Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I know we've talked about strings on here before, but.... I use D'Addario Slowound on just about everything. They sound great and are decently priced. I was thinking about switching to D'Addario's fancy EXP coated strings. I was wondering if anyone else uses them and whether or not they are worth the price tag ($40-$50).

I belong to the "Never pay more than $10 a set club" I buy lots of inexpensive nickel wound strings in bulk and change them a lot ... with 13 basses I won't pay $40 to $50 ...

But if you do want to pay more D'Addario are fine strings ... superior in quality and tone ...

I've never used the D'Addario's before, but I did try the Elixir's once....
I just couldn't get used to that coating, I like the feeling of metal on my fingers!

How do you like those Slowounds?

I use D'Addario strings on all of my basses except for the Ric, and I love them, they stay bright for a LONG time and sound wonderful. The Ric has been set up for other strings and I have a few sets of those left so I have been using those up.

Slowound's are the bomb on Ric's just great all the way around. They really are fantastic on 4003's though. I have used cheap strings at times, with good and bad results. With my better basses I look for consistant performance, D'addario Slowounds are it.

I never pay full retail for strings, even Slowounds can be found for $20 a set, that's what I use the net for. Here's an example site with the SW2000 gauge set on sale now.
http://www.gear1music.com/dadswelbasgu1.html

Musician's friend has the SW3000 gauge set for about $20 a set too.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/search/detail/base_id/36026/src=01350

I buy cheap nickel strings in the summer months do to the high heat and humidity here in Ohio. They're bright, but I feel they lack tone and punch. I prefer D'Addario XL-170's, never had a bad string. But I havent tried Slowounds, I will try them next purchase.

I used to use D'Addario XL170s also but now I use either TI Jazz Flats or D'Addario Chromes in 40-55-75-95 which have a nice low tension to them. I want to keep the original frets on my '67 and '73 Ricks in decent shape so the flats will be nice to them and they really do sound excellent on the Ricks. I am going to try a set of TI Jazz Rounds on the 4004Cii; I've gotten used to the nice low tension of these strings but they may not be suitable for those who like to hit hard.

Big g's got it right. Slowounds are the sh*t. I'm going to give the coated EXP strings a try though.

Jeff, I've got some Chromes on my Steve Harris sig P-bass. I love them too. Got 'em cheap, like $12, overstock, just wanted to see what it would be like to use flats with it, great bass for flats, I like the Chromes as a change of pace.

I would expect the Steve Harris bass to sound good with flats as that is what he uses, Rotosound flats.

I am undecided as of yet whether I prefer the Chromes or the TIs, they both sound great. I am leaning towards the Chromes because they are less expensive.

Jeff, which has the less tension? The TI's or the Chromes ? I'm going that route with my project Rick but not sure which to try.

I use Ernie Ball stainless .45 - 100 and IMHO they're very good and have that nice "Geddy Lee" growly tone. I tried the D'Addario but they lack a bit in the treble range, however I use XLs in my Precision.

Hey Scott, what are you working on?

cheers