Elixir Strings Nanoweb Coating Nickel Plated Steel Bass 4-String

Strings tested on Fender Stu Hamm Urge bass

I play mostly pop rock, sometimes progressive rock, with a Line6 x3 live multieffect pedal, picking hand and sometimes with a pick.
Strings already used before: Ernie Ball 2824 hybrid slinky, DR LO rider, rotosound RS66LD etc... The Elixir replaced Ernie Ball.

At first contact, the same very pleasant feeling as the first nanoweb strings I'd mounted on my guitar: smooth touch, ease of movement on the strings, unnoisy on slides...
I found them very stables as soon i installed them, as properly mounted: pull on them after installation and first tune, then tune it again.

Some records: (bass plugged directly on HiZ input of my sound card... so you can reamp these samples with your pedalboards/amplifiers if you want to...):
- picking hand few notes:


- Now with a pick:


- A little bit of slap... no worries about the coat that won't intruduce any damping effect on the sound


- Finally, a record of slides on these Elixir strings. Really pleasant on touch and to not ear finger scraping:


To me, the sound is really great, just a little bit metallic but not too much, round too... in short: balanced. In fact, well adapted for the music i do.

About longevity, i cannot comment on that for these strings, as i've just mounted them... However, with hindsight i have with guitar strings, i can say that coat efficiently protect from rust and allow to keep them for a long time... very long time... Without loosing any tone or feel limiting dead skin deposit on gaps between windings.
Right, they cost a little bit more than other strings, but we keep them so much longer that it really is worth the price.
A little compare between a classic string and Elixir String with coat (picture taken with reverse lense the get a really big magnification):



In conclusion, to me, i like the strings. Elixir is much talked about on boards... The feeling can appear as a little disturbing at first and it's only after few days using them that you should made you own opinion and not after only a brief try in a music shop... After than, you'll love them or hate them... So let's try them!

The only tone down i may add, is the lack of fun on product range... Even at have strings coat protected, why not get colored strings, luminescent or other?

+ Balanced sound
+ Long lifetime
+ Stables
+ Pleasant feeling
+ quality-price ratio
+ concept and quality of realization

- Lack of fun on product range (for the same price )

I recently had a chance to try out some Elixir Nanowebs (14202 - Light gauge .045-.130) and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised!

These are actually the first coated strings outside of tapewounds that I've tried, but I have heard from numerous folks over the years that coated strings are simply a novelty, don't sound as good as an uncoated string, and only give a very slightly longer playable life. Gotta say I no longer believe those folks. Numbers ratings are mostly way subjective to what each person prefers, so here's a summary of my thoughts now that I've had a chance to really put these strings through the wringer.

Tone

• When I first put these strings on my Moser Bastard Vi, I immediately noticed that they were very crisp, bright, and rich. After playing them for a few solid hours, the initial brightness did very slightly wear off as the strings broke in, but the tone just evened out a little bit and then stuck with the same nice and bright tone since that point a few weeks ago until now, with many hours on them in between.
• They aren't the very brightest strings I've used, but are about as bright as any other quality round wound and hold at that same level better than most.
• Definitely far lower string noise that normal roundwounds.

Feel

• Part of the objection that many have to coated strings is that they just don't feel right and just slide around everywhere. I was definitely surprised how much like uncoated these strings feel. I would say the initial impression (when my hands were dry was that they just felt like they were polished or something, but not like the noodly mess that I expected.
• That said, if your hands sweat as much as mine do, they do indeed get rather slippery, especially i. THAT said, my hands sweat tons, but don't corrode strings like some other sweaty guys do. If your sweat is on the more corrosive side, the slipperiness may be worth the protection.

Longevity

• After a month of heavy use, they are still keepin' on keepin' on. As mentioned in the Tone section, the tone has held beautifully compared to many traditional round wounds. While they have not maintained the same brightness as when they were fresh, it has definitely decreased far less that most others.
• While I generally don't use a pick very often, I did give these strings a good bit of time with picks ranging from Wedgie rubber picks and super thin and floppy picks to a 3mm stubby and even a big stainless steel triangle pick. Through all of this, the coating seems to have held up perfectly. To be fair, I certainly didn't put in the kind of time that a dedicated picker would, so I can't attest to how they stand up to heavy and continuous picking, but I feel that they did well for the amount that I did put them through.

Appearance

• They look like a standard set of strings. They aren't super glossy and reflective and they definitely haven't gotten cloudy or yellowed or anything in the month that I've been using them.
• Personally, I kinda like having a nice looking silk on my strings, but then again you could also run into the color clashing with your bass or your strap or whatever, so it's not like it's any sort of negative that these are naked. Naked is definitely more neutral and versatile, but sometimes fancy is nice too.

Overall

• If you like your strings to keep as close to that fresh brightness as possible and your hands don't sweat a whole lot, I think these are going to knock it out of the park for you.
• For me personally, I don't foresee using them regularly as I've got very sweaty hands that don't corrode strings and my preference in tone and feel is more for quarter round strings. I could certainly see using these strings in certain situations, though
• All in all, not my cup of tea; but I can tell it's a damn fine cup of tea.

Here are some pictures of them on my Moser:
(Sorry for the only slightly above potato quality. Turnip maybe?)

I've played coated strings in the past. They had this thick coating that looked and felt like they had been dipped in plastic. I could hardly tell there was a coating at all on the Elixir Nanoweb strings. The coating didn't make them feel much different from regular uncoated round wound strings. Finger noise was significantly less noticeable with these string. Which I consider a plus.
These strings are long. I don't usually clip my strings when I'm putting them on. Had to take off a good 6 inches with these guys and I still had a lot left over.
I was surprised by how bright these strings sounded. I expected them to sound duller. These strings have a lot of top end and mids. Not so much of the lows. The tone of these strings I would describe as aggressive and would do really well with a player that has to compete with a couple of loud guitars to be heard. I had a hard time dialing in a mellow tone with the Elixir's.
I think these strings are pretty good. They feel pretty good. Fast but not slippery. I expect that because of the coating the tone will remain consistent for a long time.

[*] Product DescriptionBrand : Elixir
No of Strings : 4
Scale : Long
Gauge : .045 - .100 – light
Product Number : 14052

[*]Outer PackagingThe Strings are packaging in a tough enough 6"x6" (approx) flat outer box.
All the relevant information is displayed and easy to understand.
In addition, Elixir provide information, on the reverse, about their 'Custom String Shop' which allows customers to mix and match string gauges.

Also listed is a grid detailing their range of gauges and an explanation of, and diagram illustrating, Elixir's Nanoweb coating.





[*]Inner PackagingEach string, as you'd expect, is wound in a 6" (approx) coil, and stored in it's own light paper sleeve.
The basic product information and gauge per string is clearly marked.
We're also told that this packaging was made from recycled paper.



[*]String LengthEach string in this 'long scale' set was approx 50".
This was more than enough for my RBX170 which wanted approx 40" max.
Anyone fitting strings to an instrument should have access to wire cutters or snips so no problem here.
I took about 6" from each string before proceeding, ultimately leaving me between two and four full winds at the tuners.

[*]String fittingNo surprises here. Fitting the strings was a two minute job, as it should be.
The unique feel of the nano web coating became clear to me, even at this point.



[*]TuningAfter tuning and playing for half an hour I checked tuning again.
It was close enough!
I'm not sure how big a deal this is with bass strings, but I know guitar strings generally need to 'settle in'.
I gave them a good stretch which caused them to fall, at most, a semi tone.
I wouldn't be particularly worried about changing strings during a session, from this experience.



[*]Feel and SoundThe important bits.
Immediately I liked the feel of these strings.
They do feel slippy, as I've read others say, but not in a bad way. I feel like they'd be much less likely to wear on my fingers over time.
This is important as I don't play a whole lot of bass. I'm mostly a guitarist/singer.

They just seem to have a good balance of fast, but comfortable action. I didn't feel I was likely to overshoot or anything like that, but they did make playing feel lighter or easier somehow.

Unplugged, the instrument immediately seemed to have much more authority.
I could clearly hear the detailed high end of each pluck/pick/slap, without it being over powering.
There was a very obvious fullness too, which surprised me unplugged.
The body of the instrument just seemed to resonate with great strength.

Any speculation you might have about this nano web coating dulling the sound can certainly be set aside, in my opinion.

Plugging in to assess the bass and overall tone properly was equally pleasant.
No shortage of powerful low end, but the muddy low mid sound that I'd been used to was no longer present.
There's definitely something to be said for changing your strings once in a while!

My previous strings must have been medium gauge because I found these to be lighter straight away.
I'm not sure that I would want to go as far as super light, but found the light gauge to be very comfortable indeed.



[*]Long lifeOf course, I have no idea how long these are going to last.
Elixir suggest that the tone should last 3-5 times longer than with other strings.
The way I play bass I'm expecting to get 24-40 years out of these bad boys.
Seriously though, It'll be a long time before I can comment on durability.

[*]PriceThe price, to me, seemed entirely reasonable.
There's no shortage of comparable sets from reputable brands (nanoweb aside) ranging from £25 to £50.

If, however, Elixir's nanoweb do allow the tone do last 3-5 times longer, they're a bargain.

This photograph is largely pointless, but I thought it was cool.