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#41
Pretty simple. I always start with Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinkies when I replace stock strings. If I want brighter and more aggressive, Rotos. After that, if I can't cure my itch with those, I'll start playing around with what I want. On most basses, Rotos or Balls do the trick.

I had an MM Sterling 5 that aggressive sounding strings did not agree with. I didn't really get it. I wanted some bright strings because the Sterling sounded a little dark, but Rotos weren't working for me. I tried DR HI-Beams, and Lo-Riders, but finished up with some D'Addario ProSteels.

Outside of that, I've yet to find something I dislike those two sets of strings on.
 
#42
Geez, where to start. The first set of strings I ever bought were Fender "Rock" I ordered through a record / TV repair store. They were flat wounds and cost me $32 bucks. I broke the "D" when they were about a week old while trying to tune up to wherever the guitarist was tuned that day. I almost cried.

I've tried pretty much everything mentioned so far. A few sets of Roto 66s until I noticed frets disappearing. D'Adderio (XLs good, but short life), GHs Boomers (OK in a tight), Fender stainless and Nickel (I wouldn't play anything else than Fender pure Nickel on my jazz if they would last more than hours before going dead).

I was chosen as a field tester for Trace Elliot strings about 20 years ago. I really liked those strings in the right gauge for my bass (.045-.105). I think they were defunct in a couple years. I won a few sets of Dunlop stainless strings several years ago and liked them pretty well also (see a pattern here? I like free stuff). I went through a spell when I had Elixers on everything, and liked them fairly well, but as the "Gortex" wore off, I went back to uncoated strings. I did try some D'Adderio EXP coated, but didn't like them too much, and they didn't seem to last much longer.

Bought my first set of flats since my first ever set (first ever set was in about 1980) about 7-8 years ago. Fenders. Didn't like them at all. A couple years later, I tried a set of Chromes, and now have them on a few basses. I have one set of TI Jazz flats. I've tried them on several basses, but once they made it to my Sigma acoustic fretless, I can't move them again. They will live there until they die. They are perfect for that bass.

Strings I will buy again;
D'Adderio XLs, Chromes, Balanced.
Dean Markley
Rotosound in Nickel
Fender - Rounds, stainless
Thomastik Infeld
Innovation Super Silvers (upright bass)

Some strings I probably won't buy again. (Some are no longer available)

D'Adderio XL Reds - crap (discontinued, and should be)
Ernie Ball flats - no good for me and super high tension
Ernie Ball rounds - not terrible, but not great
Adamas? - dead in one set.
GHS Boomers - just don't care for them.
LaBella Phosphor Bronze nylon core acoustic bass - because of these I'll never get to try some decent LaBella strings, because I'll never buy their product again. Put them on, tuned them up, played a while, put the bass in the case. Next morning two were broken. Contacted LaBella, and they sent me ONE "E" string that ended up being a short scale string. When I contacted them again, they blew me off and wouldn't replace the other string that broke or the wrong length "E" they sent. I kept one of the two that didn't break as a reminder to never purchase anything LaBella again.
 
#47
Remus_Redbone said:
LaBella Phosphor Bronze nylon core acoustic bass - because of these I'll never get to try some decent LaBella strings, because I'll never buy their product again. Put them on, tuned them up, played a while, put the bass in the case. Next morning two were broken. Contacted LaBella, and they sent me ONE "E" string that ended up being a short scale string. When I contacted them again, they blew me off and wouldn't replace the other string that broke or the wrong length "E" they sent. I kept one of the two that didn't break as a reminder to never purchase anything LaBella again.
Click to expand...

I bought a set of LaBella tapewounds at the Carvin factory, and the E string broke when I put it on. I took it over to Carvin and they gave me a new one. They were fine after that.
 
#48
Munjibunga said:
I bought a set of LaBella tapewounds at the Carvin factory, and the E string broke when I put it on. I took it over to Carvin and they gave me a new one. They were fine after that.
Click to expand...

I wish I would have been dealing with Carvin, but I was dealing directly with LaBella.
The nylon cores were discontinued shortly after they were released. My guess is they all had the breaking problem. LaBella sure didn't handle the situation well and at the time I recall a few posters on a couple forums (& maybe in Bass Player?) that slammed the strings and the service they received from LaBella. I probably wouldn't be as torqued about it if they would have just told me the strings had no guarantee, but when they sent me one of the two strings that broke (E & D broke while the bass was in the case), and it ended up being a short scale E, and THEN they told me they weren't going to make good on the broken strings or the short scale, that was all it took for me.

All of LaBella's other products may be perfect, but I won't find out by spending any money on them.
 
#49
Trial and error, 20 years. Like the response, tone and feel of thin SS rounds, 90 usually but OK with 85-95. Tend to use Rotos, cheap and available in the gauge I like. Had good times w/D'addario and other brands as well. Not being locked into one brand, I buy the cheapest good, thin, ss round.

Thickest I can get for the 5 string, it's active so nickel is OK, usually D'addario but again not locked into that brand.

Don't want rounds for the fretless, concerned about damage. Tried flats, took them off 5 minutes later. Use a compromise string.. ground or compressed. Lately Ken Smith Compressors, not too expensive and available in thinner gauge than most of this type.

I do have one favorite luxury string on one particular bass, Optima Gold rounds. Sound good, match the hardware, last forever, available in thin gauges. cost $100

I'll try any brand if the price is right and it fits my criteria. Will not use GHS again, no matter the price. Haven't been unhappy with any other brand.
 
#50
I started with GHS Bass Boomers when I first started playing waaaay back. For a long time I thought strings didn't matter all that much until I tried my first set of flat wounds and my sound completely changed (using the same bass). From there I tried just about every single flat wound string on the market. After testing them all, I ended up liking just 3 brands and that's what I use now on different basses.

Recently I've been testing round wounds and I have a ways to go. Some top level things I've learned along the way after testing all those flats and now rounds:

- Some string types and brands sound great on specific basses and not so good on others.
- Don't judge a string's sound until they break-in (which I've found takes about 40 hours of playing).
- There are pros in cons to both flats and rounds. None are perfect for all situations.
- All manufacturers can ship bad strings, so if you get a bad pack, most companies will send you a free pack. Also, if you do get a bad pack on your first try, don't write them off for good because like I said, all manufacturers ship duds, and you might miss out on some great strings.
- Related to bullet 2 above, when you first install a new set and you love them right off, there's a good chance you won't like them after the break-in period, which means you might have picked the wrong strings for you. On the flip side (and really important), if you don't like the sound of your strings right after installation, give them time to break in! You might love them after the break-in period!
- Strings are completely subjective. Every player likes different attributes in a string: type, tone, tension, feel, gauge, etc. All subjective. On the other hand, some brands do have very noticeable differences in attributes that most players will recognize.
 
#52
:cool:

Here's the problem.
The same string will sound different on different basses.
So after 20 years of looking and spending way to much money.
I've found 3 sets that I use.
TI JF-344 flats, DR Sunbeams, Ken Smith Compressors.
These strings are what I find pleasing to my ears, and feel good to me.
After trying these on many different basses, I kind of know which set will work for each bass.
More problems.
What I like, you may not like.
So do your own search, spend your own money. And find the strings you like.
String a very subjective, That's why there are so many being made.
 
#53
I was a die-hard fender guy - my first bass was a cheap asian fender knock-off, and every bass after that was a p of one sort or another. I always liked steels and settled on either La Bellas or Rotos - neither was easy to find so I grabbed one or the other when they showed up.

THEN . . . .

I started to build basses. I build because I wanted tone I could not get from existing available instruments - I needed a much longer scale length which dictated custom wound strings.

I went to La Bella once Roto suggested they would prefer not to, and initially had wound three sets to bracket traditional tuning and get me the A (below low B) that I designed my bass for. They were HRS.

THEN . . . .

I started falling in to the ERB camp. I had always been very specific and could reliably get the tension I thought was best based on design . . . and challenged La Bella mightily to get me a F#/E string that worked and worked well.

THEN . . . .

La Bella lost interest or I was too costly a customer to make it worth their while, so in an attempt to continue to be able to provide my bass customers with string sets I tapped Everly to do what La Bella had done. We worked through the process of getting .170s, .180s and .190s successfully and reliably and consistently. They worked hard at it and did it very well, but again I proved to be a not-so-profitable customer and they lost interest in my business.

SO . . . .

I went back to La Bella, at which point I had joined the race to the bottom and got involved with winding a C# and sub B string. It took some experimenting - and there were some monumental failures - but we were able to establish basic C#/B sets that La Bella still makes available if you really want them. But again, I proved to be none-too-profitable and it got harder and harder to get what I needed for my boys . . . .

SO . . . .

I put together a consortium of business partners and figured out how to manufacture a comprehensive inventory of gauges that allowed any tuning from sub B up. I tune all over the map - in part because I can - and do it on a 4 string.
 
#54
intheory said:
I remember buying rotos at the local music store in the 80's and paying more than $40 for a 4 string set...that was pretty tough for my teenage self :). Ah, the days before the net...
Click to expand...

I remember buying rotos at the local music store 3 weeks ago and paying $45.. ah the days of living down under..

But... my favourite strings are Pro steels, a custom 45-145 set I pick up from bassstringsonline :)
 

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