Are there strings you actually dislike?

[Sixgunn]

I've been trying out different strings since the beginning of the year and while I certainly like some better than others, I don't actually dislike any of them (except maybe for La Bella 0760M's .110 string, which I never managed to intonate properly). Are there strings you actually dislike?

GHS Boomers. They sound great for a week then dead and dull. Switched to stainless steels (Dunlop Super Brights) and haven't looked back.

 

[Andy Daventry]

...I really don't like T.I.'s surprisingly, and I also do not care for any nickel that dies fast or Fenders strings (although I do enjoy the fender string tension, I'm a high tension kinda guy)

Not surprisingly if you're a high tension kinda guy!

 

[AboutSweetSue]

Chromes are trash.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Cobalt rounds, I think that's the only strings I hate. Well, maybe TI flats. Ugh, plastic toy guitar strings.

 

[scuzzy]

i am a huge DR fanboy, but have not like their silver stars. just didn't work for me. I'm a Lo-Rider kinda guy.

 

[7615]

tape wounds. Dull uninteresting strings. No they don't sound like a standup and who cares if the save frets - if only I could wear out my frets

 

[Dincrest]

What's funny is that the very reasons most folks dislike Boomers are the very reasons I like them. I like that they break in quickly and hold that yummy "broken in tone" forever. I also like that they're stiffer than other companies' strings in comparable gauges. So I don't need a thick string for drop tunings and can have the playability of a lighter gauge without drop-D being "flop-D."

On the other hand, I remember trying out a set of Rotosound RS66LDN nickels about 15 years ago. Incredible slap tone, but took forever to lose their sizzle for my bread-and-butter fingerstyle playing. I know a lot of people would absolutely love that (there are always queries on TalkBass on which strings stay the brightest the longest), but not me. I only change my strings once a year, so I prefer my strings more "broken in."

Nothing bad to say about either string, though. Both are very good at what they do. I also have nothing bad to say about flat, but they're not for me. And I'm of the unpopular opinion of preferring D'Addario's old Prisms over their current ProSteels.

The only strings I can safely say I actively disliked were Ken Smith Compressors and I mentioned that in my previous post. Lousy tone, lousy feel, and they fell apart. Triple threat.

 

[aprod]

DR. I have had way too many bad strings right out of a fresh pack.

 

[Andy Daventry]

Lots of anti-Chromes sentiment here. Not the greatest string in the world, and I don't particularly like them, but they don't deserve this excoriation. They have the virtue of excellent definition, just not a lot of character.

I meant execration, not excoriation, but on reflection I'll let it stand.

 

[fretlessguy]

Any kind of ground sound string. They just do not feel right.

 

[BBQV]

I’ve tried coated strings (Elixir) and didn’t like them. Other than that, no problem!
If given a choice, I go for DR LoRiders.

 

[Chrisenbacker69]

Fender Stainless Steel Rounds. The ones that come on the new instruments. Stiff and clanky. And then stiff and dead. No tonal sweet spot. Every Fender or Squier instrument I've purchased improved measurably upon the replacements of those strings.

 

[john_g]

I’m in the minority, but I don’t like D’Addario Chromes.

The only strings I dont like are the ones that are higher tension (for me, that includes Chromes...even though I like the tone alot). Seems that string tension is one of the only "sensitivities" i have playing bass. Wide, thick, long necks? No problem. Pickup placement or weight of bass? Not much problem. String tension? Completely screws me up.

 

[fakeneckplate'65]

DR Black Beauties & Ernie Ball.. BB's feel so plasticky & sound strange to me.

 

[Slevage]

Rotosound flats—— way too stiff for me.

 

[John Webb]

Rotosounds. I've never bought a set that weren't dead and felt like razor wire. The tension blows, too. Imo, of course.

Barbed wire on the bass.....

 

[QweziRider]

Are there strings you actually dislike?

Anything stainless steel in round-wound. Used to love 'em as a kid, just don't anymore.

 

[red_rhino]

I played Roto Swings exclusively through the 80’s into the early 90’s until I started getting “duds” every few sets. That caused me to dislike them.

+1. Used to love those until whatever passes for QC at Rotosound resulted in set after set of either dead strings or individual strings in a set that died early or wore differently.

The last straw for me me were the Billy Sheehan signature Rotosounds, which as I recall from the online review I left were "deader than a frog that's just been run over on a freeway".

 

[beaglesandbass]

I didn't like EB Cobalt Flats Or D'addario NYXL

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

New ones.