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What's Your String History?

#81
Stock Ibanez strings- I wailed on these until they couldn't even produce notes anymore; just "Plaak" "Prong" "Cough" "Dead"...
GHS Bass Boomers (.50-.115) - I reaallly wanted a boooming tone when I started out.
Stupidly bought Elixir coated strings - I believed the hype...
Crappy Ernie Ball Slinky's - Desperate, broke, and got em at my local mom and pop music shop for $8 a pack.
DR Hi Beams-Friend recommended them. Addictive, piano like tone. Kept them on my bass for 2 years as I was still desperate and broke.
RotoSound Swing 66's-Another recommendation, good rock tone, horrible life span...
D'Addario XL's-Good, but average go-to string.
DR Lo Riders- Finally settled on these for a few years now, love the grunt they produce...
 
#82
Half of them I can barely remember the gauges...

Previous Strings
American Flyers - I really liked these, but only found them once
Circle K Balanced - used these for about a year, talked to Dave and Chris at length about them
D'Addario XL
D'Addario Chromes
Dean Markley Blue Steel - my old go-to string
DR Fatbeams - broke a G string within a week
DR Red Devils - looked nice, went dead well before regular strings
Elixer Coated - I was in the string study last March; these stings didn't last a week on my bass. They were awful
Ernie Ball Slinkies - needed a good rock tone for a gig
GHS Boomers
GHS Flea Signature - no idea if they're any different from regular Boomers
Ken Smith Burners
Peavey Cirrus Nickel
Rotosound Swing 66 - great aggressive tone
Stoner Bros. String Company Nickels - had an endorsement with them in the late 90s
Warwick Red Label
Warwick Black Label
Warwick EMP Coated
Webstrings Detroit Bass Nickel
Webstrings Detroit Bass Flats


Current Strings
GHS Super Steel Contact Core - Extremely bright and crisp tone, with a killer B string. On my Corvette $$ 6 fretless.
GHS Progressives - A little more traditional sounding while still retaining the clarity and punch. On my Streamer LX 6 and Corvette Std. 5.
 
#83
Ernie Ball Super Slinkies
Elixirs
Ernie Ball Regular Slinkies
Fodera Diamond Nickels
D'Addario Chromes
GHS Flea Signatures
Epiphone Stock strings on my T-Bird Pro (good enough for now, probably will change 'em when they start to die)
Fodera Diamond Stainless Steel


I've got the Flea sigs on my Cort (MM/J) and it's turned it into a real funk/slap monster!

Can't beat the Foderas for feel though.
 
#84
-GHS Bass Boomers
-D'Addario XL Nickel
-Elixir Nanoweb
-La Bella Super Steps
-Ernie Ball Super Slinky
-DR Fat Beams

I've pretty much sworn my life to DRs now, especially the Marcus Miller Fat Beams, because of all the strings I've tried out, I liked how the DRs retained their overall tone even after they've been played for a month or more, and I like the brightness that steel strings have to cut through the mix better. I've also yet to break a DR string (knock on wood) whereas I've broken plenty of GHS and Elixirs.
 
#86
Tried:
DR Marcus Miller mediums- hated them, very dull, sounded dead out of the box all 3 times I tried em, wanted to love em but couldn't.
DR Neon strings medium and green- cool but felt like cheese graters on my fingers and rather dead
Fender Flatwounds medium- I'll never use flatwounds again. Definately not my style.
Rotosound 66 medium- pretty good strings, I still get them on occasion just for something different

Current:
Dean Markley SR2000 medium lights for my 4 strings

Fodera medium lights for my 5 string.

Both are really excellent strings imo. Been using these for 2 years now more or less and I'm sold for a long time to come!
 
#87
Past Strings:
GHS Bass Boomers (Med): First year of playing
D'addario (Med light): Pretty plain. Decent tone, but not my cup of tea
Fender Stainless Steel (Med): Liked the tone and feel but, broke 2 consecutive sets
which led me to...
Dean Markely Blue Steel (Med): Go-to strings for about 2 years
Dunlop Nickels (Med): Fantastic feel and my preference for nearly 3 years
Rotosound 66L (Med-Med Light): Great tone, hard on the hands, but great for an aggressive sound (used for about 6 months)
DR Hi Beams/Sunbeams (Med, alternated): Easy on the hands and very punchy


Current Setup:
Circle K Balanced (35-90): Amazing feel with a fast response and with low action a tapper's dream
Circle K Balanced (41-102): Main strings (can't say enough about them)
Circle K Balanced (10-31): Piccolo bass (tuned ADGC)
 
#90
PBnJBassist said:
Most people have gone through at least a couple of different string brands/manufacturers throughout their bass-playing days - minus the handful of lucky ones that fell in love with their 1st set of strings. So, this past month (+ a couple of weeks), I went through a handful of brands and gauges, and have finally settled on GHS's Precision Flatwounds Regular .055-.105 set. During my short span of 2+ years of playing has taken me through the following:

Fender Light Nickel Rounds .045-.100
D'Addario XL Light Rounds .045-.100
D'Addario Chromes Light .045-.100
D'Addario Chromes Medium .050-.105
New Fender Light Flats .045-.100
GHS Precision Medium Flats .045-.105
GHS Precision Regular Flats .055-.105
Fender Nylon Tape Wounds .058-.110
La Bella FX Extra Light Deep Talkin' Flats .039-.096
Rotosound 77 Steve Harris Flats .050-.110
Ernie Ball Group I Custom Flats .055-.110

After going through IMO more money than I should on strings, I'm glad I found a set that I'm comfortable playing with. I went from knowing nothing about strings to searching for that classic "thump" to looking for the thickest & highest tension flats available to settling back down for a compromise of tension/thickness/tone. So, what's your string history? Lastly, what string brand/manufacturer and gauge did you settle on/fall in love with and why?
Click to expand...
It started with D'angelico.
I liked them but they stopped being made.
Then I ordered strings from a bass maker but when he stopped answering e-mails and because it always took ages for him to deliver ,I put my ears to the floor and listened out for string manufacturers, to order direct.
I found one...Newtonestrings ( who actually are the ones who make the strings for the maker I had ordered from previously).
Now I'm happy.
They make whatever I want , giving me the chance to try all sorts of gauges and combinations and scale lengths...hex core or round core, and they wind exposed core strings on round core too,which is what I use...displaying flexibility I did not find with others I contacted..(DR, Labella, TI, etc) just no flats...

I can't see myself going to ay other manufacturer for my string needs any time soon.

I will be looking out for some flats soon though...:)
 
#91
i feel like i'm at the doctor for an STD checkup where he asks me my sexual history, weeeeird....

here's who i've been seeing, doc:
D'Addario Chromes - had them on my first bass, i hated them then (but i was terrible and knew nothing)
D'Addario XL - stayed with these for years as they were the only strings available at my local guitar store, didn't mind them.
Dr Hi-Beams - really liked them, but i was convinced to change to a string my best friend used on his bass
Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky - stuck with these for a while, never broke a string and they sounded really punchy.
Rotosound Swing 66 - tried something new, nothing wrong with them, i liked them until...
DR Lo-Riders - these were good, i was into playing lots of harmonics and slapping
DR Hi-Beams - these blew me away, for my sound they were perfect and i hven't changed since though i have some DR Black Beauties on their way to me...
 
#93
Since 1984, depending on the instrument I was playing:

GHS Boomers, Brite Flats
Rotosound Shwing
D'Addario XL's, (4 years)
1 set of the following: LaBella Super Steps, Fodera Diamond, DR HiBeams
return to EXL170-5SL for 15 years
DR Sunbeam Medium w/.130
 
#94
D'addario XL's 45-100 Pretty constantly until a little over a year ago. But during that time I did try ernie balls every once and a while, tried D'addario Half-rounds and then stuck with DR sunbeams for a few months.
Then switched to D'addario Chromes 45-100. Used these pretty consistently for a little over the last year tough I tried roto 77's 45-105 and 40-100 and TI flats and tried chromes in 40-100 and 50-105 gauges. I recently just tried DR SS lo-riders for a couple weeks and liked those but have settled on Chromes 45-100.
 
#95
I havn't been playing bass long enough to have tried out a lot of strings. So far I've bought two sets of Fender 9050ML flats for my Squier P, and a set of La Bella Beatle Bass flats for my Hofner Icon. So far I'm satisfied with them, but I'm sure that as I get more playing time I might want to try different brand strings.
 
#97
I was strictly using Chromes on all my basses. Was in an auto accident in November and broke my hand. After the cast came off, the tension was too much. I couldn't play without pain. After reading some threads I switched to Dr Sunbeams. Love the tension and tone. May switch back eventually as my hand gains strength back.
 
#98
I've used a lot of brands through the years, from .40–.100, .45–.105 and .45–.130 when I had 5-strings.

I tried:

D'Addario XLs
D'Addario Chromes (once on my SR5)
GHS
Rotosound
Ernie Ball
Dean Markley
Fender

Now I only use DR strings, nickel and .45–.105
DR Sunbeams on Lakland Skyline DJ4
DR Low-Riders on Lakland Skyline Glaub and HoBo

I find they give me the perfect balance of warmth, definition and articulation, while lasting more than other string I have tried. Other brands have nice strings, but for me it is and will be DR for a while.
 
#99
I started off with Rotosound. I got a few packs in a row that were dead right out of the package. Next...

I moved to EB. They lasted like 2 weeks tops for me. I needed something with a longer life.

Switched to Elixir. They were pricey and lasted a long time, but they never had that new string zing to me. They just had the same slightly dead tone for months on end.

Moved to DR and never looked back. Not crazy expensive, last the longest to me, feel great in my hands, and they sound exactly the way I want.

I've got some Chromes on my Stingray and P bass right now, and I've been wanting to try some LaBella's. I'll be doing that shortly, once I put my fretless neck on the P bass.
 
#100
I currently have one bass exclusively for flats and one exclusively for rounds, and the flats I've used have been D'Addario Chromes from day one. They hit it out of the park as far as my "jazz bass with flats" tone is concerned. Rounds are a different story:

Elixers - came stock on my Ibanez ATK. They were alright, but too expensive to continuously buy.

D'Addario Half Rounds - Took them off the same day I put them on. NEVER AGAIN!

-- Around this time, I tried flats on the ATK. Flats+active basses = not my thing!

Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinkies - Decent, but too metallic out of the box and died too quickly.

Dunlop - Better, not as metallic as the slinkies, but died on me just as fast.

Dean Markley Nickelsteels - Didn't start off too metallic, lasted a ton longer than the Dunlops, had a great tone... I began to think that I would settle on these, but when they finally started to lose their life, they went 100% lifeless and started rusting soon afterwards, even with proper care.

D'Addario XL Nickels - I think these are the ones for me. Consistent, very long life, dirt cheap as far as bass strings go, great tones. Just working out which tension set works best for my needs, but I've been a D'Addario XL guy for a good while now :)
 

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