Ernie Ball bass strings?

[Greene-Mann]

Tried them again for the first time in years, and still dissapointed with them, they seem to sound great for all of ten minutes then turn dead in no time;
I usually use rotosounds and never had problems with them, once had a set of Optimas on my status and they were the dogs bollocks; however are so expensive it makes you want to cry.

Just wondering if its just me who kills EB strings, or if people have the same problem...also i want to know if people like them and if they dont experience the same problems as myself.

Cheers

Chris

[markdavid]

[quote name='Greene-Mann' post='492500' date='May 19 2009, 03:55 PM']Tried them again for the first time in years, and still dissapointed with them, they seem to sound great for all of ten minutes then turn dead in no time;
I usually use rotosounds and never had problems with them, once had a set of Optimas on my status and they were the dogs bollocks; however are so expensive it makes you want to cry.

Just wondering if its just me who kills EB strings, or if people have the same problem...also i want to know if people like them and if they dont experience the same problems as myself.

Cheers

Chris[/quote]

I seem to have this problem with all roundwounds tbh , but yes ernie balls do go dead quickly , being nickel and therefore less bright than stainless steel does not seem to help either

[Mottlefeeder]

I have Ernie Ball Slinkys on both my Yamaha 5-stringers, and they both sound good to me.

I stopped using Rotosound steel-wirewounds when I discovered they amplified a wolf note on one of my basses. They seemed to lose brightness in two stages - a) playing in, in about half an hour, and old age in weeks or months depending on your playing style. I think some folks mistook the bedding-in drop in brightness for the end of life drop in brightness.

[Urban Bassman]

Strangely enough I tried some Roto Sounds a few years ago and really didn't like them....Put some Ernie Balls on my 'ray last week and I'm loving it will let you know how they last.

[johnnylager]

Been using Hybrid nickel & SS Slinkys on and off for 20-odd years on every bass I've owned - I always come back to them and won't be moving away again. Recently tried some Lo-Riders that lasted half a gig before going off and some cheapy nickel Rotos that were ok, but weren't Slinkys. Better than those piece-of-sh*t-took-6-weeks-to-arrive-and-lasted-20-minutes DR's though.

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='johnnylager' post='493041' date='May 20 2009, 10:14 AM']Been using Hybrid nickel & SS Slinkys on and off for 20-odd years on every bass I've owned - I always come back to them and won't be moving away again. Recently tried some Lo-Riders that lasted half a gig before going off and some cheapy nickel Rotos that were ok, but weren't Slinkys. Better than those piece-of-sh*t-took-6-weeks-to-arrive-and-lasted-20-minutes DR's though.[/quote]

Isn't that odd. My experience is almost the exact opposite of yours!
My EB (Hybrid Slinkys) strings died almost instantly, and I find that Rotos give up all too soon.
I'd have recommended DRs. My FatBeams have lasted well and continue to sound great. I also rate Status Hotwires and Elixir strings (but find that the latter sound a bit "quacky" or "cuppy" on basses with wooden necks and (fretted) phenolic fretboards.)

Edited May 20, 2009 by Lfalex v1.1

[stingrayfan]

Used to play Slinkies, now play Hartkes. £6 a set and better IMO.

[johnnylager]

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='493111' date='May 20 2009, 11:23 AM']Used to play Slinkies, now play Hartkes. £6 a set and better IMO.[/quote]
Hmmm, £6? Might have a punt next time. Shame that A's a 0.080 though. The one thing I'm not with the Ox on.

EDIT: General question - why 45, 65, [b]80[/b], 105 and not [b]85[/b]? Mebbe I should give it a go, I do a lot of A-string chugging though.

Edited May 20, 2009 by johnnylager

[Marky L]

Oh! Where d'you get the Hartkes from at £6?/ I'd give them a punt for that.

I use HB nickel Regular Slinkys but I'm not quite getting the harder bite I want. I had it in my head that a fatter guage G and B would give me a bit more wallop, dunno if that's right though. Pick playing punk/rock is my bag man.

[Buzz]

I've got EB's on my Aerodyne, not impressed, seem like a rather scooped sound on that bass.

They play quite nicely though.

[Thunderthumbs]

I've had the same set of Hybrid Slinkys on my MM since I got it last August, and they're only just about dead. If I'd have been flushed with cash I'd have changed them a month or two ago, but they've still had enough life left in them to live with.

So all in all I'm very happy with them.

Prior to that (on my other basses) I used Warwick Red Labels as they were cheap. Sounded OK to start with but deadened very easily.

I also bought 3 sets of DR FatBeams from the USA. Took a lifetime to arrive, then the first set lasted about a month, the second set half a gig, and the third set I gave away with a bass I sold. Not impressed at all.

Edited May 20, 2009 by Thunderthumbs

[phil_the_bassist]

I've got EB slinkys on one bass, and Superslinkys on t'other and I'm dead chuffed with 'em!

The Slinkys are only now starting to die after 6months of weekly/twice a week gigging plus practices, and the superslinkys are still going strong (admittedly that bass doesn't get gigged, and thus sweated on, as much as the other, but still not bad!)...I've never got on with Roto's, but horses for courses innit!

[church]

got super slinky's on all my basses. every now and then i try some thing else but always go back to EB,s. never had a problem with life length but i do like them when they get about 3 weeks old. i'm not a fan of the jingly jangly sound of brand new strings.

[Greene-Mann]

It is really weird; would the exact playing style have anything to do with how quickly they die off??
Its funny how ive always found rotos to last really well and EBs to die...

Might just be in my head and being a snob for british strings :-D

[Mr Fudge]

I love EB slinkies. I prefer them when they are a few gigs old and not too bright, but that's just me.

[martthebass]

Use EB SS's on the Ray4 - no problem with deadness but I'm not a 'heavy' player. Strangely though I found they used to go off quite quickly on my (now departed) MIM Jazz.

[mike257]

I always used EB 105's on my Stingray, I used to change them every 6 weeks-ish though. I was doing a lot of heavy plec playing in my old band, and loved that new string sound, cut through like a dream! Roto's never really did it for me, I used Elites before I went Slinky.

[NJE]

Been through various strings, labellas, rotos, ernie balls, elites, daddrio .....always come back to slinkies on my 5. They seem to stay quite bright throughout their life and have never noticed them suddenly go dead or lose their zing quickly. like others though i dont like that super bright string sound. On the odd occasion where they have got very dirty and have gone dead after a lot of playing, I have boiled em up and they keep on going. Personally I wouldnt put roto's on my bass if someone gave them to me, but strings are a very personal thing and I dont think there is ever a right or wrong, same as basses i suppose.

[doctorbass]

EB 110 flats on my Precisions

[iamapirate]

I use EB (super?) slinkys on my american jazz bass. I usually finger-play from the bridge picjup, but if i play (averagely) hard at the neck pick up, I can get a really nice percussive short sound that just sound really funky after my strings have lost their zing. It's the kind of 'nice' sounding fretbuzz. They start out (for me) With a really LOVELY tone, and whenever I'm about to do recording I always buy a new pair, but for gigs and stuff, it has enough brighteness to cut through the mix for me.

[JimBobTTD]

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=51813"]Shameless plug[/url] for my Rotosounds which I would like to swap for Ernie Balls.

I really like the EBs and have no problems with their sound after they have been played in. Like Mr Fudge, I prefer them when they are a little less zingtastic. I am not a fan of how Rotosounds feel, although they do sound really rather nice.