What bass strings are you using and why?

[Larchi]

The Dingwall Stainless steel, on my NG3 6.
Still going strong after 14 months, no breaks, probably washed them 50+ times.
*A few hours of abuse a day.
DR and D'addario would last (for me), about 5 months.
It's not like I have many choices, but hey the bonus is that Dingwall strings are perfectly made for their basses

 

[Five String]

D'Addario ETB92SL nylon tapewounds. Very smooth, springy, a lot of character and depth, more bright than you might think without being clanky. An excellent alternative to plain flats.

 

[Tubehed]

Jazz-DR Pure Blues (Nice balanced tone with strong mids and smooth highs. Nice tension and smooth feel. Also love Fat Beams.)
Stingray-DR Fat Beams (A good combination of booty and snap. Not too scooped)
P Bass- Chromes (Even tone across all strings. Lively sounding for flats but can mellow out with tone control roll off and/ or eq tweaking)
SG Bass- Chromes (See above)

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

GHS Pressurewounds.

Why? They're a perfect blend of what I need (= roundwound tone) and what I want (= smoother feel).

Same here.
And, for me they keep their tone for a very long time, and I really like the tension of the M7200 set.

I also string some of my basses with GHS Bass Boomers. I like that they lose their new string sound rather quickly, and they have a warm, punchy sound.

I string one of my basses with GHS Brite Flats. They fatten up the sound of the bass, but they still have a bit of top end. Although I may try a set of Pressurewounds on it next.

 

[bassist4dalord]

This is a great thread! I’m a string geek so this is cool to see the reasoning behind people’s preferences.

#1(my main bass). My Squier VM Fretless Jazz wears TI Jazz Flats. They feel and sound excellent and I plan to keep them on that bass indefinitely.

#2. My Ibanez AEB5E acoustic wears D’Addario Tapes. This set was installed July of 2013 and has not come off. They feel and sound incredible and the tone hasn’t changed since a few weeks after they were installed. I love them dearly but I am getting SORELY tempted to replace them with a set of TI Acousticore strings. We shall see...

#3. My Schecter Raiden Special-4 wears La Bella White Tapes 50-105. This bass has been relegated to closet duty. I take it out from time to time but the thrill is gone. I imagine it might be fun to try some stainless steel rounds on it but I just can’t justify it yet.

 

[GIBrat51]

It’s great to have such choice, but what a minefield for those of us with less experience!

So, if there is such a thing, what are the brightest flats?

Based on what I have on some of my basses - and expressed experience/opinions here:
- EB Cobalt Flats are supposed to be pretty bright (haven't tried those quite yet).
- D'Addario Chromes are definitely on the bright side - the ones on my G&L ASAT Bass are, anyway.
- Some people think Rotosound RS77's are kind of bright - but, from the heavier gauge ones I use, on a bass like a T-Bird? I don't hear it. Light gauge ones, on other basses? Maybe...
- TI Jazz Flats...? Way more "middy" than bright, IMO. But, compared to some Old School thumpers? Definitely brighter than they are...
- Optima 4099RL "Chromes". Still breaking these in, but I think they're going to be in the "Middy" camp with the TIs. Right now, though, they're kinda bright...
As far as I know, that's about it for bright flats. But, if you're hoping for flats that will out-bright rounds? No such thing that I've ever heard of; rounds are always brighter - until they start to die..

 

[JimmyM]

Using dead Dunlop Super Bright Nickels on my basses with rounds because they get really fat sounding like flats but still have a fair amount of zing when I need it. I need the fat sounds more, but I do need a little zing on occasion. Using LaBella flats on my violin basses because it's the right thing to do but Dunlop flats on my other basses with flats because they're really thumpy when dead.

 

[ElectricBass72]

Dunlop Super Bright Stainless Steel and Nickel roundwound strings on my 4, 5 and 6-string basses. Because I like brighter-than-normal highs, plenty of mids along with the low frequencies.

 

[crucislancer]

Here's the string type for each of my basses at the moment:

Geddy Lee Jazz - Rotosound RS66LF rounds
Nate Mendel Precision - Fender 9050L flats
Precision Deluxe - Fender 7250M NPS rounds
Am. Performer Jazz - GHS Balanced Nickels 4M-NB rounds
FrankenFender Jazz - Fender 7250M NPS rounds

This weekend I'm going to switch things up a bit:

Geddy Lee Jazz - DR Hi-Beams (45-105)
Nate Mendel Precision - Fender 9050L flats
Precision Deluxe - Fender 7250M NPS rounds
Am. Performer Jazz - DR Sunbeams (45-105)
FrankenFender Jazz - Fender 9050L flats

I used to use DR Hi-Beams back in the 90's for a few years, until I got a couple sets of bad strings and decided to move on to another brand. Figured I would give them a try again.