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Glarry strings?

ubernator

ubernator

Oct 30, 2004
3,149
3,524
lost angels
#1
I think I might order a couple sets. But if anyone can give me a report that might help me from wasting the cost of one set of Dunlop or slinky.

They are only in 45 65 80 100. I prefer 85 105 but can live with 80 100 and have been thinking about switching to 100 anyway.

But if they are unusable, inconsistent crap, the $7.99 might be fair value.

I was hoping to snag some of the $7 red labels BSO had a few years ago, but I looks like he isn't selling strings anymore, does anyone know what happened?
 
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#2
Not that this post got any attention, but I should share my experiences to the benefit of others.

Don't!

I ordered 2 sets for the price of one set of dunlops or slinkies $16

2 things I noticed right away, the ends of the windings that attach the balls stick out and can stick you when you uncoil them and they whip out. The strings are packaged with all 4 together in a bag, and the tuner ends are pre trimmed.

I put one set on a bass and the e string was TOTALLY dead while the other 3 seemed normal, cheap but normal.

I contacted glarry and told them, also that I had not tried the 2nd set yet. They offered to send more strings, which was just another whole set.

A few weeks later I tried the E from the 2nd set, same thing, totally dead. The one from the replacement set was slightly better but still much duller than the other 3.

I let glarry know that I got a useable set out of the replacement, but they did not want to send any more strings saying "they would probably not be acceptable" and offered a refund which I am still waiting for the details on.

And within a day that useable e string was just as dead as the other ones anyway.

But here is the biggest reason NOT to bother with these...

I decided to use another old but DNA cleaned string, a markley American flyers string for the E, and that made it clear that the glarry strings have extremely low output compared to "normal" strings. Totally devoid of punch and low end in comparison. Killed my thoughts of "at least I have some spares for A D and G strings.

Definitely not worth saving 8 bucks on a set of strings.

Living la Vida broke-a now so I had to try them out in case they were decent.

They Defintely aren't
 
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#5
michael_t said:
BSO (bassstringsonline.com) is now Fret Nation (fretnation.com). The same Jason is still the owner. You can reach him by email, [email protected].
Click to expand...

I actually bought 2 sets of lo riders from Jason at the same time I ordered the sets from glarry. Last day of the lo rider sale.

Still had to try the glarry for myself since nobody had replied. For the price it was worth the risk, but I might be getting that back anyway per their offer of a refund.

It would go towards a set of superbrights stainless, I like the punch of the lo riders for sure, but the soft feel of the dunlops is really nice. Similar to hi beams but with a thin hex core instead of a round core. I am sticking with $16 dunlops from now on unless DR go on sale for $18.

Was a DR guy back in the day until I found elixer and later cleartone strings (when I had discount hookups in the old days of GC), but after discovering the DNA soak method, I have been back to uncoated strings, and reaping the benefits of not having thrown out most of my old strings, which became useable again after DNA.

Having at least 5 basses stolen also counted as losing 5 sets of strings some of which you can't get anymore.

I mainly wanted to get more light gauge strings , and the glarry were 100-45. Most of my strings are 105 and I have decided to drop back down to 40-100 because my hands aren't as strong anymore. The glarry strings were also on the stiff side anyway and the 65 45 part isn't any thinner but for the price I decided to check them out.

Looking forward to trying 40100 in super bright stainless because I realized it was time to switch guages after my last order of 45105 SBS.
 
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#7
I'm a little late on this but I just changed the original strings from my Glarry bass. I went with Ernie Ball 40-95s and the difference was more than just night or day, it was shocking. I don't know if Glarry uses aluminum or what in their strings but the Ernie Balls were twice as loud through the amp and the sound was WAY better as well.
 
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#8
White Funk said:
I'm a little late on this but I just changed the original strings from my Glarry bass. I went with Ernie Ball 40-95s and the difference was more than just night or day, it was shocking. I don't know if Glarry uses aluminum or what in their strings but the Ernie Balls were twice as loud through the amp and the sound was WAY better as well.
Click to expand...


Some weak ass metal that's for sure.

I got my refund.... It was for ONE of the sets and they didn't even bother to refund the tax.

But that's fine. I wasn't expecting one anyway. $9 blown on an experiment. I have to find something to do with them, other than being used as bass strings because they are useless.

And there is the typical engrish communication barriers when dealing with them.

Funny thing... They asked me to show the "bill". So I sent a screenshot of my PayPal email. And he was like "no the bill for the replacements" . this was after they suggested me to buy strings locally and they would refund. Well I figured I would wait for the refund for both sets and then use the money to buy ONE set of dunlops. What was he talking about, reimbursements???? New scam , buy a set of glarry strings, complain about them, and then send them the bill for the most expensive strings you can find haha. Totally confused by that... I over think what they are thinking and it drives me nuts.

There is a huge culture and communication gap and I am not neurotypical anyway so this got frustrating and I'm over it. I never asked for a refund I just wanted 4 live strings per set. Too much to ask from these strings.

Was the E string on your glarry bass dead too?

I ordered 5 dollar helmet for my 10 dollar head I guess. I won't make that mistake again. Oh the things poverty leads us to try.
 
#9
All the strings were equally weak - but only through the amp. When not plugged in they sounded pretty bright and zingy so whatever sound I got through the amp I associated with the pickup. But after changing the strings I realize how bad the original ones were - I guess they were made of some alloy that's not very magnetic. I wasn't bothered though, for a $70 bass and anther $100 for new pickups and wiring harness and another $20 or so for a set of strings I have a killer bass now.
 
#14
Sticky Rhythms said:
Glad to run across this: was just wondering if I shouldn’t replace the strings on my new Glarry, just on principle.

Thanks for making that so easy!
Click to expand...
I would definitely replace the strings with someone you've heard of first thing. There's many good ones and good low budget ones so you don't even have to play around with that. Silvertone, Warwick, BAM, ghs basics, rotosound roto bass, are all good strings that are also cheap. My favorite cheap brand though is Dunlop. They are always consistently good and cheaper than most.
 
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#15
I’ve had good experience w/ Dunlop on my Tele (I like the heavy strings)…thing about bass strings is, there so much I don’t know about the various kinds, so it hard to know how to pick something - this being my first bass.

Memories of Chris Squire have me considering Rotosound flatwounds, but that’s just a fannish echo, I imagine. I have SO MUCH to learn….

Is there an “intro to bass strings for no0bs” here?

I appreciate your response, thanks
 
#16
Sticky Rhythms said:
I’ve had good experience w/ Dunlop on my Tele (I like the heavy strings)…thing about bass strings is, there so much I don’t know about the various kinds, so it hard to know how to pick something - this being my first bass.

Memories of Chris Squire have me considering Rotosound flatwounds, but that’s just a fannish echo, I imagine. I have SO MUCH to learn….

Is there an “intro to bass strings for no0bs” here?

I appreciate your response, thanks
Click to expand...

Rotosound flats are very stiff, high tension. I find them surprisingly quiet as well. You put a lot of energy into them and you get a dull thump in response. There is zero Chris Squire tone in Roto flats.
 
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#19
Old post but why not. I never keep an original set of strings on any new bass. I just don't trust the quality. Anyway, Glarry strings are probably the worst. They look gray, and that pretty much does it for me. The old adage "you get what you pay for" probably stands true here.
 

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