D'Addario Zyex

[Eduardo Barbosa]

I have not seen any threads on Zyex yet, so here I come.
After all these years I decided that I like Obligatos, Pirazzis, and Spiros. So i just order a couple of sets of Obligatos and one set of EP's, because I got a deal on them.
I really hate trying out strings. And there are too many to try. So I am happy with my choices.
Then, guess what?
D'addario sends me a set of Zyex Medium gage to try out.
Well, I figured, in these next few days while I wait for the ones I ordered, why not try them anyway.
Go to my local shop to pick them up, and they have a very nice Chinese bass strung up with them.
They sound killer on that bass. Just the perfect combination. They sound great pizz. Just enough warmth, but bright enough to get a good growl. And then when I try to bow them, they sound great as well. very focused sound, lots of clarity, without that treble edge that I am used to hear from the Obligatos. In fact it seems like I am playing on a different set of strings.
needless to say I was very excited to get home and try them on my bass.
I put them on my Romanian, large 3/4, flatback, that was strung with EP's regulars. And I use that bass mainly for Orchestra, and an occasional Jazz gig here and there. In fact I even used on a jazz album that I recorded not long ago. Just a great sounding bass and loud too.
Well, It's hard to believe how bad these strings on that bass! They made my bass sound like a bad plywood!!!
I even thought I had maybe moved the soundpost, but it remains in the same place.
On this particular bass these strings sound very, very nasal. incredibly annoying. They are really loud with the bow, but very bright. Not particularly scratchy. Just bright.
So now, I am always the first one to say that you need to wait about at least a couple of months to judge what a string really sound like on your instrument. But I have never tried any string that sounded so bad at first.
I am sure hoping that in the next week or so something really happens to the sound as they settle in.