King Tut

Nice . . . . . My favourite jap Jazz was once sold but is now back in the fold. Happy days!

I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the beta testers. I put the strings on last weekend and have played three gigs with them since. I've strung them onto a Japanese Fender 62 reissue Jazz that's been modified, most significantly with SD Quarter Pounders and Badass II Bridge. I find testing strings quite difficult as a fresh set of strings always sound awesome compared to well used strings and in the real world it's not always realistic for a consumer to do proper A/B tests. I'm used to using either 100 or 105 pro steels or 100 EXP coated Nickel Strings, or Thomastic flats. All gigs were played with a GK MB500, Zoom B1on and the second two I had a graphic eq in the chain. The first two gigs were played through two Eden 1x12 cabs, the third through a Nemesis 4 x 10. Initial impressions - Taking them out of the packet, sealed factory fresh as always, the strings felt smooth, almost slippery, and I had to check that they weren't coated. The wind is nice - almost has a slight ground wound feel to it which makes them a quite a fast and comfortable string to play. Putting them on, they seemed compliant, and i didn't have to fight the strings at all to get them on. As you's expect from Nickel strings, they don't have that horrible brittle clang to them that new stainless strings can have. Having said that, when popped, they do cut through nicely, however there seems to be some natural compression in them that equalises volume when slapping, so I think these could appeal quite well to slap/funk players who are looking for something with a bit of body to their sound whilst retaining a crisp and authoritative cutting edge. As far as tuning stability is concerned, to be honest, I never noticed a great deal of difference to what I'm used to. Having said that, I'm pretty active and aggressive on stage so it's inevitable that I'm gonna have to make some tuning adjustments between sets. I struggled with my tone at the first gig - the one the video is taken from, but this was nothing to do with the strings, more because I didn't have an eq in my chain. Things improved the second night where I could fine tune using a graphic. The third night, I had my big cab and my sound really came to life. Rolling off the tone and using the front pickup, I had a solid and full bottom end for 'I Shot The Sheriff'. Tone full on and front pickup and she growled for England for 'I Fought The law'. Burping over the back pickup I had all the twang I needed for 'Psycho Killer' and kicking a boost in, I just loved the bass figure that sits behind the solo on 'All Right Now' - proper piano string tone. Sustain was great - I think improved over other D'addario strings I've played. The smooth feel also helped reduce finger noise which is a benefit when playing quieter stuff. I noticed this particularly on the first gig where we played metallics's 'and nothing else matters' and I double the arpeggio during the verses. I loved these strings, particularly through my bigger rig. Below is a video from the first night - only recorded via the camera's built in mic but sounds OK! [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzrh2FdcshQ&feature=youtu.be"]https://www.youtube....eature=youtu.be[/url]

Might help to say where you're based :-)

I usually use pro steels on my Jazz. Would love to beta test a set of 45-100's. I'm gigging regularly so would give them a great workout! What a cracking opportunity!

My old one was reliable. I sold it on and it now pays it's dues being abused at a local jam night. Volume wise it should stand up to pub gigs (unless stupid loud) or bigger gigs with PA support.

Very nice!

Bought an Apple Keyboard. Good communication, well packed and sent immediately. Great seller!

I just bought a 96 passive Bubinga corvette from the forum with hard case and postage at £450. Well pleased at that price. It weighs 9.6 pounds so no featherweight but not overly heavy either. The thing plays like butter and sounds killer. Wouldn't have gone to £600 for it.