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D'Addario ProSteels - disappearing in band mix
- Thread starter Rickter
- Start date
So, post practice report....
After experiencing the sonic Houdini act of the Pro-Steels, I switched to a set of EB Steels that I had waiting for my next try out. Went to practice yesterday and went to trying them out. They sounded great and the band had no trouble hearing me. I upped my volume a touch, just because it seemed like everyone was louder than usual. I started with Eq flat, and toyed with the midrange until I got a sound that I liked and that was pronounced in the mix. The setting I ended up on was my usual setting with the hi-mid of my GK up 1 notch higher than usual.
My thought was that possibly because of the natural mid-scoop of stainless steel strings, that boosting the volume might have been a necessity, one that I didn't perform last time, or at least not enough of.
I will probably try the Pro-Steels again at some point, just because I liked that set with the tapered B, E and A, but so far the EB Steels are doing the job.
After experiencing the sonic Houdini act of the Pro-Steels, I switched to a set of EB Steels that I had waiting for my next try out. Went to practice yesterday and went to trying them out. They sounded great and the band had no trouble hearing me. I upped my volume a touch, just because it seemed like everyone was louder than usual. I started with Eq flat, and toyed with the midrange until I got a sound that I liked and that was pronounced in the mix. The setting I ended up on was my usual setting with the hi-mid of my GK up 1 notch higher than usual.
My thought was that possibly because of the natural mid-scoop of stainless steel strings, that boosting the volume might have been a necessity, one that I didn't perform last time, or at least not enough of.
I will probably try the Pro-Steels again at some point, just because I liked that set with the tapered B, E and A, but so far the EB Steels are doing the job.
Geri O
Endorsing Artist, Mike Lull Guitars and Basses
And I find our experiences most surprising, I gotta say.
To my ear (read that again), the Pro Steels sounded wonderful on my practice rig at the house and felt great to play. But again, this weekend with the Ampeg SVT 7Pro, the Ampeg 610 cab, and the Power Slinkies on my bass, the presence I had been missing and wanting to get was there and sounded really good. So the Pro Steels wound up not being what I was looking for.
I’m going through two more sets of Power Slinkies, then I’m trying the D’Addario XL Nickels that just arrived. I remember liking them well enough before I tried the Power Steels.
All these strings...my head hurts (but my bass sounds good....
).
And I find our experiences most surprising, I gotta say.
To my ear (read that again), the Pro Steels sounded wonderful on my practice rig at the house and felt great to play. But again, this weekend with the Ampeg SVT 7Pro, the Ampeg 610 cab, and the Power Slinkies on my bass, the presence I had been missing and wanting to get was there and sounded really good. So the Pro Steels wound up not being what I was looking for.
I’m going through two more sets of Power Slinkies, then I’m trying the D’Addario XL Nickels that just arrived. I remember liking them well enough before I tried the Power Steels.
All these strings...my head hurts (but my bass sounds good....
Same here. I loved the sound and feel of the ProSteels in my isolated environment. Up against a hard hitting drummer and a triple rectifier, I just disappeared. Steel slinkies put me right back where I wanted to be. Same place I had been with RS66s, but with slightly less mid growl. A shame really, I really liked those ProSteels. They felt great.It has made me wonder if the mid scoop on the ProSteels isn't like an overzealous version of the "loudness" button found on old radios that scoops the mid, boosts bass and treble, and in response you have to turn up the radio for the same perceived loudness.
I think that the scoop on the ProSteels might simply be too great for my application. I'm likely gonna go back to Nickels for a while. Probably gonna do a set of EB Slinky Hybrids with a .130 or the Power Slinkys. Eventually I'm gonna invest in several sets of the Rotosound Nickels, as those have been my absolute favorite so far.
Geri O
Endorsing Artist, Mike Lull Guitars and Basses
Well, I'm hesitant to call it "overzealous", I don't want Pro Steel users breathing down our necks with their praise for them. I've seen folks here mention them as working well for them and that's fine. Won't argue with them a bit and I'm happy for them finding what they like.
It is notable that we both went through the same process of sussing out what works for us. And I might not have thought to try the Power Slinkies again were it not for your comments on your experience with the Pro Steels. So thanx for that.
well, was mainly referring to the "loudness button" when using the term "overzealous", but definitely don't want to get anyone upset. Like I said, I loved the ProSteels, and I'll probably try them again down the road, just not immediately. I will need some time to work with them through my stage rig when I don't have an imminent gig to iron out the problems I experienced and I fully admit that it could have been "user error".
Glad that something positive for you came of the discussion. Rock on!
I may side bar you @Geri O to ask about that Ampeg 610 and your experiences with it.... Lately was told it might be a good cab to run with my GK 1001RBII as opposed to sealed 410s. But that's another discussion.
First, sorry for my bad English 
I like Prosteels and i use them exclusively.
But, they do sound better on my Warwick Corvette (bubinga body, ovangkol neck, wenge fingerboard) than on Sire V7 with Ash body, maple neck and fingerboard. Mid scoop on Sire is noticable with them, and i need to boost 350-450Hz a little to compensate for that loss. Warwick has more pronounced mids (nature of the beast), so Sound with Prosteels is not "mids compromised" on that Bass.
Best of all, Prosteels are not expensive, so no big deal if they prove to be disappointment for someone in regard of mids (btw, mid scooped Sound is more or less signature of all SS Strings, but Prosteels are pretty high on that Scale)
I like Prosteels and i use them exclusively.
But, they do sound better on my Warwick Corvette (bubinga body, ovangkol neck, wenge fingerboard) than on Sire V7 with Ash body, maple neck and fingerboard. Mid scoop on Sire is noticable with them, and i need to boost 350-450Hz a little to compensate for that loss. Warwick has more pronounced mids (nature of the beast), so Sound with Prosteels is not "mids compromised" on that Bass.
Best of all, Prosteels are not expensive, so no big deal if they prove to be disappointment for someone in regard of mids (btw, mid scooped Sound is more or less signature of all SS Strings, but Prosteels are pretty high on that Scale)
It's the EPS300-5 set including 127T, 107T, 85T, 63, 43. I simply adore this set of strings, and use them exclusively on my Ibby SR 5 string, however I wish they would have used their 130T rather than a 127T. It's a balanced tension set, and they also have the 4 string set EPS300 (same set minus the B). I really like having a lighter D/G with a beefier E, and works well tuned to D standard. Heck it even sounds good tuned CGCF.
OP - Have you tried Dunlop Super Brights? They're slightly brighter, but lose their zing a bit sooner.
Yep, that's the set of ProSteels. I loved the feel of them, but they just disappeared in the mix. I haven't tried the Dunlop Super Brights, but have seen a lot of positive reports on them. After that experience with the ProSteels, I immediately came home and swapped those out for a set of EB Slinky Steel Hybrids + .125 in Steel. Was relatively impressed. They're going on 3 weeks and they still sound good, although they've mellowed significantly.
Bought my first set of ProSteels earlier tonight. Got em specifically for the SBMM Ray34.
Installed em a few minutes ago and I gotta say, I love them on this bass. The tension i practically perfect, they're definitely bright/zingy, and they make the Ray sound like a monster.
Although I'm pretty happy with the setups I have on my other instruments, I'm really tempted to get a few more sets for a few of my other ones.
Not to mention, they're less expensive than a lot of the other strings available in the B&M stores.
I think I'm sold on ProSteels for a while.
Installed em a few minutes ago and I gotta say, I love them on this bass. The tension i practically perfect, they're definitely bright/zingy, and they make the Ray sound like a monster.
Although I'm pretty happy with the setups I have on my other instruments, I'm really tempted to get a few more sets for a few of my other ones.
Not to mention, they're less expensive than a lot of the other strings available in the B&M stores.
I think I'm sold on ProSteels for a while.
Glad to hear that you like them. I really wanted to like them, but I just couldn't make them work for me outside of a personal practice environment. Other steel strings I've tried, DR High Beams, Rotosounds and EB Slinky Steels, none had that same effect. Really wanted to like the ProSteels, they just may not be for me. I hate that because I loved their feel and tone.
Something I wanted to add, is that I am still using that same set of EB Stainless strings. Frankly they have surprised me. I'm usually a stickler for using fresh strings for the sake of having that *zing* and more lively playability (for hammer ons, pull offs, strings skipping, etc) as older strings seem to become less flexible (in my opinion). And while the EB Stainless strings have definitely taken on a stiffer feel and the brightness has mellowed, they are still plenty bright and have a great fundamental. By comparison, I've had Rotosounds die completely after a single gig. I'm honestly surprised that EB Steels aren't more well known considering my experience. I'm gonna swap to some EB Nickels of the same gauge for comparisons sake, but I likely will be getting the EB Stainless again.
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I'm actually raving about them with only at-home practice experience. I haven't yet had a chance to use them in a band setting, but our next rehearsal is coming up pretty soon. I'll be able to check them out, then. As you said, the feel and tone of them is great. Sucks they didn't work out for you, considering how much you liked em, otherwise. But it's great there are so many string options to find what DOES work.
Geri O
Endorsing Artist, Mike Lull Guitars and Basses
Yeah, I'm liking the 610 a lot. I do keep the lows around noon, the mies set to the first click and at 11:00 or so. I keep the highs at 1:00 (altogether now..."AM or PM??" "Daylight...." okay you get the idea...
) and the tweeter at nearly full on. This cabinet is inherently pretty low-end heavy, but I like what it does once I dial it in. Interestingly, I used my SVT CL amp with the 610 cab and I wound up dialing back the lows a little more than I would have with the 810 cab (I wish I were using the SVT CL/810 rig tomorrow, but (A) I have to bug out from the gig pretty quickly to make a rehearsal with another band and (B) weather isn't looking too good tomorrow).I've been using it with my Mike Lull Jazz and a Stingray SR5. Tomorrow will be my first gig with the SVT 7Pro/610 rig and the Mike Lull P5 with a freshly-installed set of Nordstrand NP5 Alnico 5 pups. I've used the P5 with my IEMs, but this is the first gig on a big stage with a big horn band and a big amp. I think it's gonna be great.
Update:
Went to rehearsal and got to play the ProSteels on my SBMM Ray34 in a band setting. With a little EQ tweaking, I didn't have much of an issue blending well, but I did notice my G string sounded pretty pathetic. I basically raised the string a bit and figured I'd try again at our first performance of the year (this past Monday), and it seems to have worked pretty well.
Only problem - The ProSteels are way too bright for the band I'm in lol. For a purely rock or funk band, I think they'd be pretty close to perfect, but for the cover band I play in, we skip genres constantly. The strings were just way too bright, overall, even with all the treble knobs completely shut off (on the bass, the amp, AND the SCR-DI).
I plan to get some nickel strings to replace the ProSteels just for this group pretty soon, but if I were to run into a rock group, I'd definitely get them again. Especially at that price point.
Went to rehearsal and got to play the ProSteels on my SBMM Ray34 in a band setting. With a little EQ tweaking, I didn't have much of an issue blending well, but I did notice my G string sounded pretty pathetic. I basically raised the string a bit and figured I'd try again at our first performance of the year (this past Monday), and it seems to have worked pretty well.
Only problem - The ProSteels are way too bright for the band I'm in lol. For a purely rock or funk band, I think they'd be pretty close to perfect, but for the cover band I play in, we skip genres constantly. The strings were just way too bright, overall, even with all the treble knobs completely shut off (on the bass, the amp, AND the SCR-DI).
I plan to get some nickel strings to replace the ProSteels just for this group pretty soon, but if I were to run into a rock group, I'd definitely get them again. Especially at that price point.
Geri O
Endorsing Artist, Mike Lull Guitars and Basses
Yeah, I'm liking the 610 a lot. I do keep the lows around noon, the mies set to the first click and at 11:00 or so. I keep the highs at 1:00 (altogether now..."AM or PM??" "Daylight...." okay you get the idea...
I've been using it with my Mike Lull Jazz and a Stingray SR5. Tomorrow will be my first gig with the SVT 7Pro/610 rig and the Mike Lull P5 with a freshly-installed set of Nordstrand NP5 Alnico 5 pups. I've used the P5 with my IEMs, but this is the first gig on a big stage with a big horn band and a big amp. I think it's gonna be great.
Update to this:
Lull P5 is the schizzle with the Nord NP5s, the D’Addario EXL Nickels, and the SVT-7/610HLF combination. The sound guys loved it, although the FOH guy asked me to bring the amp volume down a bit, which was fine, I was IEMs anyway. Plenty of highs with the EXLs.
Not likely. Read the rest of the thread.
EQ was eventually changed and volume was boosted, made no difference. Changing strings fixed the problem. I will eventually get another set of ProSteels to try again, but not without a backup set that has been proven.