Why are Bass strings so expensive?

[anon65884001]

Sorry i cant answer your questions, but trust me, bass guitar strings are not expensive at all
For my cello, i spend $40~$50 per string
I repeat, per string, not per set
And now, we multiply that by 4..

 

[Fletcher Munson]

Several factors that I can think of:

1.) Raw materials. Even though you get 6 guitar strings and only 4 bass strings in a set, the bass strings are longer and much more massive. Hence, more material. A typical set of 6 guitar strings weighs 25 grams. A typical set of 4 bass strings weighs 95 grams. That's more than 3 times as much raw material.

2.) Wound strings are more expensive to produce than plain strings. A set of bass strings requires 4 wound strings; a guitar set requires only 3. When I buy single strings for guitar, the wound strings cost more than twice as much as the plain strings.

3.) Volume. If the display at my local guitar store is any indication, the market for guitar strings is at least 3 times bigger than the market for bass strings. So there may be some economies of scale realized in the manufacture of guitar strings.

 

[totallyfrozen]

Perhaps some of it...and I say SOME of it is due to where you buy your strings too.
I bought a set of Fender 9050ML stainless steel flats--from the BestBuy instrument center--and I only paid $15.29 (with a discount). Granted they are normally $16.99; but still $16.99 is nothing for a set of bass strings.

On the other hand, I have gone into privately owned, dedicated music stores and paid over $30/set for strings.

Of course the other thing to consider is stock. Your music store is probably going to have a few different brands and gauges to choose from whereas BestBuy ONLY carried that ONE brand of flats--and only in 2 different gauge sets.
The exception to this, of course, is MY locally owned, dedicated music shop which told me on the phone that they have NO flat wounds for bass! Only round wounds.
(What kind of treachery is this?!)