The correct choice of strings is extremely important in order to achieve the proper sound of the bass guitar. There are different types of strings. We choose and set the strings on the bass guitar depending on the genre of music and on what kind of music band we play in.

At the very beginning of my career, I was also working as a builder and a repairman of bowed and plucked string instruments, so I got to know these wonderful instruments very well.

When I was still learning the profession, we have hand woven the strings! Today, this exhausting work is done by machines.

Strings for a bass guitar

Bass guitar is a stringed instrument and belongs to the group of plucked string instruments. We strum the strings with our fingers or a guitar pick, which can be plastic or made from bone (like in the past)! Plucked string instruments differ from bowed string instruments by the way we play the instrument.

Bowed string instruments produce sound by a bow rubbing the strings. For example instruments such as doublebass or violin.

The strings, along with the corpus of the bass guitar, magnets and amplifiers, produce a range of high and low tones.

Correct setting of new strings on a bass guitar

When buying strings, we should pay attention to choosing the right length in relation to the length of the fretboard (long Scale, Short Scale). Do not let the strings hang from the guitar head, like some guitarists do. Hanging strings also obstruct us when playing.

Avoid coiling a string on another string. Strings should fit nicely!

We should also try to avoid coiling a string on another string. That means that we should not coil a string on the tuning peg, where another string has already been coiled. If not, we risk that our strings detune in most undesirable moment and ruin our mood or even our performance!

How to string your bass guitar

We string our new or used strings on the entire length of the fretboard and do not shorten them in any case, because by shortening the strings, we destroy their original sound. We coil the entire string on the tuning peg on the guitar head.

Setting the appropriate height of the strings in relation to the guitar neck.

When playing and rehearsing funk slap, it is especially important that both the G and D strings are lower than the A and E strings.

We should only pay attention that they are not lowered too much, as it may cause an irritating twitch and incorrect tone. We can check this by playing all the tones on the G and D string from the bottom up.

A clean and clear tone is a sign that the strings are set up correctly!

For all other techniques and genres, we set the string height to a level where we can easily play a rather long tone, without the strong initial twitch.

The choice of strings for a variety of musical genres and music casts.

In Swing we usually use Flatwound strings. Flatwound strings are most often used on fretless bass guitars. With them we achieve very specific slide (glisando) efect.

For Funk slap and Rock, we use Nickel Roundwound strings. Round wound strings have a distinctive metal sound. Most bass players use these strings. Jaco Pastorius and majority of other contemporary bassists used or are using predominantly Nickel Roundwound strings.

Roundwound strings can be made either from stainless steel or nickel. Stainless steel strings have a brighter sound, while nickel strings have a softer sound. Nickel roundwound strings are more recommendable, since they have less finger noise.

In pop music, we choose thicker and softer strings.

Choosing our strings regarding to our music ensemble

In smaller musical groups, we usually use sharper strings with a distinct sound, which we can additionally shape with an amplifier and other effects.

For big mixed orchestras and larger mixed musical casts, which require special adjustments in group playing, softer strings are more appropriate.

Choose bass guitar strings that best fit your needs

Softer strings don’t stand out in a larger musical cast and don’t corrupt the sound of the entire orchestra.

String maintenance

Eventually even strings wear out. They accumulate dirt, grease, and other particles. Strings then get a dull sound and should be replaced with new ones.

String should also be regularly cleaned with special cleaners. But we should never boil the strings, as this will destroy their properties.

Regular maintenance and cleaning of the strings is also important, because badly kept strings make more damage to the frets on the neck of the guitar (they wear out faster).

Mantain and change your bass guitar strings regularly

But the bass guitarist has always the most important role! Even the best strings and equipement cannot replace a poor technical competence of bass guitarist. Still, a correct choice of strings and their use, can significantly improve the sound of a good instrumentalist and his participation in a musical cast.

My choice for perfect slap bass strings

Here are two bass guitar strings I had best experience with up to now. The first set is D’Addario EXL170 Nickel Round Wound Bass Guitar Strings, Light, 45-100, Long Scale.

D´Addario is a very well known brand and in my opinion are one of best string manufacturers in the world. This specific strings are very popular and many bass players choose them.

They are relatively cheap and of high quality. I think you get the most for your money with this strings, with them you can´t go wrong. Their bright tone makes them very suitable for playing funk slap. This is why I mostly buy and use this strings. They are durable too.

My other choice would be DR Strings Bass Strings, Bootzillas, 45-105. This strings were designed especially for funk and have an extra long life. They are handmade, therefore they are a bit higher priced. I used this special strings to record all exercises and examples from my e-book!

So, what kind of strings do you like to use, which do you like most? Drop us a comment, share your thoughts!