Sunbeam tone with higher tension suggestions

Jim C

Jim C

I believe in the trilogy; Fender, Stingray, + G&L
Supporting Member
Nov 29, 2008
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#1
My NS2A with a loose truss rod does not offer enough quite enough relief.
I believe this is weather related as it has been great up until recently.
Any suggestions for the Sunbeam tone with a slight bit more tension?
I’m only looking for a small amount of relief overall on the neck.
 
#3
Jim C said:
Any suggestions for the Sunbeam tone with a slight bit more tension?
I’m only looking for a small amount of relief overall on the neck.
Click to expand...

petrus61 said:
Lo Riders. Virtually identical except for the hex core which definitely provides more tension.
Click to expand...

The "tension" the OP is talking about is the actual pulling weight on the neck - something that affects the amount of relief.

Going from the Sunbeams (round core) to the Lo-Riders (hex core) would add "stiffness" but not necessarily the "tension" the OP is looking for. Besides, the LRs would not have "the Sunbeam tone".
 
#5
michael_t said:
The "tension" the OP is talking about is the actual pulling weight on the neck - something that affects the amount of relief.

Going from the Sunbeams (round core) to the Lo-Riders (hex core) would add "stiffness" but not necessarily the "tension" the OP is looking for. Besides, the LRs would not have "the Sunbeam tone".
Click to expand...

Yet it's still the best option. I'm well aware of the differences between tension and stiffness. To say the LR's would not have more tension than Sunbeams while sounding closer than any other string on the market...well, I don't really know what to say to that...
 
#6
petrus61 said:
Yet it's still the best option. I'm well aware of the differences between tension and stiffness. To say the LR's would not have more tension than Sunbeams while sounding closer than any other string on the market...well, I don't really know what to say to that...
Click to expand...

I can only speak from my own experience.

I once tried the SB and the Nickel LRs back-to-back a couple of years ago. Going from the SB to the LR, the LR did feel stiffer but I actually had to loosen the truss rod ever so slightly to adjust the amount of relief.
 
#7
Bodeanly said:
I have no advice on strings, but I wanted to say that, for me, this year has been particularly dreadful as far as weather related neck ailments go. You in the midwest?
Click to expand...

I’m on the East coast and usually have very little issues with truss rod adjustments in the past.
We are having temperatures vary from the mid 70 degrees to the 30’s in the same week with the associated changes in humidity.
Odd that I finally have a really good furnace humidifier this year.

Thanks for the string suggestions.
If I give up on similar tone, would going to something like a nickel plated Rotosound or Blue Steels be a good direction?
I have used the above in SS in the past and remember them to be stiff and possibly greater tension.

You would think that string manufacturers would list this data these days…
 
#8
michael_t said:
I once tried the SB and the Nickel LRs back-to-back a couple of years ago. Going from the SB to the LR, the LR did feel stiffer but I actually had to loosen the truss rod ever so slightly to adjust the amount of relief.
Click to expand...

I'm here to clarify my earlier post...

As I was thinking back two years to remember exactly what happened with my tryouts with the Sunbeams and the Nickel Lo-Riders, I realized I missed out on a very important part of my experiment.

Since I was using the 45-105 set for the SB, I was going to get the same gauges for the LRs for comparison. Then I came across with a comprehensive review by Ed Friedland on DR strings, where he did say he had to tighten the truss rod when switching from the SB to the LR. He also commented he would personally prefer the 40-100 set for the LR due to their hex-core stiffness.

After reading that, I decided on the 40-100 set for the LR, which explains why I ended up loosening the truss rod.

Sorry this important piece of information was not part of my initial recollection of what I had done two years go. I do apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
 
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#9
Jim C said:
I’m on the East coast and usually have very little issues with truss rod adjustments in the past.
We are having temperatures vary from the mid 70 degrees to the 30’s in the same week with the associated changes in humidity.
Odd that I finally have a really good furnace humidifier this year.

Thanks for the string suggestions.
If I give up on similar tone, would going to something like a nickel plated Rotosound or Blue Steels be a good direction?
I have used the above in SS in the past and remember them to be stiff and possibly greater tension.

You would think that string manufacturers would list this data these days…
Click to expand...

If not factoring in tone, maybe the GHS Rouncore Boomers?
 
#10
petrus61 said:
If not factoring in tone, maybe the GHS Rouncore Boomers?
Click to expand...

The Sunbeams being nickel-plated steel on a round core, this is the first thing that came to my mind. Round-core to round-core, there may be more similarities in tone than one might suspect.

The Fodera Nickels also get a lot of love around here as something that's close to the SB. No idea about their tension, though.
 
#11
michael_t said:
The Sunbeams being nickel-plated steel on a round core, this is the first thing that came to my mind. Round-core to round-core, there may be more similarities in tone than one might suspect.

The Fodera Nickels also get a lot of love around here as something that's close to the SB. No idea about their tension, though.
Click to expand...

The GHS do have a much larger outer wrap which would contribute I'd imagine a fairly different tone, but I'm sure they'd bring the tension up a notch...probably more so than the LR's. The reason I rcommend the LR's is that they have the same outer wraps (more turns, more wraps that are smaller by comparison to most other strings) as the Sunbeams. Going from 45-105's from beams to riders, I always needed to adjust for less relief (though the difference is more slight than say going from beams to Rotos) as I play with fairly low relief.
 
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#16
sikamikanico said:
Higher gauge Sunbeams? Not sure how close you can expect to get in tone, but that may require some trial and error anyway...

Did you contact DR with this question?
Click to expand...

Great idea and will also talk with Jason at BSO.
Ironically, the bass has started to get some relief on its’ own presumably due to higher humidity with the rain we’ve been having the last few days.
Never had a bass where the neck was too straight before.
 
#17
This is like asking for a higher powered amp that will sound like a Walkabout. You can get close to the same neighborhood, but it just won't be the same mystical, magical midrange character.

I think the in the same gauge the Nickel Lo-Riders, Fodera Nickel, and D'Addario XL will all do what you want.
And tonally they are all close-but-no-cigar.
 
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