The prices listed here are approximate at the time of posting, and reflect typical cost at an online string retailer. Your local experience may vary, but they'll give you an idea of how one string price compares to the next.
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My Recommendations: For fretless: GHS Brite Flats For slap bass: DR Hi Beams For fingerstyle: La Bella Deep Talkin' Bass Best nickelwound: DR Sunbeams Best cheap-ass string: Everly Bass Rockers Overall best roundwound: DR Hi Beams |
The major differences among strings are material and winding. Most major manufacturers make a nickel and a steel, and roundwounds or flatwounds (or groundwounds). The general rule of thumb is nickels are brightest, steels are still pretty bright, and longer lasting than a nickel of the same brand. Flatwounds are the boomiest, and generally stay that way for a long, long time. Groundwounds can be slightly brighter than flatwounds, but not as bright a roundwound. Then, there are the oddball sets, like tapewounds and Elixir (which are coated roundwounds), which each have their selling point that you'll need to research if you think they might float your boat. The best policy is exploration, if you can afford it. Use these summaries to give you a rough idea of where you might want to go next, and take a shot. Chances are, after 2 or 3 sets, you'll find one you really like. If you have an extra long (33-34" is considered "long") or short scale (30" or less) bass, then you've got some extra exploring to do. Bring your bass to a local music store and make sure the strings you are looking at will be long enough but not too long. You don't want to wrap the winding on the tuner post, but you want the winding to make it all the way past the nut. I've found that DR makes a string that will fit most 34" and 35" scale basses. That's pretty smart, eh? The new Everly strings fit my string-through-the-body 34" scale 4 string, so I think they'll fit most 34" and 35" scale basses, too. D'Addarrio and GHS "long scale" strings will be too short for some 35" scale basses. The D'Addarrio's fall a good 1/2" too short, while the GHS Boomers are only off by about 1/4". |
| Carvin
$45 (for 3 6-string sets) (only available direct) |
How good is this price? Pretty average nickel roundwounds, these come in one guage: 128, 100, 80, 60, 40, 29. I found these strings to be reasonably snappy out of the package, but somewhat flabby sounding and lacking the slick feel that some of the other strings seem to have. Life expectency is somewhat short. In a pinch, though, these strings aren't bad, and are the most inexpensive I've seen. | |
| Sound Feel Value Life |
75% 80% 95% 70% |
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| Conklin Snakeskins
$40 (for 7-string set) |
If you have a 7
string bass, this set of strings is the one you should
buy. They have a wound F string, which is all you need to
know. These are custom guage steel rounds that I would guess are made by La Bella. The 94% rating for "feel" is simply because of the wound F string. It is far superior to a plain F string. |
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| Sound Feel Value Life |
88% 94% 80% 88% |
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| D'addario Chromes $38 (5 string set) |
I finally have gotten a chance to check these strings out on one of my
own basses. My initial impression is that first of all, flats or
grounds are a must-have for people who own at least one fretless and
one fretted. They sound cool and uprighty, and they definately feel
cool, in addition to not chewing up fingerboards like roundwounds. So, I like the Chromes. In fact, I think they stack up nicely against the Thomastik Jazz Flats, which are more expensive. The Chromes seem to be higher tension than the Thomastiks. Not much, but somewhat tighter. This is a double edged sword, as looser can be faster, but tighter is, well.... tighter. Overall, I would say that given the price tags, I lean towards the Chromes over the Thomastiks.
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| Sound Feel Value Life |
85% 85% 70% ??? |
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| D'addario XL170 $15 (4 string set) |
I put these on a fretless at the request of it's buyer. The pack I tried were "soft guage", which were .100's. They are nickel roundwounds. No roundwound has ever really thrilled me on a fretless, but these really perked the bass up. For that bass, I think they were perfect. They played real smooth (I love those 100's) and has a nice, sweet sound. A solid nickel string. I've since tried the XL170 5 string set, which have a pretty solid low B. | |
| Sound Feel Value Life |
85% 88% 88% 80% |
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| D'addario Slowounds $20 (4 string set) |
I bought the
Slowwounds to put on a customer's bass a couple of months
ago. When that fell through, they sat for a while. Well, I
finally finished up a 33" scale 4 string bass, and I decided
what the heck, I'll put them on it. Now, somehow, I decided to string this thing B-E-A-D. Yeah, a 33" scale bass with a B. People complain about floppy B strings on a 34" scale bass, and I go and put one on a short scale. Well, the good news is that the B string is not flabby, though it is not perfect. In fact, this set (I can't remember what guage we're talking about) seems pretty tight. That aside, I don't notice much difference in the Slowound strings from other D'Addarrio nickels. They feel nice, and sound good, too. But that's $5 a set you could be spending on beer or sandwiches if you bought XL170's instead...
update, 7/4/2001 |
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| Sound Feel Value Life |
88% 90% 80% 87% |
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| Dean Markley Blue
Steel $21.40 (4 string set) |
I didn't like these strings at first. They are dull and grey looking, with a sort of coarse feel to them, like most steels. But after getting a set of Ken Smith Rock Masters, I became a steel believer, and I put this set on one of my fretted basses, and I like them a lot now. The Rock Masters are cheaper, though, so I still like them a bit better. | |
| Sound Feel Value Life |
90% 85% 80% 90% |
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| DR Hi-Beams $20.25 (4 string set) |
I finally broke down and sprung for the extra $5 it cost me to get DRs instead of Ken Smith or D'addarrio. I got the Hi-Beam 100's, which are stainless steel compression-wounds. I believe they have a round core. These strings just feel better than any other steel string I have played. The sound is snappy and tight. | |
| Sound Feel Value Life |
93% 95% 85% 90% |
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| DR Lo Riders $20.25 (4 string set) |
If you're like me, you're wondering what the difference between Hi Beams and Lo Riders is. If you're like me, you went out and bought both to find out, and you made sure to get stainless Lo Riders so it would be a real apples-and-apples comparison. Technically, the Lo Riders have a hex core, and Hi Beams have a round core. Apparently, the Lo Riders are a little less bright looking. They look a lot like the Ken Smith Rock Masters. They feel just like Hi Beams, and are great for slap bass. Just great. The difference is slight between the two strings (at least the steel versions), but I would have to say that the low riders are less bright and sparkling. | |
| Sound Feel Value Life |
93% 93% 85% 92% |
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| DR Sunbeams $29.70 (5 string set) |
I like the DR
steel strings so much, I decided, "what the heck, I might as
well try some of their nickel strings. The Sunbeams are those
strings. I got a .125-.45 5 string set of Sunbeams to go on a
35" scale bass I made. They fit the bass perfectly, but on a
shorter scale bass, you'd end up wrapping the windings, I
think. I'm going to start putting up winding lengths soon. Anyway, I think I like the feel of nickel strings better, in general, than even the good steel strings. I like the slickness of the sun beams. They slap pretty good, and I am starting to think that the D'Addarrio XL170's don't do that as well. All around, Sunbeams are at the top of my nickel list. They feel and sound great, and slap better than the XL170's. |
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| Sound Feel Value Life |
91% 97% 88% 90% |
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| Ernie Ball Slinky $19.00 (5 string set) |
Hey, get this. Someone sent me an email raving about Ernie Ball Slinkys and I actually went out and bought a set to review. Go figure. At first, I thought these were nothing special. Just between you and me, most strings are nothing special. In fact, I thought, "who cares?" The other night, though, I finally brought the bass I put them on into the recording room. They actually play pretty nice. They're not overly bright, which is fine for me on a 5 string, since I generally do not do funky slap stuff on anything other than a 4 anyways. So, for me, feel is the big thing on a 5 string. And these feel pretty good. Bottom line: do not fear buying Slinkys. They feel good. Not real bright. Good value. |
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| Sound Feel Value Life |
86% 92% 95% NA |
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| Everly Bass Rockers $11.95 (4 string set) |
I got these Everly strings because they're so darn
cheap. Changing strings every couple weeks at $20-25 is not in
most people's budgets. At $12, now we're getting into the
realm of possibility. As you might have guessed, these are very run-of-the-mill nickel roundwounds. Is that the good news, or the bad news? Well, it's good news, I think, if you're the type that buys whatever nickel strings are on sale -- D'Addarrio or Charlie Stringers or whatever. The Bass Rockers certainly feel okay, and sound fine unamplified. The guage is very regular -- 100, 80, 60, 40. I guess it's bad news if you are a die-hard for a particular brand, especially if you pay a lot to get a particular brand. This is because the Everly strings don't have any particular strength besides their price. If you are a DR die-hard, the Everly strings won't change your mind. If you aren't, though, the $2-3 savings per pack over the closest competitor might win you over.
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| Sound Feel Value Life |
84% 88% 96% 88% |
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| Everly B-52 Rockers |
After reading my Rockers review, an Everly rep sent me these
strings. He said that the Rockers I reviewed must have been an
old set, and he wanted me to get the real deal to
review. Sounded good to me, so the first 4 string to come out
of the shop got a new set of B-52 Rockers. The package says these are made of "... a specially magnetic alloy called Alloy-52 ... that is incredibly resonant and tarnish resistant." Looks and feels like well polished nickel winding to me. The B-52 strings sound good to my ear out of the box. Even sound from E-G, with the bright, lively sound that you should expect from a new nickel roundwound. A nice slapping string. Feel is good, not coarse, but not as slick and smooth as some strings I have played. I like these strings, both in terms of feel and sound, than the Bass Rockers I tried. These strings seem to come in at around $4-5 cheaper than DR strings, although I am basing this on pricing I have seen on a string called "Everly Bass Sessions", which is an Alloy 52 roundwound. The B-52 Rockers could be another string altogether, but pricing on Everly strings is all around darn good. If you're looking to cut budget on strings, take a look at Everyly B-52's. |
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| Sound Feel Value Life |
90% 88% 94% ?? |
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| GHS Bass
Boomers $19 (4 string set) |
I've never really been impressed by Bass Boomers. They are snappy, I guess, like most nickel-plated strings, but there's really nothing about them that distinguishes them from any other string, and the price is just okay. I've tried Mediums and Lights of this brand. | |
| Sound Feel Value Life |
85% 85% 80% 80% |
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| GHS Brite Flats
$19.70 (4 string set) +$3.50 hi c string |
It ain't easy finding a flatwound set with a hi C if that's the way you like to string your fretless 5 string. After about a month with XL170's on mine, I finally found the GHS Brite Flats - with a hi C string. They're ground roundwounds, so they're not actually flatwounds, but they are smooth! I love the feel, and they actually are pretty bright sounding. Much brighter than the D'Addarrio Chromes, which have their own appeal, but also much cheaper. I like these strings! | |
| Sound Feel Value Life |
90% 95% 95% 95% |
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| Ken Smith Rock
Masters $16.25 (4 string set, retail) |
When I bought these, I hadn't realized that were stainless steel. After my unspectacular initial experience with the Blue Steel strings, I was a little disappointed. I strung them on my freshly finished four string fretted and was pleasantly surprised. These have a pretty slick feel to them, and have a very crisp, snappy tone. The medium-light (.100-.45) gauge is right-on for me. Suddenly, I'm a believer in steel strings. The judge is still out on durability, but so far, so good. | |
| Sound Feel Value Life |
90% 88% 85% 85% |
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| Ken Smith
Tapercore 7 string set $30.25 (7 string set) |
I bought these strings to put on a fretless 6 string I was building, that I wanted to string E-F (tenor). Well, I finally finished the bass. These strings are just like Rock Masters, as far as I can tell, except for the taper at the ball end. The taper on the E string continues past the saddle on my ABM bridge. I dunno if that's the way they're supposed to go, or if the ABM is just a "short" bridge. At any rate, the C and F strings on this set (a .028 and a .020) are quite thin, while the lower strings (E, A, D) are pretty gutsy. I can imagine the F string being only useful in chords, or in a very controlled environment (i.e. a studio). Probably not Ken Smith's fault. What do you expect out of a 28 and a 20? | |
| Sound Feel Value Life Balance |
82% 86% 85% 88% 60% |
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| La Bella "Deep
Talkin' Bass" $16.95 (4 string set) |
Cool name, right? Check this out: the subtitle is "perfectly balanced set". What this boils down to is that instead of a .100 or a .105, they give you a .102. My set is Med-lt: .102, .077, .058, .039, stainless steel. Can you really tell the difference between a .102 and a .100? Probably not. These strings do sound nice, producing a surprisingly huge sound out of a set of Bartolini 9J (jazz pickups). And I do like the guage.... but I like .100's, too, and most people won't feel much difference (myself included). No reason not to buy them, though, they're good strings, and if you happen to feel like .105's are too tight and .100's are too floppy, these are the ones for you. | |
| Sound Feel Value Life |
92% 88% 88% 91% |
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| La Bella
"Slappers (6 string)" $26.95 (6 string set) |
I like La Bella
strings. As I understand, they can be a pain to deal with and
get strings from. Too bad. These are nickel rounds. Very slick feeling, great playing strings. Good life to them, nice sound. Unfortunately, these are on a 6 string fretless (not my idea), so I couldn't really get them slapping to put their name to the test. Definately in the same league as Sunbeams, my favorite roundwounds. |
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| Sound Feel Value Life |
89% 94% 88% 92% |
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| Snarling Dogs $15 (4 string set) |
Come on, who can resist a pack of strings that retail for $15 ? It's pretty sad, considering guitarists get away with $6 sets of strings (for the expensive ones). These are your run-of-the-mill nickel roundwounds. The pack I tried were .95-.40 (light guage). These strings have decent, snappy tone, with a somewhat coarse feel to them. I don't think I like this light a gauge, as they can get somewhat flabby sounding. Overall, though, a good value if you don't feel like spending $30 a pop for strings, although I prefer the feel of soft guage XL170's. | |
| Sound Feel Value Life |
80% 78% 90% 75% |
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Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Electric Roundwounds $42.50 (5 string set) |
Compared to the DR strings that the bass previously wore the
Thomastiks have much lower string tension, resulting in a soft, easy
playing feel, although the softness does add a bit of looseness to the
B string. Despite this, the B string still sounded nice and clear
right up the neck. These strings are light: .118, .089, .068, .051,
.043. The sound of these strings was a bit of a surprise- they add a bunch of mids to the tone; very growly sounding. I will try these on a fretless bass next, as they seem to be well suited for that. The highs are less shimmering than the DRs. The bottom is full and tight. A word of caution- do not attempt to use these on a 35" scale bass, or a bass with through body stringing! On the 34" scale test bass the silk windings cleared the zero fret by about 1/2". The 4 string set is available in super long scale, but apparently not the 5 string set. (special guest review by Jack Read using a Read Custom 5 string) |
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| Sound Feel Value Life |
90% 95% 70% 95% |
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| Thomastik-Infeld
Jazz Flats $31.95 (4 string set) |
I've heard a lot of good things about Thomastik-Infeld strings
lately, so when I decided to produce a fretless 4 string, I
decided to throw some TI Jazz Flats on it. You know, give them
a ride. The $31.95 price tag is hefty. Are they worth it? When I first threw them on, I was unimpressed. I was expecting magic strings -- gleaming chromium superstrings that melt in my hands. They weren't gleaming chromium, and that disappointed me. In fact, they are dull-looking flats that are visibly indistinguishable from most other flats. After playing them for a while, I like the feel of them. It's a slightly weird guage -- .043 .056 .070 .100 -- but I think that may be why they feel good. The guage determines how much tension you need on the string to tune it to pitch, and so by tweaking the guages, you can get a more consistent feel from string to string, and a softer overall feel, which the Jazz Flats have. I can't decide whether or not I like these better than the GHS Brite Flats. They are less bright (not surprisingly) than the Brite Flats, which on a fretless, has its allure. They also feel different -- they almost feel less bright, which also has its appeal. In some ways, they sound and feel more like a fretless to me.
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| Sound Feel Value Life |
92% 92% 80% 95% |
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