What kind of strings do you use?

[michael_t]

These are stainless steel.

I know for a fact a lot of people liked the stainless steel half-rounds by D'Addario better than the current pure nickel ones.

Would you be able to post a link to show what's on Sweetwater is in fact the stainless steel ones? I'm sure there are people who would appreciate it.

 

[LKTraz]

I think @JKovax is talking about the D'Addario stainless steel half-rounds from the 80's, not the current pure nickel ones.

I know for a fact a lot of people liked the stainless steel half-rounds by D'Addario better than the current pure nickel ones.

Would you be able to post a link to show what's on Sweetwater is in fact the stainless steel ones? I'm sure there are people who would appreciate it.

I stand corrected.

I searched for stainless steel but upon hitting the link and digging in further find that they are not SS but indeed nickel.

 

[Mister_GothFrak]

Depends! Pretty much, I use everything depending on the instrument. lol

Most basses have coated roundwounds. The main course of the 8-string has phosphor bronze DR Rares.

I've got a DIY cello guitar that's fretted and has flatwounds. I plan on changing the bottom string to halfwound/groundwound. That MFD pup in OMG Mode makes it super bassy. Which I want but, that one needs a little extra brightness.

My fretless has tapewounds.

 

[michael_t]

GHS Brite Flats L3075 (45-56-77-98) (SR650E)
Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102 (American Special Jazz)
Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102 + GHS Progressive 130B (BB435)
GHS Pressurewound M7200 (44-62-84-106), tuned to DGCF (Sandblasted Jazz)
Ernie Ball Group IV Stainless Steel Flats (40-60-70-95) (Am Std Precision)
Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102 + SIT Power Wound Nickel 125B (exposed core) (TRBX505)
Fender Flats 9050L (45-60-80-100) (Highway One Jazz)

Just a couple of more changes... (and I'm done with string changes for a while, I hope...)

Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102 (SR650E)
GHS Pressurewound 40-54-76-96 (American Special Jazz)
Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102 + GHS Progressive 130B (BB435)
GHS Pressurewound M7200 (44-62-84-106), tuned to DGCF (Sandblasted Jazz)
Ernie Ball Group IV Stainless Steel Flats (40-60-70-95) (Am Std Precision)
Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102 + SIT Power Wound Nickel 125B (exposed core) (TRBX505)
Fender Flats 9050L (45-60-80-100) (Highway One Jazz)

 

[trseal]

So it's been awhile since I last chimed in so tho't I'd update. I've pretty much found what I like and tho' there doesn't seem to be much consistency here, I was looking for a wide variety in tones among my basses. I don't want any one to sound exactly like another.

Fender Mod Shop custom Jazz, PV74 pickups-- D'Ad. tape wounds. Smooth, wide tonal options from warm, mellow to quite spanky. Very reactive to picking style.
Fender Am. Perf. P (P/J), PV63 P/ PV62 J pups-- Fender Flats. Classic 60's vintage tone. Probably my favorite flats.
Fender Aerodyne Sp. Jazz-- Fender Pure Nickel rounds. My only bass with rounds. Very snappy and spanky without being harsh and excessively bright that I find in stainless rounds.
Fender Aerodyne Sp. P-- LaBella Copper White tapes. I really like these. They're slick, fast. They have a tone a bit more snappy than most flats or tapes. Not really approaching rounds but give a nice modern but warmer tone for a bass designed to have a more modern sound.

Those are my working basses. The rest are those that don't get gigged or played a lot for various reasons.

Fender AVII 66 Jazz-- Roto 77's. These are classic vintage strings that settled quickly into a very vintage tone--woody, seemingly low in freq artifacts, heavy on fundamentals. Not as smooth to the touch as Fender, D'Ad. or TI flats.
Fender 51 P RI-- Fender Flats.
Fender Am. Pro. Fretless Jazz-- Fender tapes. Round wounds wrapped in black tape. Great fretless tone. Not as smooth to the touch as flats or the other tapes I use.
Vox Teardrop-- Roto 88's. Tape wounds with classic Brit. Inv. sound. These are the strings Sir Paul is seen using during the Rooftop concert.
Omni Bass EUB-- OEM D'Ad flats. Very nice warm tone. Smooth.

Tim

 

[GIBrat51]

Strings that is, I love pure nickel round wounds, and nickel plated round wounds. Whats yours?


EDIT BY JASONBRAATZ:

Post what kinds of string you use, what bass you use them on, and your thoughts on the sound.

Well...
It shows that I've posted here before, but I'm sure it was quite a while ago. I'm not about to try finding it - especially since it's sure to be wildly out of date. Some of the basses are long gone; a lot of basses are new; and some of the strings I don't use anymore, anyway. I will pass on the sound; I own basses with strings that aren't there for the sound - although the tone is... at least acceptable. So, any of the strings on any other bass of mine, are there because I like the tone. I do have a couple of new-ish basses that came with strings that are new to me; they might get replaced - or they might not. As of now? I'm thinking they'll stay. Currently? One bass wears round wounds; two basses wear tape wounds; one is a project bass with no strings at the moment; and the other 23 basses wear flat wounds. So... which bass wears what strings?

- '95 Alembic Epic. Thomastik-Infeld JF344 Jazz Flats.
- '24 Birdsong Fusion lined fretless. Came with D'Addario ECB82 Chromes. I never use D'Addario strings as a rule (long story), but... these are more than acceptable, so far...
- '06 Carvin LB-20. Optima 4099L "Chromes".
- '98 Danelectro DC59 Pro. 39-96 gauge La Bella 760FX DTF's.
- '98 Danelectro DC59 Pro (yes, I have two of them). Fender 9050L's.
- '17 Danelectro Longhorn. La Bella 760FX's.
- '18 Eastwood "Flying Vee". GHS #3020 Precision Flats.
- '20 EBMM 4HH Stingray Spl. Galli JF4505 Jazz Flats.
- '22 Epiphone Jack Casady Bass. La Bella 760FGS Gold Flats. These, I might change out for GHS precision Flats. We'll see...
- '78 Fender P-Bass. GHS #M3050 Precision Flats.
- '93 Fury Anthem lined fretless. Rotosound TruBass 88M tapes. It wears tapes because it was custom made to do so, and sounds ghastly with anything else. With the Roto 88's? Sounds more like an upright than any electric bass guitar I've ever heard. Which, evidently was the whole idea...
- '13 Gibson Thunderbird. Dogal R44 "Traditional" Flats.
- '15 G&L Custom Shop Tom Hamilton Sig. ASAT Bass. Fender 9050L's.
- '23 G&L Custom Shop Kiloton lined fretless. La Bella LTF-4A Flexible Flats.
- 94 Gretsch G6119BO Broadkaster. Thomastik-Infeld JR324 Jazz Rounds. I dislike rounds for many reasons, but Big Orange wears these because it sounds like rancid cow- with any other strings I've put on it - in 12 years of experimenting. A little too bright for my taste, but... apparently, it's these - or nothing.
- '23 Guild Starfire I. GHS #3120MS precision Flats.
- '17 Hofner 500/2 Club Bass. A German one. It's New Old Stock, and from the silks? I think it's wearing Pyramid Gold #640 Flats. The stock Hofner strings have different colored silks...
- '78 Kramer 450B "Lumie". La Bella 760FS DTF's.
- '82 Kramer "The Duke" Deluxe (or Special; depends on who you ask). DR SFL Legends.
- '88 Kramer Forum III. My "project bass" and currently stringless. It came to me - and sounded pretty good - with D'Addario Chromes. Might wear those again - or it might not...
- '73 Rickenbacker 4001. It wears Dogal's JC106A "Jaco" CarbonSteel flats, because they are very low tension, and the bass, unfortunately, needs very low tension strings. It would wear them, even if they didn't sound really good...
- '01 Rickenbacker COY 4003. Optima 4440 RB's - of course...
- '90 MIK Rogue VB-100 violin bass. Rotosound TruBass 88M tapes.
- '24 Serek Sacramento Bass. It came with Dunlop DBFS 45105S flats. Never used Dunlops before, but... I'm liking them.
- '24 Schecter Stiletto Studio 4FL lined fretless. It came with Ernie Ball Group IV Flats. Like the Dunlops, I've never used them before. And, like the Dunlops? I'm liking these, too.
- '07 Starfire violin bass. La Bella 760FL DTF's.
- '88 Tokai TB48 Thunderbird. Optima 4099RL "Chrome" flats.
- '15 Warmoth 30" scale Mini Precision Bass. La Bella 760FL DTF's. I do like them, but... I'm very tempted to swap them out for some GHS #3020 Precision Flats. But, I'm in no real hurry; the La Bella's sound just fine...
So... there you go. Oh, and as for "my favorite bass"? I don't really have one. If I didn't really like the basses I own now? I wouldn't have them. So, I guess my "favorite" is just the bass I feel like playing at the moment; which, right now happens to be the Serek Sacramento....

 

[cucumis]

Just a couple of more changes... (and I'm done with string changes for a while, I hope...)

Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102 (SR650E)
GHS Pressurewound 40-54-76-96 (American Special Jazz)
Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102 + GHS Progressive 130B (BB435)
GHS Pressurewound M7200 (44-62-84-106), tuned to DGCF (Sandblasted Jazz)
Ernie Ball Group IV Stainless Steel Flats (40-60-70-95) (Am Std Precision)
Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102 + SIT Power Wound Nickel 125B (exposed core) (TRBX505)
Fender Flats 9050L (45-60-80-100) (Highway One Jazz)

How do you think the GHS Pressurewound M7200 .044 string holds up tuned to DGCF? Reading the tension chart it sees lighter than the rest, does it still play nice?
Have you also tried to tune them to drop C? According to the chart the .106 string should be around 30 lbs tuned to C, which makes me think it would feel too flimsy.

 

[michael_t]

How do you think the GHS Pressurewound M7200 .044 string holds up tuned to DGCF? Reading the tension chart it sees lighter than the rest, does it still play nice?
Have you also tried to tune them to drop C? According to the chart the .106 string should be around 30 lbs tuned to C, which makes me think it would feel too flimsy.

I used to think the .044 would be too light for F considering it's lighter in tension than the other three. But as it turns out, it actually feels fine and balances well in tone with the rest. Keep in mind, though, my go-to set for EADG is the L7200 (40-54-76-96). I like the idea the M7200 in DGCF is nearly identical in overall tension as the L7200 in EADG.

L7200 in EADG:

G 040 - 37.2 lbs.
D 054 - 36.5
A 076 - 39.3
E 096 - 34.2 (Total 147.2)

M7200 in DGCF:

F 044 - 34.4 lbs.
C 062 - 38.6
G 084 - 37.4
D 106 - 38.1 (Total 148.5)

And no, I've never tried the .106 in C. I would imagine it would be a bit too loose.

 

[cucumis]

I used to think the .044 would be too light for F considering it's lighter in tension than the other three. But as it turns out, it actually feels fine and balances well in tone with the rest. Keep in mind, though, my go-to set for EADG is the L7200 (40-54-76-96). I like the idea the M7200 in DGCF is nearly identical in overall tension as the L7200 in EADG.

L7200 in EADG:

G 040 - 37.2 lbs.
D 054 - 36.5
A 076 - 39.3
E 096 - 34.2 (Total 147.2)

M7200 in DGCF:

F 044 - 34.4 lbs.
C 062 - 38.6
G 084 - 37.4
D 106 - 38.1 (Total 148.5)

And no, I've never tried the .106 in C. I would imagine it would be a bit too loose.

Right now I am using Chromes 45-100 in standard D and the D string tension is 32 lbs, which is workable (not ideal) but C is absolutely out of the question.
I might try these strings since I only need to do some stuff in drop C, and 30.3 lbs might be enough.

 

[michael_t]

Right now I am using Chromes 45-100 in standard D and the D string tension is 32 lbs, which is workable (not ideal) but C is absolutely out of the question...

Depending on where you're based, D'Addario strings should be easy enough to get in singles. You can always to try the Chrome .105 to see how that might work for drop C.

 

[s0c9]

Been thru a whole gamut of strings on different basses, but over the last 4 yrs have stuck with Ernie's Cobalt flats 5-str (I don't own a 4-str bass) on my Fender Jazz 5. I just splurged and put a set of TI Jazz flats (44-136) on the Jazz.
Very fine, smooth flats, much more so than the Cobalts' - which are very smooth.
Coupled with the JHS Punchline and my Khan VDTI I'm ready for gigs the next couple of weekends..
Will play the Jazz at church on Wed night.
I play [mostly] Country and Contemporary Christian.

 

[lepidotos]

Thinking of using cobalt flats on my Jazz once I get around to restringing it, how do they compare with e.g. Rotosound Jazz 77s?

 

[michael_t]

Thinking of using cobalt flats on my Jazz once I get around to restringing it, how do they compare with e.g. Rotosound Jazz 77s?

Cobalt Flats are brighter with a higher output and stay that way longer. They're also not as stiff as the Roto 77.

 

[FeltTipPen]

D'Addario Roundwounds
LaBella Black Nylon Tapewounds
D'Addario Chromes but swapping out to try GHS Pressurewounds
Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys

Preference is roundwounds for my fretless basses but I am enjoying trying out different strings. Though I am swapping out Chromes on a fretless to try Pressurewounds, I was pleasantly surprised by the Chromes. Years ago I tried them and took them off after 5 minutes, back to roundwound Slinkys. But I'm going to buy another set and give it another go!

 

[John D Harris]

Thinking of using cobalt flats on my Jazz once I get around to restringing it, how do they compare with e.g. Rotosound Jazz 77s?

Cobalt Flats are brighter with a higher output and stay that way longer. They're also not as stiff as the Roto 77.

Yes!
I concur!
I had a Rotosound 77's 5 string set - very high tension string.
I think I got a bad set because the B,E,&A strings were brighter, but had kind of tuby, hollow sound to them and the D&G strings were really dead sounding.

The EB Cobalt Flats sound much better, balanced across the strings, just the right amount of tension to still have plenty of punch!

Qualifier here is I haven't played them live in a band setting yet, but based on my past experience (playing a bunch of top brand strings), I'm confident that they will sit really well in the mix!

 

[DragonCurse]

DR Drop Down Tuning (Arachnophobia warning for those who may seek these out)

 

[Deleted member 409773]

I'm not a string expert because I used only Ernie Ball Super Slinky and Regular Slinky on all my basses. Now I use Super Slinky on my Sandbergs and Regular on my Stingrays.

 

[Yahboy]

Yes!
I concur!
I had a Rotosound 77's 5 string set - very high tension string.
I think I got a bad set because the B,E,&A strings were brighter, but had kind of tuby, hollow sound to them and the D&G strings were really dead sounding.

The EB Cobalt Flats sound much better, balanced across the strings, just the right amount of tension to still have plenty of punch!

Qualifier here is I haven't played them live in a band setting yet, but based on my past experience (playing a bunch of top brand strings), I'm confident that they will sit really well in the mix!

Can't agree more the Cobalt flat are the best string to string tonal balance flatwound set i been use , both B and E string ring wonderful, crisp and lot sustain.

All my bass guitar has 2814 loaded on current day , except the Red Fender P has Ti flat.

Before the Charvel PJ settle with Cobalt flat, i also try EB Group III , Fender 9050L and Ti flat on it.
EB Group flat just sound dry and blanket ; 9050L has punch but lacking crisp and the E string lost those freshness voice pretty quite ; Ti flat never sound right to my ear on 2 pickups bass guitar, only outstanding on P bass.

 

[paulraphael]

This summer I fell in love with D'adario tape wounds on fretless. I stumbled onto a fretless p-bass strung with them, at an instrument shop in the middle of rural Vermont. I wanted to play that thing for hours. It turned out it was a 1970 model with original everything, costing thousands more than I'd ever pay for it. But I suspected it was more the strings than the age that grabbed me. So I later found a Japanese J-bass and strung them with the same set, and I'm in heaven.

I also have a fretted G&L strung with Thomastik Infeld jazz flats. I love these on this bass. But I'm now realizing that their reputation for immortality might be a bit exaggerated. Mine are maybe 10 years old, and are sounding a little dead.

Both these string sets are quite low tension. I like this ... if you don't, then look elsewhere.

 

[lepidotos]

Dropped my Kay off at a local luthier, his opinion was the original neck is toast, but the reason I'm here is he was being really weird about my string choice, in fact I think he's the first person I've ever had be weird about me using flats, and it's on the wrong instrument to be weird about it at that.
As I've said here before I strung it with 9050Ls, not exactly a strange pick for a bass, 45-100 steel flats. I'd call them pretty typical strings, but the guy was really, really pushy about how much tension it puts on the neck (less than a fifth string, and it's not like basses with those are uncommon) and kept trying to steer me toward Ernie Ball Slinkies (he shoved a pink pack into my hands but 40-90 came out of his mouth... I'm sure you can see the discrepancy) without a single prompting on my part and despite my best attempts to tell him "hey, I intentionally put those 9050Ls on there recently [so they're still good] because I know what I'm doing" with basically just a little bit less neck tension and them being "slinkier" as the main selling points... which maybe they're true, I don't really do bends on bass (and barely on a normal Spanish for that matter) and there aren't 0 people who run 55 flats with perfectly healthy necks so neither are applicable but I suppose they're true. It's not quite enough to make me doubt him entirely, but I do kinda wonder. If nothing else he's at least somewhat condescending.​