Bass and Tools

Which brand of strings should I use?

As we know, taste is not discussed, so there is always that discussion about; What is the best rope to use?

musician playing a guitar

Today we’re going to talk about some strings for bass, we’re going to focus on the good to top range. As we know, taste is not discussed, so there is always that discussion about (What is the best rope to use?), And the best answer for that is DEPENDS.

Why does it depend? We have some factors that influence this, like taste of timbre, sonority, smoother or rougher strings, price, the famous price, not everyone has the condition to pay mega expensive in a set of strings, even though they are the best.

It also depends on where and how you perform, whether you act professionally or just play as a hobby, or something like that, all of that has to be taken into consideration to choose the ideal rope game.

Well based on that we will list here some brands that serves intermediate and professional musicians today. We do not focus on the most affordable strings, but on the strings with good and great quality, not that the low-cost ones do not have a good quality, they do have more durability is less.

Let’s list it based on our opinion:

 

ELIXIR

Let’s start with the top one, in our opinion, the elixir has an advantageous durability, its shine has a life time much above average, so it ends up being one of the first options of every musician. Elixir has several models and sizes, we recommend that you do a good research to find out what taste you like, thinner or thicker strings, smooth or rough strings, the best way to know and based on tests and research. The price is high, but the quality is worth it.

Site: ELIXIR

 

————————————————————————————————–

DR

The strings are produced in the USA, combining the highest technology with a manual application process of the exclusive K3 protective layers, which prolongs the life of your strings.

According to them, they produce less unwanted harmonics, have greater clarity, more volume and articulation than ordinary strings. In addition to being protected against corrosion by moisture and perspiration.

Site: DR STRINGS

 

————————————————————————————————–

ROTOSOUND

Rotosound has been present in the history of English rock since 1958, where it was founded by James How. British artists from the 60s and 70s, together with rotosound, were responsible for developing the Round Wound string, known today as the Swing Bass 66 series. Rotosound is the only manufacturer to use Monel in its flatwound strings, in addition to maintaining quality with first-rate material.

Several rock legends like Roger Waters (Pink FLoyd), Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), Billy Sheeran (Mr Big), Geddy Lee (Rush), Duff McKagan (Guns N Roses), use or have recorded their best albums with the strings Rotosound.

The strings are great, however, everything depends on your taste and what is your goal with the desired sound.

Site: ROTOSOUND

 

————————————————————————————————–

GHS

GHS has been manufacturing high quality guitar strings since 1964. Professional musicians and amateurs who want excellent sound from their strings have a wide range of styles at GHS. Whatever your taste, from a very bright sound to a smooth and bluesy sound.

As we always warned, test and search.

Site: GHS

 

————————————————————————————————–

D’ADDARIO

D’Addario bass strings offer greater flexibility than standard strings but with all the attributes and tones of the XL line.

D’Addario XL Nickel Electric Bass are recognized worldwide as the choice of great musicians, of all genres and styles.

All XL strings are precisely wound on the exclusive computer-controlled D’Addario machines, ensuring each perfect tuning, clean fundamentals and unmatched consistency. The winding with nickel-plated steel wires is known for its brilliant tone, and can be used in all musical styles.

Usually we indicate for those who are starting and would not like to spend a lot and have a good sound, the durability of the strings is not long, however, it delivers a good sound when requested.

Site: D’ADDARIO

 

————————————————————————————————–

FODERA

Fodera® Strings in Nickel and Handmade (handmade) are manufactured with the same approach they use when building their premium instruments.

This set features nickel-plated wire wrappings to the core, delivering warm tones with pronounced midtones, rich timbre and punch, highlighted and very defined midtones.

Nickel-wrapped wires provide a warm tone with hinged dips.

Site: FODERA

 

————————————————————————————————–

MAGMA

Hand-rolled with nickel-plated steel wire in a hexagonal steel core. Due to their special design and wide range of gauges, these bright and long-lasting sound strings are suitable for any musical style.

Site: MAGMA

 

————————————————————————————————–

PITBULL

Founded by Ulas Engin, Pitbull Strings is the only registered trademark for guitar and bass strings in Turkey. The steps of the entire production are designed and controlled with great precision.

It is important to note that, when producing our strings, we meet the expectations of the artists in the best possible way to produce appropriate music and use the strings as long as possible, covering different musical styles.

Pitbull bite string style used on bass guitar strings protects tuning problems. All strings were produced through a long Research and Development process and packed with the “Anti Rust Fresh Package System”.

As Pitbull Strings applies the MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packing) method to packaging, the validity of strings is 10 times longer than others. As the strings are full of MAP, they do not come into contact with air, moisture and oxygen and are not corroded. When you unpack your strings, you will find new strings from the factory.

Site: PITBULL

 

————————————————————————————————–

ERNIE BALL

Ernie Ball, along with Leo Fender, created one of the world’s first basses in the early 1960s. He wanted to create an instrument that would best match the guitar. An innovator in instruments, as well as the strings of these instruments, Ernie Ball now offers more than 100 different models of bass strings, including the popular Super Slinky bass string. Notable bassists who use Ernie Ball strings include Paul McCartney, Tony Levin, Mark Hoppus, Mike Herrera, Johnny Cristo, Dave La Rue, John Myung and Juan Alderete.

Our popular Roundwound bass strings have a brilliant tone made for rock and funk musicians. Our Flatwound bass strings are the best bass strings for jazz and country, for musicians who prefer a softer feel. Ernie Ball uses high quality nickel, stainless steel, chrome steel, cobalt and copper for his bass strings.

Our bass strings include Flat Wound, Slinky Flatwound, Coated Electric, Nickel Wound, Stainless Steel, Cobalt and Earthwood Acoustic Bass.

Site: ERNIE BALL

 

————————————————————————————————–

SOLEZ

A great option from Brazil, good quality and response, and lighter, has less tension, they are softer and smoother, the shine lasts from 2 to 4 months, depending on the use, they are all covered by NPS 8%.

Site: SOLEZ

 

————————————————————————————————–

LA BELLA

Today, La Bella’s strings are considered among the best in the world.

In keeping with La Bella’s tradition of handmade products, artisans use a special assembly process as a first stage to achieve a smooth rope surface. Then, to perform the proper exterior polishing, a meticulous manual polishing method is applied to each surface of the string, ensuring a smooth and easy to feel feel.

Most of them have much heavier gauges like 0.50 strings, but calm, it has 0.40 too. Because they have larger calibers, they have greater weight and presence.

Site: LA BELLA

 

————————————————————————————————–

DUNLOP

DUNLOP strings follow the very high quality and technology standard of their other products. Great artists in the world today use their strings, which are by no means behind other major brands in the market.

In addition to the Traditional NICKEL WOUND and HEAVY CORE and some models like SIGNATURE, DUNLOP brings traditional models for steel and nylon guitars and recently the new SUPER BRIGHT bass strings that are already very successful in the hands of great bass players.

NICKEL WOUND strings are probably the most traditional strings on the market, especially for guitarists. The winding on the thickest strings is made of nickel-plated steel, and its core is excellent in terms of attractiveness to the pickups, while the nickel of its winding helps to balance the bright sound of the steel core. Nickel also helps to protect the rope against corrosion.

Pure nickel strings are softer and have a warmer, brighter sound compared to stainless steel and traditional nickel plated windings.

Site: DUNLOP

 

26 Comments

Leave a Reply