Your go to strings

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

I have to go with DR FAT BEAMS, I have them on almost everything, they turn any bass into a fat tone beaming bazooka! The only basses that don't have them are my short scale that wears GHS Bass Boomers and my acoustic that has elixirs, excluding the uke bass that has those rubberband strings. I have roundwound LaBella's on my Jazz bass and while they sound good, DR's are just plain fatter, I love those strings!

 

[BCRichguy]

I'm sure this topic has been discussed a million times over but here goes one more. I've been a loyal Ernie ball super slinky player for the last 16 years. And for some reason I'm finding myself very gun shy on decided on trying something new. I love the tone I get out of the slinky's, but I wonder if there's something out there just just sounds better. As vague as that is, what's your go to strings and why?

I use Ernie Ball super slinky and regular slinky strings and can't find a reason to change either. I LOVE the tone, they last for a while if cared for and can be found for under $20 a set. I keep telling myself I'm gonna try something new, but then I always end up buying the Ernie Balls. I bought another bass brand new last year and it came with d'addario XLs and after a few days I ripped them off and re-strung with slinkys. I guess I just like having Balls!

 

[Orion1985]

Dunlop Super Bright Nickles. For me they have the perfect balance of brightness, warmth, and longevity. I like them best after they’ve broken in after a few sessions and then like six months after that. I think I have almost a year on this current set.

 

[Thumpin6string]

recently got a set of black beauties... like them quite a bit for somewhere in between tapewound and normal strings.

I always found tape wounds to be duller than flats. I find the Black Beauties to be still bright and tonally similar to nickel round wounds. At least on my 6 string.

 

[WardEarth]

I've liked dean markley, helix n blue steel. And am trying my first set of the new shadowsky flatwound blue, and they gave me a set of the black roundwounds to try out. So far I think the shadowsky flatwound are very nice.
Overall I'd say I dont go for the unplated strings, stainless or whatever they're called. They tend to kill my fingertips.
Most strings are just fine, but I believe tension matters.

 

[cyclone21]

Fender 9050 L

 

[Korladis]

D'Addario XLs.

 

[lowplaces]

Not to hijack the thread, but do y'all remember when every pack of strings came with a sticker or two?

Dean Markley strings used to come with a sticker iirc.

 

[Maxfenderbass]

GHS Bass Boomers for drop tuning, Dunlop super bright Nickles for standard and labella flats for thump.

 

[Max Blasto]

Ken Smith Rock Masters
Fodera - especially on the Rick.

Both are stainless steel.

D’Addario for the 8 string and the ABG gets bronze.

 

[noeinstein]

La Bella 760FL's

 

[snitten]

Got TI’s flatwound on my Stingray, Precision and Jazz.
They just play and sound fantastic

 

[glocke1]

I'm sure this topic has been discussed a million times over but here goes one more. I've been a loyal Ernie ball super slinky player for the last 16 years. And for some reason I'm finding myself very gun shy on decided on trying something new. I love the tone I get out of the slinky's, but I wonder if there's something out there just just sounds better. As vague as that is, what's your go to strings and why?

For years it was Pyramid Gold flats on my alembics, but now Im returning to jazz basses and round wounds. When I played JB's years ago i think my go to strings were LaBellas, forget which ones.

Right now I am happy with Fender 7250M's. I just did my second restring with for my elite jazz and after the initial Zing wears off they sound great to me.

 

[interp]

The G, D, A, E and sometimes the B.

 

[FilTurd]

I’ve tried close to everything by now and really liked quite a few of them. Today’s strings are amazing.

I don’t really have a goto string. I try to match the string set to the individual bass and have a different set on everything I own.

For goid all around choices however I can recommend:

Rounds:

Nickel - DR Sunbeams (warm and sweet, great feell

Steel - Rotosound Swing Bass (old faithful)

Flats:

GHS Precision Flats (great sound and verybaffordable. needs shorter than average break-in time)

TI Jazz Flats (nothing more need be said. lasts almost indefinitely. 5+ years between string changes is not unusual.)

Other:

Labella Copper White Nylon (fast becoming an all time favorite)

Best all around “utility infielder” string whenever I don’t know what I want to use:

GHS Pressurewounds (sounds good on almost anything. nice tone resembling a well broken in round, but without any intonation issues. if you like the sound of rounds, but only after they’ve been on your bass for a month or two, these will give you that same vibe.)

I was just gonna ask someone to describe why they prefer the pressure wound strings...I guess the telepathy works after all...

 

[Cowboy in Latvia]

DR fat beams

I have to go with DR FAT BEAMS

I'm a big believer in Fat Beams too. I love the feel, the sound and the fact they last longer for me than any D'Addario or EB rounds I have tried. I do like other strings but the fat beams eventually end up on almost all of my basses.

 

[jasonrp]

Stock fender 7250. Best string ever made

 

[David Sutkin]

D’addario XL’s on (almost) everything except my Rics which get stock Ric strings (which I believe are made by D’addario anyway ..... My Fodera YYS and P bass get Fodera brand strings and My Dingwall needs DR’s as the standard D’addario XL’s don’t have a long enough E string for the extended range fretboard.

I’ve been playing bass for 35 years and D’addario XL’s have always been consistently bright, punchy, uniform, long lasting and surprisingly inexpensive at about $17 a set. That ends up saving me a lot of money over the years as I change strings quite often.

 

[chaak]

For my Spector NS 5 Ken Smith Burner Series Medium Taper B or Ken Smith Slick Round (half round)

For my Fender Precision AVRI '63 D'addario tapewound

 

[Turlu]

I have to go with DR FAT BEAMS, I have them on almost everything, they turn any bass into a fat tone beaming bazooka! The only basses that don't have them are my short scale that wears GHS Bass Boomers and my acoustic that has elixirs, excluding the uke bass that has those rubberband strings. I have roundwound LaBella's on my Jazz bass and while they sound good, DR's are just plain fatter, I love those strings!

+1 !
Ever since I put the DR Fat Beams on my Basses, I have stopped looking for another brand! I have one set which I installed on February 2017 on my P Bass Custom Shop and stil to this day, they cut through like a knife!