Best strings?

That's a totally subjective thing!

I personally use and like GHS strings. I've also used Thomastik-Infeld and Pyramid strings and dug them profoundly. But there are certainly plenty of great strings that I HAVEN'T tried, and I'm quite sure that folks will chime in with what they like.

And none of us will be wrong, because it's a totally subjective thing!

Tim

 

D'addario for sure. I've tried Ernie balls and ghs and neither of them last as long or keep the new string shine as long, and they sound uh-mazing. But that's just my 2 cents.

 

Do note that this question is in the Bass forum, so I suspect the OP is asking about bass strings...

Tim

 

My favorite brand as for now is Rotosound.
Thick, solid, indestructible strings. They make perfect flatwounds.

But my favorite particular strings are Fender Black Nylon Tapewounds. Nothing sounds and feels like them, it's like touching wool, not bass strings, while the sound is warm and unique.

 

I use Elixer strings on everything i own

 

Fender flats have worked for me, but then again I didn't spend too much time searching either... Never had a reason to.

 

I like rotosounds on everything personally but thats a really subjective question

 

Okay, what kind of bass does she play? Do you know whether she uses roundwound strings (most do) or flats (a few of us old-school types)? What style of music does she play?

And most important: how much are you willing to spend?



Tim

 

Totally subjective.

My favorites are Ernie Ball rounds and LaBella flats.

 

I use D'addario, but all of the strings mentioned above are fine.

 

If she's in for the oldschool playing, I'd really give those tapewounds a try - they're soft, deliver nice, quite vintage sound... and look classy.

 

I always played Ernie Ball pure nickel 11-48´s.But after a friend told me to try Pyramid´s(same gauge - same material) is was shocked....they sound the same, but just half the price....now i can change every two weeks my strings and spending just a little more than 3,- Euros....great!

 

I'm a fan of Snake Oil Strings from Dean Farley. Use them on all of my electric basses and guitars.

Specifically, I use the SL set, 45-100's

http://snakeoilstrings.com/strings.htm

 

Sort of like "Best Underwear" or something.

I love Maxima/Optima Golds for bass. They're nice and articulate without being too bright.

They're expensive, but finger oil and dirt have trouble sticking to the gold wrap so they last for years...

Haven't bought tapewounds since Beggar's Banquet was new. Don't care for them.

Hopefully the wrap stays on the new ones better than it did back in the day...

 

Fender bullets.

There I said it, strings are strings are strings..

The more you play and the better you become the less "brand" is an issue.

 

I alone know the best brand. Everybody else is just wrong. I don't know why they even bother playing.

 

Hey, we just point out the brands each of us considers best, thus they are our favorite. As long as we point out some arguments, there's no prob
But there certainly is no objective truth about which strings ARE the best in the world. I guess it would even be much easier to point out the WORST strings then the BEST

 

Always fun to compare notes on strings.

I've used several brands over the years. My own bias is toward nickle rather than steel but I'll take flats or rounds depending on what I'm looking for. I tend to the P-bass side of the P-to-J sound scale.

You don't hear much about SIT, but their "Sileners" are a good variety of "pressure wound" . Strings for guys that like the sound of rounds and go crazy over the sting noise. Solid sound of rounds just a tad on the dark side. Comparable in their way to GHS. I think they probably do a better job on 4s

I've had GHS Boomers and Brite Flats on my short scale and wound up favoring the Boomers. Hard to go wrong with them.

I just put a set of Sadowsky Black Label Light Rounds (nickle, naturally) on my 5 and can't imagine liking anything any better for clarity, punch, zing and general modern sound.

I love TI flats and absolutely cannot stand D'Addario Chromes though I know a lot of guys swear by them. In fact I've never had much luck with D'Addario, so it's clearly me not them (a good company by all accounts)

The Labella tapes have a permanent place on my fretless. I've tried the Roto 88s on there ( Very different animals those are), Fender tapes and TI flats. The Labellas win hands down.

Never tried any DRs and I'm curious. So next time my wallet reaches critical mass and I have some time to experiment . . .