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10 Tips for Picking the Right Strings for Your Bass Guitar | SharpenMyAxe

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Skip to contentWhen it first came time to change my bass strings, I had so many questions about which were the right kind. There are literally dozens of brands and types of strings out there so how can you find out which strings are best for you?Let’s take a look at these 10 tips that have helped me pick my strings and find something perfect over the years!Okay, let’s start with what’s probably the most important thing on this list: string gauges. First of all, what is a string gauge anyways?To put it simply, the string gauges for your bass refers to the thickness of the strings. String gauges are often described as being “light” “medium” or “heavy”. Light strings are thinner and, therefore, easier on the fingers than heavy strings are but they won’t get as full of a sound as heavier strings.So how do you know which of these is the right option for you? Well, go ahead and ask yourself the following question:“Do my fingers get torn up when I play bass?”If you answered yes to this question, then you should choose a lighter set of strings! I can almost promise you that you’ll feel an immediate difference in your playing.Lighter strings won’t force you to press down so hard and you have an easier time playing in general, especially if you plan on doing any bending.If you are someone who feels absolutely no restraint whatsoever, consider using a heavier set of strings. Sure, they won’t be as easy to play but you’ll instantly notice a richer, deeper sound especially on the lower end of your bass.If you are someone who wants the best of both worlds, consider using Medium strings! These sound great and they and they aren’t too hard to use either for the average player.If you want to check out a great set of Medium gauge bass strings that I’ve used, you can click here or on the image below.Check PricesSomething else you might see when picking out strings are packs with variations. I personally love using light top, heavy bottom strings because they allow me to play high notes easier but I can also still keep that rich low bass end.If the strings you’re looking to buy don’t have any of these words printed on the packaging, they will almost certainly have numbers written on the packaging.These numbers are the thickness of the string’s diameter measured by thousandths of an inch. To help you see some of the common string gauge numbers, refer to the table below.These differences might seem extremely small when you look at the table but I promise you, once you feel the difference for yourself, it really is like night and day.Along with these, you may also see extra-light or extra-heavy strings. I wouldn’t recommend starting out with these because for most people they just aren’t necessary.Other than that, feel free to play around with string gauges until you find something that you like!This section shouldn’t take too long but it’s important information to know. For the most part, you can break this section up into 2 different categories, acoustic basses and electric basses.This part is easy, for acoustic basses choose anything that says Bronze on the packaging. These kind of strings are meant specifically for acoustic basses.For electric basses, you can choose anything that says the words Nickle or Steel on the packaging.These materials create different tones and have different playability to them which is specifically designed for the correct bass.Don’t use acoustic strings on electric bass or electric strings on acoustic bass. Follow this simple rule and you’ll be just fine.Depending on the scale length of your bass, you can get strings of different length. When I bought my first brand new pair of bass strings, it turns our that I bought strings that were made for extra long basses.Needless to say, they didn’t fit, yikes! Before you go and buy any strings for bass, go ahead and look up your bass on Google to find the scale length.Make sure that you only buy strings that match your scale length or you are going to have a really tough time changing your strings!This section is going to focus all about how the strings themselves are designed. Go ahead and take a look at your bass strings up close and you’ll notice something that you might’ve not really though about before.You should see the string wound up around the core in a coil-like shape. This outer layer is usually made of either nickel or stainless steel like we mentioned earlier.The different types of string windings also affect the way your bass will sound so it’s important that you pick the right kind depending on what type of music you’re going to be playing.Take a look at the table below to help you out:This can be a lot of information to take, especially if it’s your first time learning about string windings so just go ahead and pick whichever one feels right. If you don’t like it, you can always switch out your strings next time!Since I am someone who plays a ton of slap, I personally love Roundwound strings. They are bright and full of energy which is just what a slap player needs.If you’re either a jazz or blues player, consider using Flatwound strings as they’ll give you a much warmer tone.Unless you really know your strings, I would recommend using a well known brand when it comes to picking out strings.They might be a little more expensive but you really will get your money’s worth if you toss in the extra 2 bucks for Ernie Ball strings instead of something like “Joe’s Bass Strings”.The problem with Joe’s bass strings is that they are likely made cheaper which means bad tone and bad durability. I’ve had strings like this unwind on me and that’s when I decided never to buy anything like that ever again, but that’s just my experience.90% of the time, well-known brand strings will sound better for longer. Here are some brands that you can trust and that I’ve used over the years:Out of all of these I have to say that my top two picks are Ernie Ball and Elixir. They are just so reliable and I’ve never had problems with them.If you want to take a risk and buy some secret brand bass strings than by all means go ahead, maybe you’ll discover something great! Bass strings are cheap and easy to replace anyway so if you’re willing to take a chance on $10-15 then it might be worth it to you.So remember how we were talking about string windings a second ago? Well those windings are wound around a core which comes in two different shapes.HexRoundSo what’s the difference anyway?To put it short, strings with a hex core are not only more common, but they are more sturdy and stiff which helps give them a brighter sound.Strings with a round core, as you might guess, do the opposite of hex cored strings do. They are more flexible and they give off a warmer tone than hex cored strings.If you don’t see anything about this on the packaging, don’t worry, this tip doesn’t make that much of a difference at the end of the day.This tip is just another small thing when it comes to picking strings but you should still know about it anyways.Basically, if you see an option for your bass strings to have a coating on them go ahead and go for it. This option is going to cost you an extra dollar or two but it will make your strings keep their tone a lot longer.Why does it help keep their tine for a longer period of time? Basically the coating will prevent sweat or oils from your skin from getting on the strings and therefore wearing the tone out.Even though strings with coating cost an extra 2 bucks or so upfront, they will last you much longer than strings without coating so you’ll actually end up saving money!Alright, we’ve covered all of the major things to look at when it comes to picking out your strings so let’s start looking at some more fun options.Did you know that you can get your bass strings in just about any color?Not only that but you can get strings that come in a variety pack if you are into that sort of thing. I have always just used silver strings with just the pure nickel or stainless steel but if colored strings look cool to you then theres no reason not to get them!Companies like DR Strings have options for all sorts of colors and you could probably even find options for something really cool like glow in the dark strings. Either way, a quick Google search will show you everything you’d ever want to see.On a side note, you can also buy strings online that are wound in actual gold. I wouldn’t really recommend wasting your money on these because they are quite expensive but having gold strings is kinda cool just within itself.Something that I’ll admit is fun to try once and a while is to just buy the first set of bass strings that you see. Just make sure they’ll fit your bass!This is a great way to find out which kind of strings you like instead of potentially buying the same strings over and over again when there is a much better option out there.Now after playing bass for 7 years, I’ve tried a ton of different types of strings of all different brands and I know exactly what I like but if you are just starting out then it’s just going to take a while to really learn what you like and what works for you.My only recommendations to when it comes to trying this is to make sure that you don’t get strings that are too short or too long and to make sure you choose whatever string gauge is comfortable for you if you know which kind you like.If you aren’t sure, I would say just start with Medium strings since it’s kinda half and half and work your way from there.Other than looking at these two things, go ahead and just buy the first pack of strings you see.Places like guitar center and even a lot of other music stores with will have dozens of different strings available for you to pick out. So many in fact, that you could probably change your strings every week for a year and never use the same strings twice.There’s a ton of choices so I really recommend trying a few different options at least especially if you’re just learning before you really settle on anything for sure.I know that this isn’t really a tip for picking out any certain kind of strings but before you even buy strings, it’s probably nice to know when and how to change your bass strings so I decided to throw this tip at the bottom just because.Okay so before you actually go changing strings, it’s probably a good idea to know when to change them in the first place.There are a few signs that it’s time to change your strings. First of all, look for any dirt, rust, or dark patches in general on your strings. Chances are, you’ll see these lower down near the nut because this is where most of the playing is done!Something that’s a little bit harder to notice if you don’t have a good ear for it is listening to the overall sound quality that your strings are giving you. If it sounds dull then it’s time to change.You only have to hear the difference between old strings and brand new strings once and you’ll never forget what this sound like.For this reason, if it’s been over 6 months since you last changed your strings, it’s time for another change.Changing your bass strings is super easy and should only take you a couple of minutes to do! Assuming that you have your strings, then you’re ready to get started.What you’ll need:This step is easy, simply unwind the string and pull it out through the bridge once it’s completely unwound.Do not take all of the strings off at once as this sudden change in tension can mess up your truss rod which will make playing a nightmare. Always change your strings one at a time unless you plan on cleaning your bass.Once you’ve removed a string, simply take the new string and thread it through (make sure it’s the right string as directed on your string’s packaging).Pull the string until it’s tight and cut it about 1 1/2 pegs worth of length away from the peg that you’ll be putting the string into.Machine heads on a bass will have a spot for you to put your string into. Stick your string in the hole and wind the string up until it’s tuned.Once you have all of the strings replaced, double check to make sure that all of the strings are in tune. They probably won’t be because of changes in tension on the neck which is why I added this step in so don’t worry, this is normal.If you’d like a more in-detail tutorial, you can read more on my other article where I talk all about changing the strings on a bass guitar:There are many other videos on YouTube that show you how to change strings but this guy in this one doesn’t take off all of the strings at once which a lot of people skip. As long as you don’t do that, your neck will be fine and you probably won’t need to adjust your truss rod.One more small thing I almost forgot to mention is that if you own a 5 string or string bass make sure that you buy packs that have more than 4 strings inside!Other than that, I hope that this helped answer any questions that you have about strings. I know it seems like a lot now, especially if you’re brand new, but I promise you after a few string changes, this kinda stuff will become so easy you won’t even have to think about it anymore.Thanks for stopping by!One of the most helpful skills any guitarist can have is the ability to tune their instruments quickly and easily on the go. While using a tuner is one way of getting your guitar in tune, learning to...Continue ReadingIf you've ever had to hold a guitar for a long time, you'll know that it can start to feel really heavy after a little while and that it can put a lot of strain on your neck. While all guitars are...Continue ReadingHi there! My name is Alex Richards and I have been playing the guitar and bass for 7 years. Ever since I first picked up a guitar and gradually made my way to bass, I've been absolutely hooked on every aspect of both of them. 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Skip to contentWhen it first came time to change my bass strings, I had so many questions about which were the right kind. There are literally dozens of brands and types of strings out there so how can you find out which strings are best for you?Let’s take a look at these 10 tips that have helped me pick my strings and find something perfect over the years!Okay, let’s start with what’s probably the most important thing on this list: string gauges. First of all, what is a string gauge anyways?To put it simply, the string gauges for your bass refers to the thickness of the strings. String...

10 Tips for Picking the Right Strings for Your Bass Guitar | SharpenMyAxe

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