i play metal so needless to say my strings dont last very long.i just tryed DR and so far dr has had the best sound . (the best sound the first day that is)
after only 1 day my strings already sound dead .

i just want some feed back on what some other metal players are happy with and what kind of music your playing,and what makes u happy with the strings your recomending thanx

ps dont tell me boiling my strings will bring them back to life, i know that trick thanx

Well, the trick does work, but anyway strings..

I was going to suggest Dr Lo' riders, or Hi beams, but i see you already use them, and are having trouble with the tone lasting? how often do you play?

On the other hand, i'll suggest: Elixir Strings, and Warwick Black Labels, they are very long lasting, strengthwise and tone-wise.

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i have tryed warwick but i dont know if they were black labels or not.
the trubble i have with elixir is its not an aggressive enough sound when i play in flat tuning. i like the tone of dr but they just dont last tone wise .

yes i know boiling them works but you can only boil them once,if you boil them more then once they get really brittle.
every time i've tryed to boil them twice ive broken my strings so now i only boil them once.

u asked how often i play ,well i practice anywhere from 2-4 hours a day on week days and i jam every weekend for about 2 hours a day .

p.s what kind of strings do you use ? how hard of music are u playing ?
do you use a pic or play with your fingers ?

I use warwick black labels and warwick red labels, to tell to see which one you've picked up in the past is if you can remember the colour of the packet.

I play fingerstyle on bass, and i play pretty hard live, but it all depends on what sort of technique you have to how long the string lasts, and on how you hit the string, which direction your plucking it/fingering it.

I suggest trying warwick black labels, and see how you manage.

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i prefer the nickel wound. but i've been using ernie ball for years and i like them alot. actually the crisp sound of these strings is a bit much at first but after playing on them for about a week they sound perfect. that's just my opinion. you can boil them in hot water and regain the clarity of the strings but that doesn't last long. maybe a few days especially if your playing all the time. like you are. also strings are relatively expensive so going through a set every week could get costly. make sure you wipe them down after every rehearsal particularly if you sweat alot while you play. the salt in the sweat will cause them to "become dead" quicker.

Ernie Ball's don't last long over here.

I allways go for DR Strings, lowriders or hi-beams depending on which bass they go. and Elixirs are horrible, crappy tone and that coating just wears of way too fast.

Ive never tried elixirs, ive just heard good things about them on talkbass.com

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they should change that to talkshit.com

haha or my personal favourate 'talkass.com'

I typed it in by mistake once, thought it was pretty funny.

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silly englishman

I don't know, but Elixirs just seemed horrible to me, I'll surely never buy them again... the whole 'last longer' story is bullshit too, I tried their guitar strings too and they where even worse!

Whats the 'coating' you talk about?..

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the elixir nanoweb coating that should make the strings lost longer...

ill try out some black labels soon.
i just think maybe its the way i play, i use a pic and i do alot of up and down stroke picing on alot of songs when i jam .or maybe im just not wipeing my strings down good enough after im done playng.

anyway thanks for your help

No problem,

Let us know if you get the black labels, and how you cope with them.

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I use 'GHS Bass Boomers' ...they work really well for me, have had mine on for 9 months now and they still sound great, give those a try sometime too. Good luck

If you are looking for long lasting bass strings I would go with D'addario.

I use GHS Flea Signature Boomers, they sound great popping, finger plucked, and playing chords with a pick. For $20.00 they are great.

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I've tried D'addarios and GHS Bass Boomers and found they both die (tonewise) with a couple of weeks.
I don't know why you think Elixirs so that bad Def. They're not perfect, but they are the best kind of string I've ever bought. That nanoweb coating actually does keep the original tone. The only problem is that the original tone isn't all that good, especially on the low B and also on the E. And the attack on those strings is bad also. If I was to palm mute on the low B, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference in sound, only volume. As for breaking wise, I've probably broken only four strings, and I've been buying these for almost a year. I don't know if that's bad or not ... usually I only broke them when I was practicing accenting notes.
They don't have DRs at the store I go to ... at least that I know of. I do know that they don't have any Warwicks though.

I was also going to suggest washing your hands before playing but I guess that doesn't matter if you use a pick. It must be a completely different story with a pick ... you automatically have lots (perhaps too much) attack. Maybe this would be good on elixirs, but making that kind of 'test' would cost alot - they are $85 Can -> $70 US approx.

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It really all depends what sort of string gauge you use with the strings you buy to how long they last..

I use .045 .065 .85 .105

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I bought Warwick Red Labels (my store didn't have any black labels). Didn't like them. The E and A strings could have used more tone. And they died pretty quickly. I'm leaving them on for now ... I can't really afford new ones ...

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Call me a mainstream pussy, but I've always used Dean Markley Blue Steel. They last a long time, give a great sound, and for the quality are quite cheap in price.

yeah my friend swears by blue steel, says they are better than GHS....anyone else think they are good? I'm thinking of giving them a try.

You cant really fail with Warwick red/black labels like ive probably already said.. but also DR low riders/hi beams/black beautys are ment to be really good.. ive yet to try them out.. My local guitar shop doesent really specialise in bass strings much..

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I second Def's vote for DR, they seem to last longer and have better tone. As for any coated strings. . .the least sucky tend to be black diamonds. Either way the coating always wears off and of course they aren't that great to begin with, on acoustics coated strings tend to be okay though.

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Eh, just give them a try, if they don't work out. . . you are only out like what. . . . 12 dollars. . . I mean seriously it's not like the biggest financial risk in the world, you may end up with something you like better then the financial risk is only like 6 dollars.

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Just the other day, my friend found black(yes, black colored) strings for guitar. Do these exist for bass?

It would be pretty cool to use those, since my bass has black knobs, bridge, top, tuners and obviously pickups(with a dark brown body though).

i.use.rotosound.strings.coz.those.are.the.only.good.ones.availabe.herebesides.dean.markley .which.i,dont,really.like

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By the way, forgot you are talking about bass strings. . . Forget my comment about it not costing much. . .

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Well, I don't know how long they would last with you, but I use DR Black Beauties. They have a black coating that help them last longer. Although they start turning siver where you fingers hit the string. (or pick.)

Ahh, ive yet to try Dr strings, they are highly recommended, the DR high beams and Lo riders..

Also, welcome to Metaltabs! Ryan Martinie rules!!

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