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Ernie Ball strings, really that bad?

B

bhass

Oct 21, 2008
355
1
England, UK
#1
My local store now only stock Ernie Ball bass strings. They used to sell more brands which I bought, but when I asked they said that they only bought these in now. I want some new flatwounds and have no choice but to buy Ernie Ball this time. What am I letting myself in for?
 
#6
Their strings are not that bad. They get dulled down after a few months of usage but I think that is desirable for some. If you like a dulled down tone you might really like them a lot. They are not going to stay bright and fresh for very long though. Then again, the strings are only $18 for a set so how much can one really complain?
 
#8
Their strings are not that bad. They get dulled down after a few months of usage but I think that is desirable for some. If you like a dulled down tone you might really like them a lot. They are not going to stay bright and fresh for very long though. Then again, the strings are only $18 for a set so how much can one really complain?
Click to expand...

Thanks, I just saw people ripping them on these forums so I got pretty annoyed that it's the only local music store I have. Playing bass and living is a pretty hard combination on my money, I want $18 to last me. They are flatwound though, I want them to loose their brightness to a certain extent. :)
 
#10
I personally use ernieballs only my fenders. My rickenbacker always gets rotosounds.

Most strings dull out with in a few weeks anyway, and I know most of us dont even change our strings that frequently.

After about week the ernieballs tend to loose there crispness but thats fine by me because they still sound warm and have a great tone that can get crunched up a bit. The one thing I will say I have never had stainless steals break on me, but i have occasionally broke an e string with ernieballs that i left on for a few months (like 10)

It is a consistent product with a good price. If you are looking for hi fi sound i suggest going with a set of stainless steels period and not nickel.

side note. i use roundwound.
 
#15
Generally, I am all for supporing your local store. But, if you local store does not provide what you are looking for. I would say go the online route. If you are on a budget, Carvin has some really good strings but I think tapewounds may be the only flat wound type string that they have. All of the Carvin strings are made by LaBella and I have used them at various times over the years. justrings.com has tons of options. Their prices are good, not great unless they are running a sale.
 
#17
I can only speak to EB rounds (have never tried their flatwounds), but I like 'em, myself. They run around $22-24 (4-string set) at my local shop and that's about what I'm comfortable paying. I am your basic weekend warrior and only get paid for about half the gigs I play, so I've always had a problem paying $40 or more for a set of strings just cause so-and-so big-name bassist plays them. I string my P-Bass with either Power Slinkys (.110 IIRC) or the standard gauge (.105) and they have always worked fine.

JMO but bottom line, you can do a lot worse, especially for the money.
 
#18
I'll use Ernie Ball strings in a pinch/ but they're nowhere near what I would consider "EXCELENT." They're inconsistant in brightness from the get go. Ex: You might have a great sounding low E & your A sounds like it's been gigged on a few times (right out of the box). Then, there's the funky overtones when you venture up past the 14th/ 15th fret...They're OK in the money zone. I've even bought a set that was missing a D string?!
 
#20
No they aren't bad, they actually sound pretty good. My only problem is that they die really quickly, if they made a string with a coating like Elixers then I would probably use them.

IIRC they are bringing out coated bass strings but it is using the same enamel stuff as the coated guitar strings which are pretty good but don't retain brightness well.
 

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