D'Addario UK

Hi guys, I just spoke to our Orchestral Specialist. Zyex will have a lower perceived tension as it is a more malleable / flexible material. They will however take a little longer to break in than other strings. They are a lot warmer and a variation on a synthetic gut material. The Helicore are stranded steel core so a little stiffer feeling but generally brighter and quicker to break in. There is also a lot of different ranges in the Helicore series dependent on the style you play, there is a set dedicated to pizzicato playing, a hybrid set etc... Other than that you guys seem to have discovered the differences for yourselves. Adam.

Picks / Plectrums make a very audible difference to tone. Once you have found the right size and gauge of pick, the next test is the tone of the pick. How far down the nerd rabbit hole should we go... Take a few picks of the same size and gauge (or different for even more audible results) and drop them one at a time on a table top. Listen for the initial pitch of the first transient. I call this the 'ping.' You will hear how different materials have different 'pings' and part of this forms the initial attack against the string. Listen for that pitch when you pick a string.

No problem at all, be good to hear your feedback in this thread as to whether they work for you Adam.

Ah perfect, the logic in my post works pretty close for the current gauge you are used to as well. You'd just need to adjust slightly. So you'd find the least noticeable difference by using something like 50 - 70 - 90 - 110. That's a weird gauge so you would be relying on buying single strings unless you compromise quite a bit and go with a set of EXL230 (55 - 75 - 90 - 110). And your welcome man that's why I'm here. Nobody really says 'Oh wow, I feel like these strings have 5lb less tension in them.' The system is just there to put numbers / maths to what we feel when we down tune etc, which makes it easier to find an appropriate gauge. Generally on a bass, most players won't be too concerned with around 2lb of tension either way, but once it gets to 5lbs, it becomes noticeably different. You'll love the strings even more once you have tried them! Adam.

Haha! Andrew is still here (at least until I finish my planning...) we just had a jiggle around in the office when I joined in late 2016. I'm the 'fretted specialist' (product specialist for fretted instrument strings and accessories) so it makes much more sense that I get included in these kinds of discussions and leave Andrew to...whatever he does these days hah, I'll tell him you said hi! Adam.

As a very general rule, I usually advise going up one 'gauge' for every half a step down tuned in order to maintain a similar feel and tension. Of course the 'perceived' tension may increase or decrease based on string thickness and how it feels under your fingers, but you can just about nail the actual, measurable tension. Unless I've missed it, you don't say which gauge of string you are currently using that starts to feel a little loose. I'll use as an example EXL170 on a 34 inch scale length. Tuned to standard tuning: 1 G 2 0.0450 in. 42.52 lbs 2 D 2 0.0650 in. 47.89 lbs 3 A 1 0.0800 in. 39.59 lbs 4 E 1 0.1000 in. 34.07 lbs EXL170 tuned down a half step Gauge Tension 0.0450 in. 37.88 lbs 0.0650 in. 42.67 lbs 0.0800 in. 35.27 lbs 0.1000 in. 30.35 lbs So around a 5lb loss in tension, which is very noticeable. In order to retain the same feel as EXL170 tuned half a step flat, these are the gauges the system reccommends: Gauge Tension 0.0480 in. 42.84 lbs 0.0700 in. 49.01 lbs 0.0850 in. 39.96 lbs 0.1060 in. 34.16 lb Even using single strings (which you can buy) we don't actually make a gauge 106 or 48, so you are never going to get the exact same feel, using our strings at least. It's usually best to round up slightly so using single strings you could make a set of: 50 - 70 - 85 - 107 Of course buying single strings to make custom sets can get a little pricey. So, if you want to by a predetermined set you have to compromise a little. The compromise is only slight if you get the EXL160 set which consists of gauges: 50 - 70 - 85 - 105. These will feel very similar to the EXL170 and won't take much adjusting to. If you let me know the set of strings you are using I don't mind repeating the exercise to work out the best set for you -- Adam.

I'm personally much more a guitarist than a bassist, but the theory is very similar. The NYXL have similar tension to the 'regular' XLs. Around a pound or two difference per string usually. The reason that most people say they feel stiffer is they have a much quicker return to pitch. I often call this memory or pitch drift. When you hit a string and the string sways in and out of tune for a little while, this period is noticeably shorter than with our other strings as the core 'fights' to return to pitch. The actual tension is not higher, but the 'perceived' tension, most agree is a little higher. However, because the NY Steel is stronger we can compensate for some of this by experimenting with wrap to core ratio. The thinner the core, the more flexible the string usually is. In my experience, most people notice a perceived increase in tension because of the memory factor. Hope this helps.

Hi man. Good advice from dood here (as per usual). It totally depends on the scale length of your instrument. Most of our strings are available separately and most dealers will order them in for you at request.

Hi man. Adam from D'Addario UK here. The difference is in the coating method. The way we do it is to coat the wrap wire before wrapping it on the string. This helps retains the natural feel of the string whilst still protecting it. http://www.daddario.com/DADExpLanding.Page Hope this helps.