XL Nickel Wound

D'Addario EXL165 XL Nickel Wound Bass Strings 105 - 85 - 65 -45 These bass strings are the best I have ever used, simply brilliant. I play a Epiphone Thunderbird Classic IV bass and these strings compliment the bass very well indeed. I did have the heavier gauge first, 105 - 85 - 70 - 50, but these were a little on the heavy side for me. Both gauges however have fantastic, glossy highs, thundering lows ( get it! ), not too boomy but enough to make you pull a funny face in approval - you know the kind - and of course great mids ensuring you don't naturally get lost in the mix. If you buy the double pack it makes these strings exceptional value for money - not that the single pack isn't already. I like to always have a back up set in my case just on the off chance one breaks ( yeah right! ). The life expectancy of these strings obviously depends on how often you play and how well you look after your instrument, but even if you use your bass regularly and don't wipe it down quite as often as you should - just like I do - you will get an easy 6 months out of the strings before you notice any change after the break in period, from there on I would describe the tone as "warmer" but certainly not dead like some strings inevitably end up after that length of time. Saying this, I can't recall ever having ended up with a "dead" set of D'Addario Nickels, some being on as long as year, but obviously this is subjective. Now i'm sure you've played those round wound bass strings that make you feel like you are massaging razorblades, am I right? The state it leaves your fingertips in is just awful! I'm sure you can think of a few brands that do this as can I. Well good news, especially for your frets! These D'Addario's aren't like that at all! Of course being nickel wound really helps with the general "smoother" feel as opposed to steel wound strings (again subjective), but these are definitely smoother and easier to play on than any other Nickels I have tried. The last thing you want from a string is a great tone and a terrible feel, making the whole experience of playing a bit of a let down. I have just had my bass set up and asked for these strings to be put on after the previous set of D’Addario’s being on for at least 9 months, however I almost had the same set put back on being as they were, in all honesty, still sounding great. Overall great product, great price and long lasting making them great value for money, especially a twin pack! Bass Players who haven't tried these out yet, get some ASAP, I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

These strings are amazing n sound so good

Nice strings that feel smooth under fingers, and produce a good punchy ring when slapped, not having used these before I’m not sure how they’ll last, but so far so good, for this price I’m impressed!

I tried them out! They are just right for me. Nice quality , weight, playability, feel great. The tension is just perfect!

Bassist of 37 years playing here - I've used Rotosounds, Warwick Black Label, Bass Centre Elites, and a whole load more. When I got a bass strung with these D'addario XL nickels, I switched all my basses to them. They come fitted on Sire basses, and sound excellent. They wash in denatured alcohol really well, too - come out nice and fresh. Offer on ***2*** 5-string sets (45-130) is outrageous at under £30 so I've been ordering a few for future use. All legit!

swapped from ernie balls as the last couple of packs i had rusted up and i realised they no longer nickel wind them they nickel coat them so soon as that nickel coating wears they rust, so far these strings have been excellent beautiful tone feel great and no rust as yet as these are actually nickel wound with a corrosion protection added so ernie has lost a long term customer for cheaping out these strings are 100% worth every penny i will try the NYXL's next but these strings are excellent value also, will update this as my tests of these strings progress but so far i am impressed

For a short scale, these are ideal. I chose the 50 to 105 and getting good output and the tension balance is spot on. Usually I prefer the flatwounds but are too expensive, I've adapted my bass by changing the capacitor to a 0.068uf one and now have the tone flexibility I want.

Quality strings great price probably better than ernie ball.although both quality.