POLL- The perfect stringset for a p bass?

[RumbleMan3]

No doubt this thread is gonna get a little controversial... so many good options here, it’s pretty hard to go wrong with any of them.

I’ve heard many people SWEAR BY these strings on their p basses! Surely they can’t all be the best...

can they?

You decide!


(I’ve allowed maximum 2 votes per person for the poll, for those who can’t decide)

 

[RumbleMan3]

Bump

 

[BBQV]

I use GHS Precision flats on one of my P-basses, my favorite flat wound string.
Otherwise DR LoRiders are my choice of strings, but they were not an option...

 

[michael_t]

No such thing as "perfect string" or even "best string"; just different tools for different jobs. I've tried all but the EB Cobalt on my P and they all have their places in one's tool box.

I do have one more set to try out on my P - GHS Brite Flats (Alloy 52 half-rounds) - to see how they compare with the rest of the lineup.

 

[bonespatrol]

wow no la bella on that poll...

 

[e-flat]

Of those options provided, I chose P Flats & Balanced Nickels - one for traditional thump, one for vintage-voiced versatility.

 

[JRA]

No doubt this thread is gonna get a little controversial...

we can only hope.

 

[makaspar]

No LaBella, no TI?

 

[Jim Carr]

I've done flats from Fender, Ernie Ball (slinky?), Markley blue steels, LaBella, D'addario Chromes, TI, Pyramid, and even Sadowsky. I liked them all in varying degrees, but DR Lo-riders are my favorites. What?

Yes, that's right, I no longer use flats on my 1955 P-bass or my '62 AVRI P-bass!
Ooooh! the HUMANITY. LOL.

Seriously, any strings you like will work. IMHO, there is no perfect string for any given instrument. There is only good for you and your bass for now.

Things change. Always.

 

[trothwell]

If I had only one bass (and, for the sake of discussion here, let's say it was a Precision bass), I would almost certainly use GHS Balanced Nickels.

And in fact I do have Balanced Nickels on my Precision bass right now. Sounds great.

However, I have recently been using Round Core Bass Boomers on my Jazz bass. Uh-oh! The solo'd front pickup of the Jazz bass with these strings sounds pretty close to my Precision bass with the Balanced Nickels.

Of course, they both sound good, but I am thinking I may need to switch strings on one or the other, just so they don't overlap too much.

 

[Juststanley]

Hmmm...which toilet paper to hoard ?

 

[Mushroo]

TI jazz flats

 

[GrassBass]

Thomastik flatwounds, second place to Daddario Chromes.

 

[bassdude51]

There is no perfect string set for a P. And shouldn't the tread say something like "the perfect non round wound string set for a P Bass"?

LaBellas, TI Flats and Pyramids were excluded. Those are top contenders for flat wounds.

 

[roller]

+1 on La Bella flats.

 

[Kenova]

Here is my clip, Chromes FTW!

 

[FishDub]

None of the above...TI jazz flats

 

[Britbonic]

If I had only one bass (and, for the sake of discussion here, let's say it was a Precision bass), I would almost certainly use GHS Balanced Nickels.

And in fact I do have Balanced Nickels on my Precision bass right now. Sounds great.

However, I have recently been using Round Core Bass Boomers on my Jazz bass. Uh-oh! The solo'd front pickup of the Jazz bass with these strings sounds pretty close to my Precision bass with the Balanced Nickels.

Of course, they both sound good, but I am thinking I may need to switch strings on one or the other, just so they don't overlap too much.

Not a PBass but I had a set of the GHS Balanced Nickels briefly on a SR5 and then for a long time on my Moollon J5. I really wanted to like them but they just didn't work well for either bass. They were a tad too slinky and a bit too warm for a round - maybe that's the point. Or maybe I should try them on one of my PBasses

 

[micguy]

You need nickel plated steel rounds as a choice - the most widely used flavor of strings are no doubt a popular choice.

 

[trothwell]

Not a PBass but I had a set of the GHS Balanced Nickels briefly on a SR5 and then for a long time on my Moollon J5. I really wanted to like them but they just didn't work well for either bass. They were a tad too slinky and a bit too warm for a round - maybe that's the point. Or maybe I should try them on one of my PBasses

Yes, I think "too warm" is a good description. I like them exactly because they nicely occupy the sonic space between flatwound and roundwound, I think better than groundwound or pressurewound, even though they are, in fact, roundwound. I found them a great replacement for (and, in most points, an improvement over) Labella quarter round strings.