Optima Gold strings

I recently stumbled upon these fancy looking strings. I think they'd look awesome with wenge fretboard and brass frets I also heard that they last longer than ordinary nickel strings. Anyone tried them out? Share your experiences, please.

OPTIMA 2319 - Thomann Verkkokauppa

 

hi olli

i had them on my first wick a thumb bolt on. they really looked great on it and the sound is not bad at all very snappy.
they kept a bit longer yes but from time to time they start to get hard and a bit stiff if you ask me. after using them for 3 months with my sweaty fingers they looked worn off and ugly, so i decided to go back to normal and coated strings.
as for me they're quite ok but nothing for a longer or regularly time!

cheers
herbie

 

Entwistle loved them.

 

I still have optima roundwounds on my rockbass. The roundwounds were great. Very bright, brings out the mids a lot too. I had optima flatwounds on my fretless for a while. I used them mainly because I thought it'd be cool to have gold strings. I stopped using them on the fretless because they were tacky to the touch. They are really sticky strings. I like the tone and look of them, but the flatwounds weren't my favorite.
I do regularly use flatwound strings though. My SSII 5 has TI flats right now.

Optima Gold strings are really cool looking, you get a good sound, but in my opinion they're even stickier than coated strings. I do like the roundwounds though. I considered getting a set for the SSII 5, but a 5 string set of Optima's are hard to find and, if i remember correctly, around $130-150.

If you try them out, remember that gold is a lot different from nickel or steel. They feel very different, so it might take some getting used to

 

Thanks for the useful information guys. The stickiness of the strings is something that I despise and is a complete no-no for me. I'm an Elixir lover so I guess I will stick to those. I bet Entwistle had the cash and a tech to change the strings every week so he had no problems with the strings wearing out and becoming ugly and sticky I might still give them a chance on some of my basses.

I found this
OPTIMA 2299/1B 045-125 - Thomann Verkkokauppa
Thin gauge though.

 

looks awesome but I doubt the Gold isn't doing much but looking shiny.

 

I heard it's a good coating material for the nickel allergics.

 

:lol:

 

Nickel wound strings sound different than stainless steel. Why wouldn't gold also sound different?

 

it's a plating, it's not like it's a full wrap.

 

I think there att different degrees of gold %, but still. I think it should affect sound. Plastic coating on Elixirs affect the sound as well...

 

I'm sure gold-coating would change the sound. As Samual mentioned, even plastic coating is changing the sound - that's due to the fact the volumic mass is different and therefore the mass of the string is different, therefore its oscillation.

With gold you also got the factor that it's a conductible material and won't only influence mass of the string, but also the way the induction happens in the pickup. Not enough e-tech or physics sophisticated to make a clear statement, but gold is far more conductible than nickle or steel, so you got a difference for sure.

Also gold is not able to get involved into oxidation processes, so the strings will only wear out or get dirty!

 

I love goooooold!

New string day. Decided to go for the Optima Gold again. First set was down after 3 months. 39,- Euro for a new set is a pain in the ass, but we did recordings today and these strings are my favorite on the BuzzTard so far. Seems I will have to learn to clean them after use to get a longer lifetime out of them.

 

Looking snappy too

 

NICE! did the buzztard come with beat up looking hardware from the factory o do you sweat freaking battery acid? just looking at the bridge rust!

 

My thoughts exactly, lol

 

Markus at the Custom Shop was sweating because of the list of my wishes, hehe! All hardware is aged but working perfect.

 

Recorded with Optima Gold strings. Unpatient listeners can skip to 2:30 min!

Dropbox - Free Ride - Drum&Bass.mp3

 

I would like this 20 times if I could- how do they sound and how long do they last. Oh and how are they on the Fretless wood?

 

I finally got around to putting Optima Golds on my Buzzard a few weeks back. Man, I should've done that a long time ago. They look, sound and feel great. IMHO, they're excellent! I've mostly played Rotosound RS, and have also played DR High Beams and Warwick Black Labels; all very good, but I like these even more. The jury is still out on longevity, but I have to say that they didn't exhibit the "break in" that SS strings do; where they're extremely bright for the first few hours of play, then settle down. These still seem to sound the same as when I first strung them up. Are they worth the 2-4x cost difference? So far I would have to say, yes.