So I bought a SUB Ray 4 about 7 months ago, which I believe have stock strings of Ernie Ball nickels (45-65-80-100). I immediately replaced them with Elixir Super Lights (40-60-75-95) because those are what I used in my previous main bass, a 35-inch-scale BTB.
I have played the SUB as my main bass since then and I really had no problems. It might have been the Christmas day boredom because, out of the blue, I suddenly missed tauter strings with a more fundamental-heavy tone.
I then replaced back the bass' stock strings, adjusted set-up, and then ran through our setlist. I was loving the warm tone and tautness in the E-A strings but not really on the D-G because I am missing that brightness and I normally use my pinky on them. I was thinking maybe what I need is a 40-60-80-100 set but I wanted to try it out first.
So I replaced the D and G strings with the Elixirs to have the following combination:
E - Ernie Ball Super Slinky nickels .100
A - Ernie Ball Super Slinky nickels .080
D - Elixir coated nickel-plated steels .060
G - Elixir .coated nickel-plated steels 040
I was able to prove that the 40-60-80-100 gauge is what I need specifically in terms of playability. But what actually surprised me is that I am loving the tone of the above combination of different brands and types!
Their sound are of course different but not too far away from each other to be awful. The Ernie Ball E-A strings are giving me that warm fundamental-heavy tone while the Elixir D-G are brighter and have more harmonics. It sounds specially good when playing chords or even just double-stops. For example, a sustained double-stop of a root and its octave now sounds more vibrant or colorful compared to either all Ernie Balls or all Elixirs.
So... Anyone has any experience in this kind of mixing brands and even types of strings?
I have played the SUB as my main bass since then and I really had no problems. It might have been the Christmas day boredom because, out of the blue, I suddenly missed tauter strings with a more fundamental-heavy tone.
I then replaced back the bass' stock strings, adjusted set-up, and then ran through our setlist. I was loving the warm tone and tautness in the E-A strings but not really on the D-G because I am missing that brightness and I normally use my pinky on them. I was thinking maybe what I need is a 40-60-80-100 set but I wanted to try it out first.
So I replaced the D and G strings with the Elixirs to have the following combination:
E - Ernie Ball Super Slinky nickels .100
A - Ernie Ball Super Slinky nickels .080
D - Elixir coated nickel-plated steels .060
G - Elixir .coated nickel-plated steels 040
I was able to prove that the 40-60-80-100 gauge is what I need specifically in terms of playability. But what actually surprised me is that I am loving the tone of the above combination of different brands and types!
Their sound are of course different but not too far away from each other to be awful. The Ernie Ball E-A strings are giving me that warm fundamental-heavy tone while the Elixir D-G are brighter and have more harmonics. It sounds specially good when playing chords or even just double-stops. For example, a sustained double-stop of a root and its octave now sounds more vibrant or colorful compared to either all Ernie Balls or all Elixirs.
So... Anyone has any experience in this kind of mixing brands and even types of strings?
