Why do bass strings have a long life

[guitar344]

Why do bass strings last longer than guitar strings. Are bass strings further away from their breaking tension than guitar strings? Bass strings don't get worn out as fast as guitar strings because fretting effects a small part of the string. Bass strings are mighty tough. I heard you can tune bass strings up a third easily.

[HHP]

To me, they don't. Dull, lifeless bass is usually the indicator for me that I need to change strings.

[Mooh]

I use D'Addario Chromes which are stainless steel. That's the main reason they last so long. Plus I look after them, keep them clean and dry. I like an almost double bass tone on my electric basses, especially the fretless, so I can allow them to age longer for that slightly less bright tone.

[PointBlank]

I play Bass at church. I put D'addario nylon tapewound on a maple body and neck Squier Jazz Bass. Clean and thumpy. When your looking for that kinda tone, the older the strings get the better they sound.

[PointBlank]

Back to the OP's question. I'm guessing cuz their so much thicker makes a lot of difference. Again in the end, the tone people are looking for is opposite of a guitar. Most don't want a bright sounding Bass. Those that do, probably replace strings often.

[martind42]

It's because they're more laid back, more chill than guitar strings.

[Mooh]

Originally Posted by martind42

It's because they're more laid back, more chill than guitar strings.

Yeah, they're less high strung.

[Wengr]

It's common for an electric bassist to remove an old set of strings, clean them well and re-install. They will not sound as bright as new, but often will recover quite a bit. I have a number of basses. One is a 1996 Thunderbird. It has countless shows and hours on it and still wears the original strings. For the tone of that bass and the amp I favor with it, clean old strings are fine. However, on an instrument where I require a very bright modern tone, I will select stainless rounds and change them often. I believe that the major difference is that the strings are big enough to suffer much less metal fatigue than guitar strings. For example, on acoustic guitar I'll use a variety of tunings and therefore constantly retune. I'll never use coated guitar strings, for one reason because they fatigue just as fast as regular, and they need to be changed for that reason before they get dirty or corrode anyway. This does not seem to be an issue with typical gauge bass strings.

[Earl49]

It's fairly simple, really. Guitar strings and the frequency range they operate in have a lot of higher frequencies and harmonics. They sound dead when these highs start to fade. Bass strings never had them in the first place.

[Wade Hampton]

The last two contributors to this thread mentioned some factors that I think are crucial here. First, Wengr wrote:

Originally Posted by Wengr

I believe that the major difference is that the strings are big enough to suffer much less metal fatigue than guitar strings.

Right. They've got considerably more mass to begin with, and they also typically don't get yanked and cranked into a variety of alternative tunings, which is what really kills guitar strings faster than anything else.

Then Earl pointed out:

Originally Posted by Earl49

It's fairly simple, really. Guitar strings and the frequency range they operate in have a lot of higher frequencies and harmonics. They sound dead when these highs start to fade. Bass strings never had them in the first place.

Precisely.

So with bass guitar strings you've got these two crucial factors from the outset: they're just got far more metal in them than guitar strings have, making them considerably less fragile, and - perhaps more importantly - the upper harmonics that are needed to give guitar strings their full sound are not needed from bass strings. If those upper partials were present in bass guitar strings they would, in fact, get in the way of the bass guitar's usual musical role.

Of course, there are exceptions to that. Those of us who remember Stanley Clarke's marvelous playing and his innovative Alembic basses would say: "Sounds to me like there are some upper partials flying around THERE," but Clarke and his instruments are the exception that prove the rule.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller