The price of strings!!!!!

[MonetBass]

I don't know where you get your strings, but Sweetwater has a 4-string set listed for $20. I can get them at a local store for that same price.

 

[Ric5]

Just wondering if everyone else here finds the price of a pack of strings are getting a little out of hand? In canada for Ernie Ball Regular slinky it's 30 dollars. While that's still relatively cheap, for 3 basses it's $120. Is there somewhere else than Amazon to get cheap strings?

Back in the early 70s I would pay about $20 for a set of 4 strings adjusted for inflation that is about $130 in 2023 money ... So if I have to spend $30 for a set of 5 strings today I don't feel so bad.

There are lots of places to buy strings ... here are a few

stringjoy.com
Musician's friend
Sweetwater
juststrings.com
bassstringsonline.com
stringsandbeyond.com
guitarcenter.com

 

[steveinohio]

I check multiple brands on Amazon and then just vulture when they get cheap enough. I change strings often enough that I don’t get caught up in all of their nuances. In December I bought about 7 sets of Fender strings for around 13 a set.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

Even tho' I don't change strings as much as I used to (live work has gone down dramatically over the last 5 years, also prefer worn strings on some of my basses) I still rely on the old cheap Warwick Reds (NICKEL, discussed here). Try not to hate too much, they're nothing like their crappy Red Label steelsç strings (the most commonly available). 13.50€ per 5-string set from Thomann. They were 11.70€ IIRC back when I started buying them around 2012/2013.

I had an Ernie Ball endorsement deal for a couple years, then had another from Magma for almost 4 years (Argentinean family business, GREAT strings). After that was over and once my stock of strings went critical I tested some sets. Notably, I really liked DR (both loriders and hibeams) but at 40+€/set I can only afford those occasionally. I settled on the aforementioned Warwick Red nickels and haven't looked back. Prefer them to Ernie Balls, D'Addarios. I like DRs, Smiths (one of the brands I've used the most, pre any endorsement) and those Magmas better, but not by far really. I definitely wouldn't be able to tell them apart from other 20-30$/€ strings.

They feel normal, the sound normal, they last normal. They even work in my 35" scale Schecter (good by about 1cm after the nut). They just don't have silk ends and are cheap AF.

Thanks for the tip off. I've ordered some to try. I could buy three sets of these for the price of most strings.

I have been buying strings for basses since the 1970's. You pay less actual dollars now for a set of 5 strings than you did back then for a set of 4. Adjusted for inflation, strings are very cheap.

In the UK, "good" strings are about £40! They're so expensive I don't change them.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Just wondering if everyone else here finds the price of a pack of strings are getting a little out of hand? In canada for Ernie Ball Regular slinky it's 30 dollars. While that's still relatively cheap, for 3 basses it's $120. Is there somewhere else than Amazon to get cheap strings?

Cheap strings = cheap experience.

Not that expensive strings = expensive experience. But, skimping out for cheap strings usually means that you will be replacing them twice as fast (if not faster than that), and you're often more likely to get duds.

 

[majbass]

On another board there was a thread recently where someone said their local music shop owner warned that nearly all strings were going to see significant price increases in 2023 due to inflation and the high cost of doing business for the manufacturers. The bill for the last few years is coming due even for strings it seems.

I only change them about once a year so it doesn't bother me much, but guitarists who change them all the time are going to be feeling it.

 

[micguy]

In the UK, "good" strings are about £40! They're so expensive I don't change them.

As most string makers aren’t in the UK, I’d guess that strings have been that expensive there for 50 years, too.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

A set of 4 string DR Pure Blues is $22.99 from FretNation, $24.00 from both Amazon and Sweetwater, and $24.99 from Guitar Center. All USD prices, that's roughly $32 CAD and $35 AUD. Long and McQuade lists those strings at $42.99 CDN. Bettermusic lists them at $62.00 AUD. I'm not including taxes in the price differences, that goes down the rabbit hole of which country gets more for their tax dollar and should I include the bill for my rotator cuff surgery in the price of the strings? Etc, etc. Retailers usually mark up their items ~ 50% of their cost. So when shipping costs go up $5 to get the item to them, you end up with another $10 at the register. Even so, I don't see where the price difference is between US pricing and CDN / AUD pricing. I can ship a box of ~20 strings via USPS international flat rate boxes for $60. So the per unit shipping has to be below $3.00. And that's on a low scale, individual basis. Commercial operations would have a lower cost. Maybe tariffs? If so, they would be ~ 6%, so another dollar or so to the price, still not seeing where the cost difference is coming from. Given that US pricing usually includes shipping as well, I think or Canadian and Australian bass brothers / sisters are getting gouged.

 

[Kipp Harrington]

Fortunately for me, I use flats on 6 of my 7 basses and I clean them regularly. I only have to purchase strings once every 4 or 5 years. And not all at once.

 

[Gruff]

Go on the DB side and see what a set of strings costs.

Tell me about it! I'm changing to Pirastro's Evah Pirazzi and buying one a month

 

[Thumpin6string]

Check out the prices on 6 string sets. I usually try to find bargains on Fleabay and when I do, I buy them whether I need them or not. I usually get a 6 string set for around $15 shipped. For instance, I like the DR coated strings. I had a set of Black Beauties that I wore out. Last fall I came across a listing for 2 sets of Pink Neons for $29 shipped for both. I bought them and have them on my fretted and fretless 6s. I would have never bought them at retail and would never have picked pink, but they sound great and are a fashion statement.

 

[Space Pickle]

Thats US math. He was using Candian math.

or as we call it, "the metric system"

 

[groovepump]

Fortunately for me, I use flats on 6 of my 7 basses and I clean them regularly. I only have to purchase strings once every 4 or 5 years. And not all at once.

Same . $50 set is cheap when it lasts 5 years. And, to be honest . . . I don't remember the last time I changed them.
Flats.
Yeah . . .

 

[bigthemat]

Everything is getting really expensive. I wanted to treat my wife to an expensive dinner last night for Valentine's, so I made us scrambled eggs

 

[kumimajava]

Switch to flats. Revisit this thread 10 years from now while still playing that same set - and rejoice in what wise a decision you made

 

[Vinny_G]

In the UK, "good" strings are about £40! They're so expensive I don't change them.

You have one of the best string manufacturers in the world, in the UK, and they don't cost that much.

 

[Vinny_G]

Pretty sure a set of Rotosound 66 are about $7 more than they were in the 80s.

Which is not so much, if you take inflation into account.

 

[aj_brimacombe]

I've noticed a price increase but for strings last for a good while. I use Rotosound swingbass and cab get them for around £18 a set which is decent.

 

[satantango]

Elixer user here, almost exclusively for a couple of decades. I should be sponsored by now! I haven't noticed too much of change, but then again with two years of lock down and not playing larger show since then, I haven't needed to change strings. I do remember buying a couple cases of D'Addarion Reds at <$10 per set when I playing five to seven nights a week and changing them weekly.

I couldn't get elixirs for like two years because of supply issues and it killed me. I went through so many alternatives that I just didn't like. and the ones I liked the sound of died too quickly.

thank god that's over because even though they're like $45 a pack, they'll last 3+ months on my daily players and literal years on the ones I play sporadically. I was burning through non-coated strings in about a week on daily players. Me and nickel don't mix very well even though I love nickel strings.

 

[r_bnks]

A pack of Rotosound swing bass is $20. No problem here.