What excites you about strings?

[Continuum]

Hey guys. Pretty random questions, here.

Give your thoughts on any of these, if you'd like.

Do you have a favorite string company?

Which discontinued set or defunct brand are you most bummed about?

What gauge of strings do you prefer? Light? Medium? Heavy? Regular?

What do you want to see in a set that hasn't been offered yet?

Nothing to lose or gain on this. Just curious.

 

[SLaPiNFuNK]

They are the direct connection between you and the bass. They can completely change the way the instrument feels, responds, and sounds.

 

[ZenG]

For roundwounds I always seem to come back to D'addario....for shortscales.....no silk on the winding end, which I like and the 32 inch winding length seems to a agree with all my shortcales.
Tried others and so far they aren't any better than Dadds and usually have weird winding lengths.
Mostly 45/105 for gauge.

Still searching for good shortscale flats. Tried a few and so far nothing is 100% wowing me in that department.

Wish Fender hadn't discontinued a certain shortscale set.

The biggest single pain in the butt for me is how many different winding string lengths there are out there for basses.....of which most don't fit mine.

 

[AEVAREX]

Just some random answers, I'm a fan of DR strings. Lo riders in particular, mediun gauge 45/105. Recently switched from the nickel lo riders to the SS. As for discontinued strings, no concerns here, unless DR goes belly up which isn't likely. But if they were to go under I suppose I'd have to spend a lot of money buying as many sets as possible and sealing them all up to last. There nothing lost nothing gained.

 

[Continuum]

They are the direct connection between you and the bass. They can completely change the way the instrument feels, responds, and sounds.

Very true! They're a lot more important than often players realize.

For roundwounds I always seem to come back to D'addario....for shortscales.....no silk on the winding end, which I like and the 32 inch winding length seems to a agree with all my shortcales.
Tried others and so far they aren't any better than Dadds and usually have weird winding lengths.
Mostly 45/105 for gauge.

Still searching for good shortscale flats. Tried a few and so far nothing is 100% wowing me in that department.

Wish Fender hadn't discontinued a certain shortscale set.

The biggest single pain in the butt for me is how many different winding string lengths there are out there for basses.....of which most don't fit mine.

I remember a Fender set with a Squier Musicmaster on the front? Those the ones?

Since the market is growing for 30-inch and 32-inch scale basses, there definitely needs to be more strings that cater to that group. Hello Dunlop and DR?

Just some random answers, I'm a fan of DR strings. Lo riders in particular, mediun gauge 45/105. Recently switched from the nickel lo riders to the SS. As for discontinued strings, no concerns here, unless DR goes belly up which isn't likely. But if they were to go under I suppose I'd have to spend a lot of money buying as many sets as possible and sealing them all up to last. There nothing lost nothing gained.

Getting more clarity out of those Stanless Steel Lo-Riders?

 

[Gorn]

I loved the way DR Hellborgs feel, but I don't like the mellowness of pure nickels. I'd be interested in trying steel strings with a single wrap wire. I don't know if it's possible, but it would be cool.

@SLaPiNFuNK
They don't exist, right?

 

[AEVAREX]

Yes mostly switching to the SS for a bit more clarity from my low E. But am switching also bacause once the nickels start to get a little old (about a month) they begin to turn my fingers black after an hour or so playing. Gets pretty bad after that with the discoloration.

 

[jtharp]

I tried fodera steels on my jazz bass. It was terrible, the low strings just boomed everywhere. So I slapped them on my P bass. Perfect string, the sound is 100% MVP Best in show VIP 10/10 knock you out the park.

Still looking for the jazz though...

 

[Continuum]

I tried fodera steels on my jazz bass. It was terrible, the low strings just boomed everywhere. So I slapped them on my P bass. Perfect string, the sound is 100% MVP Best in show VIP 10/10 knock you out the park.

Still looking for the jazz though...

So the Fodera's were too boomy on the jazz?

 

[sonojono]

Still looking for the jazz though...

Theres Dunlop Flatwounds that have been announced just now through BSO

 

[subdude67]

Changing strings is an easy, quick and inexpensive way to profoundly transform the sound of any bass and I enjoy that. I like the light gauge DR strings very much but I try all sorts of brands and makes because I can

 

[Johnny Crab]

ok

 

[EMoneySC2]

I'm all about Kalium Strings. The whole deal with them is they make strings in all sorts of gauges, and you buy a set that gives you balanced tension in whatever tuning you want (they've got a calculator to help figure that stuff out). I play in a lot of low tunings, so it's a godsend.

Their newer steel strings are fantastic as well!

 

[michael_t]

Which discontinued set or defunct brand are you most bummed about?

Fender 9050CL Flats (CL = Custom Light, 45-60-80-105)

What do you want to see in a set that hasn't been offered yet?

• I would like to see more string makers publish tension info along with the option for factory balanced-tension sets.
• I would like to see more strings with 36.5" winding length to fit my 4-string Fenders properly.

 

[DavC]

i've really grown to like ' GHS PressureWounds ' ... ( L2700 ? ... the lite set ) ... over the last 4-5 yrs ..

they feel and sound very nice for me ... i don't play bass as much as i once did , so they are easier on the old fingers . ! they ARE round wounds that have less finger noise .. i do wish they had other gauges available for their low B and High C ... there is 1 gauge of each of those .. take it or leave it ...

i also have a set of newer Ti's that aren't in use right now , ... but i'll just hang on to them because they are just barely broke in ( and they ain't cheap ) price would be my only complaint about them .! after trying many flats the last few years ,... i do like these the best . !

right now both 5vers are wearing GHS ... 1 w/low B , other w/Hi C ... when i also had a 4 , it had the Ti's

 

[Continuum]

I'm all about Kalium Strings. The whole deal with them is they make strings in all sorts of gauges, and you buy a set that gives you balanced tension in whatever tuning you want (they've got a calculator to help figure that stuff out). I play in a lot of low tunings, so it's a godsend.

Their newer steel strings are fantastic as well!

What gauges are you currently using?

 

[Continuum]

Fender 9050CL Flats (CL = Custom Light, 45-60-80-105)

• I would like to see more string makers publish tension info along with the option for factory balanced-tension sets.
• I would like to see more strings with 36.5" winding length to fit my 4-string Fenders properly.

Sorry to hear about the flats! Factory-balanced strings interest me also. That's a new phrase I've been hearing recently. Sounds cool.

 

[Snaxster]

Do you have a favorite string company?

As of last year, Dark Horse stainless steel roundwound bass strings were the best surprise I had playing a model of strings that I never played before. The way that traditional single coil bass pickups can have a sponginess to their sound, these Dark Horse strings have a fizzy plus rubbery sound. Soulful, harmonically rich, spitting or twanging on demand, and planted. That's the best I can describe them for now. I fckuing love those strings. They are rare, though. Right now the Dark Horse website is not working, so they might stay rare for a while.

Also recently, another good surprise for me was Curt Mangan flatwound bass strings. I tried some on a several-year-old Custom Shop Precision Bass and really dug them. Then I tried a second set on a handmade J of similar age that I was using to test sets of pickups. The Mangan flatwounds were great for J bass (I kept trying to cop old Bootsy Collins lines). When I decided I needed roundwounds on that J instead, for testing pickups, I swapped its Curt Mangan flatwound set onto a 1969 Precision Bass. Wow. With those strings on it, I heard that bass's voice completely for the first time. Expansive, open air surrounding thick, holographic low end. Huge. Pure, solid pitch. So nice. To quote Sarah Silverman, "So yeah... that's a good cheese."

DR still makes some of my bread and butter roundwound strings (Hi-Beams, and nickel and s.s. Lo-Riders), but they lost some business to Dark Horse last year.

 

[Kirk Bryant]

What used to excite me about strings was the fact I had a few friends that worked at Dean Markley over the years. They would get lots of free strings and give me some. So many so in fact I didn't have to buy strings for about 20 years. I'm guessing I accrued about a hundred sets of all types. I finally ran out a few years ago. Now I'm not so excited anymore.

 

[Novv]

I don't get too excited by strings. I use RotoSound Swing heavies (50-70-85-110) for the sole reason that I've never had a problem with them. They tend to mellow out fairly nicely after the initial zing, which I like.