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Ernie Ball regular Slinky- my new "go to" strings?

vindibona1

vindibona1

Apr 18, 2015
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#1
It's been awhile since I've changed strings on my basses, largely because of COVID. No place to play so what's the sense of new strings?

The first bass that really needed new strings was my "enhanced" Gio 6 string. It was one of those $100 wonders that I stole at that price and installed a new (though cheap) 3 band EQ. The $10 active EQ really was a sound upgrade (how cheap could the stock EQ be?????). I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on a "fool around" bass. So I figured go relatively cheap because it didn't matter so much. So I got a set of 6 strings for under $25.

Suprise... The Gio6 has my attention now. It sounds GREAT. in fact, I had my sister, a band director of over 30 years, listen to each of my basses as I cycled through. To my amazement she liked the Gio as #2 just behind my Yamaha TRBX605. I didn't see that coming.

My Ibanez BTB675 strung with NYXL's seemed overdue for strings as the timbres no longer matched from string to string, the G string being harsher than the others. I really struggled with it on the gig three weeks ago, cringing every time that G string jumped out at me no matter how hard I tried to soften the strikes. I thought maybe try Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats as I have on my Yamaha. $40 a set??? Yikes. I was buying them for less than $30/set pre COVID. Thanks Joe. But the BTB needed strings. As I was so happy with how the Gio sounds with the standard EB Slinkys I thought for $25 it was worth a try.

I have to say I am really pleased with the sound of regular Slinkys on two basses now. I thought because of the less expensive price the Slinkys would be compromise. But hey... what works works. Just thought I'd share.
 
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#2
The beautiful things about strings are that they can have an enormous impact upon the sound and feel of an instrument at a reasonably low cost and (with the possible exception of flats) they’re temporary - you have to change them from time to time - so you don’t need to make any commitment to them at all. You can love them for as long as they suit you and then switch to something else when your tastes change.

Also, I agree that price point has little to do with whether a string is “good” or not. Good is completely subjective. There are strings at opposite ends of the price spectrum that I like and those that I don’t. I suspect that holds true for everyone.

Lastly, everyone here has a right to their political views and you are no exception but the policy here at TB is to keep those views to ourselves and stick to discussing bass. Let’s leave Joe out of this, shall we?
 
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#3
I picked these up yesterday on a whim, I love and have used ernie ball guitar strings for probably 90% of my guitar restrings when I played guitar, why not the bass strings?

I recall having a bad or mediocre experience years ago but maybe it was just a fluke or user error.

they sound great and have a nice feel. Not as harsh feeling as some rounds, not as dull sounding as some. A really nice overall quality. And at $20 a set they are pretty much as cheap as they get.

They just might replace dunlop super brights as my go-to.
 
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#6
Ernie Ball Slinkys - of whatever flavor - are pretty much like any string that's used and commented on around here. Some people think they're the bestest strings ever; some people would rather die than ever use them again; and some people are just like "yeah, yeah; whatever..."
Personally? While I'm not the world's biggest fan of round wounds, I do like EB Slinkys. I've used the Regular and Hybrid Slinkys for years; they generally go on any new-to-me bass, and stay until I decide what strings the bass will wear permanently. Sometimes they aren't on the bass for long; sometimes they're on it for a year or two. I like them because they're very consistent from one set to another; for rounds, I think they feel and sound good; and for me? They can last a long time before they die. Which is kind of odd, considering how many people complain about them not lasting very long at all... But, If you're happy with them? You're not alone; lots of other people like them very much, too...:cool:
 
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#9
Yahboy said:
Slinky sound crunchy and healthy, just not lasting as NYXL and Super bright nickel. No problem if you change string a month.
Click to expand...
There is no doubt that the NYXL's can last a long time. But the Slinkys on my Gio6 have held up quite well for months. What caused me to put the Slinkys on my BTB675 was that the NYXL's didn't degrade evenly with the G string screaming in relation to the other strings. When I put the Slinkys on my BTB I realized that they were stiffer, but really aided my right hand to get more of the sound/attack I'd been looking for. I've got the NYXL's on my TRBX605 right now and am contemplating gigging that bass on Friday, though I'm truly now enjoying the BTB as I never have before. I suppose the 35" scale length has something to do with this in conjunction with the strings.

Just as an add-on comment, the DR Sunbeams on my Fender Jazz 5 continue to sound and feel great after months. I took it out for a spin 3 weeks ago and really liked the sound. On the Friday night gigs sometimes I struggle to find the sound (house amp), especially the BTB- until the string change. I wonder what's in store this Friday with the 605 and NYXL's? Great sound when I had the Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats on it. I think I mentioned I scored two sets of the EBCF's this week at what remains a reasonable price.
 
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#10
Yahboy said:
Slinky sound crunchy and healthy, just not lasting as NYXL and Super bright nickel. No problem if you change string a month.
Click to expand...
I experienced something interesting today. I was thinking that this Friday I was going to gig my Yamaha which now has NYXL strings. I plugged it in to practice, really for the first time since I changed the strings and I did not like the sound as well as before with th EBCF's and between it, my Ibanez BTB and Fender Jazz 5 I liked the sound the least. Just too strident on that bass. While the BTB and Fender had different sounds, they are both acceptable and the differences weren't "this one is better and the other not as good". But they both had wonderful sound qualities... but not so much the 605 with the NYXL's. That was kind of a shocker as the 605 with the EBCF's was probably my #1 gigging bass. I'd have to say it was displaced by the sound of the BTB with Slinkys. The BTB doesn't sound all that different than with the NYXL's, but the TRBX605 is a different sounding bass altogether!
 
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#11
vindibona1 said:
I experienced something interesting today. I was thinking that this Friday I was going to gig my Yamaha which now has NYXL strings. I plugged it in to practice, really for the first time since I changed the strings and I did not like the sound as well as before with th EBCF's and between it, my Ibanez BTB and Fender Jazz 5 I liked the sound the least. Just too strident on that bass. While the BTB and Fender had different sounds, they are both acceptable and the differences weren't "this one is better and the other not as good". But they both had wonderful sound qualities... but not so much the 605 with the NYXL's. That was kind of a shocker as the 605 with the EBCF's was probably my #1 gigging bass. I'd have to say it was displaced by the sound of the BTB with Slinkys. The BTB doesn't sound all that different than with the NYXL's, but the TRBX605 is a different sounding bass altogether!
Click to expand...

Just curious... Now that you've found the EB Slinkys as your new "go to" for the BTB and had success with EBCF on the TRBX, have you ever considered trying the EB Cobalt Rounds on the TRBX? I ask because I have a friend who was once telling me he liked the sound of the EB Cobalt Rounds on his TRBX605.
 
#12
michael_t said:
Just curious... Now that you've found the EB Slinkys as your new "go to" for the BTB and had success with EBCF on the TRBX, have you ever considered trying the EB Cobalt Rounds on the TRBX? I ask because I have a friend who was once telling me he liked the sound of the EB Cobalt Rounds on his TRBX605.
Click to expand...

I have not considered the EBC rounds, mainly because there was no need to and stings have gotten quite expensive. I went with slinkys on my Gio6 because they were cheap and the Gio still have the original strings on it and were dead. I was surprised at how good they sounded on that bass. I wasn't happy with the BTB's sound and thought I'd be alternating between the Jazz 5 and my Yamaha with the EBCF's on it. I thought that the BTB would be my #3 in the pecking order, so again went cheap and got some Silnkys. At home I thought they sounded pretty good and I liked the stiffer strings on that bass.

The thing with the EBCF's on my 605 is that they were old and needed refreshing. So I took them off and popped them in my ultrasonic cleaner. But as I reinstalled them, when I got to the A string the top part that gets inserted into the tuner just broke off, too short to recover. I did not have a spare set of EBCF's so had to use the NYXL's I had on hand. The NYXL's are pretty good strings but a mistmatch on my 605. But they'll stay there until I feel like breaking out a new set of EBCF's that just came a few days ago.

The bottom line to my point was that unexpectedly the Slinky's rejuvenated my excitement with the BTB, which I was thinking about selling, but the NYXL's disappointed me on the 605. My Fender Jazz 5 still likes the DR Sunbeams. When I'm done with the NYXL's on the 605 I'll put the EBCF's back on. I intentionally cut the strings a little long, but the A string particularly longer A so NYXL's could go on the BTB should if the Slinkys die early.
 
#14
michael_t said:
I just checked the pricing on the Cobalt Rounds... Didn't realize they were so much more expensive than the regular NPS Slinky. A big difference! :wideyed:
Click to expand...

Yeah... The rounds are $40 and the flats are $45. I found some flats musch cheaper and jumped on 2 sets (and not giving up my source :p ). Regular slinkys for both 5 and 6 stringers are only $25. At that price I can afford to change strings more often, but somehow I think they will last for months (but we'll see). I think the slinkys have been on my Gio for at least 6 months and are still crisp sounding. But I don't play that one very often. The DR Sunbeams on my Jazz 5 are on over a year and still sound great. I dunno... Unlike some of the folks on the forum I'm not gigging every day. I have a 2 hour thing on Friday nights and occasionally a farmers market during the week and then a few minutes of practice usually every day- so the strings don't see heavy use which is probably why they last a long time.
 
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#17
Since i found slinkies I haven’t bothered with anything else, tried a few different sets of other brands in the past but for the price and playability the slinkies stuck. I don’t change my strings often, i think they break in well and work for me. I have found them in bulk packs for way cheap so I always keep a couple sets around for “just in case” and to put on a bass that i may pick up to work on.
 
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#20
My favorites are also nickel plated slinkies, super slinkies more specifically. I do like the other gauges as well and think these strings are hugely underrated. They’re not the brightest string, but that’s exactly why I love them. There’s enough low end and gives my basses tons of growl (4 p basses, 2 Mexican/2 USA) without that overly tinny sound many other rounds give me. A set generally lasts me around 6 months before they go completely lifeless, and they’re cheaper than most other brands. That’s a win win in my book. Slinkies ftw!
 
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