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

[Shonks]

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...

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!!

Edited September 1, 2014 by Shonks

[Groove Harder]

Can't go wrong with Legacy for the price!

www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/bass-guitar-strings-sets-c34/legacy-legacy-4-string-nickel-roundwound-45-105-long-scale-bass-guitar-strings-p972

[chrismuzz]

Stringbusters are currently doing Buy One Get One Free on Dunlop Super Bright strings (nickel or steel). They're like £16 a set so that works out at around £8 each which is a total bargain!

[Shonks]

wow..it's Father Chrismuzz - thanks for that!

Edited September 1, 2014 by Shonks

[discreet]

I tried Picato strings once and seem to remember they were pretty good.
But I can't remember why I didn't carry on using them.

[Shonks]

[quote name='Groove Harder' timestamp='1409587471' post='2541219']
Can't go wrong with Legacy for the price!

www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/bass-guitar-strings-sets-c34/legacy-legacy-4-string-nickel-roundwound-45-105-long-scale-bass-guitar-strings-p972
[/quote]that's a good one too...Strings Direct are round the corner from me so I can save on shipping hopefully

[Shonks]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1409587734' post='2541222']
I tried Picato strings once and seem to remember they were pretty good.
But I can't remember why I didn't carry on using them.
[/quote]oh yeah..they were the one's I tried. No good , went dead quickly and had a tendency to fatigue quickly too.
I also noticed the price went up from under £5 to about £8.

Edited September 1, 2014 by Shonks

[Shonks]

its great to hear about these alternatives, please keep them coming, and let us know if there's any to be absolutely avoided..! thanks!!

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1409587673' post='2541221']
wow..it's Father Chrismuzz - thanks for that!
[/quote]

Never heard THAT one before

I usually buy Elixir strings. They're expensive (about £40 a set) but a pack of strings usually lasts me about 2 months, the last set I had on lasted a year before I snapped one... If I wasn't so clumsy I'm sure they'd have lasted me longer!

[discreet]

[quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1409587917' post='2541226']
oh yeah..they were the one's I tried. No good , went dead quickly and had a tendency to fatigue quickly too.
I also noticed the price went up from under £5 to about £8.
[/quote]

Well they're £15 now, so that's that.

[Beer of the Bass]

Picato stainless roundwounds had a surprisingly dull E when I tried a set, though I don't know if they always do or if it was just that set.

[Shonks]

anyone tried Stagg? they're about £7 - they make fairly decent guitars allegedly

[discreet]

[quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1409586729' post='2541205']
...broke at the ball end from fatigue...
[/quote]

Yes, I have days like that sometimes.

[paul_5]

[quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1409590251' post='2541260']
anyone tried Stagg? they're about £7 - they make fairly decent guitars allegedly
[/quote]

I picked up a set on the way to a gig (they were the only set in my size) and they weren't too bad at all. consistent sound across the set and stayed in tune nicely. For the money they were actually bloody good!

[Maude]

I used to use Pure Tone bass strings before I went to flats on most of my basses, nickel alloy 045-105 £4.49 a set.

They sounded alright really and lasted quite well, I prefer an older round wound sound and remember them taking quite a while to dull down, so a positive for the lovers of bright sounding rounds.

[ambient]

I think it's that Rotosound strings aren't particularly good, they sound a bit dead from opening the packet.

Try Dunlop Super brights.

Quality strings are more expensive, but they do tend to last longer, so to me at least, it makes sense to spend a bit more. I'm a student, so I don't have a lot of money to throw around

[Shonks]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1409608427' post='2541576']
I think it's that Rotosound strings aren't particularly good, they sound a bit dead from opening the packet.

Try Dunlop Super brights.

Quality strings are more expensive, but they do tend to last longer, so to me at least, it makes sense to spend a bit more. I'm a student, so I don't have a lot of money to throw around
[/quote]yes but....it's that fresh new sound, sure the expensive one last longer, but with a sweaty git like me they get dull within 48 hours anyway.
prefer cheap and disposable to longevity,.`!

Edited September 1, 2014 by Shonks

[Evil Undead]

I use D'Addario nickels, they last me ages on one set. If elixir made short scale strings though, I'd be all over that. Last set of those I had on my old long scale were on for about 18 months, and were still bright. When I finally changed them, I wondered why because the new ones sounded the same

[skidder652003]

+1 for the legacy's from stringsdirect, I use them on my jazz and they're no different (IMO) to the roto's (there's a rumour they're the same strings!). Gone to flats with the P so no changes needed there!

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

a set or two of these thomann own brand ones might be worth looking at
http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_valuestrings_bassguitar_medium.htm

you'd need to order 48 sets to get free shipping though

[Shonks]

anyone tried these? : [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SET-OF-4-BASS-GUITAR-STRINGS-MEDIUM-GAUGE-GREAT-QUALITY-/111398216426?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item19efd9e2ea"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SET-OF-4-BASS-GUITAR-STRINGS-MEDIUM-GAUGE-GREAT-QUALITY-/111398216426?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item19efd9e2ea[/url]

[Shonks]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' timestamp='1409642604' post='2541698']
a set or two of these thomann own brand ones might be worth looking at
[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_valuestrings_bassguitar_medium.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...itar_medium.htm[/url]

you'd need to order 48 sets to get free shipping though
[/quote]48 sets ....that's commitment!

Edited September 2, 2014 by Shonks

[EliasMooseblaster]

[quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1409643375' post='2541713']
48 sets ....that's commitment!
[/quote]

Yeah, but if you're aiming to change once a week, that's almost a year's supply!

If I may veer off-topic slightly: as a Roto devotee to a former Roto endorsee, did you ever get to try the "piano bass" strings (that I've only recently blundered across)? As I normally go for nickel Swing Bass, they sound like the kind of thing I might go for, though as you rightly point out, at £15+ a pop it's potentially quite an expensive experiment!

[grunge666]

I've had loads of sets from the States via [url="http://webstrings.com/index.htm"]http://webstrings.com/index.htm[/url] - on a par with Rotosound IMHO.
Read the bumpf in the 'How do we do it' section (interesting reading) & the more you order the cheaper they come!

Edited September 2, 2014 by grunge666

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1409610683' post='2541602']
yes but....it's that fresh new sound, sure the expensive one last longer, but with a sweaty git like me they get dull within 48 hours anyway.
[/quote]

This is why I love Elixirs so much!

Edited September 2, 2014 by chrismuzz