Well now that I've tried several brands of strings, I thought of writing what I think of all of them.
I play a passive jazz bass (Squier CV), and before that I played a Yamaha BB 414, also passive.
All of the strings I used were 45 - 105
Tuning at home - standard EADG
Tuning for live gigs - half a step down D#G#C#F#
Stuff I tried:
DR High Beams - nice bright sound, they stayed fresh for my first gig, and lasted for about 2 months I think, until I broke the E string. They were the first pack I bought and honestly, I don't remember much about them, except that I really wanted to switch to nickel strings as I found I liked the tone and feel better.
Warwick Red label - cheap solid steel strings that I bought as a quick replacement several times when the store didn't have anything else in the 45 - 105 size. They are ROUGH on your fingers, the tone is a bit hollow and lakluster to me, they sound a bit scooped. But they do NOT break! I play aggressivly and those were almost the only strings I never managed to break not one package, however, the feel is awful, and the sound is just not there IMO. I actually went through at least 3 or 4 packs of those because I had no alternative at times.
Ernie Ball Slinky - my first nickel string venture, I liked the feel and the tone, but they went dead quite quickly. And once broken in, the tone was muffled and lacked punch. I sold my Yamaha with those strings on it, so I guess I never broke them either.
DR Sunbeams - whoa, this is where my love for DR strings started. I loved the tone, so warm and smooth and the feel is just amazing. However, they felt a bit too loose. Still, I loved those! Broke a string after about 3 months. But the tone was always nice even after 3 months of use.
Dunlop nickles - felt and sounded like a cheaper variation of DRs. Not bad, but a bit vanilla. The feel just wasn't as nice, nor was the tone. Went through 2 packs rather quickly (3 - 4 months) because I broke the E or A string, once even both. I had to put a Warwick Red A string during gig once when I broke the Dunlop, and the Warwick string had a higher output which I found interesting.
La Bella Slappers - nice, pretty darn nice. Fresh out of the box, they felt like they had some sort of lubricant on them. Not exactly greasy, but something oily. Very tight strings too, much tighter than any other brand I tried. Great tone after several gigs, and they stayed fresh the longest of any string I ever tried. I liked the feel of the DRs better though. Once they really broke in, the tone was ok, but lacked that certain je ne sais quoi, perhaps fulness or something. I guess they work best for what their name tells - slap. Plus, they feel made to last, since I didn't break a string.
DR Lo Riders (nickel) - finally got these, just put them on today, which is what I wanted to get when I got Slappers, but the store didn't have them. Slappers are now put as a quick replacement pack for gigs when I break a string. Whoa, this is it. The feel is awesome! I read that people think Lo Riders are tight. I felt Slappers were a lot more tight, these are just perfect. The feel and ease of playing is totally there now (for me). I can't wait to try them on the gig tonight! I think these might be my favorite because they're tighter than Sunbeams and have less tension that Slappers, and they bring that great DR tone!
Well that's it. DRs had by far the best feel and tone for me, but I always broke a string after about 3 months of use. Still, I'd trade that for what they bring me. I really love playing those. La Bellas would be a second best with the longest fresh sound, if you go for that zingy thing. Personally, I prefer my strings a bit broken in, and find that DRs give me the best tone and feel for that.
Hope this might help some people a bit.
Yea sometimes I just dig in too hard, or when I slap really aggressivly. I am calming down a bit now though! I used to really hit that poor bass with vengeance during gigs.
