Pyramid Rockshort N

I absolutely love these strings. I've been using them for years on several different basses. They are one of my favourite strings.

These are pure nickel strings so they are smoother sounding than most roundwounds. Less high end clank. These strings also have none of that nasty hollow sound that some roundwounds suffer from. Let me put it this way: If you love D'Addario XLs (I can't stand their clanky, hollow sound) you probably won't like the Pyramid Pure Nickels but if you want something smoother and fatter that isn't a flatwound, give them a chance!

Being PURE nickel (not just nickle plated) they are slightly lower output than most strings but this is no problem at all.

These strings sound pretty good straight out of the box so unlike some of my other favourite strings a long break-in period isn't strictly necessary. But they keep getting better and better with regular use. They are really at their best when they've mellowed out over several years. They don't really go dead in a bad way like many roundwounds do. They just get incredibly fat and organic sounding. On a P-bass they sound absoutely MASSIVE in the mix after a couple of years of use.

The only downside is that over the years I've had several sets go bad within a week or so. Not the usual lovely worn in sound that I like about these strings but completely dead. After searching a bit online I suspect these strings may be roundcore but all the info I found about this was hearsay from forums so I have no idea if this is correct.

If they ARE roundcores it may explain why I've had several sets go bad as I didn't take the necessary precautions when installing them. But if they really are roundcores I find it very strange that the manufacturer doesn't provide any info about this on the packaging with instructions how to install them properly.

There is of course also the possibility that I somehow got several bad sets. But it seems strange that I should get problems with 3-4 sets in a relatively short period while other sets just keep getting better and better after YEARS of regular use.

I've had no problems whatsoever after I started installing them the way I would with roundcores though.

HIGHLY recommended for sound. A small question mark about quality control if they are NOT actually roundcores. I'll just keep installing them like I would with roundcores and hope I don't get any more problems.

As said in the title I received a bad set which made it impossible to get proper intonation. I work as a bass builder/ guitar tech so I know a bad set of strings when I get my hands on it. I´ve used Labella, Daddario and Ernie ball strings on the same bass without issues, but decided to try something new this time. Alas it was very disappointing and after trying every trick in the book to get the intonation properly set-up I removed the strings, threw them in the bin and put a set of Daddarios on there which took me only 5 minutes to set-up zith proper intonation. I don´t know if this is a regular thing with Pyramid strings or if I was just unlucky by getting a bad set, but I won´t be buying these again.

I bought these strings to use on my Fender Mustang PJ bass and they are the perfect length for it.

Browsing a variety of guitar string stores, I was having trouble finding a short scale set in the 45-105 gauge and noticed Pyramid did the very set I was looking for while I was buying a set of Pyramid Gold flatwound strings for another bass.

On a short scale bass, these are classed as a heavy gauge, but they really don't feel it - very comfortable under the fingers and the tension feels just right - not tight, but not floppy either.

Soundwise, the string response was even across the strings and being nickel strings, they aren't as harsh sounding as steel strings can sound when new. That's not to say that the Pyramid strings don't sound bright - they do, but that's not at the expense of warmth and evenness of tone.

As mentioned, I was specifically looking for this gauge as I find that the G strong on a short scale sounds a lot tubbier with a heavier string and this is carried over to the lower strings - the E feels great!

To summarise, if you have a short scale bass and want a bit more to your sound, you can't go wrong with these strings! Highly recommended and a bargain at the price!