AS A WEE BASS PLAYER, I REMEMBER GETTING HIP TO
DEAN
Markley’s Blue Steel bass strings courtesy of my trusty local music store
salesman.
“They’re designed to last longer than regular bass strings, so you end up
paying less
in the long run,” I remember him telling me. Cool. “They’re cryogenically
frozen for
stability and longevity, and the company is based here in the Bay Area,” he
went on to
say. Double cool! I sprang for a couple sets, and I considered myself a Markley
man.
Looking back after 20 years—and countess other string sets—it’s pretty
wild how
much the string game has changed. Back then, coated strings were the stuff of
science
fiction. Neon strings? No way! Truth be told, I’ve been so distracted by all the
various
developments in string land that I’d not given much thought to Dean Markley,
whose
Blue Steels had served me so solidly all those years ago. So when I got my
hands on
a set of Markley’s new Helix Stainless Steel strings, I was eager to get reacquainted.
With its Helix string, Dean Markley has taken the concept of pressure
wound
strings—in which the outer wrap is flattened to make it sound and feel more
like a
flatwound—and turned it on its head, instead compressing the wrap lengthwise in
a
procedure the company dubs Hyper Elliptical Winding. As a result of the
process, the
string ends up having more winds per inch, something Dean Markley asserts makes
for a louder, rounder fundamental.
To test the Helix SS strings, I strung up an active 5-string on which
I’ve grown
accustomed to playing coated stainless steel strings. It took a little while to
get used
to the feel of the Markleys, which I found much like most other, more conventional
stainless steels—definitely a bit more rough to the touch than coated or nickel
strings.
Sonically, the Helix SS’s have chime-like sustain, owing in part to their
taper-wound
construction. The Helixes (Helices?) possess an assertive low-mid grunt and a
highend
bite that definitely brings me back to my bright and cheerful Blue Steel days.
The
medium-light set I tested (gauged .045, .065, .080, .105, .128) felt even
across the
5-string fingerboard, and though the B string is a hair thinner than the .130s
I am
used to, those low notes felt nonetheless firm and focused.
The beauty of bass strings is that they’re a relatively inexpensive
way to
fundamentally change the sound of your bass. If the vibe you’re after is bright
and
forceful—whether for fingerstyle, slap, or pick playing—the Helix Stainless
Steels
are a good bet.
SPECIFICATIONS
DEAN MARKLEY
HELIX STAINLESS STEEL
STREET 4-string, $21; 5-string, $28
CONTACT deanmarkley.com