Rock bassists - your favorite EB strings?

[nurnay]

I used to use the super slinky's and recently tried the regular slinky's and like them even better. Any rock bassists prefer the power slinky's, if so, why?

I know, i need to try the cobalts.

 

[ivbenaplayin]

yep, get Cobalts... I used regular slinkys for years & they're a great string, but I put a set of Cobalts on my Dargie 2.0 Bongo 5HHp back in March and have played the heck out of them (10-15 live shows and a butt-load of rehearsals too) & they still sound great. I initially thought they had a bit more tension than the regular slinkys but they don't. They're a very mid-centered string, not too zingy and they have a really fabulous bottom end to them too... I like them so much I put a set on my 20th SR5 recently... best sounding string I've ever had on that bass...

I've never tried power slinkys...

 

[JayDawg]

I use Super Slinky's. They are what come on my Music Man basses new and they sound great and last a long time. I say if it's not broke, don't try and fix it. They are great strings. With that being said though, I do want to eventually buy some Cobalt's in the same string gauge as the EB Super Slinky's.

 

[KevinM]

Cobalts

 

[stu42]

Well....do you want more bass response than what you're getting now? When I think of rock bass - at least in a classic rock or punk rock sense - deep bass isn't necessarily what you want. When I think of "rock" bass it's normally a more midrange oriented tone or, with overdrive, a pretty cutting tone but not especially deep sounding. But then, newer rock sounds can have a very deep and solid bottom end so maybe that's what you're looking for but also with a lot of attitude.

I've switched to Cobalts on my Bongo 5H and I absolutely love them. They do have a bigger, deeper, more solid thump on the bottom end and I'd say they're also more powerful in the low-mids as well. They also have a distinctive "ping" kind of sound on the top end - sort of like normal Slinky's when they're new but even more pronounced.

I also think if you play slap at all you definitely owe it to yourself to try Cobalts!!

I tried Cobalts on my Big Al 5SSS when I had it but the Cobalts didn't really excite me that much on that bass for some reason. I liked them better than the regular slinky's but I actually preferred flats on the Big Al overall. I think if you're just using the bridge pickup by itself or the bridge+middle in series then the Cobalts might be worth the extra price but for the other settings they didn't do that much for me.

I think Cobalts would probably be pretty killer on the Stingray.

I think to get the most out of the cobalts you need a pickup setting that has some edge and attitude. Mellower, deeper-sounding settings don't really bring out the most of what the Cobalts can deliver.

Anyway...that's my take on it.

 

[nurnay]

Good responses, all. I'm going to have to get some Cobalts!

 

[ricksesp]

I've been using EB Bass strings since 1980, nothing else, I recently changed my precision's strings to cobalt and wow amazing... i ended up buying a whole box of EB Slinky Cobalt Bass Strings 100's, now all 5 of my basses have them on. Incredible sound, smooth silky touch, and soft tuning man. I also changed my Guitar strings to EB Slinky Cobalt 9-42's and wow again, amazing sound, touch and feel. Way to go EB, you only get better with age!!!