12-String Bass String Reviews
D'Addario Strings for the 12-String Bass
A Review by Steve Robertson
Last month I bought a set of
D’Addario 12-string bass strings on Ebay and decided to give them a try. It had
been a while since I restrung my 12ver and nothing beats the sound of
new strings! I paid about $28.00 for them plus shipping. A few years
ago
I was paying twice that much for strings.
When I opened the package the first thing that jumped out at me was the different colored ball ends. D’Addario does that to cut down on packaging and I knew they did it with guitar strings but I didn’t know they did it with bass strings too. The different ball end colors suck! My Hamer B12A is the cherry sunburst finish so the green and red string ends look really bad. (Editor’s note: See a photo of the D’Addario set on the String Sets page.) On the plus side, I like the fact that the headstock end of the lower strings don't have red colored threads, so the strings are silver colored all the way. I never understood why some companies put red ends on their strings.
The other thing I noticed is that there seems to be more tension than the S.I.T. strings I have been using. I switched to S.I.T. strings two years ago (after reading Surf’s review) and they have less tension. Previously I had been using Hamer strings. Since the Hamer strings are also made by D’Addario they both have about the same tension. The difference in tension from the S.I.T.’s isn’t really extreme but it is noticeable. I prefer the lighter feel of the S.I.T. strings.
I have played the D’Addario strings for a couple of weeks now. They sound good and feel good, even though there is a little more tension. They seem to be staying perfectly in tune and I haven’t had any string slippage at all. They are definitely a good quality, good sounding set of strings but I think I’ll be going back to S.I.T. strings.
Editor's Note: D'Addario uses a date code on every package of strings, they call it a Q-Code. It is found on the plastic corrosion intercept bag that contains the strings. The Q-Code allows D'Addario to track the date and production run of when the strings were made. This allows the company to track exactly which batch of strings is involved if a problem is discovered; if multiple problems from the same production run ever occurred, the entire batch could potentially be recalled from dealer stocks.
The Q-Code is applied using an inkjet printer and always lists the Item # and the Code #. The first two numbers in the code give the year and month of the production date. As shown for this set of 12-string bass strings, the first digit "6" denotes the last number of the year in which the strings were produced, in this case 2006. Months are designated by letters and follow the alphabet with "A" being used for January, "B" for February, etc. The "C" shown on this set would therefore date this set of strings to March.
D'Addario manufactures their strings in large production runs. Thus far every set of 12-string bass strings we have encountered, regardless of which string retailer they were obtained from, has been labeled with this identical Q-Code.
Hamer 12-String Bass Strings
I
recently bought a set of Hamer 12-string bass strings off eBay. It only took a
week for them to arrive and even though the envelope was damaged the strings
made it ok. I have tried the D'Addario strings on my Hamer CH-12
and they sounded fine but I hate the different colored ends - they look stupid!
From what I can tell the Hamer strings are identical to the D'Addarios except
the Hamer strings ends are all the same brass color. I know D'Addario makes
Hamer's strings for them.
The sound when I first put them on was good. Of course every new set of strings sounds good when you first put them on. The real test is how they sound after you've played out with them a few times. Like other strings the Hamer strings lose a little bit of their brightness after a while but not enough to be really noticeable. They seem to stay in tune well and I haven't had any of them break on me. I'll probably soak them in alcohol after a while to clean them because boiling them makes them wear out faster because they would rust.
I paid $39.99 for the Hamer strings plus another $14 for shipping. That is a bargain compared to what my local music store wanted to charge me for them (over $60.00!) but it seems pretty expensive compared to what I just read about the S.I.T. strings on 12stringbass.net. Next time I'm going to get the S.I.T.'s from Just Strings and try them.
I recommend Hamer strings for all 12-string bassists, it's just that they are a little more expensive than some other strings.
Waterstone
Strings for the 12-String Bass
In the summer of 2005 I emailed Waterstone, ordering two sets of
strings for my Hense 12-string bass. I was in a bit of a hurry because we were
due to record a new demo CD, and I was planning to use new strings for recording
like I usually do. Unfortunately, Waterstone did not immediately react to my
message as they were running with a skeleton crew because of vacation time, as
Bob Singer explained to me when he replied to my email. When he shipped my
order, he added an extra set by way of apology for the late reply. Very elegant,
thanks Bob!
However, then I did something stupid: As the Hense bass was delivered to me two
months before with new strings I decided not to put on the Waterstones, as I
thought that was something of a waste and those strings really sounded fine. I
don't know what brand Sungbo / Silverstar uses on the basses that they produce
for Hense, Carlo Robelli, Venson and Galveston, but they sound well and last
long. Having said that (about lasting long), I only strung on my first
Waterstone set this month (July 2006) as we prepared to record again. When I put
on new strings for recording, I always time that so that one practice session is
planned before in order to let the strings settle.
When putting on the strings I found out that it is essential to sort them out
first: These do not come nicely separated into their own little paper envelopes
with E, A, D and G printed on them. You have to sort them out on sight, so doing
this in a dark and noisy place could be a bit stressful.
When my bass was finally strung (this is some job when it's 33° Celsius in the
shade), it already sounded great unamplified. When I plugged it into my Ashdown
/ Hughes & Kettner rig, I almost wet my pants... these strings sound really
great!! When you ask me to describe the sound, I would ask you to imagine the
Vienna boys choir gone Metallica; They can sing high and true, and they can
growl at the bottom with the best of 'em. I never heard anything like this. This
is my brand from now on. In a few weeks I will be ordering a Waterstone TP-2,
and I think I will have them include a few more sets of those heavenly strings.
If they sound this good on a Hense, how will they sound on a Waterstone?
When recording, the studio tech totally dug my sound. He recorded it using three
channels: Direct, mic on the Ashdown, and mic on the H&K. The first rough mixes
are done, and I have but one question to ask myself: "stupid idiot, why the f*ck
didn't you put on those strings a year ago?". Well, as they say, live and
learn...
S.I.T. Power Wound
Nickel Strings for the 12-String Bass
by
Mark Rowe
I have used several different brands of strings on my 12-string bass over the past three years. These have included GHS strings, which I wasn’t impressed with since they had a rather dull sound, the “Hamer brand” strings that are made by D’Addario, and I even tried Rickenbacker strings when I was in a jam, having to improvise with two 8-string sets. My preference has been the D’Addario’s. They are good sounding, consistently good quality and have definitely been my favorite. Until now.
I
recently tried a set of Power Wound Nickel strings made by S.I.T. Strings.
Stay-In-Tune strings are made in Akron, Ohio. I had never encountered these
strings before. No local stores carry them in my area.
For those who are really into the technical specs, these strings have a Swedish Steel hex-core with a nickel plated cover wrap and are round wound. They claim that the hex-core produces a brighter, more stable string since the hexagonal corners lock the wraps into place. Every S.I.T. string is quality checked three times, once as it comes off the machine, once by a quality control staffer, and finally when it’s coiled.
The Power Wound strings have been their most popular and widely used bass strings and it’s easy to understand why. These are really good sounding strings! They have a very similar look and feel to the D’Addario strings but with a much rounder, warmer tone. They are very comfortable to play. The string tension is good, not too tight or loose. The gauges I tried are .095/.075/.060/.040 for the fundamentals and .045/.035/.025/.018pb for the octaves. Normally I use .020’s for the high G strings but the .018’s seem to help take off the nasty edge that can result with the EMG pickups. They are more subdued but still have the presence I like.
The real test for me was how these strings would sound when recorded. As many of us have discovered, due to the wide frequency range it’s tough to record a 12-string bass! It’s easy for me to get a good live tone with most quality strings. But the problem has been that when it came to recording, I have never been happy with my tone. I either ended up with that nasty high end or a wimpy sound lacking in lows. I am happy to report that these strings have made a significant improvement in my recorded sound. The warmth and roundness in the sound combined with a smoother top end has made a big difference. I’m actually looking forward to recording again, now that I don’t have fight with my tone every step of the way.
S.I.T. guarantees their strings to stay in tune, hence the name. And stay in tune they did. They have held their intonation very well. I’m definitely impressed with the sustain, these strings ring a long time!
I always buy my strings one set at a time. I’ve experienced just enough of the Dead String Syndrome when buying in bulk that I’d rather buy strings as I need them to make sure I get a fresh set. The problem with doing it this way is that it can get expensive. But SIT strings are much more reasonably priced than the other major brands. I found them for under $30 at www.juststrings.com. Problem solved!
I’m glad I discovered S.I.T. strings. I’ve been buying more!
Update: "From Mark's recommendation, I decided to try SIT's on my B12L. What a huge difference. I had been using GHS (8LS-DYB's) for 8 years. The SIT strings are well worth it. Just try them once." Dan Vashaw - Atlanta, Georgia
