What kind of strings do you use?

[Indiana Mike]

Ernie ball Nickle or fender.

They're cheap and sound fine to me.

I do have one active bass with daddario pro steels just for the extra edge.

 

[pbass2]

I go with the time-tested "flats on a P, rounds on a J" approach for my two main basses---and both are very old and broken in--Labella DT flats and DR Nickel Lo-Riders. My Jerry Jones Longhorn has Chromes, mainly because the were the only flats at the time I could find quickly when I needed them. I don't love how they've aged, so Labellas are the next stop for the JJ.

 

[Paul New]

Sunbeams because they're so pretty.

 

[maxschrek]

Ken Smith ultra lite Metal Masters, Ken Smith ultra lite Compressors and GHS Precision Wound flats because they're the best.

 

[RolandMHall]

Aurora. One of my closest friends (Brian Smith) is endorsed by them. I prefer coated strings, and they are the best. Highly recommended.

 

[HardNHeavy]

Roto66....nickelwound.
way back when i was doing more metal/punk i used GHS bass boomers, the thickest ones i could fine..i called them Brooklyn bridge cables. I forget the gauge it was but they were thick AF.

 

[filwitheneff]

I've had TI Flats on my P-Bass since the day I got it (currently on its second set). They are a match made in Heaven!

For my other basses, I'm still experimenting. I'm only trying Stainless Steel because I'm sick of nickel turning my hands black. I've decided to basically try them all in order to find the perfect SS strings for each respective bass.

Currently have Apex Traditional Cryos Stainless Steel on my Stingray5. So far, they sound fantastic! Seriously, I've never had so many compliments on my bass tone.

Currently have Roto66 Stainless Steel on my Ultra Jazz. I haven't gigged it yet with these strings, so no opinion yet. I have a feeling I'm going to like them. I had Apex Traditional Cryos SS on it before, and I liked the sound of those, so we'll see how the Roto's do by comparison (and if they last as long as the Apex).

Currently have DR Hi-Beams on my Peavey Sarzo. They sound ok on this bass, but I'll be trying others.

My MIM Jazz (that has never been gigged) currently has DR Pure Blues. They'll be coming off because (as stated above) I'm tired of nickel turning my fingers black. They sound ok, but I think I'll put Roto66 SS next.

 

[growlypants]

I use Chromes exclusively, on both of my basses, BUT... for really, the first time, I had a dead B string, right out the box so to speak, and I am giving some serious thought to trying Boomers.

 

[digmeout]

La Bella LTF's, but I do like to try different strings. Favorite gauges are in the 40-95 area. I like lower pulling tension on my necks and hands.

 

[Lenny JG]

Newtone and labella. Quality and life.

 

[zubrycky]

I use any string I can buy when I need to buy a new set of strings.

 

[TheSeagoats]

How does the 125 sound for a B string? I use the 45-135 set but the B doesn't always sound quite right to me so I've wondered if a lighter one would do me better, but I'm also concerned about it being too floppy.

 

[Nodak Savage]

I use GHS Bass Boomers. The band I'm in plays in Drop C, so I use a 5 string set and just don't use the one intended to be used as the E string (45-65-80-125). I was using D'addario EXL165 (45-65-85-105) for awhile until I got with this band and needed to find something a little thicker for drop C.

 

[darthplagis]

I found Warwick Red label strings back in the late 90s... And loved them (Steel) then when I sorted playing a 5 I found there blue label sets came woth a tapered B.

And I've used them since apart from a brief period where I was using status graphite hot wires for my 4 strings.

 

[Richard Lindsey]

Kalium .031 to .136 roundwounds on my solidbodies, TI Jazz Flats on my acoustics.

Kalium because they sound good and because they're the only ones I know of who reliably make the gauges I've come to prefer without costing an arm and a leg, and TI-JFs just because they're awesome.

 

[bassist4dalord]

My #1 bass (SBMM Ray5) has a set of D'Addario ProSteels EPS170 45-100 with an added 135T B-string. I'm in love with this B-string; feels incredible and set up nicely with the tapered end. This Sunday will be my first time using these strings on this bass at church so we'll see how they sound.
My #2 bass (Ibanez AEB5E acoustic) has La Bella White Nylon 65-115 tapewounds. Very nice feel and sound.
My #3 bass (Schecter Raiden Special-4) has a set of D'Addario ProSteels EPS165 45-105 that are well worn-in. They feel and sound great.

I really like ProSteels. Some other favorites are DR Pure Blues, TI Jazz Flats and D'Addario Tapewounds.

 

[BASSnSAX]

Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt (roundwounds) and Slinky Flatwounds (also cobalt, and flatwound) on most of my basses - I've found the cobalt strings to have all of the positives of Nickel and Stainless Steel, and none of the negatives (IMO). Great warmth, great clarity, not much errant string/finger noises, and they last a long time (to be fair, my hands don't sweat much).
A more recent addition are a set of short scale Dunlop Super Bright Nickel Plated Steels on my short scale 5-string, and I love 'em! Quite similar to what I like in the EB Cobalt strings.

 

[SunByrne]

Best strings are the ones you like best on your instrument. There is no best.

This. It's all just personal taste.

Two things drive this for me:

* Different strings for different basses. For traditional P and J basses, I like Pressurewounds. More zing than flats, but not too much. For Rays and other humbucker basses, rounds. Mostly nickel but I tried a set of stainless steels on my short scale Ray and I actually kind of like them.

* I prefer consistent tension from string to string; the standard 45-65-85-105 kind of sets mostly don't do it for me. (Oh how I wish the standard was 45-60-80-105.) GHS Pressurewounds aren't perfectly balanced but they're not too bad. For rounds on 4s I use D'Addario EXL170BTs, which are essentially perfect in terms of tension. They don't make a 5-string balanced tension set, but if they did, the low B would be like a .145 which is a bit too much. Plus, my 5 is 35" scale and string-through, so I want extra long strings anyway. StringJoy doesn't upcharge for extra long scale or custom sets, so that's what's on my 5.

YMMV, play what you want, as long as you're happy with what you're playing it's all good, etc.

 

[sotua]

Sorry if this has already been posted. Figured it might be fun to hear why people play the strings that they do. What strings do you play & why?

TI Jazz Flats on my Fender MIJ Jazz Bass. I love the feel and the tone. They're pricy but they're supposed to last forever and I'm really happy I took the chance on them - the recorded tone is so awesome!

DR Sunbeams on my G&L JB2. Give me that zing but don't forget the lows, and DRs always have a nice soft touch to them.

 

[kittywithabanjo]

DR Pure blues here.