The perfect strings...have you found yours?

[Erich Bruning]

It depends on what works for me on the bass. Right now: Sunbeams for my JBS and P-Bass Lyte; GHS Balanced nickels on my G&L L-1000, and TI Flatwounds for my P bass.

YMMV

 

[Pocket4]

No favorites right now. I spread it out to DR Sunbeams, Fender 9050, Sadowski blue flats, DR low riders, DA cobalt rounds and flats.

 

[dave64o]

Kind of. I've loved the sound of DR nickel Lo Riders and D'Addario Chromes on every bass I've tried them on and, as much as I like both, I basically consider the Lo Riders my favorite strings.

But I still like to experiment once in a while just to see what's out there that I might like even more. So far, I still prefer those two, though.

 

[zoonose]

DR Black Beauties, and not just because they look cool!

 

[bmusic]

It really varies by the bass, but I guess La Bella flats are #1, since I have those on the most basses (my Höfner, my Mustang and a 57 RI Precision).

 

[EatS1stBassist]

View attachment 4103396

TI Jazz flats and LaBella nylon White and Black

 

[Rib 13]

Yup.....I change strings very very often: I like them brand new sounding, bright, and rich like the low end of a piano........Therefore, the perfect string for me is whatever roundwounds are on sale when I go to a music store

 

[bluesblaster]

as long as they're hexcore , just cant get on with roundcore

 

[Eddie LeBlanc]

Depends on which bass......

Mostly

Fretless

And some Colored DRs on a few others.

 

[Samatza]

Sort of... different strings on different basses and sometimes even different gigs.

DR Hi Beam 40-100 are my go to, EB Slinky for StingRays, nylon for fretless.

I’m liking the DR pure blues on my P at the moment.

 

[oldskoolskatedad]

For many years my go to strings were TI Jazz flats & TI Powerbass for rounds. I would intermittently try others but these were my absolute favorites, both felt and sounded great on any bass. A few years back I got my first Jazz bass, a CIJ Fender MM w/Sadowski pups & pre, and wanted to try some light & bright strings on it. I picked up a set of Rotosound FM66 Funkmasters (SS 30-50-70-90) and was blown away by how much FUN they were! And being dirt cheap compared to TI's I bought half a dozen sets and strung them on a Ric 4003W, '81 G&L L2K, G&L L-1505, Peavey T-40, Squier MF Precision, Fender Kingman and most recently a StingRay Special 4H. This may just be a phase I'm going through but I greatly enjoy these strings on every bass I've tried them on but I dare say that these are my new favorites. An unintended bonus is the honing of my setup skills that has been required by these lite weights.

 

[matti777]

I've always bought nickel rounds (DR or D'Addario if I can't find DR) or flatwounds (Labella) but just put some D'Addario ProSteels on my Warwick. I like them a lot. They might be my new go to for rounds. They are cheap, sound and feel good and are stocked locally.

 

[fishdude101101]

TI for flats. Sunbeams for rounds.

Same here. Or very light bass boomers.

 

[WestyBassBob]

This is probably a very un-TB thing to say but, honestly, I'm just not all that picky (no pun intended) about strings. I've used a wide variety of flats, rounds, and other variants over the years and have rarely come across any that I really didn't like, and I've been pretty happy with almost everything I've tried. I seem to just adapt to whatever strings I happen to be using at the time. But if I had to pick one that seems to suit me best overall, I think it would be TI flats.

The fact that you ended it that way makes it a very TB thing to say.

 

[Hounddog409]

This is probably a very un-TB thing to say but, honestly, I'm just not all that picky (no pun intended) about strings. I've used a wide variety of flats, rounds, and other variants over the years and have rarely come across any that I really didn't like, and I've been pretty happy with almost everything I've tried. I seem to just adapt to whatever strings I happen to be using at the time. But if I had to pick one that seems to suit me best overall, I think it would be TI flats.

I'm with you. As long as they feel good, ill use them. All rounds sound the same live anyway. Amd in the bedroom, you don't like the sound, turn the knows on your amp until you do.

I think folks waste a lot of time and money chasing strings.

 

[Sam Dingle]

For roundwounds DR. The pure blues sound very good on my new p bass but I’m gonna throw highs on in a week or so to test.

But pure blues are the only string I’ve liked other than the high beams which I’ve used since I was 15. so I can say I’ve found my nickel and steel strings (45-105 and 130 b string)

flats I like labella deep talk 43-104 on my p bass, I have a moollon on the way with Dunlop’s I’ll check out but I have a backup set of labellas I’ll most likely throw on it.

 

[Sam Dingle]

I'm with you. As long as they feel good, ill use them. All rounds sound the same live anyway. Amd in the bedroom, you don't like the sound, turn the knows on your amp until you do.

I think folks waste a lot of time and money chasing strings.

seems like a waste. I think all strings feel a little bit different in some ways even with gauge so when you find something you like stick with it and practice.

 

[BarfanyShart]

I end up with LaBella DTFS eventually no matter what. Same story with Spirocore Mittels on DB.

 

[fretone1]

2nd the Elixir's.

 

[MegaSwing]

I try everything. IMHO, there is much ‘product parity’ among bass strings. Never ran into name-brand bass strings that are not perfectly serviceable by me. I only use straight mediums. My quarrel with strings, if there ever is any, is usually about service life.