What kind of strings do you use?

[tindrum]

So the new strings got here a couple of days ago and I have been testing them out since Thursday afternoon. I am in total shock at what a miracle these things are. I should have tried this brand & type YEARS and years ago. LaBella DTB 45-105 standard scale & medium gauge.

They took away my pain. I play professionally and have logged in a LOT of playing time, which had left me with sore hand tendons and frequently stiff fingers on top of all the years it took to overcome the cubital tunnel problems in my elbows. On the old round strings (many different brands) I had 1 fret finger and 2 plucking fingers that were chronically blistered and stained gray at the tips. On other brands of flat string my hands bled. There were nights when practicing felt like I was sticking my hands into a blender. IT ALL INSTANTLY STOPPED WITH THESE STRINGS. They feel very smooth, soft and actually warm. It feels like you are sliding your hands around on a warm ceramic plate, like at restaurants where they heat the plates for you before they bring out the food. It must be the pure unwound steel retaining the heat of your hands or something. And the smoothness is absolutely perfect. I tried playing through a couple of Tony Franklin covers and it honestly felt just like fretless.

The tension is much less. I used to have to STRANGLE the neck. Now I just gently touch it like typing on a laptop, yet the volume I get is at least double my loudest volume playing on round strings! My poor tired amp can finally catch a break now.

THIS TONE. I sound like a Motown session cat now. The boinging is GONE and so is the echo. No more harsh brightness either. I no longer sound like the Seinfeld guy. My gentle finger playing doesn't sound like slap anymore. These strings are better than 25 lbs. of foam.It actually sounds like I spent thousands on a brand new full stack high tech Japanese amp. I can crank my volume way down and still be heard.

They look good...so sleek and vintage.

I am sold. I will never use another brand or type again. I will endorse these things if they ever contact me about it. I just cannot believe the quality of this brand!

edited for typos

Yeah man that give up the Motown tone BIG time. I’m curious what strings were you using before that were so uncomfortable?

 

[michael_t]

SIT Power Wound Nickels 40-60-80-100-130T (TRBX505).
Ernie Ball Stainless Steel Flats Group IV (40-60-70-95) (Am Std Precision).
GHS Pressurewound 44-62-84-106, tuned to DGCF (Sandblasted Jazz).
GHS Super Steels 40-58-80-102 (SR650E).
GHS Pressurewound 40-54-76-96 (American Special Jazz) - unchanged.
Fender Flats 9050L (45-60-80-100) (Highway One Jazz) - unchanged.

One slight change...

GHS Super Steels 40-58-80-102 on Ibanez SR650E have been replaced with Ken Smith Compressors 40-58-80-102.

 

[Thir13teen]

I gave these a whirl on my Modulus Jazz bass. Note the odd sizing;

 

[michael_t]

I gave these a whirl on my Modulus Jazz bass. Note the odd sizing;

View attachment 7298936

What specific tuning do you use them for?

 

[Thir13teen]

What specific tuning do you use them for?

I use them for E standard, E flat, drop D & drop C#. I'm pretty happy with them & I use all those tunings to cover whatever songs I'm covering.

 

[John D Harris]

I use them for E standard, E flat, drop D & drop C#. I'm pretty happy with them & I use all those tunings to cover whatever songs I'm covering.

Have you ever considered tuning to C# and then using a capo for the other tunings?

 

[edmidlifecrisis]

I've been playing GHS Pressurewounds for years but try lots of different strings. I've also taken a liking lately to EB Cobalt Flats. Tried lots of flats without really bonding with any of them except these and also one set of Fender 9050 flats. And have had Elixirs on one bass for a couple of years and they work well for that one. I've also enjoyed GHS Boomers, D'addario nickel steels, Blue Magic (Local Florida brand of rounds, very nice) and some other rounds over the years.

I just bought a used, like-new P Bass that came with DR Black Beauties and it rocks!! The sound is amazing (The bass is not bad either!). I have played one gig with this combo and it was like pure thunder. They feel different but I am getting used to the feel quickly. I really like them. Never tried them before. At first I thought I'd just swap them out but they're staying for now.

 

[John D Harris]

I finally replaced my EB Cobalt Flats with Dunlop SS Flats on my Cort B5 Element.

Initially, they have more tension, so I need to do some tweaking to the set up on the bass and lower them a bit - I can probably just tweak the truss rod a bit.
I wish they were a little bit less stiff (I don't know if that will change as they break in, I kind of doubt it).
Once I get them lowered a bit, hopefully I won't notice the added tension quite as much.

I did not realize how harsh the CF's sounded, until I put these on.

They have just the right frequency balance for my tastes, very smooth, both feel-wise and tone-wise, still having plenty of upper mids and note definition.

I've had a Rumble 100 combo for a few months and I thought the stock driver was the cause of most of the harshness I was hearing (my R100c has a 4 Ohm driver which some say sounds a little brighter than the 8 Ohm version).
A few days ago, I just bought a Celestion BN12-300S (4) driver to replace the stock driver and it is supposed to have a smoother midrange (as well as more efficient).

It was too late at night when I got done swapping strings, so I will bang on the R100c tomorrow and see how all the changes shake out.

Looking forward to breaking them in and see how they sound in a couple of weeks.

 

[Flooksy]

Yeah man that give up the Motown tone BIG time. I’m curious what strings were you using before that were so uncomfortable?

Every single brand of round strings I tried gave me trouble, no exceptions. At this point I firmly give up on them, and I will play flat ONLY.

 

[John D Harris]

I finally replaced my EB Cobalt Flats with Dunlop SS Flats on my Cort B5 Element.

Initially, they have more tension, so I need to do some tweaking to the set up on the bass and lower them a bit - I can probably just tweak the truss rod a bit.
I wish they were a little bit less stiff (I don't know if that will change as they break in, I kind of doubt it).
Once I get them lowered a bit, hopefully I won't notice the added tension quite as much.

I did not realize how harsh the CF's sounded, until I put these on.

They have just the right frequency balance for my tastes, very smooth, both feel-wise and tone-wise, still having plenty of upper mids and note definition.

I've had a Rumble 100 combo for a few months and I thought the stock driver was the cause of most of the harshness I was hearing (my R100c has a 4 Ohm driver which some say sounds a little brighter than the 8 Ohm version).
A few days ago, I just bought a Celestion BN12-300S (4) driver to replace the stock driver and it is supposed to have a smoother midrange (as well as more efficient).

It was too late at night when I got done swapping strings, so I will bang on the R100c tomorrow and see how all the changes shake out.

Looking forward to breaking them in and see how they sound in a couple of weeks.

I think I will try tuning down to Bb and then A to see how they sound - it will lower the tension a bit as well.

 

[jkm2a]

I have ordered a set of the Pressurewound medium-lights to try on my fretless Squier. We'll see how well they work on that one.

 

[John D Harris]

I think I will try tuning down to Bb and then A to see how they sound - it will lower the tension a bit as well.

I detuned two half-steps - ADGCF and it sounded great!
I wasn't expecting much from the low 'A', but it was solid and tight!
Partly the strings and partly my Cort B5 neck!
These Dunlop SS Flats are the real deal!

 

[1String]

I prefer steel which go on easy but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I spent about an hour last night wrestling these elastomerics into place - Aquila Thunderreds

 

[thisheregiraffe]

I didn't really see this coming, but I think I'm a Rotosound guy now..!

I've had the RS66LC Swing Bass 66 medium gauge set (40, 60, 75, 95) installed on two of my basses now for several weeks. A Godin Freeway 4 and a fretless Warmoth. Both sound great with these strings. Very comfortable to play.

I installed the SM77 Jazz Bass 77 hybrid gauge set (40, 60, 80, 100) on my other Godin Freeway 4 today and it's sounding lovely as well. I would not mind if these strings were just a tiny bit more flexible feeling, but I don't find them uncomfortable to play either.

I'd like to play around with Roto's pressurewounds and nickel rounds in similar gauges at some point (SM55 and SM66N sets respectively). But for now I feel like I'd be very happy with RS66LC on most of my basses, and the SM77 flats on one or two.

 

[aja_bass]

Was DR guy for a while. Recently tried Elixir nickel wound steal with nano web coating (oh the marketing babble….). Anyway, they tout very long string life because of the coating. So far I’m finding that to be true. I was surprised that the sound was snappy. I thought the coating would dampen that. They sound great too. Put them on my MTD 535 24 and my Elrick USA NJS5. Very happy. More expensive though and you have to buy a tapered B separately.

Any other Elixir users out there? What has your experience been?

 

[Ritter667]

For my main 28.6" 5 string tenor bass, that I tune in E standard tuning, that is E to C, I use quite low, and very close to perfectly balanced, tension strings.

1 Elixir Nanoweb Stainless Steel bass string gauge .085 string for the low E, and for the remaining 4 strings Elixir Nanoweb nickel-plated guitar strings, of the gauges: .068 - .052 - .038 - .028.

The low tension and gauge prevents the fretted notes from getting thuddy, even far up on the fretboard towards the bridge (this is a known issue, or feature, depending who you ask, of short scale basses, the fact that relative to gauge the stiffness of the strings increase exponentially the shorter the scale length, preventing the strings from vibrating properly), and I've adjusted my fretting and plucking technique accordingly.

The reason why I use Elixir guitar strings for the upper 4 strings, beside obviously Elixir bass strings not being available in those gauges, and fitting perfectly in length to the 28.6" scale, is that the guitar strings are constructed differently than the nickel-plated bass strings, and. relative to gauge, got a much brighter tone in comparison relative, that is except for the stainless steel Elixir bass strings which is a much brighter sounding alternative for bass, hence why I use this for the low E (Elixir guitar strings only being available at max gauge .080).

And actually this results in a very lively and snappy low E string, despite the short scale length, and balance perfectly tone, tension wise with the upper 4 guitar strings, and the very close to perfectly balanced tension between string gives a very consistent balance feel wise between strings as well.

Oh, and as a bonus the coated Nanoweb Elixir strings last almost forever.

I still like to change strings approximately every 3 month or so, but honestly the strings haven't really degraded tone or feel wise in any way by then, and I am confident that I could even go 6 months with the same set of strings without issues, and that is with an average playtime of 1 to 2 hours a day.

You don't get that initial week of bright metallic sounding fresh roundwounds with Elixir Nanoweb strings, which I admittedly do love, on the other hand the Elixirs easily sound exactly as lively and fresh as when you put them on for months in and out, pretty closely resembling how regular uncoated roundwound D'Addario XLs will sound after they have been broken in for a week or so.

 

[John D Harris]

I am really loving the Dunlop DBFS45125 SS flatwounds that I bought back in January of 2025 and put them on my Cort B5 Element August 18, 2025 (so I've had them on a couple of months and I play everyday).

I don't know if I've adjusted to the tension or if getting the bass set up better helped, - I notice the tension, but it doesn't really bother me.

My experience is more tension = punchier!

Boatloads of punch with these.

I love the frequency balance and the feel.

The harmonic content will always be different between non-dead roundwounds and any flatwounds, but I really like what these strings put out!

I usually back the treble down a small amount with these, so they do have IMO, plenty of upper midrange for a flatwound - similar to the Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats!

I bet they would sound good on most any bass guitar, but I wish I'd tried these when I still had my EB MM StringRay 5.

They are not cheap, but I'm hoping that my string search has ended with these.

[Full disclosure - if I owned another bass guitar, I'd be experimenting with various roundwound sets.]

 

[matti777]

Right now I have nickel rounds on my jazz and on one of my Ps....D'Addario XLs and Fenders. I'm pretty happy with these. I was running Labella LTF flats on my other P which are my favorite flats (I have an unloved set of Chromes and TIs hanging on the wall). The problem is I really don't like the smooth feel of flats. I tried the DR Pure Blues....expensive experiment gone wrong. I have lots of unloved strings so I tried the Rotosound 66 nickels...much better but not there yet....maybe back to the D'Addarios.

 

[Christcr]

On my 4-string basses:

D'Addario XL Nickel 35 - 95
Dunlop Super Bright Nickel 40 - 100
DR Pure Blues Nickel 40 - 100

On my 5-string Jazz bass:

Fender Nickel 40 - 115

I'm not a fan of flatwounds, but I do have one 55 Fender CS Precision with Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Flats 40 - 95. With that brighter single coil P pickup, they seem to work okay as far as the sound I like to hear. Not quite as lively bright as I like, but close.

I do experiment with other strings once in awhile. I just barely put a set of Magma (a company in Argentina) nickel 35 - 95 on a Jazz bass. So far I'm pretty happy with them. I recently had some Dogal strings that were pretty nice--but way expensive.

Also, I'm going to try the Dingwall thing one more time if my hand can deal with it. Last time around I became annoyed because there are no true light gauge strings available for Dingwalls (which is REALLY weird because the longer the scale, the lighter you can go). But I found a set of Payson strings made for non-standard drop tuning in kind of strange gauges BUT way lighter than the typical sets. I'm just going to put them on with standard tuning and see how it goes. He actually provided me with a really light gauge B-string in addition to the original set (which had a 125 for the B).

 

[Corbusier]

Labella Flats Deep Talkin Bass strings on a
4 string 2019 Fender USA Professional Lightweight Ash Jazz played through a
Trickfish Bullhead.5K and Trickfish 210 cabinet.
Also, I recently bought a Fender cable which made an amazing difference to an already great sound.

These flats through this setup allow the Jazz to sound like an on top of the mix Jazz or it can sound like Motown.

Can’t say enough good things about Trickfish. They saved my life.
Not really, but they did save my sound.