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What kind of strings do you use?

Preferred String Type

  • Roundwounds

    Votes: 5,505 69.2%
  • Flatwounds

    Votes: 1,868 23.5%
  • Nylons

    Votes: 142 1.8%
  • Compression, 1/2, groundwound (either or)

    Votes: 258 3.2%
  • Other

    Votes: 178 2.2%

  • Total voters
    7,951
Time for another update...

DR Nickel Lo-Riders 45-65-85-105 on the newly-acquired 2019 Ibanez SR650E, tuned to DGCF.

The rest of the lineup unchanged.

Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102 (American Special Jazz)
SIT Fusion Wound Stainless Steel 40-60-80-100-120 (BB435)
DR DDT 45-65-85-105, tuned to DGCF (Sandblasted Jazz)
GHS Bassics 40-58-80-102 (TRBX174)
GHS Pressurewound 40-54-76-96 (Am Std Precision)
SIT Power Wound Nickels 40-60-80-100-125ec (TRBX505)
Fender 9050L Flatwound 45-60-80-100 (Highway One Jazz)
 
Time for another update...

DR Nickel Lo-Riders 45-65-85-105 on the newly-acquired 2019 Ibanez SR650E, tuned to DGCF.

The rest of the lineup unchanged.

Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102 (American Special Jazz)
SIT Fusion Wound Stainless Steel 40-60-80-100-120 (BB435)
DR DDT 45-65-85-105, tuned to DGCF (Sandblasted Jazz)
GHS Bassics 40-58-80-102 (TRBX174)
GHS Pressurewound 40-54-76-96 (Am Std Precision)
SIT Power Wound Nickels 40-60-80-100-125ec (TRBX505)
Fender 9050L Flatwound 45-60-80-100 (Highway One Jazz)

You have built up quite the bass collection- play in good health my friend!
 
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I've gone full circle: I started out playing Roto 66 steels, spent a couple of decades testing pretty much every strings out there, went back to Rotos and felt instantly "at home". I still use many other types of strings too (especially for recording where I often use flats) but there's something about a broken-in set of Rotos that just sounds "right" to me. Especially on a P-bass.

Broken-in Roto 66s + passive P-bass = almost feels like cheating at the mixing stage.;)

But of course, this will always depend on personal taste and what style of music you play.
 
Just tried a set of Ernie Ball Cobalt Roundwounds 50-105.
Really liking them so far. They have the loud punchy sound of their normal medium gauge but with the tension of their lighter gauge strings. They also have more clarity across the frequency spectrum than normal EBs.
I’ll post and audio clip sometime when I need a break from the sunshine and beautiful weather today.
image.jpg

Cheers.
 
At an affordable price?
Practically any roundwounds with those gauges. Just buy singles:
Electric Bass Long Scale Singles from Fret Nation

[Couple caveats:
- occasionally, a random 100 may be marginally higher-tension than a Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flat JF34100
(if in doubt, get a 095);
- you'll have to either round up or down gauges for the D and G, since they, unlike TI Flats, typically don't come in 056 and 043
(in the former case, they'll be a little tighter than the TI flats, in the latter they'll be lighter).]
 
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At an affordable price?
Bass strings are never really affordable compared to guitar strings. What most players consider “good” strings or better than average are going to run $30-$60 USD.
If you get into the habit of wiping your strings off with a lint free cotton rag after playing you can prolong the life of the string quite a bit. Sweat from you hands is very corrosive.
Washing the food and gunk off your hands before playing helps too.

Just be glad you aren’t buying double bass strings, they can be easily over $100 a set.
 
$70-$80 for rounds is definitely way out of my price range. I’m more like your typical Ernie Ball and Rotosound user.
Then buy them although probably only the TI rounds have the flexibility you are aiming for, but it seems you already knew that and just wanted to complain about the high cost.
TI jazz flats are expensive bug they last a very long time.
I wonder whether the same can be said about their round counterparts.
Judging by what I read they should also last a long time.
 
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