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Beta Test & Review D’Addario NYXL Bass Strings


D'AddarioUK
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I have still got these on my bass since the beginning of the year and have recently done 4 more gigs with them and they seem to have maintained their tone better than I expect regular strings to last. I did a jam session last week with them as the house band and it was a 3 hour set and they were great, still very clean sound crisp but not harsh at the too end and the smooth feel is still there so I'm able to make the fast passages really cleanly. The set involved many different styles from 50's rock n roll, through beat bands of the 60's and Eric Clapton stuff, Baker Street, blues and some soul and funk tracks requiring some slap sound. The the bass sound with those strings was great on everything. I have a couple of festival gigs this coming weekend so they will get another chance to shine. Totally impressed!!

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Really amazing new product from D'Addario. It's gonna be a real competitor to stainless steel strings, IMHO. They sound great, bright and clear. You get what you really need to play jazz. It will definitely be a bestseller, considering a very fair price (as low as only £19).
For someone, who hesitates to try them. Give it a go, you won't be disappointed.

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  • 1 month later...

Just to say I got a set of these at a recent GuitarGuitar promo and was kindly given a 5 string set by Andrew as they didn't have any available on the day. Cheers for that Andy!

I'm primarily a flats/P bass guy but these strings have been perfect for a Choir covers thing I do (contemporary cover tunes) The stings sounded great, not too zingy and hold their tuning really really well. Still have some bite with the tone knob rolled back a little and not too harsh on the precious finger tips.

Should I be in the market for another 5'er set I'll certainly give these another go.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 months later...

These strings are still on my bass and I've been gigging every week with them since summertime in the house band on a 3 hour open mic session also had a number of reggae gigs with them up to last weekend and they are still sounding great. They have a permanent home now on my all maple bass which is a really punchy sounding bass. The good thing is that the strings seem to have been extremely consistent over the time they have been on the bass and the crispness and clarity on the top end is still there as is the warm punchy bottom end. I think they are at home on that bass and will stay there until they break or if the tone changes to something I don't care for. So far they are showing to be a great asset.

Edited by jazzyvee
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This has reminded me to update my experiences. I've just bought another set of NYXLs to replace the XLs on my new (kinda) build Shukerbird - the difference in quality of string is very apparent: even though the XLs were new, the NYXLs were a big improvement immediately: a more consistent tone, warm in the mids, but still with a nice zing, and a solid bottom end.

I had an E go flat very very quickly on another set of NXYLs on another bass, something I was surprised about, but I've replaced it with the E from the XLs. It'll be interesting to see how fast it loses brightness compared to the other three NYXLs, which are several months old but still have a smooth zing to them: at the moment it's understandably a bit brighter, but we'll see how it ages.

I'll report back as it goes :D

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Do the new NYXL's last longer than normal strings? I have been a long term Elixir user and huge advocate of their bass strings, but D'Addario as a company really interest me, they seem really innovative and these new NYXL strings sound really interesting. The only issue is I am slightly reluctant to spend £37 on a set if they go dead in a couple of weeks like 'normal' strings. I love Ernie Ball but gave up using them as I can kill a set in 3 weeks.

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[quote name='NJE' timestamp='1486984245' post='3235982']
Do the new NYXL's last longer than normal strings? I have been a long term Elixir user and huge advocate of their bass strings, but D'Addario as a company really interest me, they seem really innovative and these new NYXL strings sound really interesting. The only issue is I am slightly reluctant to spend £37 on a set if they go dead in a couple of weeks like 'normal' strings. I love Ernie Ball but gave up using them as I can kill a set in 3 weeks.
[/quote]

NYXL Bass are an un-coated string. We don't expect players to get the same length of use as with coated strings (such as Elixir or our own EXP strings), however we would expect most users to get significantly longer use from a set of NYXL Bass. This is achieved by using our proprietary high carbon NY Steel which is stronger and more break resistant, couple this with a different construction method and you have a string that sounds better and sustains longer than most any other string.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Tried a medium set out at last nights gig and I'm very impressed. Nice throaty, almost woody sound when played with a pick, which worked great for the punk tunes but then finger-style for the reggae produced a nice big fat sound with plenty of definition.

But I can't seem to find anywhere that stocks the heavy gauge. Anyone help?

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There are a couple of hits on [url="https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=nyxl55110&safe=off&tbm=shop&*"]Google [/url]for the NYXL55110 heavy gauge. We've only very recently released them in the UK, it takes a little while for them to filter out.

If there are ever any products we make that you struggle to find in the market please ask your local retailer to stock them. We do our very best to make it very easy for retailers to place special orders with us.

Edited by D'AddarioUK
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[quote name='D'AddarioUK' timestamp='1489396485' post='3256492']
There are a couple of hits on [url="https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=nyxl55110&safe=off&tbm=shop&*"]Google [/url]for the NYXL55110 heavy gauge. We've only very recently released them in the UK, it takes a little while for them to filter out.

If there are ever any products we make that you struggle to find in the market please ask your local retailer to stock them. We do our very best to make it very easy for retailers to place special orders with us.
[/quote]

Cheers for that, I've actually just checked Stringbusters and they are listed on there now. :)

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  • 5 months later...
  • 1 month later...

I thought I would post my rambling thoughts on these strings.

I was fortunate to have my players circle points made up enough to get a set of NYXL strings back in July, and rather than post first impressions, I thought a long term assessment might be a little more useful.

Straight out of the packet (which is pretty amazing in itself) they were very bright and were maybe a tiny higher in tension than my normal Elixirs. the tension was marginal though and they were really nice to play. They are nice smooth strings, quite close to Ernie Ball slinky strings, which was a nice surprise as I have found some of D'Addario's strings a little rough for my liking.

The strings went on my Stingray at the end of July and have been through 8 -10 practices and I think 5 hot and sweaty gigs as well as home practice. I have very corrosive sweat and normally deaden strings after a couple of practices and maybe 2 gigs at most. This is the main reason I switched to coated strings.

Although the NYXL strings don't claim to be long lasting strings, these have done remarkably well. I have lost a little of the top end off them but easily counteracted that with the EQ on my stingray. In fact I found them overly bright when they went on and I really had to dial the treble down. Great for slap etc but not my kind of every day tone. They have outlasted Ernie Ball's which I love and I would say that they had a little more 'fullness' to them than EB's, I didn't just get lots of top end and low end out of them, there was a lot of midrange presence which was great.

All in all these are really great strings, and to be brutally honest that is coming from someone who never really got on well with D'Addario in the past. They are still on the bass and will be doing at least another 2 gigs before I even think about taking them off. They have completely blown me away, I have never known un-coated strings last so long and maintain such a good core tone throughout.

They aren't the cheapest of strings, but in this case I would definately say you get what you pay for.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was bummed to find my local guitar shop didn't have these in stock for my most recent string purchase - i like to keep some purchases local. I will be getting them next time though so be warned I'll go online if I must :)

Edited by krispn
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  • 1 month later...
20 minutes ago, walbassist said:

Hi chaps, I haven't read the whole thread, but might I ask about the tension of these?  According to the D'Addario site they have a lower total set tension than XLs, Coated XLs and Half Rounds.  Can anyone confirm that from a playing perspective?

Thanks

Gareth

I remember these strings feeling higher tension than what I was used to when trying them, and at the time that would have been XLs and Flexsteels.

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On 12/13/2017 at 15:58, walbassist said:

Hi chaps, I haven't read the whole thread, but might I ask about the tension of these?  According to the D'Addario site they have a lower total set tension than XLs, Coated XLs and Half Rounds.  Can anyone confirm that from a playing perspective?

Thanks

Gareth

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.

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  • 2 years later...

Apologies for bumping an old thread but I wanted @D'Addario UK to know how much I love these strings.  I was a little apprehensive initially as they are more expensive than any set of roundwound strings I have brought for my basses but my interest was piqued reading about them.  Stringing them on my Squier Jaguar bass (yes I know its short scale but I have never had issues using long scale strings) I was immediately struck by how loud and clear the strings were acoustically and how tight the E string sounded, plugged in they had a nice amount of brightness and actually have some characteristics of stainless strings, got a rehearsal at the weekend and looking forward to trying these out in a band setting, D'Addario please, please do not ever discontinue these strings

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  • 2 years later...

Holy thread resurrection!

 

I’ve got a set of D’Addario nickel strings that came on a bass, any ideas how I can tell which they are @D'AddarioUK as I really like them?
 

Sound wise they really work on this Precision, seem to be a really well balanced overall tone, not too middy (which nickels on a Precision can  sometimes be) and the low-end is tight without being at all boomy - probably tighter than the low-end on my Elixir steel rounds.

 

Probably should mention that the E is tapered if any help.

Edited by Lozz196
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