Cheapo crappy strings - anyone found some good one's??????

[MoonBassAlpha]

In my experience, strings fracture at the machine head end when taken off a couple of times, not surprising at all. I don't think I ever had this with repeated boilings with double ball-end strings.

[Vinny]

I actually quite like these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BASS-GUITAR-STRINGS-4-STRING-TOP-QUALITY-/370376435828?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item563c27e874

although 'B' in the 5 string set is usually a bit too long for my Peavey

[bassmachine2112]

Legacy strings goood for the price but I,m on Dunlop super bright steels now ,good if you can get the buy one get one free deal .
They are bright but sound great and you can EQ them down and still retain that lovely growl

[paul_5]

Got some Harley Benton 45-105 arriving this weekend.

We'll let you know.

Edited April 8, 2015 by paul_5

[bakerster135]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1412871582' post='2572877']
Re Legacy = Rotosound thing, I ordered a couple of sets and there was a dead string in one. Contacted Strings Direct who are going to send a replacement, of course. But I also asked if they were re-badged Rotosounds and he said 'yes they are' - so not just a rumour!
[/quote]

Out of interest, was it the A/.85 string that was dud? I seem to get a lot of dud A strings in the Legacy packs, but never any other string! ...Strings Direct have always been good enough to send me replacements when this happens though!

[Paul S]

Back from a holiday - but, yes, it was the A that was dead. I've since had a couple more sets and they were all fine.

[Shonks]

Stagg....£6 on Ebay........i like 'em..!

[Paul S]

That's cheap! Just ordered some... thanks for the heads up.

[Vinny]

[quote name='Vinny' timestamp='1413889616' post='2583108']
I actually quite like these

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BASS-GUITAR-STRINGS-4-STRING-TOP-QUALITY-/370376435828?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item563c27e874"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item563c27e874[/url]

although 'B' in the 5 string set is usually a bit too long for my Peavey
[/quote]

I take this back, the last 3 sets I've used have been completely naff.

Edited March 11, 2015 by Vinny

[Conan]

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1415189538' post='2597586']
Got some Harley Benton 45-105 arriving this weekend.

We'll let you know.
[/quote]

Yes, I've just acquired some of them - but none of my basses need new strings quite yet... will report back when I have installed some!

[mcnach]

Coban stainless steel strings, on eBay, £7 delivered for a set. They're not the best. But they work. For £12 I prefer Warwick Red Label stainless steel, but the £7 ones are not terrible

[7tenths]

Fender 9050L (flats), £14 from Thomann (who else)....excluding delivery.

[fluffo]

I found with most of the cheapo's the E is always dead from the word go.
The Hartke strings used to be ok, but the last couple of sets i've had was the same story, dead E's

[Lozz196]

I wish it were the other way round to the original post - if only brands would sell roundwounds that were road-worn-in, so I didn`t have twangy/zingyness for a couple of weeks. Admittedly my faves, Roto Steel Rounds do die pretty quickly, but not quick enough - out of the packet would be best.

[mcnach]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1427053799' post='2725201']
I wish it were the other way round to the original post - if only brands would sell roundwounds that were road-worn-in, so I didn`t have twangy/zingyness for a couple of weeks. Admittedly my faves, Roto Steel Rounds do die pretty quickly, but not quick enough - out of the packet would be best.
[/quote]

I tried a set of stainless steel "Coban" strings, from eBay, at the recommendation of a BCer. You might like them. ONly £7 delivered if they don't please you. They are smoother than other steels, and lack the annoying zing other strings have when new. At first it put me off, but they are alright in fact, and they work very well live. I have mixed feelings about them still, but I admit parto of it is that they're too cheap so I'm not supposed to be happy with them, right?

[Shonks]

I've still got those £5 Staggs on my P bass and they're still sounding great.
I don't know if they are consistently as good as the set I have but I'm going to stick with them for the time being and buy some more.
I shouldn't really recommend them, you lot might push the price up...haha!

[paul_5]

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1415189538' post='2597586']
Got some Harley Benton 45-105 arriving this weekend.

We'll let you know.
[/quote]


On my second set of these (my brother got a couple of packs for me when he bought a guitar from them). Not too shabby - they last at least as long as other nickel strings, and aren't too zingy out of the packet.

I think I had a couple of months out of the last set, so looks like a good idea to buy a bulk lot of them and save money in the long term...

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1426419761' post='2717803']
Coban stainless steel strings, on eBay, £7 delivered for a set. They're not the best. But they work. For £12 I prefer Warwick Red Label stainless steel, but the £7 ones are not terrible
[/quote]

My Warwick red label six string stainless steel set cost me £10. Surely this qualifies as cheap strings. They feel OK to me.

In the same order, I bought some Fender 9050L Flatwound strings, which I have on my fretless acoustic. I don't have much to compare them to, apart from one La Bella flat ( , but they seem fine to me. They cost £13.72, which seems cheap enough for flats.

While I hate to admit it, I'm not sure that I've really learnt the difference between nickel and stainless steel strings yet. I've bought a set of Fender tape wound strings to try out, but haven't put them on anything yet.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Annoying Twit

[Wayne Firefly]

Yes !!!! Johnny Brook, cheap chinese crap. I tend to change them every 4 or 5 gigs or so but I can get them for around £6 a set so, use them, bin them, end of !!!! I love Elites but at the rate I go through strings, its the cheap route at the moment.

[alyctes]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1427053799' post='2725201']
I wish it were the other way round to the original post - if only brands would sell roundwounds that were road-worn-in, so I didn`t have twangy/zingyness for a couple of weeks. Admittedly my faves, Roto Steel Rounds do die pretty quickly, but not quick enough - out of the packet would be best.
[/quote]

Sounds as if you and the OP should see if you can do a deal

[Alan Wilkes]

Just tried some Gear4Music rounds at £4.99 on my cheap bass and for the money hey who's complaining. If we bought gear according to our pay cheques we would be getting this stuff :).

[Alan Wilkes]

On 05/11/2014 at 14:22, bakerster135 said:

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1412871582' post='2572877']
Re Legacy = Rotosound thing, I ordered a couple of sets and there was a dead string in one. Contacted Strings Direct who are going to send a replacement, of course. But I also asked if they were re-badged Rotosounds and he said 'yes they are' - so not just a rumour!
[/quote]

Out of interest, was it the A/.85 string that was dud? I seem to get a lot of dud A strings in the Legacy packs, but never any other string! http://basschat.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/%3C#EMO_DIR%23%3E/huh.png...Strings Direct have always been good enough to send me replacements when this happens though!

Found some A strings sound slightly different sometimes no matter what the set.

[TheGreek]

If anybody likes their strings really zingy and bright for a long time can I suggest EBS Titaniums - available in 40s and 45s - on ebay for about £15 IIRC.

https://ebssweden.com/content2/accessories/ebs-northern-light-bass-strings/

I had them on a bass for several months - still too bright so took them off.

Edited August 21, 2021 by TheGreek

[Alan Wilkes]

On 01/09/2014 at 16:52, Shonks said:

I personally love the twangy sound of brand new roundwound strings.
I think you can use eq and damp 'em down for the old school sound or ramp 'em up
for the biting twang I adore.
Either way, they are, to me anyhow, the most versatile, and if I could afford it I'd change 'em at least
once a week, sometimes twice, and if in the studio, I'd change 'em every day.

At £15 on average, that's a hefty amount of cash, and unless you're endorsed by a decent string manufacturer,
you're gonna suffer.

I used to have an endorsement with Rotosound, but now I'm not famous enough for them I became rapidly unendorsed... http://basschat.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/%3C#EMO_DIR%23%3E/sorry.gif

anyway, if you look on Ebay there's all these unknown brands going for about £5, and some known brands, eg Stag etc

I tried one completely unknown for £4,75, and was disappointed.
They sounded great for about a few hours, by the 2nd or 3rd day they were dead and some broke at the ball end from fatigue,
So, definitely a false economy there!

So my question is:

Has anyone come across some cheapo brand that comes close to the overpriced known brands.
If it's a well kept secret to keep the prices down you can pm me, otherwise please share your experiences.
Might be worth sharing anyhow to the the known brands to drop their prices.

I've a feeling there's a budget string out there we could all benefit from.

It makes me think of Aldi or Lidl discount supermarkets, - shunned by the discerning shopper early on, but now being discovered by all and bringing the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury's to their knees.
Have you noticed how 4 litres of milk has come down to £1 from £1.39p and its still 5p more than Aldi. That's a huge %age

I'm convinced there's a bass string equivalent out there - share it! - thanks!!

HI, gear4music do sets for 4.99, they are OK for the money and worth keeping as spares just in case or using. If we bought gear according to what we get paid we would be using these all the time.🤣

 

 

[Skybone]

Warwick Red Label strings are great VFM, at around £9 a set from G4M.

 

Used the Stainless Steel rounds before, and they're really good too.