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What excites you about strings?

Tried Cleartones yet?


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I haven't, wasn't familiar with them. I'll check BSO to see if they carry them. Thanks!
 
Do you have a favorite string company?

-Right now Cleartone; they sound good, except last I checked they don't make a 5 string set.

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

-None really

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

-Truth be told, I don't often notice a huge difference with strung gauge. That's probably because I never venture too far outside of the 45-105 (or 130 on my 5's) neighborhood.

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

-Nothing technical really; Kalium (and I'm sure othe brands) offer balanced/custom sets in a couple materials so that's covered.

It's very minor, but I'd love to be able to select a silk color. I'm not sure if any companies offer that option but given what's currently available these days I prefer either no silk or black. But depending on the bass, if you could order a dark green or burgundy silk on a set, that would be rad. I hate the red silk on a lot of strings.
 
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I have Dean Markley Blue Steels on my three basses now. Really like the sound and longevity.
For flats I like Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats. Sound great on my Pbass when I switch from the Blue Steels.
Fender 9050 flats for my Rick sometimes.
I like D'addario Tapewound on my Rick sometimes as well as my acoustic.
This is all subject to change at any point in the future, but right now these are the strings that
float my boat. And I don't even own a boat, nor do I want one.
 
I'll probably be sticking my super light gauge D'Addario ProSteel 5's for a while. I really like those strings. The only thing that has gotten me excited in a long time about anything string related was when a close friend who has a deal with Evans (who also handles D'Addario) called me and said he'll order my strings for me because he gets them at a decent discount. Good thing I like D'Addario...
 
My obsession with strings started when I took up guitar. At the time I was really into post-hardcore and metalcore, so I gravitated towards relatively heavy gauges so I could tune low and play along to my favorite bands. I loved experimenting with different gauges, and would seldom buy the same set twice in a row. Even today I like playing around with string tension calculators to see what tensions I get from different tunings and gauges. At first I stuck with Ernie Ball because they were easy to find, but I broke the top strings all the time. I'm still not sure why they broke so often, but I was left wanting more. One day on a whim I bought a set of D'Addario light gauge strings, and I was blown away by how even they sounded. After getting a proper setup and learning how to put the strings on properly, I didn't have anywhere near as many breaks. To this day I put D'Addario strings on all of my instruments.

Now that I'm playing bass, I still like heavier gauges so I can tune low if I want to, but it's rare for me to tune any lower than DGCF. Regardless, being able to explore different tunings with different strings is what excites me.
 
Used to coast about trying whatever strings I could find/afford - during which time I found elixirs once and really liked them (50-105) got fed up of Ernie ball strings (dull very quickly,break quite easily,not my cup of tea).

For the past few years I've been a solid d'addario fan and steadily moving up the brightness scale with them - really liked the nickels, loved the prosteels and going to try flexsteels next.

Usually use a heavier guage on one bass as I play that downtuned for metal band and medium/light on fretless. Having read a few posts on TB I'll probably stick a set of DR sunbeams on the fretless next (was considering DDT's for the other but not sure they'll be able to match the brightness of flexsteels...)
 
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Defunct brands? I am going to miss DR Strings, and never got to try the La Bella Strings. I know what you are thinking...."Hey, Mr., they are not defunct!" Oh but they are- to me. With the introduction of the "Neon," on the DR side, and the, "RX," for La Bella, they have taken the immature route, stranding away from the importance of sound, and have gave into the world of financial success.
 
i have always played with the 45- 105 but lately have been trying 40-100 in one bass and quite dig it.
i probably will keep using 'em on that particular bass.
that said i starting to think different basses need distinct gauges.