Bass Strings

rushfan33

New member
I'm a drummer of 20 or so years that took up bass about a year ago. I don't have any knowledge of strings and yet it's time to change mine. I have an Ibanez SR400 four string with stock pick- ups. I like the feel of the strings that came with the bass and my guess is that they're a lighter gauge. I don't want real thick strings because of my limited playing ability but the sound I love to hear is the "gritty" yet "Phat" bottom end. I also like the Mid range as well, which leads to the question at hand.

What strings would you recommend me to buy? How much is a good deal at GC for a set of strings?
Lastly, any tips on installing them would be helpful.


Thanks
 
Strings i would reccomend...

Snarling Dogs Rock-a-Billys
Dean Markeley blue steels
D'addario EXL170M (which are light strings but have punch)

They all have great tone...the most expensive are the blue steel which are around 20-25 bucks. the d'addarios are around 15-20 bucks. and the snarling dogs are like 10-15 bucks. in my opinion they are the best, they have great tone. the best midrange is from the blue steels, but the d'addarios work well too. What you should do, is try some for around 2-3 months then change to a different brand until you think you have found the winner.

When installing them...make sure you wrap the string nicely around the capstan and then tune until the slack is taken up and then let the thing sit overnight for the strings to stretch, then tune in the morning. It will take about a week for the strings to loose the normal high end thats common with new strings, but youll definately get better sound.

If you are more daring, also consider changing your pickups if you have the time. EMG's are my favorite for bass pickups, but there are many other brands to consider to find the bass tone you want. Hope that helps! Cheers
 
After experiementing with a whole bunch of specialty strings like the "cryogenic" blue steels I've found that good old fashioned GHS Pressurewounds give me all the punch I need without being too bouncy or bright. I just love them and they're about 17 clams.
 
dr's to me sound way too bright. elixirs though i have yet to try, they just seem to expensive where i buy my strings.
 
I've been using dr's, on and off, for about a year now and have been happy with them. They are a bit bright at first but they last for a long time.
 
If you like that bright, piano bass sound try GHS Contact Cores. Too bright, try GHS Boomers. My absolute fav.
 
Hey, I'm new to the bass string world too.

My question is: what are standard gauges?

You know, for guitar I would say .009 to .042 is the standard "light gauge" and .010 to point .046 the standard "medium gaurge". What are the bass equivalents?

Thanks.
Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com

BTW, I've used Ernie Ball Super and Regular Slinkies forever on my guitars. Are EB Bass strings any good, or would I be better off w/ another brand?
 
I have the Elixirs on my Taylor AB-3 Acoustic Bass and like them a lot. I bought a set for my electric 5 string. I want to try them....think I will like. They actually feel better than I thought. Was afraid I would not get any traction. Not so.

T
 
I am in a particularly nasty situation because almost all of my basses are either longscale, through-body or both.

This means that I have to take into consideration the working length of the strings before buying - lots of stuff out there doesn't have enough wound length to make it all the way to the nut.

Another thing I am discovering to my horror is how stainless-steel strings make really nasty lateral wearlines in my frets, especially troubling on my vintage instruments.

This makes flatwounds attractive. I use Fender 9050MLs on my '72 Precision (.105" E). These are good thumpers and are only about $15.50 from JustStrings.Com.

Otherwise, I use whatever is cheap, nickle-wound and long enough.

GC has perfectly good bass strings on loss-leader every couple of months and I've had good luck with some of these sales that have name brand bass strings for as little as $4-$6 a set.

As to the question of "average" bass string gauge, I would say that the typical set these days has the .100" E string.
 
Aaron Cheney said:
Hey, I'm new to the bass string world too.

My question is: what are standard gauges?

You know, for guitar I would say .009 to .042 is the standard "light gauge" and .010 to point .046 the standard "medium gaurge". What are the bass equivalents?

Thanks.
Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com

BTW, I've used Ernie Ball Super and Regular Slinkies forever on my guitars. Are EB Bass strings any good, or would I be better off w/ another brand?

Aaron

For a 4 string 40 to 100 is kind of "light" these days, used to be the mainstream tho', 45 to 105 heavier and predictably more popular. Low B for a 5er is usually 115, sometimes 110. You see 35 to 95 sets around, they're better for slapping and popping, but that G feels very thin.....

I reckon there's a slight movement back to lighter strings,as people realise you don't lose any bass off them and they are cleaner to play.
 
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