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What kind of strings do you use?
- Thread starter bryan bailey
- Start date
- Fretless AGBasses wrapped w/LaBella DTB 760N Tape Wounds help me achieve a ballpark upright tone
- P-Bass wrapped w/OLD Chromes make for a great old school motown/blues/classic rock tone
- P-Bass wrapped w/Rotosound Swing Bass Rounds for that aggressive puck/rock tone
- J-Bass wrapped w/Fender 9050L flats for a classic and articulate 60's tone
- Fretless J-Bass wrapped w/Fender 9050L flats don't sound like Jaco but are fuller and suit my playing style
- Custom made J/P/J Koa Slab P-Bass wrapped w/D'Addario Half-Wounds are nice, tight and modern sounding
- Stagg EUB - Whatever they came with sounds good enough for me LOL - not quite up to a real acoustic upright but close enough and convenient enough for my purposes and skill
- P-Bass wrapped w/OLD Chromes make for a great old school motown/blues/classic rock tone
- P-Bass wrapped w/Rotosound Swing Bass Rounds for that aggressive puck/rock tone
- J-Bass wrapped w/Fender 9050L flats for a classic and articulate 60's tone
- Fretless J-Bass wrapped w/Fender 9050L flats don't sound like Jaco but are fuller and suit my playing style
- Custom made J/P/J Koa Slab P-Bass wrapped w/D'Addario Half-Wounds are nice, tight and modern sounding
- Stagg EUB - Whatever they came with sounds good enough for me LOL - not quite up to a real acoustic upright but close enough and convenient enough for my purposes and skill
+1 for TI Jazz Flats
Best strings I've ever played. Tone, feel, tension - all perfect for my needs
worth the extra coin
Best strings I've ever played. Tone, feel, tension - all perfect for my needs
worth the extra coin
After trying a lot of different roundwounds (and some flats), I settled on most inexpensive strings out there: Harley Benton 40-95. They are consistently good out of box, sound as nickel roundwound strings should, and cost just 5€.
Background: I play mostly medium clubs (200+) and small/medium festivals (2000+).
Generally, my opinion is that technically proper strings (that tune and intonate) of same type (let's say nickel roundwound) differ in sound only subtly. Much bigger difference in my sound from gig to gig are: PA quality and setting, sound mix, acoustics.
Background: I play mostly medium clubs (200+) and small/medium festivals (2000+).
Generally, my opinion is that technically proper strings (that tune and intonate) of same type (let's say nickel roundwound) differ in sound only subtly. Much bigger difference in my sound from gig to gig are: PA quality and setting, sound mix, acoustics.
Tried a lot have settled on Daddario tape wounds ETB 92, they give me a mix of round wound attack and flat wound fullness I really like.
DR Lo-Riders. Very refined sound, long life, and they record extremely well.
I'm still working on what strings I want. But, I do know I prefer flats to rounds for feel reasons. Right now, I have Ernie Ball Slinky Flats on my Ray4, and I really like them. I tried D'Addario halfrounds on it, and they went dead rather quickly. Still going to be trying different flats out to find what I like.
All day it’s TI Jazz Flats because they are rich but not imposing, they are even tone up and down the neck and sound good in any style. They’re also very comfortable to play.
But I keep DR Hi Beams on a MM for brightness, they bring out the best I’d that bass. And I use LB on my avatar fretless for the mellow bottom glory.
I use LB tapes on my ABGs. They are perfect to tame a normally noisy beast.
I use Stringjoy customs 9.5-40 on my electrics and 13-62 on my baritone. They seem to last a while. They don’t cut my tender hands. And they don’t sound too brittle when they are new. Plus they say they find their tune and stay in tune easier and I am starting to believe the hype.
My violin has Thomastik.
Almost forgot, I have a 5 that came with Dunlop Super Bright and I kinda like them enough that I haven’t removed them yet. But there is a set of TI for when that day comes.
Best strings are the ones you like best on your instrument. There is no best.
But I keep DR Hi Beams on a MM for brightness, they bring out the best I’d that bass. And I use LB on my avatar fretless for the mellow bottom glory.
I use LB tapes on my ABGs. They are perfect to tame a normally noisy beast.
I use Stringjoy customs 9.5-40 on my electrics and 13-62 on my baritone. They seem to last a while. They don’t cut my tender hands. And they don’t sound too brittle when they are new. Plus they say they find their tune and stay in tune easier and I am starting to believe the hype.
My violin has Thomastik.
Almost forgot, I have a 5 that came with Dunlop Super Bright and I kinda like them enough that I haven’t removed them yet. But there is a set of TI for when that day comes.
Best strings are the ones you like best on your instrument. There is no best.
Flats (currently TI) on one of my PJ5s, well-broken in (at least a month old) Dunlop Marcus Millers on my other PJ5. One for vintage wooly thump,the other for more aggressive tones and I like lower tension strings.
Ernie Ball flats on my main P
Ernie Ball slinky on my Ibanez
Labella black nylon tapes on my fretless.
Ernie Ball slinky .9-42 on all my electric guitars
Elixir Nanoweb on my acoustic.
Ernie Ball slinky on my Ibanez
Labella black nylon tapes on my fretless.
Ernie Ball slinky .9-42 on all my electric guitars
Elixir Nanoweb on my acoustic.
G. Gould Custom Blend - tapered round wounds. They came with the bass new and I liked the sound. When I ordered a set a while later, he told me that he opted to use my bass on the packaging, as it was one of the first to feature the return of that string formula back from his Modulus days. Now I know what strings go on my bass without question.
I'm a big fan of DR Strings in general. Sunbeams are probably my #1 favourite, but I also really enjoy playing Hi Beams and Pure Blues (Wooten set). I actually don't have DR Strings on either of my basses right now though! I still love to experiment. But until I find something I like better than Sunbeams, the experiments eventually conclude with me coming back to Sunbeams.
Right now I have Rotosound RS66LD's on my fretted P/J bass, and La Bella 760FX flats on my fretless double reverse P bass. The Rotos have been a pleasant surprise, but I expect that I'll be content to go back to Sunbeams on this bass once the RS66 experiment has run its course. The La Bella 760FX's on the other hand might just be The String for my fretless. I'm really impressed with them. I usually prefer rounds or tapes on fretless, but I have another fretless soon to be completed (neck is on the way from Warmoth now) that will most likely be sporting Sunbeams, so I'll have that sound covered again soon.
Right now I have Rotosound RS66LD's on my fretted P/J bass, and La Bella 760FX flats on my fretless double reverse P bass. The Rotos have been a pleasant surprise, but I expect that I'll be content to go back to Sunbeams on this bass once the RS66 experiment has run its course. The La Bella 760FX's on the other hand might just be The String for my fretless. I'm really impressed with them. I usually prefer rounds or tapes on fretless, but I have another fretless soon to be completed (neck is on the way from Warmoth now) that will most likely be sporting Sunbeams, so I'll have that sound covered again soon.
I've settled on D'Addario NYXL regular light gauge for a while now. I feel like they are tonally balanced with good lows, mids, and highs, and they also just generally feel good on the hands. They lose a bit of their initial strong "zing" relatively quickly, but then stay consistently bright-sounding for a long while after they settle in.
I’ve been through a million strings and right now I’ve got EB Slinky 45-100 on most of my basses. I bought a few sets because it happened to be a great deal, and ended up just throwing them on a few basses. The tone is pretty standard but good, they don’t last as long as I’d like, but I really, really like the way they feel. Not too much tension but they don’t feel floppy. There’s a comfortable bounce to them that suits the way I touch the instrument.
Oh, and Fender 9050 flats on my old P. My favorite flats.
Oh, and Fender 9050 flats on my old P. My favorite flats.
flats. one bass with fender flats that I've had on there close to a decade and they are still sounding like butter
another with la bella because the fender flats in a 5 string are discontinued
another with la bella because the fender flats in a 5 string are discontinued
I like the strings to zig where the bass zags, so I use a variety of different strings.
Generally, that means stainless on basses with a lot of midrange, nickel if the bass has scooped mids.
I have 2 basses with SIT strings (one stainless, one nickel), I bass with DR strings, 1 bass with GHS strings, and 1 bass with Ernie Ball strings.
Generally, that means stainless on basses with a lot of midrange, nickel if the bass has scooped mids.
I have 2 basses with SIT strings (one stainless, one nickel), I bass with DR strings, 1 bass with GHS strings, and 1 bass with Ernie Ball strings.
