Cheap Strings...?

[Sean]

As someone that is pretty much sold on DR Extra Life and Thomastik Flats I was looking through ebay and saw strings there on sale at prices of between £2.99 and 7.99 a set, things branded DADI, Olympia, King Lion etc.

Does anyone have any experience of any of these and are they any good.

I bought some Roberts strings back last year and they were absolutely sh*te and a complete waste of my time so I'm really not interested in them at all but any advice on some hidden gem cheapos would be greatly appreciated.

[daflewis]

I tried the Adagios - they stayed on for 2 days...... think i gave them a fair chance - wanted to take them off after 2 mins!

they say that they have an anti rust coating so, as i use elixirs almost exclusively, i wondered if they could possibly compete.

err... no.

[Thunderthumbs]

I used to use Warwick Red Labels, from an eBay shop for around £6 a set. Not bad considering they're about £10 at cheapest in most music shops in Manchester.

They lasted me a good half a dozen gigs before starting to lose their "zing", but I'm not one for having sweaty hands. Someone who sweats more (this is going in an area even I didn't wish to!) would probably be less pleased than me.

I've now gone back to Elites Stadiums as I got a set for free, and [b]really[/b] liked them, so don't mind paying that bit extra for them.

[bass_ferret]

Why? You have got a pukka bass so why string it with sh*t?

[john_the_bass]

spend the extra on a set of strings that will feel better, sound better and last longer - you won't replace them as often either, i bet.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='131095' date='Jan 31 2008, 06:58 AM']spend the extra on a set of strings that will feel better, sound better and last longer - you won't replace them as often either, i bet.[/quote]
+1 The younger me wouldn't have entertained the idea of spending anything like £30 on a set of strings, but these days whenever I get a new bass I put a set of TI jazz flats on. I've been using them for five years now and once they're on I haven't needed to change them on any of my basses.

[Sean]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='131090' date='Jan 31 2008, 02:51 AM']Why? You have got a pukka bass so why string it with sh*t?[/quote]

Read the OP.

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='131095' date='Jan 31 2008, 06:58 AM']spend the extra on a set of strings that will feel better, sound better and last longer - you won't replace them as often either, i bet.[/quote]


If you read the OP you'll see what I use and I've a big pile of DRs, enough to last me a couple of years.

I was just asking out of interest and thought that people on a budget or beginners might be interested also. Just trying to be helpful and surely the "hidden gems" phrase might have given a clue to the fact that I think that most of those brands [i]are[/i] sh*t but remain optimistic that maybe some are not.

[ped]

Elixirs are the cheapest strings you can buy.

For an original outlay of £30 odd you won't have to restring for months and months. I have said before (but I still can't believe it) that the strings on my 4 string are nearly a year old. I put new ones on recently to see if it was just a case of me forgetting how brand new strings sounded but alas no, they were just as crisp and deep as the new set. Amazing! They don't suit everyone - some experience 'peeling' and so on, but I myself get no ill effects at all which is just brilliant for me - no more worries about deadening my strings!!

All IMHO of course ;0)

[john_the_bass]

[quote name='Sean' post='131286' date='Jan 31 2008, 01:38 PM']Read the OP.




If you read the OP you'll see what I use and I've a big pile of DRs, enough to last me a couple of years.

I was just asking out of interest and thought that people on a budget or beginners might be interested also. Just trying to be helpful and surely the "hidden gems" phrase might have given a clue to the fact that I think that most of those brands [i]are[/i] sh*t but remain optimistic that maybe some are not.[/quote]

but with all respect to your OP, you already know what you like and the experience you've had of a particular brand of cheap strings was not a positive one. I would suggest that strings manufactured to a price point are pretty much all the same. For me, cheap strings would be buying rotos or elites in bulk and trying to get them as close to a tenner as possible.