in tune and tone great. Nice throatiness to the tone. No wonder Musicman instruments were voiced around slinkies - it sounds so great when playing along to a mix. Solo'd doesn't sound great for the same tone (this isn't particular to the bass or strings - I'm just saying that what works in a mix (which is the main point imho) may not work in a solo setting. In a solo setting a "scooped" tone usually works for me. The Bongo can easily get that tone too. But I digress, the strings sound and feel great.
Day 4: Zinginess tamed a bit - not as metallic... this is how I like it. Tone is great, I'm loving the piezo tone pulling a bit from low & hi mids while boosting bass & treble. You'd think this would sound super scooped, but the piezo tone has a lot of mids in it to begin with. Lots of "throatiness" when using only magnetic pickups. No change in feel or tunability. These strings stay in tune as well as regular slinkies to me.
Day 6: No changes, stay in tune just fine. Nice "throatiness" to tone (as with regular Slinkies). I'm doing the typical twiddling of knobs to get the tone just right. Whish I didn't have so many options on the eq somedays as I have a tendency to focus on tone more than improving technique - sigh.
Day 10: Still going strong. The throatiness is great, although alot of it is the Bongo's natural tone. No change in tone or feel on the strings. I wipe them down after each practice session.
Day 19: Haven't been playing as much as I'd like, but no change - sound and feel great. Stay in tune quite well.
Day 29: No change.
Day 34: Still no change. Getting more playing time in on 'em too.
Day 37: Long practice with band sounded great
Day 38: Brightness seems to have reduced a bit. This may be due to my raising the action slightly... Not sure if this is my imagination, I'll report back on this.
Day 40: Think the brightness is still there and it was just my raising the action. The clank of low action gave the impression of more treble.
1/11/10
Day 42: The brightness reduction was an illusion. Strings still going strong. Sounded great at a gig. There is a bit of dryness to the feel when I sweat, but I like it. Intonation is spot on at the 12th fret (using Peterson strobe tuner)
1/13/10
Day 44: Tone sounds great, intonation spot on. Let's see how long this lasts
1/17/10
Day 47: Tone sounds great, but they no longer sound new. These seem to last about the same as a normal set for me to get to this point. bummer. I'll be ordering the normal set now. See below.
1/19/10
Day 49: I'm happy to report the strings are still going strong. I happened to check the batteries and they were at 7.9V each. I didn't think this would make a difference but I put fresh batteries and viola!... they sounded new again. I A/B'd with the new/old batteries a few times to make sure what I heard was real. This may have been why the more I played the bass for a practice session, the more high end zing I'd lose. Maybe the batteries were draining and recovering (sagging) after each practice. This makes no sense to me, but I'm just happy things are back. Thus the experiment continues and I've learned a lesson.
1/20/10
Day 50: Definitely still sound good. Had band practice and I have no complaints. I did order some regular Slinkies at the request of another forum member so I'll try swapping at some point.
1/23/10
Day 53: Put on a new 2836 (non coated set) B string to check if tone died at all. It didn't. True that the new string needs some time to even out, but I could tell pretty quickly that the coated B was far from "dead". Put the 3836 (coated) B back on to continue experiment.
2/2/10
Day 63: Still sounding great. Not sure if there is a slight loss of treble but they sound great. I'm pretty happy so far.
2/5/10
Day 66: Sound great but switched to regular 2836 (uncoated) set for comparison. I plan on putting the same 3836 (coated) set back on after the 2836 dies out.
2/6/10
Day 1 (uncoated): I'm surprised how little a difference there is in the tone of the coated and uncoated. Yes, there is more zing due to the new uncoated strings being fresh, but it really isn't *that* much. I'm also surprised that my hands felt sweaty now and I miss the "dryness" of the coated set. That's pretty funny as I initially thought I didn't like the feel of the coated strings. Now I miss them.
2/11/10
Day 5 (uncoated): Strings settled nicely. I've gotten used to the "wet" feel of the strings compared to the coated set. No suprise, strings sound good. By the way, I found I had to adjust the intonation of the bass a bit. It seemed that the uncoated had slightly higher tension on the B string. Could be my imagination but the action definitely raised for the B string. The truss rod got tweaked ever so slightly. Since then the intonation is spot on and the tuning is very stable.
2/14/10
Day 8 (uncoated): Strings sound great. Still sweaty feeling. It cracks me up how I miss the "dryness" of the coated sets now.
2/16/10
Day 16 (uncoated): No surprise - still sound great.
3/1/10
Day 29 (uncoated): They seem to be fading slightly. Sound good though. Intonation and action holding up well.
3/7/10
Day 35 (uncoated): Sound good, intonation and playability fine.
3/9/10
Day 37 (uncoated): Sound good but treble fading. Intonation and tuning not quite as stable. Maybe in my head but I'm missing the coated strings
3/10/10
Day 38 (uncoated): Definitely fading. Probably a week left in these.
3/14/10
Day 42 (uncoated): They felt dead by my standards (still life left - don't sound bad but intonation, punch and zing fading fast). Switched back to coated set I switched out on 2/5/10 to continue the experiment. The tension seems different, especially on the B string... its a bit higher on the coated - maybe a fluke though. Overall I like the feel better. Its nice to have the "dry" feeling back.
3/15/10
Day 67 (coated): Strings definitely sound better than uncoated set that I just swapped out. The B and G strings are more focused and defined. The intonation and tuning are very stable. I missed this set.
3/16/10
Day 68: There's no question I favor these over the set I swapped out. The tuning stability is much, much better. I love the feel and the tone is more focused. I hope these last long enough to make it economically viable.
3/18/10
Day 70: Band practice the Bongo with the 3836 was the best I've ever sounded. I eq'ed a boost in lo/hi mids, slight in bass, added 50/50 mag piezo and cut the treble. Awesome while playing and the recording of the practice confirmed what I thought. No doubt these 70 day old strings sound better than the 42 day old uncoated set.
3/21/10
Day 73: Gig went great. Tone, feel and intonation all top notch. The strings are going strong.
3/25/10
Day 77: Practiced for hours. No change: they're going strong. The dryness of the strings helps the tone of the piezo imho. Its pretty minor
3/28/10
Day 80: Still doing great
4/1/10
Day 84: Still doing great. Milestone. These have lasted 2X the uncoated counterparts and are still going strong. These are my new strings. Sounded flippin' fantastic at band practice through the Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 tube DI! The experiment in longevity will continue...
4/4/10
Day 87: Played Easter Service at church and it was awesome. Tone for days. Thick, supportive, articulate yet punched through the mix (credit also goes to the Bongo mid controls, piezo transducers and Genz Benz Shuttle Tube DI).
4/8/10
Day 91: Still doing great! Band practice went well, plenty of frequencies in the bass track. Very rich bass and treble and complex mids (I should review wines huh?)
4/14/10
Day 97: No real change.
4/18/10
Day 101: Doing great. Tuning stability waivering on the A string slightly, but could be the hotter CA weather.
4/25/10
Day 108: Plenty of high end. Doing great
5/03/10
Day 116: Yup... still doin' great.
5/10/10
Day 123: Plenty of high end - little if no loss. Tone sounds great.
5/16/10
Day 129: These strings rock. Listened to a recording of today's church service and the bass sounded fantastic if I do say so myself. The amp tone while playing live sounded great too.
5/27/10
Day 140: High end has been fading for the last week, but I wanted to wait to be sure. Definitely can tell a difference now. Still sound good (they aren't dead) but I think I'll declare 135 days on this set. That is over 3x what a normal set would last me.
6/6/10
Day 150: Even though the zing has died down I've kept them on. Still sound good and are absolutely useable.
6/14/10
Day 158: Still sound good. I'll get to changing 'em soon I promise. Just been too busy and the piezo pickups really extend the life of strings (strings dying? add more piezo signal and boost the bass and low mids accordingly)
Generally regular slinkies last 1-3 months depending on how often I play, how much I sweat and how diligent I am with cleaning the strings. With the amount of play these will be getting, the reference is 42 days for regular Slinkies (as you'll see below).
Day 1: 11/30/09 Feel great. Slightly brighter than broken in regular set. Looks identical to me. Tune up just fine. Forgot how much I like round wound strings (replaced EB flats which were great, but there was just something missing - maybe I need another bass and string it with flats? Santa you listening??)
On closer inspection the B string seems brighter in color than the other strings, but only slightly. I had no issues with strings slipping (I use 2-4 wraps around the posts). Based on the string feel, I don't expect the friction to be much different from the regular strings. The piezos worked just fine with the strings in case you were wondering.
Day 2: No surprises. Still in tune and tone great. Nice throatiness to the tone. No wonder Musicman instruments were voiced around slinkies - it sounds so great when playing along to a mix. Solo'd doesn't sound great for the same tone (this isn't particular to the bass or strings - I'm just saying that what works in a mix (which is the main point imho) may not work in a solo setting. In a solo setting a "scooped" tone usually works for me. The Bongo can easily get that tone too. But I digress, the strings sound and feel great.
Day 4: Zinginess tamed a bit - not as metallic... this is how I like it. Tone is great, I'm loving the piezo tone pulling a bit from low & hi mids while boosting bass & treble. You'd think this would sound super scooped, but the piezo tone has a lot of mids in it to begin with. Lots of "throatiness" when using only magnetic pickups. No change in feel or tunability. These strings stay in tune as well as regular slinkies to me.
Day 6: No changes, stay in tune just fine. Nice "throatiness" to tone (as with regular Slinkies). I'm doing the typical twiddling of knobs to get the tone just right. Whish I didn't have so many options on the eq somedays as I have a tendency to focus on tone more than improving technique - sigh.
Day 10: Still going strong. The throatiness is great, although alot of it is the Bongo's natural tone. No change in tone or feel on the strings. I wipe them down after each practice session.
Day 19: Haven't been playing as much as I'd like, but no change - sound and feel great. Stay in tune quite well.
Day 29: No change.
Day 34: Still no change. Getting more playing time in on 'em too.
Day 37: Long practice with band sounded great
Day 38: Brightness seems to have reduced a bit. This may be due to my raising the action slightly... Not sure if this is my imagination, I'll report back on this.
Day 40: Think the brightness is still there and it was just my raising the action. The clank of low action gave the impression of more treble.
1/11/10
Day 42: The brightness reduction was an illusion. Strings still going strong. Sounded great at a gig. There is a bit of dryness to the feel when I sweat, but I like it. Intonation is spot on at the 12th fret (using Peterson strobe tuner)
1/13/10
Day 44: Tone sounds great, intonation spot on. Let's see how long this lasts
1/17/10
Day 47: Tone sounds great, but they no longer sound new. These seem to last about the same as a normal set for me to get to this point. bummer. I'll be ordering the normal set now. See below.
1/19/10
Day 49: I'm happy to report the strings are still going strong. I happened to check the batteries and they were at 7.9V each. I didn't think this would make a difference but I put fresh batteries and viola!... they sounded new again. I A/B'd with the new/old batteries a few times to make sure what I heard was real. This may have been why the more I played the bass for a practice session, the more high end zing I'd lose. Maybe the batteries were draining and recovering (sagging) after each practice. This makes no sense to me, but I'm just happy things are back. Thus the experiment continues and I've learned a lesson.
1/20/10
Day 50: Definitely still sound good. Had band practice and I have no complaints. I did order some regular Slinkies at the request of another forum member so I'll try swapping at some point.
1/23/10
Day 53: Put on a new 2836 (non coated set) B string to check if tone died at all. It didn't. True that the new string needs some time to even out, but I could tell pretty quickly that the coated B was far from "dead". Put the 3836 (coated) B back on to continue experiment.
2/2/10
Day 63: Still sounding great. Not sure if there is a slight loss of treble but they sound great. I'm pretty happy so far.
2/5/10
Day 66: Sound great but switched to regular 2836 (uncoated) set for comparison. I plan on putting the same 3836 (coated) set back on after the 2836 dies out.
2/6/10
Day 1 (uncoated): I'm surprised how little a difference there is in the tone of the coated and uncoated. Yes, there is more zing due to the new uncoated strings being fresh, but it really isn't *that* much. I'm also surprised that my hands felt sweaty now and I miss the "dryness" of the coated set. That's pretty funny as I initially thought I didn't like the feel of the coated strings. Now I miss them.
2/11/10
Day 5 (uncoated): Strings settled nicely. I've gotten used to the "wet" feel of the strings compared to the coated set. No suprise, strings sound good. By the way, I found I had to adjust the intonation of the bass a bit. It seemed that the uncoated had slightly higher tension on the B string. Could be my imagination but the action definitely raised for the B string. The truss rod got tweaked ever so slightly. Since then the intonation is spot on and the tuning is very stable.
2/14/10
Day 8 (uncoated): Strings sound great. Still sweaty feeling. It cracks me up how I miss the "dryness" of the coated sets now.
2/16/10
Day 16 (uncoated): No surprise - still sound great.
3/1/10
Day 29 (uncoated): They seem to be fading slightly. Sound good though. Intonation and action holding up well.
3/7/10
Day 35 (uncoated): Sound good, intonation and playability fine.
3/9/10
Day 37 (uncoated): Sound good but treble fading. Intonation and tuning not quite as stable. Maybe in my head but I'm missing the coated strings
3/10/10
Day 38 (uncoated): Definitely fading. Probably a week left in these.
3/14/10
Day 42 (uncoated): They felt dead by my standards (still life left - don't sound bad but intonation, punch and zing fading fast). Switched back to coated set I switched out on 2/5/10 to continue the experiment. The tension seems different, especially on the B string... its a bit higher on the coated - maybe a fluke though. Overall I like the feel better. Its nice to have the "dry" feeling back.
3/15/10
Day 67 (coated): Strings definitely sound better than uncoated set that I just swapped out. The B and G strings are more focused and defined. The intonation and tuning are very stable. I missed this set.
3/16/10
Day 68: There's no question I favor these over the set I swapped out. The tuning stability is much, much better. I love the feel and the tone is more focused. I hope these last long enough to make it economically viable.
3/18/10
Day 70: Band practice the Bongo with the 3836 was the best I've ever sounded. I eq'ed a boost in lo/hi mids, slight in bass, added 50/50 mag piezo and cut the treble. Awesome while playing and the recording of the practice confirmed what I thought. No doubt these 70 day old strings sound better than the 42 day old uncoated set.
3/21/10
Day 73: Gig went great. Tone, feel and intonation all top notch. The strings are going strong.
3/25/10
Day 77: Practiced for hours. No change: they're going strong. The dryness of the strings helps the tone of the piezo imho. Its pretty minor
3/28/10
Day 80: Still doing great
4/1/10
Day 84: Still doing great. Milestone. These have lasted 2X the uncoated counterparts and are still going strong. These are my new strings. Sounded flippin' fantastic at band practice through the Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 tube DI! The experiment in longevity will continue...
4/4/10
Day 87: Played Easter Service at church and it was awesome. Tone for days. Thick, supportive, articulate yet punched through the mix (credit also goes to the Bongo mid controls, piezo transducers and Genz Benz Shuttle Tube DI).
4/8/10
Day 91: Still doing great! Band practice went well, plenty of frequencies in the bass track. Very rich bass and treble and complex mids (I should review wines huh?)
4/14/10
Day 97: No real change.
4/18/10
Day 101: Doing great. Tuning stability waivering on the A string slightly, but could be the hotter CA weather.
4/25/10
Day 108: Plenty of high end. Doing great
5/03/10
Day 116: Yup... still doin' great.
5/10/10
Day 123: Plenty of high end - little if no loss. Tone sounds great.
5/16/10
Day 129: These strings rock. Listened to a recording of today's church service and the bass sounded fantastic if I do say so myself. The amp tone while playing live sounded great too.
5/27/10
Day 140: High end has been fading for the last week, but I wanted to wait to be sure. Definitely can tell a difference now. Still sound good (they aren't dead) but I think I'll declare 135 days on this set. That is over 3x what a normal set would last me.
6/6/10
Day 150: Even though the zing has died down I've kept them on. Still sound good and are absolutely useable.
6/14/10
Day 158: Still sound good. I'll get to changing 'em soon I promise. Just been too busy and the piezo pickups really extend the life of strings (strings dying? add more piezo signal and boost the bass and low mids accordingly)
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