Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Alembic Basses & Guitars => Topic started by: lawrence on September 02, 2004, 10:49:11 AM
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While I haven't received my Orion yet (it's amazing how slow time can go by), I'm already thinking about upkeep, maintenance and strings. In my string searching, I ran across these Optima Gold strings that are made in Germany. They are supposed to be 24 karat gold-plated strings that protect against corrosion and have an extended playing life. From the limited reveiews, they seem to be bright (but not harsh) and have good harmonic characteristics. Has anyone ever heard or played these strings before?
http://www.talkbass.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/37/sort/7/cat/17/page/1 (http://www.talkbass.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/37/sort/7/cat/17/page/1)
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Weren't these the strings Entwistle used for a while, but they were called (as it says in the link) Maxima Gold?
Never seen them to buy to try myself.
Rog
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There are several threads where Maxima Gold strings are mentioned. Run a search for Maxima Gold.
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These are the strings that Entwistle used for I think the last ten years (or so) of his life, after Rotosound screwed him.
I thought you couldn't get these anymore, or they were only available in Europe? And yes they are very expensive.
Ollie?? I know you know the answer to this one.
Am I the only person still playing Rotosounds? I've seen all the string discussions on other threads and they don't mention them - am I a sucker or something? I love Rotosounds but if I'm getting a bad deal, then....
Mike
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Gee, and I had assumed from this board that Rotos were the string of choice. I still stand by the Alembic strings, and their inclusion of a string-level bad note filter sealed the deal for me! You can find the Maxima Golds on www.juststrings.com (http://www.juststrings.com), but you have to do a search for them, and they seem to be available only for 4 string, and by the each ( no sets).
Larry
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MIke ...as long as I remember the threads where Rotosound was mentioned, I don't think there was anybody who didn't like the sound. ALthough there WERE some people saying that Rotoousnds were very agressive for frets and hands, leaving there the fingerboards.
FYI, when I restarted bassplaying -about 14 years ago- I bought Optima/Maxima light strings to put on a Roland bassguitar/midi trigger (the neck through wooden model). It was fantastic!!!! The guy who lend me the bass heard me playing on it and IMMEDIATELY requested the bass back. Well ...I got his Yamaha BX-1 in loan than.
The Optima/Maxima's are not in the store anymore where I got them 14 years ago.
Paul TBO
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OK, I'll bite: Where can I buy a set of these Optima gold strings, preferably for 34 scale 4-Str. in .045's? They would look awesome on my Orion!
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Looks like you can get the set for $80 at Just Strings.
http://www.juststrings.com/opt-bg2319.html (http://www.juststrings.com/opt-bg2319.html)
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Alembic strings have a bad-note filter? Does that mean that I will hit no more clams if I use Alembic strings? Hm.
Is this similar to the 16th-to-32nd note toggle switch we were discussing on another thread? I want one of those too.
$80 for a set of Maximas? I don't think so. You can get three packs of Rotos from Bass Central for about $50 I think. So....I'll stay where I am, although those nice shiny golden Maximas sound pretty ripping. I've never heard anyone use them except Entwistle.
MB
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Guys,
to my opinion are the Maxima Gold no longer in production. If I remember well Optima had been a
lower budget sub-brand of Maxima in the eighties.
Maybe they have changed this complete line as you don?t find any Maxima Golds anywhere.
BTW you JE fans, I was offered two sets of original sealed Maxima Gold sets out of Johns posession incl. signature. The seller is asking USD 125 per set..... :-)
Or anyone interested in the white Warwick Buzzard bass of John that is featured on the cover of Johns book (the bass with s/no 016). I also was offered this,but, nearly 30K was slightly over my budget!!
No jokes, all is true!
Oliver (Spyderman)
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Might be not helpful for anyone outside of Germany but this dedicated German string online-store lists Optima Gold Strings 45-100 set for US $36.81.
http://saitenkatalog.de/catalog/default.php?currency=USD&cPath=66_67&sort=3a&page=6&language=en (http://saitenkatalog.de/catalog/default.php?currency=USD&cPath=66_67&sort=3a&page=6&language=en)
No idea why juststrings are so expensive...
On a sidenote about Rotosounds: I played them when I started bass playing in the early 80s and basically I liked the sound. I stopped buying them however because they broke more than any other brand I tried. Of course that was 20 years ago. Maybe they are better today, I don't know, I never tried them again. I used GHS for quite a while and liked them very much too but I was open to strings with a longer piano-string sound lifespan. I am trying Elixier since a while and they are ok, keeping their initial sound quite well, but they are not as crisp as strings without the coating.
The optimas look interesting. I may give them a try for my next sets. Thanks for the input!
Hartmut
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Hartmut
Your site has Dean Markleys, which I use, at about twice the juststrings price. The differences is price for both brands is probably due to being imported.
I did find 4 string sets of Optima Gold on juststrings but at $80 they can stay there.
Sam
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Absolutely, Sam! It might be worth finding out if shipping to the US may possibly still be less than the juststrings price, who knows?
One should think that overseas resellers (in either direction) would get a better price from the manufacturer than a regular overseas customer.
Anyway, I never used either Dean Markleys nor Optimas yet, so I never had this particular problem before. Thanks to the internet everybody can find the best place for his personal needs and choose where to buy from. Vive l'internet!
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Hartmut: Danke Schoene. I ck'ed out String Catalogue's website in Deutschland. At around 30Euros ($36USD), That's not bad price (although I don't know what shipping charges and duties would be). I imagine if push came to shove, I could have my Bayerische friend Dieter source them in Munchen and ship them over free of duties anyway (or slip them in his luggage when he comes for a visit to the States this Fall, LOL).
I know they would look awesome on my bass, but I am reticent to purchase them at a premium price while not knowing how they actually play and/or sound and whether they are gentle on the frets/fingers as well. Like Mike said before: Beaver will sell me any strings I want (excluding these Optima's, which they can't get) for half-off of US MSRP...if you buy three sets at once, that is. Hmmmmm....Three sets of regular nickle roundwounds or One set of Gold jammies for the same price....what to do?
(Message edited by kmh364 on September 03, 2004)
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Maybe when they come out with the Optima Platinums...
Larry
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Alrighty then.....What the hell, I'm gonna try a set of Gold Optima's. I know: a fool and his money are soon parted. I found a place that'll deliver 'em for around $50 beans. If nothing else, they'll make for good archive photos of the bass for posterity (and for the showcase gallery on the site). If they actually play and sound nice, and don't wreck my frets, that'll be a good bonus. I'll keep the Alembic faithful informed as I learn more about these strings forged from unobtainium, LOL!
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Hey Guys
I think I actually played a set of these that was on an Alembic Orion in a music store. I didn't know what they were but thought they sounded great since I knew the bass was used and they felt good to me as well. I had never seen a gold string before and they also looked pretty cool as well.
Rory
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Sorry, duplicate post.
(Message edited by kmh364 on September 08, 2004)
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We'll see. At least they'll look cool in photos, LOL!
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Just got 'em today....they look super cool. I'll beat up my stock Alembic strings a little more, then I 'll put these on and see what I think. Keep tuned to this same Bat Channel: Holy Canoli, Batman, those strings are GOLDEN, LOL!