Worst string manufactuer you know

[bass12]

Originally Posted by danielfnj96

For me it has to be DR strings; they just make me angry because you dish out the cash for a set of sunbeams put them on, they sound amazing, and then with ten minutes you break a string. The really bad part though is that it happened several times because i had hoped it was just a defect and not the brand.

And how did the company respond when you brought this to their attention?

[ejmy]

Originally Posted by Direct Box Rox

Out of all the major brands (Ernie Ball, D'Addarrio, SIT, DR, GHS etc), what manufactuer has consistently let you down with quality & tone?

for me it was DR. Only time I ever broke a string while tuning up. It was a set of DR Low Riders & GHS strings have always lost their luster after a week or so.

Same thing happen to me with my first (and last) set of Dr strings. Won't go there ever again.

[bass12]

Originally Posted by ejmy

Same thing happen to me with my first (and last) set of Dr strings. Won't go there ever again.

And how did the company react when you brought this to their attention?

[armybass]

Well I for one do not have an issue with people thinking a brand sucks when they have a bad experience with that company. I think it is quite normal and human nature to avoid repeating a costly mistake ..... Even a $20 one. I will always give a company a second chance within reason.

[armybass]

But if I get two bum sets or two broken strings ect. My money is probably not gonna go back there.

[zcwilkes]

I played Rotosounds for about 10 years and had one dead E string, an E string with a funny harmonic, and broke one string. I switched to DRs (mostly because of availibility in the area) and loved them ever since. I've played them for 9 years and I have had no dead strings or strings that broke. I kill a lot of other brands pretty quick but I don't like how GHS Boomers or Dean Markley sound out of the package. Other than that I haven't had any bad experiences really. Rotosound was really quick to replace my strings free of charge and I'm sure DR would to if I had a problem. If you have a problem, let them (any manufacturer) know and give them a chance to fix it.

[VanillaThundah]

Ernie balls and Rotosounds...because they lose their sound SOOOO quickly compared to other strings.

The DR hate really surprises me...hi-beams and lo-riders have to be the longest lasting, hold their tune, and awesome sounding strings I've ever used lol. Wonder if I could land a sponsorship so I won't go broke buying their strings every 6 months

[darkstorm]

I'll agree with DR. To many cases of dead in box strings, and string breaks at nut as common issues people report. Bad qc overall from my experience with them and reading frequent similair cases.

[hotsauce n eggs]

Originally Posted by bass12

And how did the company react when you brought this to their attention?

That's beside the point. If you need to put a new set of strings on your instrument, you go to the store, pick out your strings, bring them home, put them on your instrument, tune them up, and you're good to go in an hour or two(including travel time). Even assuming that the company's response is the most reasonable that can be, nobody wants to wait a week or two to get a new set of replacement strings, or refund or whatever in the mail. And no one certainly wants to spend the money on a second set of brand new strings while they wait or leave their instrument laid up without a full set of strings either.

It is not unreasonable to expect that a company makes a product that manages to survive the first usage or is comparable to similarly priced products from other companies. Sure, it's nice if a string manufacturer responds to customer complaints and problems in a reasonable and timely manner, but really things shouldn't get to that point in the first place anyway.

[lowendfriend]

Originally Posted by mellowgerman

Interesting how people's opinions can differ! DR Legend flats happen to by my all-time, hands-down favorite strings...

Either way, to answer the question, being a fender-bass-lover, I'm sad to say my least favorite strings are definitely Fender. In my experience, their "new formula" strings have some of the weakest tone, worst balance, and cheapest feel I've come across. In addition, I've had issues on several occasions and everytime I got in touch with customer service, they'd promise to make it up to me by sending me replacement strings. They'd take down my info but never send a single replacement. I've dealt with them 3 times with issues and they failed to honor their word to make it up to me every time --- 2 times I had a round wound in a set of flats and once the outer winding of a string was loose before I ever took them out of the package. Never again Fender (at least in the strings department anyway).

I have the DR legends on my new Am Std Jazz....I love 'em.

[lowendfriend]

Originally Posted by jasper383

I too am surprised at the DR responses. I have always found their strings to be really high quality, and have a refined feel to them that no other string has.

Their SS flats are great...

[GM60466]

DR, Dunlop, Cleartone

[hotbass57]

Ernie Ball Cobalts.....great string for 1 show then they started turning black. Only using DR BBeauties, Red Devil and Silver Stars. Love 'em!

[Kmonk]

GHS
Rotosound
Fender
Ernie Ball
Dean Markley

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by hotsauce n eggs

It is not unreasonable to expect that a company makes a product that manages to survive the first usage or is comparable to similarly priced products from other companies. Sure, it's nice if a string manufacturer responds to customer complaints and problems in a reasonable and timely manner, but really things shouldn't get to that point in the first place anyway.

Sure they shouldn't, but sometimes they do. I'm sure you're not 100% on everything either

[jacksonev94]

D'Addario, for sure. I had previously switched from Ernie Ball to DR, and loved HI-Beams, which seemed to last forever. I tried a set of D'Addario nickels, and loved them the first week, after which they became bland and lifeless.

[bass12]

Originally Posted by hotsauce n eggs

That's beside the point. If you need to put a new set of strings on your instrument, you go to the store, pick out your strings, bring them home, put them on your instrument, tune them up, and you're good to go in an hour or two(including travel time). Even assuming that the company's response is the most reasonable that can be, nobody wants to wait a week or two to get a new set of replacement strings, or refund or whatever in the mail. And no one certainly wants to spend the money on a second set of brand new strings while they wait or leave their instrument laid up without a full set of strings either.

It is not unreasonable to expect that a company makes a product that manages to survive the first usage or is comparable to similarly priced products from other companies. Sure, it's nice if a string manufacturer responds to customer complaints and problems in a reasonable and timely manner, but really things shouldn't get to that point in the first place anyway.

Strings sometimes break and strings sometimes come out of the box dead. It happens with the best of string companies so I'm not too concerned about duds. What I am concerned about is how the company handles the situation.

[Duke21]

How can somebody claim brand X is better manufacturer then brand Y when some strings appear under two brands? The EB flat wounds are the same as the D'Adario chromes, the EB slinky are the same as the Marshall nickels etc. do we really knows who manufacture each string set?

[bass12]

Originally Posted by Duke21

How can somebody claim brand X is better manufacturer then brand Y when some strings appear under two brands? The EB flat wounds are the same as the D'Adario chromes, the EB slinky are the same as the Marshall nickels etc. do we really knows who manufacture each string set?

Wouldn't it be funny if it turned out that all strings were actually manufactured by one giant string corporation?

Hmm. String theory.

[Duke21]

Originally Posted by bass12

Wouldn't it be funny if it turned out that all strings were actually manufactured by one giant string corporation?

Hmm. String theory.

I just think that there are not as much string manufactures out there as we think.