What strings I should buy ?

[matante]

Originally Posted by MojoRizin

Thx !

someone can confirm this? (for the D'Addario mainly, because they are not expensive at all)

http://www.bassstringsonline.com/DAd...ACK_p_315.html

[MojoRizin]

Any other advices ?

[SasquatchDude]

DR makes damn good strings, their Fat Beams or Sun Beams sit really well in a broad variety of genres. They seem to last forever too... considerably better longevity than D'Addarios or Rotos IME.

Sun Beams are nickel wound, and sound comparatively warm and mellow; Fat Beams are stainless steel, and they pack more brightness and zing. Both run about $25-30 a pack.

[ShowKing]

DR hi beams. Stainless steel for the brightness, round core for low tension

[Matthew_84]

In all honestly, for you. I'd go for DR Nickel Lo Riders, they're nickel, pretty high tension, not low at all. Last a long time, and have a good growly tone, or their Sunbeams if you want something a bit more generic, but they'll have more of a medium tension.

When you progress more and want to try more things though, I'd strongly urge you to give the ken Smith Compressors a try.

[MojoRizin]

Yes i'll look

[MojoRizin]

Up

[Kmonk]

I used DR for many years and liked them. I now have a deal with Curt Mangan strings and have been using them for several years. They sound just as good as anything else I've used.

[Matthew_84]

If you're limited to what you can find in local stores, and there is no DRs around you, which I find hard to believe, but anyway, just grab a nickel roundwound.

I don't feel that half rounds or ground rounds are smoother at all. Because they're sanded down rounds, they have sharper edges which I feel are more grabby than any rounds I've tried.

You may want to try D'addario Chromes. They are flats but they don't have the typical flat tone. They are the brightest flats in my opinion and sound a bit mellower than nickel rounds, just a bit. And I agree with another poster in regards to their versatility. I had a teacher that felt this way about flats too, some people are just stubborn in their beliefs, especially teachers. EQing properly can also go a long way. They may not be the best choice for harmonics, but they can still do them, and I don't think you'll be working too much on them anyway. Also, they're obviously very smooth, and they last forever. They may be twice the price of other strings, but you wouldn't change them for a year or two (unless you didn't like them), but with typical rounds you may be changing them every couple of months, so you're actually saving money. Also, they certainly do not have a low tension. They are actually pretty stiff. Not as high as DR Lo Riders though.

In regards to your teacher, sometimes it's easier just to please them because if they feel that you're onboard with them 100% then they'll be more excited to teach you, and will likely do a better job teaching you what they have to teach. But remember, a teacher just teaches you what they know and like. You may just want to get nickel rounds for their "versatility", and use them while you're with the teacher. As you realize you want to grow in a different path then where the teacher is bringing you, then change strings if you want.

Ultimately, people can recommend you strings, but you just need to compile a list of several different ones and keep trying new ones until you find something that works for you and the sound you're going for on that particular bass. I currently have three different basses, all of which have very different strings based on what I want that bass for. It was all done by my taste of sound, and how they feel for my playing style. No one could tell me that. People helped, but recommendations only got me so far. I still had to try different sets before I found THE set for me.

[Ezmar]

If you really want to play a lot of bass, I say to get 3 sets. One stainless steel rounds, one nickel rounds, and one flats. Of course there's a lot of variation within each type, but the basic types should give you an idea of what you'd like to play. For me, it's Stainless, since my fingers callous like nothing else, and I love both the zingy tone when they're new, and the fatter snap when they're older. I use RS 66s, FWIW. If I need to mellow out my tone, I roll off the tone knob or EQ out some highs. Doesn't work as well as dead nickels or flats would, but it's good enough for me.

IME, flats have a really nice sound and feel, but don't do snap very well. I used a P with flats in the studio once, and the bass track sounded excellent. They mix very well.

Nickels have a nice bright, even, beautiful tone when they're new, but the zing leaves more quickly, which doesn't do it FOR ME. You can still get a Roundwound sound if you dig in, but after a while, even slap will sound thunky. Still a great sound, but not what I personally want.

Just some of my thoughts. Can't speak to grounds, pressurewounds, or tapes. But you get the idea. Every string sounds good, but Stainless Steel rounds are what I like to play. Actually, scratch what I said before, start with nickels. If you only like them when they're brand new, give steels a look. If you only like them when they're a year old, you might want to try some flats. After that, you can start looking at brands and such.

Hope that helped.

[kopio]

DR - Marcus Miller....lot's of bite and zing...brings you forward in the mix nicely! I use them on my fretted and fretless basses

[kingmacaw]

d"addario xl nickel are really nice sounding & very inexpensive for a quality string. some people like dr's i do not like their sound at all. i've tried loriders & hibeam rounds & felt they made my bass sound like a piano rather than a bass. but we all have different tastes. i also like dean markley blue steels but remember any stainless steel string will often take several hours to calm down their initial zinginess. it's because of there more uniform sound & softer feel that many bassists prefer nickel roundwounds.

[Solarmist]

D'Addario XL's are cheap, and sound pretty good. Elixir nano's are beautiful sounding strings, but cost a bit more.

[hotsauce n eggs]

For what little authority I have on the matter, I swear by Elixirs, they sound great and continue to do so for a very long time. Despite their high initial cost, they actually work out to being more cost effective than using non-coated strings due to their remarkable longevity.