If Factory Strings Suck.....

[ZenG]

as it seems they do.....post after post about replacing the factory strings as soon as possible on a new bass.......

then....

why would a manufacturer put these kind of strings on a bass that they are trying to get the public to buy?

If you make a bass, you want it to sound good when the person plays it in the store.

If it sounds like crap they're not going to buy it....

Or are they?

Guy goes into store----tries out bass with crappy factory strings------says it sounds great and plays nice--------buys it and takes it home......then posts that the factory strings are coming off right away.....

But wasn't it the factory strings that contributed to the purchase of the bass?

How would you know in the store what it's going to sound like with a different brand of strings on it?

 

[RoadRanger]

It's easier to blame the strings than spend more time getting to not suck .

 

[Geri O]

In some cases, like mine with Fender and Music Man basses, I pretty well know what the bass will sound like. Even if the strings are good strings and in good shape, they will certainly be lighter than the gauge of strings that I use, so I'm kinda screwed regardless. I'm looking at the condition of the bass, the color, price, etc.

I've never gotten a bass home, put my strings on it and set it up and say "man, what a stinker I just bought!"

I take that back, I brought home to audition a Peavey Cirrus 5-strings bass that was possibly the best-playing bass I ever touched. But the sound wasn't doing anything for me. Okay, lemme get my strings on it and set it up. Two hours later, after the strings and set-up, I finally gave up. There wasn't a single combination of pickups and switch settings that I cared for. What a let-down, too. Gosh, that bass played so fine.

I'm kinda weird this way...

 

[Jon Moody]

as it seems they do.....post after post about replacing the factory strings as soon as possible on a new bass.......

A couple thoughts come to mind.

Most people have a specific string preference, so many of the threads talking about replacing the factory strings comes down to them putting on "their" set.

The most commonly used string in OEM basses is nickel-plate, and there are lots of folk that just don't like those strings (like yours truly).

And lastly, depending on how old the bass is at the store, the amount of hands that have been on that instrument and strings may have already worn the strings down. This is why a lot of boutique builders use steel strings instead of nickel-plate; longevity.

 

[Jeffrey Bryan]

In some cases, like mine with Fender and Music Man basses, I pretty well know what the bass will sound like. Even if the strings are good strings and in good shape, they will certainly be lighter than the gauge of strings that I use, so I'm kinda screwed regardless. I'm looking at the condition of the bass, the color, price, etc.

Very true in my case; my latest bass came with .100 on E and I play a half step down with .110 or .115

 

[Gorn]

Factory strings don't always suck, unless it's a Gibson. Bass players simply have high standards for strings.

 

[bass12]

Because big companies know that the majority of the people who buy their basses are relatively undiscerning when it comes to strings.

 

[CatSquare]

I want the basses I buy to come with new TI Flats.

 

[bholder]

Why do stock tires on new cars never last very long? Because they're meant to give a good test drive to sell the car, and not much more. Same thing here.

 

[Gorn]

I want the basses I buy to come with new TI Flats.

For the low, low price of only $4760, you can get a free set of TI flats with the purchase of a Pino Palladino signature bass.

 

[GIBrat51]

There are probably as many reasons factory strings get quickly replaced as there are buyers. Some thoughts...
- Some basses do come from the factory with pretty bad strings. If your new, inexpensive, bass was made in a certain large Asian country, those Glorious People's String Collective strings most definitely need to go away - quickly.
- A lot of next-tier-up basses seem to come with D'Addario strings (or made-by D'Addario to the company's specs). They aren't "sucky" per se, but the ones the factory puts on the bass are pretty generic-sounding, and they're always rounds. As someone mentioned, some basses come with EB Slinkys, which are also generic-sounding rounds. For those of us who prefer flatwounds, they're going to come off pretty quickly. For others, they will either be perfectly fine, or make a good starting point in the search for the "right" strings. In my case, D'Addarios make me itchy, so they always go away, right away. I like Hybrid Slinkys as a starting point.
- High end, custom/boutique basses either use their own strings (Sadowsky, Alembic, older Gibsons), or else use strings that definitely don't fall into the "sucky" category. But, again, they most always seem to use roundwound whatevers, so if you like flats..
In my case, most of my basses were used when I got them, and so were the strings. With few exceptions (the La Bella flats on the Epi EA-260, for example), they mostly got replaced as soon as the function check was over. Some of them I haven't gotten around to, and a few have no strings at all at the moment. Which I guess is one way to tell that you maybe have too many...?

 

[Solarmist]

I've had D'Add XLS, SIT Powerwounds, and Elixir Nanos come on several basses, and I like all three of those brands.

 

[Matthew_84]

Ibanez's I believe only come with Elexirs or D'Addario's, but I hear you...

When I got my Fender Strat, it sounded beautiful in the store, so I didn't bother to get new strings for it yet.

Generally though, I'll look at a specific bass for a specific sound (P Bass for example), and will know I would want to set it up with a certain type of string (flats for example). In these cases, I'll try out the bass for feel and quality checks alone.

In any regard, it's not like the stock strings (or any string other than flats or tapewounds) will last for many years, so I usually swap them out quickly anyway to figure out which is the ideal set for that particular bass.

 

[Big Hoss]

String preference, I actually like the strings installed on my Squier Affinity Jazz bass. No need to upgrade them. I also REALLY like the strings Ibanez used on my SR480. Closest I could come are the D'Addario XL Nickel rounds in 45-100, which are more or less the same strings that oddly enough, Fender puts on the Squiers...

My new SX I am not sure how I feel about the strings yet. Bought online, sight and sound stock unseen. It was a low dollar gamble. But I suspect I will be happy enough with the original strings until I manage to trash them...

 

[jasonrp]

I like the stock fender strings..poor man's rotosounds

 

[spaz21387]

All basses should come stock with dr lo riders in .105 guage!!

 

[Bodeanly]

I bought an Ibanez in March. Changed the strings two weeks ago. Miss the stock strings. Never happened before.

 

[JimmyM]

I use the factory strings as sort of an acid test...if it sounds good with them, it'll sound good with my favorites. But I've only bought two basses that came with those cheap crap factory strings, and one I bought sight unseen and assumed I'd be changing the strings anyway.

 

[pacojas]

i hate changing strings. i leave stock strings on unless TI's are on sale!

 

[tuba_samurai]

This may not be the best example, but I bought a Rondo Jag copy a couple of years ago to use as a "beater" bass to take to school and play with my students and to not worry about if it gets knocked over. When I got it it sounded so thin and bad that I literally got on Sweetwater and ordered a Squier Jag. Before I sent the Rondo bass back I decided to throw on a set of D'Addario's and the sound was transformed. I ended up keeping it and trading the Squier away. (It was a fine bass though, got a Hondo Pro II for it.)

In my case I am sure the strings were just super cheap Chinese-made for a $99 bass, but I feel bad for folks that get them and know nothing about strings and the effect on sound.