Your favorite D'Addario Strings

[Jeff K]

For me it's a toss-up between the Black Nylon Tapewounds and the Chromes. But the biggest surprise was definitely the Black Nylon Tapewounds. I had a different brand of tapewounds on a bass back in the early '90s, and wasn't really impressed. A friend has a set of the Fender tapewounds on his bass which I don't like at all. They FEEL like a set of rounds painted black.

But about 3 or 4 years ago I snagged 3 sets of the D'Addarios (Tapewounds) on a special deal from Hello Music. Wow. I still have those same strings on 3 basses, and they sound as good today as the day I put them on. Fell in love with them from day one...

 

[jaymelewis]

I like Nickel - stainless steel feels like velcro in my hands.

 

[Sam Dingle]

I like the Nickel wound 105-45. I don't like how the other sets have an E string that is noticeably weaker than the other strings.

The chromes are decent flatwounds. I like them on my 5 string fretless. solid Low B. I don't love flats on my fretted though so I have no opinion on that.

 

[fretlessguy]

Pro Steel.

These are currently the only D'Addarios I use. I do not use steel strings much anymore, but I keep a five string set of of these in light gauge on my Carvin bolt. They are superb for the modern sound I want on a 5er.

 

[silvertone]

Another vote for XL Nickels for my fretted bassses and Chromes for fretless.

I worked in a guitar store in Berkeley for a solid year, back around 2003 and I tried every kind of string they sold for my acoustic guitars and mandolins and I came to the personal conclusion that D'Addario simply makes the best strings for those instruments. I haven't wavered from this brand for my basses with the exception of my '54 Kay, C1 Upright - which has Pirastro Weich's......

 

[mrcbass]

I use D'Addarios exclusively. I use the Chromes on my ABG FL, and I like the Nickels on my 5 strings and fretted basses.

I've tried the half rounds, and for while I liked them, but as I grew as a player, I found that they are just a little too middle of the road. Hard to get that grunt that you get from rounds and can't quite get the smoothness of the flats.

 

[thumpbass1]

I guess I'm a bonafide old geezer player these days, and I've tried a lot of brands, and wraps, and core types, etc, etc, over the years, so here's my 2 cents worth of personal opinion on D'Addario strings. With D'Addario strings, I really like the Chromes for when I need flats, Nickel XL's for a decent all purpose round wound, and I've just tried NYXL's for the first time, putting them on my Peavey Cirrus 5, and WOW! I'm really liking them a lot on the Cirrus!

 

[Muttleybass]

I keep coming back to EXL170 Nickel Wounds.

 

[Turtle71]

My favorite D'Addario strings are now gone...Slowounds were just perfect to me.

I've since tried many, but ultimately settled on Chromes.

 

[rydin4lifebass]

I just put my first set of D'Addario's on a VM 70's jazz bass tuned BEAD...that thing smokes! I'm going to put the XL's on a few other basses and try the D'Addario tapewounds in place of Fender tapewounds.

 

[soflbass]

EXL170s on many of my basses. Chromes ECB81 are also nice modern flats I've used in the past. But the EXLs are good for most of what I do. Like others have said, I keep going back to them.

 

[AcridSaint]

The D'Addario strings I use most are their half-rounds, so I guess those are my favorites. But I don't play the kind of tuning or music you do. I can tell you that they last longer than nickel rounds.

 

[robd]

EXL170 Nickel Wounds is all I use

 

[sheltjo6]

Pro Steels for a slight mid scooped tone or XL nickels for a balanced tone.

 

[jwilson67]

Prosteels all the way!

 

[leonard]

EXL170. Been using them for years and years. The quality has been very consistent.

 

[4SG]

Flats: D'Addario Black Nylon Tapewounds
Rounds: Rotosound Swing Bass

 

[ccbass71]

Pro Steels

 

[4stringmachinepete]

Black tapes, rotosound flats.

 

[ThuzzleFump]

Stainless flats, which they call Chromes

Yeah, team chrome here, too.