Hey all.
I've been plaything this wonderful Cort C4+ since June, '21. Some day, I'll need to replace the strings, so I want to buy a set as back-ups, ready to install when the moment comes, rather than leave my bass with decreased/uneven tension on the neck 'til I get a replacement set.
A key reason why I decided to buy this bass when the shop let me take it home on trial: remarkably well-defined, huge, deep low end. It remains super-important to me that this bass continue to provide that after a change of strings.
This bass allows both through-body and bridge-mount stringing. I prefer through-body, and recognize that this limits string choice because it requires strings long enough that any silk winding pass the nut before going around the tuning posts.
The Cort website names the stock strings as D'Addario EXL165 (45-105 nickel roundwounds). The D'Addario website does not ID these as extra-long or super-long scale; simply 34" scale.
I've actually come to love Ernie Ball strings of the same description (45-105 nickel roundwounds) since the nineties. My mind gravitates to getting a set of these as my back-ups to replace the stock strings when necessary.
However, this bass has a pair of Bartolini MK-1 pickups. Once I learned to tame the prominent lower-mid voicing of the pickups (a muffling effect across the sonic spectrum), I began to wonder how much of the stout low end I love in this bass comes from them, rather than from the strings.
The last time I bought my favourite Ernie Ball strings (years ago) they did not have any silk windings, so simple long scale (34" not extra-long or super-long) seems right if I revert to them or if I buy a set of the D'Addario EXL165.
The question: Would preserving the magic require me to get another set of the stock strings because of some alchemy they have with the pickups, or could I count on the pickups together with the long-loved Ernie Ball strings to deliver that big, tight low-end?
I've been plaything this wonderful Cort C4+ since June, '21. Some day, I'll need to replace the strings, so I want to buy a set as back-ups, ready to install when the moment comes, rather than leave my bass with decreased/uneven tension on the neck 'til I get a replacement set.
A key reason why I decided to buy this bass when the shop let me take it home on trial: remarkably well-defined, huge, deep low end. It remains super-important to me that this bass continue to provide that after a change of strings.
This bass allows both through-body and bridge-mount stringing. I prefer through-body, and recognize that this limits string choice because it requires strings long enough that any silk winding pass the nut before going around the tuning posts.
The Cort website names the stock strings as D'Addario EXL165 (45-105 nickel roundwounds). The D'Addario website does not ID these as extra-long or super-long scale; simply 34" scale.
I've actually come to love Ernie Ball strings of the same description (45-105 nickel roundwounds) since the nineties. My mind gravitates to getting a set of these as my back-ups to replace the stock strings when necessary.
However, this bass has a pair of Bartolini MK-1 pickups. Once I learned to tame the prominent lower-mid voicing of the pickups (a muffling effect across the sonic spectrum), I began to wonder how much of the stout low end I love in this bass comes from them, rather than from the strings.
The last time I bought my favourite Ernie Ball strings (years ago) they did not have any silk windings, so simple long scale (34" not extra-long or super-long) seems right if I revert to them or if I buy a set of the D'Addario EXL165.
The question: Would preserving the magic require me to get another set of the stock strings because of some alchemy they have with the pickups, or could I count on the pickups together with the long-loved Ernie Ball strings to deliver that big, tight low-end?
