Nickel, or Stainless?..And WHY?

Mickey Adams · Post by **Mickey Adams** » 7 May 2012 8:32 pm

I think the thread has already brought up some varied perceptions with regards to material, and response, as well as longevity of the different alloys themselves..Good food for thought!
The strings I bought are Sids new LiveSteels.
After a 20min conversation with him a few weeks ago, I was really stoked about trying his new product..And I am not disappointed..Tonight I put a set of the stainless strings on my red 84 Mullen, and it sprang to life nicely..The Nickel set is very well balanced, not quite as bright, and feel really smooth...Sid I think a lot of Forum members are trying your strings and so far nothing but good feedback has come forth....Cheers!

Sid Hudson · Post by **Sid Hudson** » 10 May 2012 5:24 pm

Mickey Adams wrote:I think the thread has already brought up some varied perceptions with regards to material, and response, as well as longevity of the different alloys themselves..Good food for thought!
The strings I bought are Sids new LiveSteels.
After a 20min conversation with him a few weeks ago, I was really stoked about trying his new product..And I am not disappointed..Tonight I put a set of the stainless strings on my red 84 Mullen, and it sprang to life nicely..The Nickel set is very well balanced, not quite as bright, and feel really smooth...Sid I think a lot of Forum members are trying your strings and so far nothing but good feedback has come forth....Cheers!

Thanks Mick. Maybe I can trade you a bunch of strings for some flying lessons.

Don Crowl · Post by **Don Crowl** » 11 May 2012 9:41 am

I'm wondering if anyone has tried stainless on the bottom strings & nickel on the top or vice versa. I'm really a hobby player that plays so little that I've only changed strings once in 20 years on my MSA U-12. When I changed to Cobra Coils a couple of years ago or so I wasn't aware of the nickle vs. stainless perspective. I never did like the sound of my bass strings beforer or after until I discovered that moving my picking hand closer to the pickup gave the the bass tones I wanted & when picking the on the top strings moving my right hand to my left gave me the best tone to my ear. Now I'm in the retraining mode. Maybe not the best idea but I'm trying to give it shot.

Sid Hudson · Post by **Sid Hudson** » 11 May 2012 9:54 am

Don Crowl wrote:I'm wondering if anyone has tried stainless on the bottom strings & nickel on the top or vice versa. I'm really a hobby player that plays so little that I've only changed strings once in 20 years on my MSA U-12. When I changed to Cobra Coils a couple of years ago or so I wasn't aware of the nickle vs. stainless perspective. I never did like the sound of my bass strings beforer or after until I discovered that moving my picking hand closer to the pickup gave the the bass tones I wanted & when picking the on the top strings moving my right hand to my left gave me the best tone to my ear. Now I'm in the retraining mode. Maybe not the best idea but I'm trying to give it shot.

Don, the difference in Stainless strings verses Nickel only pertains to the wound strings.

All of the plain strings are made of high carbon steel.
So, what's the difference in plain strings from manufacturer to manufacturer?

Because plain strings are made of high carbon steel, some brands have less carbon in the steel and some brands have more carbon in the steel.

If you are having a problem attaining your desired tone (as you described) on your wound strings, I think you would be happy with stainless wound strings.

Sid

Don Crowl · Post by **Don Crowl** » 13 May 2012 4:41 pm

Thnx Sid. I will give the st. steel a try. I'm wondering about flat wound or regular wound when it comes to tone. My MSA doesn't seem to have clear or tonal separation on the bass strings I hear from other instruments/players. One good steel playing friends [now deceased] told me quite awhile back my bass strings sounded "mushy."

Steve Lipsey · Post by **Steve Lipsey** » 13 May 2012 6:37 pm

Don-
It might also be as much due to the pickup as to the strings...

Don Crowl · Post by **Don Crowl** » 14 May 2012 11:08 am

Thnx for the tip Steve. I've considered looking into an upgraded pickup. Although that is a different subject I think I'll do a posting in a different thread about the pickup on my MSA. It is the original SuperSustain. I'm aware of SuperSustain II but I'm not aware of what advantage it might have over the original. And maybe there is an MSA upgrade that is superior to the SuperSustain II?

I want to go for the easy changes first. I hope my string guages are correct. My MSA is tuned to a Bb6 Univ & I got the gauges from an old Emmons catalog chart.

Also I wonder about the design of the tuning key base. Mine is the original two piece. I read somewhere that one piece has somekind of sound/tone advantage. I see the new models have one piece.