Daddario EXL170-5

I've played electric bass guitars for about ten years now. Since that I have tried a wide range of different bass strings. After extensive playing I decided that D'Addario strings are the best choice for me. They are not overpriced, they last a long time and just give me the tone that I want. One could also mention the differently coloured ball ends that make restringing your bass a bit easier.

For my long scale 5-string bass guitars the D'Addario EXL170-5 strings seem to work best. I use them for B-standard tunings and occasionally for A#-standard. While I wouldn't use them for drop tunings they might as well work for other people just fine. You should try them yourself because the perfect string gauge also depends on your personal preferences.

I would like to add that I am very satisfied with the low B string. I have played a few low Bs by other string manufactures that didn't feel right and had different tone characteristics than the other four strings. With the EXL170-5 set you get a low B-string that isn't floppy at all and delivers a warm and full sounding tone.

I should mention the fact that these strings are nickel wound. So if you have any problems with nickel, you should consider other strings.

Since I started playing bass I used the Daddario EXL170, when I started playing 5 String basses the natural choice was to use the EXL170-5.
I have tried many other brands and gauge of string but my brand of choice will always be Daddario and the string I use for standard tuning will always be this EXL170-5, (I use these to play everything from Death Metal to Funk and anything in between).
The strings sound bright and have a definite depth and clarity that sounds more brilliant and lasts longer than other brands I have tried, even outlasting some coated strings I have tried.
In terms of quality, sound and value for money these strings are the best.

The first thing I look for in 5-string sets is that the low B string has a strong fundamental, and that the volume difference between it and the other four strings is not too great.
These strings deliver that without venturing into the higher-end ?50-100 set. I can't tell any difference in the balance of the B string outside of studio recordings, which a tiny bit of compression will easily handle.

Sound-wise they are springy with an aggressive tone, but not the warmest strings going.

Oh, they last ages too! I've had the same set on my main bass for maybe two months of heavy use, and though they've lost some shine, they're still quite springy!

I have tried many different string sets, at every different price point, and haven't found a better quality: price ratio than these.
These are the perfect solution when you need that new string sound, without spending ?1000s a year on strings.

I have been using D'Addario strings now for over 20 years, both on guitar and bass. I have tried various other makes over the years for my 4 and 5 string basses such as Warwick, Rotosound, Elite, and Fender but I always came back to D'Addario. Why? In a word, Quality. I love the colour coded ball ends of the strings as well, it just makes things that little bit simpler when changing strings.

I've only ever had one issue in all the time I've been using them and that was a tiny winding fault in the middle of a string. I photographed it and sent an email to D'Addario who replied within a day and sent out a new string along with an explanation and an apology within 2 days! Very impressive.

As for the sound, they are very bright and growly, plenty of mids (I use them with Jazz style basses) and the harmonics are rich and full when used with the bridge pick-up. They keep their "fresh on" brightness for about 5 or 6 gigs (my hands aren't that sweaty, luckily) but I don't really notice that they are dull for a lot more. I've also never had one snap on me yet.... (I've Jinxed that one now!).

For this price you can not go wrong. They also stay very fresh in their protective packaging as well which means I can bulk buy a few sets at a time and not have to worry about them degrading over time. I recently used a set that was 3 years old and they were still as new within their plastic bag. Highly recommended.