What's the Deal With Slinky's???

[stilla]

Hey guys,

A little help from the more experienced players would help me a lot. I have a gig coming up in a few days and need a new set of strings. I am limited to the Ernie Ball line as my LMS is out of stock on everything else. Does anyone know what the difference is between Slinky, Extra Slinky, Super Slinky and Power Slinky??? I am pretty loyal to "Blue Steels" from Dean Markley, but this time I only have a limited selection. I need a string that has as much "brightness" as possible as my pickups are still stock. If anyone can give me some insight on this, I would appreciate it. Also, any ideas on how to properly "stretch" strings quickly?

beginning to panic,

Stilla

[screamingmonkey]

The different names of the slinky string sets designate the string gauge of the set. They are all made the same way, just matched up differently. They're pretty decent strings and I like the way they sound, but I thend to go through them faster then any other strings I've used, nickel or steel.

[santucci218]

yeah the slinkys arent a great string...no silk to protect your hardware and they die fast.

[santucci218]

eer...didnt mean to make you panic more, sorry!

[markjazzbassist]

the different type of slinky names represent the different sizes or gauges of string. go to their website www.ernieball.com and see which gauge is what you normally use.

[JonathanD]

Slinkys work well IMO. They do die fast, but they will be nice ad bright for your gig.

[stilla]

hey,

thanks for the info. I'll check that out on the site. I also read that to stretch your strings, tune them, pull and wiggle them one at a time and then retune. It said to do this several times until the "pull and wiggle" doesn't cause them to go out of tune anymore. Does this sound right? It makes sense to me. Are there any oter ways to do this properly? I would prefer to try something that is a proven method instead of something i read randomly on the net. if this works, I'll give it a try

[Nighthawk551]

Originally Posted by stilla

hey,

thanks for the info. I'll check that out on the site. I also read that to stretch your strings, tune them, pull and wiggle them one at a time and then retune. It said to do this several times until the "pull and wiggle" doesn't cause them to go out of tune anymore. Does this sound right? It makes sense to me. Are there any oter ways to do this properly? I would prefer to try something that is a proven method instead of something i read randomly on the net. if this works, I'll give it a try

I pull them out and stretch them at the 12th fret. I usually do that and retune twice.

[PSPookie]

Originally Posted by stilla

hey,

thanks for the info. I'll check that out on the site. I also read that to stretch your strings, tune them, pull and wiggle them one at a time and then retune. It said to do this several times until the "pull and wiggle" doesn't cause them to go out of tune anymore. Does this sound right? It makes sense to me. Are there any oter ways to do this properly? I would prefer to try something that is a proven method instead of something i read randomly on the net. if this works, I'll give it a try

Strings don't actually stretch any appreciable amount. The "stretching" that occurs is just the string settling onto the post. Yanking at your string as soon as you put them on will help to accelerate this process, but it will also cause your new strings to "die" more quickly.

I keep the strings snug to the post when winding them and then bring them up to approximate tension. After that I tune them; I usually make 2 passes as the change in overall tension affects the bow of the neck and thus the tension (i.e. pitch) of each string. Once that is done, I will play the bass for 5-10 minutes and retune. At this point, the strings are usually good-to-go.