Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

My 4003s/5 MB should arrive Monday. When it comes time to change strings, which would you recommend? Thanks!

I buy lots of strings cheap ... usually nickel round wounds ... I have about 20 sets here now ... all purchased for under $10 a set ...

music yo, Rotosound, copley, etc ...

The best strings out there are DR's

I prefer a fat low b like .125 or .130

I should give those music-yo strings a try. I've never tried DR strings. I've been happy with D'Addario XL nickle wound strings, I always end up going back to them after trying other strings. I've used Ernie Balls and they sound good but lately they go dead too fast.
I agree that a B string should be at least .125, preferably .130
Hey Dan I got the twin sister to your bass a few days before you won yours. The seller included a set of Med. Gauge GHS Boomers, I might put them on this weekend.......and I solved the problem of the string spacing. My hunch was right, the D and G saddles were in each others place. I swapped them and the string spacing is fine now. I think the seller must have done a major cleaning of this bass and took apart the bridge putting those two saddles in each others place. It's hard to tell those two saddles apart by the slot.

Joey, you may not want to use those GHS boomers. I bought a set of them, and threw them out in under a week - they are good quality strings, but have a very stiff core wire. They are much stiffer than most other roundwounds at the same guage.

I am a big fan of D'Addario strings and use them on all my basses (except for a set of RotoSounds I tried recently, and did NOT like). They tend to have a long life, stay bright for a long time, and don't kill my fingers after extended playing.

Owen, I tried GHS Boomers many years ago, I wasn't too trilled with them and never bought them again. Most of the time I use D'Addario XL's, but the Boomers were are convenient for now and my 4003S/5 could use a string change.

The copley and music yo strings are not quite as bright as rotosounds ... the music yo were out of stock last time I checked ...

I've had GHS strings sometimes be dead right out of the package ... D'Addario strings are good strings as well ... I have a set of those on my Schector C5 ...

My problem is with a dozen basses I can't afford to pay $20 to $20 a set to restring my whole collection ... so I buy cheap strings and change them a lot ...

I just got about 15 sets of rotosound nickel wound strings off of ebay for about $8 a set ...

I also have used GHS in the past, then switched to Ernie Balls. Both were the the only ones available here (this was before I had a computer). I liked the Ernie Balls better than GHS. When I purchased my computer different strings became available and I started using Rotosound. To this day I still use them, but I like to try different brands from time to time. Our guitarist uses D'Addario all the time and likes them, so I am tempted to give them a try. I also checked out the RIC 5 string set. The low B is only .115? I was expecting at least a .120 or .125. I like the RIC strings. The set that came on my Montezuma Brown sound and play great, but I agree that the low B should be at least .125. Joey, I'm glad to hear that one of the triplets here is recovering nicely! I can't wait till mine gets here.

in my experience, GHS and Fender play awful, Ernie Ball die too soon, and rotosound are great.

They are the only makes i have tried really.

Oh and although the TI's are great, the G sting just snapped. I am REALLY annoyed as they are real expensive

Yes, the Ric low B is small, which gets a little over frappy when detuned like I always do.

I've been pretty happy with DRs, but the stock Ric strings have held up quite well with the moderate use they get around here.

As for Fender, one of the best sets of strings I have heard came on my Geddy Lee Signature Jazz, but they are proprietary to Japan from what I've heard. Lasted forever.

I would agree that the Ernie balls die way too early. I have stock Ric strings on a few basses that are a year old and still sound new, while a set of EBs I tried went dead in a week.

Try Carvin strings, they sound very similar to D'Addario, have the same feel, come in nickel or Stainless steel, are taperwound and cost 12.99 a set.....Been using them all summmer probably 10-12 sets, and have yet to find a bad string.

Where did your G string snap Owen?

I like Rick's stock 4003/5 strings. They may seem a bit light but I'm holding a friends 4003/5 tailpiece in my hand that is pulled up almost 3/8" at the rear. This was not done by a set of stock strings for sure. It looks like someone had some 135's on this thing. Two extra holes have been added at the rear but I don't know if it will ever pull straight.

right at the tuner. The string was put on properly initially. Theres nothing wrong withmy tuners!!...........That string had a tiny core wire,


I guess its just one of those things

Dane - i doubt the tailpiece lifted due to a heavy B string. Its the higher strings that put tension on a bass, like if you changed the D and G from 40/60 to 50/70