Optima 4099, the new Maxima ?

[jamespaul71]

I haven't mixed and matched to compare the outer wrap feel so they could be more similar than I thought, but I was pretty sure it was SS. Here is what the package says:

Optima Chrom Saiten

Saiten fur besonders hohe Anspruche.
Optima Bass-Saiten sind ein produkt fur besonders hohe anspruche. Alle saiten werden auf 6-kant-stahl gefertigt und fest umsponnen.

Chromnickel-flachdraht verhindert korrosion und garantiert lange haltbarkeit.
Glasklar, stark und knackig im Sound.

By the way, you can get then cheap and shipped to the US from http://www.astrings.co.uk/Bass_Guitar_S ... ptima_4099

[Wiker]

I haven't mixed and matched to compare the outer wrap feel so they could be more similar than I thought, but I was pretty sure it was SS. Here is what the package says:
:
By the way, you can get then cheap and shipped to the US from http://www.astrings.co.uk/Bass_Guitar_S ... ptima_4099

Yes, that the ones I got. I don’t know much about metals so can’t say, but it would surprise me if these are steel. The trend with me is that I just don’t like the feel of steel strings, and the Optimas does not give me that steel feeling. Also the colour of the metal seems the same as Maximas (and the nickel Pyramids) - a warmer shine than the cold gray of steel.

Do you still have the Optimas? When did you try them, and do you know how long they’ve been on the market?
I can’t remember seen them previously, a year or two ago, when looking for alternative flats. Might have been the Fender on the package cover made me scroll by.
Btw, the Maximas I got from a guy in Germany came of course in the red “Rickenbacker” box, but on the back someone had written “für Fender” in large writing.

[mikko]

After listening to Geir's soundsamples I couldn't resist myself anymore and I ordered a set. I will probably receive it next week. Interesting to hear how they sound in real life. Description on the package doesn't sound very promising as I am in search of old school flatwound sound (like old formula Fender strings), but sound samples told me the opposite.

[henry5]

My understanding was that it was actually the same company rebadged.

[johnhall]

My understanding was that it was actually the same company rebadged.

. . . minus the founder, who died, and all of his manufacturing knowledge. Their primary product is now fishing line.

[jamespaul71]

Yes, that the ones I got. I don’t know much about metals so can’t say, but it would surprise me if these are steel. The trend with me is that I just don’t like the feel of steel strings, and the Optimas does not give me that steel feeling. Also the colour of the metal seems the same as Maximas (and the nickel Pyramids) - a warmer shine than the cold gray of steel.

They are certainly shiny, and I now that you mention it I think you're right about the feel... the optimas don't get sticky like SS. I do remember the optimas leaving black gunk too, which the originals left in spades.

Do you still have the Optimas? When did you try them, and do you know how long they’ve been on the market?
I can’t remember seen them previously, a year or two ago, when looking for alternative flats. Might have been the Fender on the package cover made me scroll by.
Btw, the Maximas I got from a guy in Germany came of course in the red “Rickenbacker” box, but on the back someone had written “für Fender” in large writing.

Yeah I still have the set on a bass, I think I got them a few months short of a year ago, and sorry I don't know exactly how new they were. My guess is that the particular production is fairly new, like the past couple of years only. I don't know why yours said fender, but there is a P bass on the front of the string package so maybe somebody just thought it meant something it didn't?

[Wiker]

After listening to Geir's soundsamples I couldn't resist myself anymore and I ordered a set. I will probably receive it next week. Interesting to hear how they sound in real life. Description on the package doesn't sound very promising as I am in search of old school flatwound sound (like old formula Fender strings), but sound samples told me the opposite.

Looking forward to hear you view on these strings.

By the way, you can get then cheap and shipped to the US from http://www.astrings.co.uk/Bass_Guitar_S ... ptima_4099

I paid €38, and now I find them for €24 at Thomann
http://www.thomann.de/de/optima_4099_flatwound.htm
There are some customer reviews at Thomann, the oldest from December 2009. So these strings have probably been in production at least for two years.

[jamespaul71]

They may be €24 at Thomann but the shipping from them is something like 40 dollars.

[Wiker]

They may be €24 at Thomann but the shipping from them is something like 40 dollars.

Ouch

[coolingitdown]

Yeah, when I said $70 USD I was including shipping to the US in that. The set of strings was only like 22 euro, then shipping was another 30 euro or so.

Mikko, let us know what you end up thinking about them! As a fellow flatwound enthusiast, I'm really curious about these.

[jamespaul71]

Yeah, when I said $70 USD I was including shipping to the US in that. The set of strings was only like 22 euro, then shipping was another 30 euro or so.

Mikko, let us know what you end up thinking about them! As a fellow flatwound enthusiast, I'm really curious about these.

When I bought mine from astrings the shipping was like 10 bucks, I think total cost for a set shipped to the states was around 45 dollars. For others out there interested in trying the strings definitely check those guys out, by far the least expensive and the shipping was really fast.

[coolingitdown]

So, Mikko, any thoughts on these strings? Or have you not had the chance to try them yet?

[mikko]

Unfortunately I haven't received them yet. Schneider Musik (in Germany) from where I ordered them ran out of stock and they said delivery will be delayed 1-2 weeks.

[iiipopes]

They look about right . . . I hope someone gets it correct this time!

I still think there's something magical about the original alloy. Maxima was located in Geretsried, Germany, which during WW II was the site of several large bomb and artillery shell factories. These were ultimately bombed out of existence by the Americans in quite a tumultuous fashion near the end of the war.

Subsequently, due to the massive nearby sources of metals, the town was the site of large metal smelting operations, reclaiming war related metals from all over Germany. I have to wonder if Maxima didn't stumble onto the perfect storm of exploded munitions grade copper, lead, brass, bronze, nickel, or steel that made these strings sound so great. I wonder if the fact that many of these metals were previously exploded altered the content somewhat. Maybe modern materials are just too high grade?

The same thing has been considered for brass instrument bell brass. One company has even taken shavings of old instrument bells considered to have superior tone to do spectronomy on them to get just the right balance of "impurities" in the alloy. But that's not all: formation, annealing and final handling also contribute to the final effect. If the bell is not tempered correctly, it won't have the right tone. Same for the wire, flat or round, that strings are made out of.

I say this because I was employed by the company as a kid to coil up bulk strings and within a few minutes of doing so, my hands were black, as if I had been handling graphite. Other strings then and to this day only do this to a limited extent.

The only "pure" nickel wrap strings I've encountered are TI's, and they also turn my hands black.

[mikko]

Yesterday I received my Optima strings set. Sorry to disappoint you, but it is a medium scale set that I put on my Starfire. So no actual Rick content here, but I thought I could still write couple of lines about the strings anyway.
I had Chromes on SF earlier so I compare Optima to them. Chromes are also well known strings so I think many of you get the idea how Optimas are if I tell how they differ from Chromes.
Optima packaging looks kind of old fashioned. Not “retro” old fashioned, but “15 years ago” old fashioned. I saw this as a positive feature in the middle of all ultra modern packaging that are on the market these days. Same style continued on string envelopes.
The strings were very flexible compared to Chromes and acted like dead earth worms when hanging loose. Material looked much warmer and smoother compared to Chromes. Orange silks were actually more like faded red. Shame there was no orange silks on both ends, only on bridge side. This, of course does not affect on sound but I think it would look nice to have orange silks on both ends. It was time to change the strings…
At first I changed only the E-string to be able to play both, Optimas and Chromes, at the same time. What a huge difference! While Chromes sounded kind of cold and too modern for this bass (could be the whole different story with Chromes on some other bass, they´re great strings anyway), Optimas deliver a soft and warm but still articulate sound with lots of low end. Definitely the sound not suitable for everyone´s needs, but for those who want old school flatwound sound these are just great. We play some Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead covers so I wanted the Casady/Lesh sound. This is not exactly it but closer than anything else so far. Even the Pyramids (Casady and Lesh used them) were more different. I guess Pyramids are not the same they used to be 40 years ago.
Optimas are relatively inexpensive, great old style flatwound strings. If that´s what you´re looking for I would say give them a try. String lengths were obviously designed with Fender style headstock in mind so the G-string is probably too long for Rick as it was for SF. That doesn´t do any harm because these are not one of those strings that break immediately if you put any of the speaking length around the machine head pole.

edit: BTW, Optimas made my fingertips black but not very badly.