Rotosound Joins the Coated String Club with new Nexus Guitar and Bass Strings

James Rushin

Posted 2009-07-21

Ever heard of that musician or that actor who just has that one outstanding credential that sends them over the top no matter what else they do? Leo Fender popularized the bass guitar and revolutionized the music industry. Edison invented the phonograph. Before Rotosound, bassists largely had only two choices: Gibson flatwounds, or Fender flatwounds. Then, with the help of The Who's legendary John Entwistle, Rotosound developed the roundwound bass guitar string and revolutionized bass tone as we know it.

Fast forward a few decades, and Rotosound is still a pioneering force in string manufacturing. The company just celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last year. Their world famous music strings have been the first choice for some of the greatest musicians in the history of music and include Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd and the cream of more recent bands such as Franz Ferdinand and Oasis. They continue to endorsee an ever increasing list of the most respected, innovative and professional musicians, as well as satisfy the tonal desires of millions of musicians around the planet. The company recently brought all their expertise, knowledge and experience together to launch the new Nexus coated (a first for Rotosound) range of strings.

After extensive research and development, Rotosound has developed a unique microscopic coating process which adds a flexible, protective, black coating to the new Nexus range of strings. The special black polymer coating helps prevent contamination and corrosion, significantly extending the life of the strings, as a coating should. I think what will be most interesting to hear, and where I’ve had troubles with coated strings in the past, is the tone. Coated strings, especially on electric basses, tend to lose some of the roundness and low end. Rotosound claims that this is still of utmost importance and that these strings live up to their strict tonal standards. Having rather oily and sweaty hands, I can go through a set of uncoated strings in about two weeks flat. This musician would LOVE to have a set of coated strings that he didn’t have to change every five or six gigs.

But enough about what I want. Back to the strings.

The bass strings have a black polymer coat set over a Type 52 pure nickel alloy wrap. This gives rich mid-tones and offers an alternative to steels with high presence; Rotosound bass strings are renowned for being incredibly bright but still warm. The gauges available are 40, 60, 80 and 100, and 45, 65, 85 and 105. A single Low B (130) will also be available for five string bass players.

The Nexus Acoustic sets are clear polymer coated wound, gold series plain strings with a phosphor bronze base. This gives enriched highs and gentle mid-tones and comes in three gauges: 10s, 11s and 12s.

In the electric range new Nexus strings also have a black polymer coating over nickel alloy. This adds a lot of warmth compared to conventional nickel strings. There are two sets available here: 9s and 10s.

In the company’s own words, “With fifty years of heritage and legions of fans worldwide, Rotosound take great care to ensure it’s strings live up to the Rotosound reputation. All the strings are manufactured using the finest quality raw materials and made to the strictest quality control standards. EVERY string is hand checked for consistency of winding, colour, feel and general quality before being passed, and only then is it worthy of carrying the Rotosound name.” You can be sure I’ll be waiting in line to try a set of these when they come out. Here’s to hoping they live up to the claims.

The new Nexus range is available now and is currently being used by top professionals such as Pink’s bass player Eva Gardner.

Try some out for yourself and let us know what you think on the forums, or, better yet, write a review and have it featured on our site!

For further information on the range see http://www.rotosound.com/news.html

James is a bassist, pianist, organist, composer and writer currently living and working in the Pittsburgh, PA, and Morgantown, WV areas. He is currently writing tunes and holding down the low end for Morgantown-based jazz band No Room for Squares.

Questions, comments, concerns? Want to find out how many new instruments/cars/houses/death stars I could have bought if I didn't have to budget new strings? E-mail me at james.rushin@musicgearreview.com.

Rotosound Joins the Coated String Club with new Nexus Guitar and Bass Strings

James Rushin

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