Ernie Ball bass strings are world renowned for their tone and dependability. Noteworthy bassists who use our bass strings include Paul McCartney, Tony Levin, Mark Hoppus, Mike Herrera, Johnny Christ, Dave La Rue, John Myung, and Juan Alderete.

We offer a vast selection of electric bass strings, all made here in sunny California, USA. Our electric bass strings are constructed using a variety of high-quality metals, including nickel, cobalt, and stainless steel. Before you start shopping, you'll need to consider the number of strings on your bass, the scale length, your playing style and musical genre, how often you play, and the tonal quality desired.

Our most popular bass strings are our Slinky Nickel Wounds. These roundwound bass strings are made from nickel plated steel (as opposed to pure nickel) wrapped around a hex shaped steel core wire. Played by beginners and rockstars alike, Slinky bass strings provide a bright balanced tone, and are offered in many gauges. A bass string's “gauge” refers to its thickness or diameter. As an example, the gauges in our Super Slinky bass set are as follows: 45, 65, 80, 100. This means the skinniest string is .045 inches in diameter, the next is .065 inches in diameter, and so on. The gauge of this bass set can be abbreviated as 45-100. Our most popular gauges are Regular Slinky Bass (50-105), Hybrid Slinky Bass (45-105), and Super Slinky Bass (45-100). Bass Slinkys are available in six different gauges for 4-string bass and three different gauges for 5-string bass. We also offer Slinky bass strings for 6-string bass.

If you're seeking enhanced output, check out our revolutionary Slinky Cobalt bass strings. Cobalt provides a stronger magnetic relationship between pickups and strings than any other alloy previously available. Slinky Cobalt bass strings deliver an extended dynamic range, incredible harmonic response, increased low end, and crisp, clear highs.

After releasing Slinky Cobalts, we extended these innovations into the flatwound realm. Slinky Flatwound bass strings combine the smooth feel of traditional flats with the power of Cobalt. Featuring a bright cobalt ribbon wrap, cobalt underwraps, and optimal hex-core to wrap ratio, the new Slinky Flatwounds are the first flat that actually feels like a flat and sounds like a round.

In addition to our Slinky Flatwounds we have our traditional flatwound bass strings. These strings are wound with flat stainless steel wrap and offered in four 4-string gauges and one 5-string gauge.

Our Slinky Coated bass strings offer the performance and familiarity of our popular Slinky Nickel Wound bass sets with the added benefit of protective nanotechnology. Our nanotechnology repels unwanted moisture and oils, extending the tonal life of your bass strings.

If more brightness is what you seek, look no further than our Slinky Stainless Steel bass strings. These strings provide brighter tone and longer string life due to stainless steel's inherent anti-corrosive properties. These bass strings are available in four different 4-string gauges.

Ernie Ball, along with George Fullerton, created one of the world's first modern acoustic bass guitars in the early 1970s. In the spirit of that tradition, we offer a set of acoustic bass strings for those acoustic bass players out there. These strings are made from phosphor bronze (92% copper, 7.7% tin, and 0.3% phosphorus) wire wrapped around tin plated hex shaped steel core wire.

In addition to the multitude of bass string sets described above, Ernie Ball also offers a wide range of single bass strings. Single strings allow you to piece together a custom gauge set to your exact liking. When you are ready to buy, head over to one of the 5,500 music stores that carry Ernie Ball products. You can discover these stores by visiting our Store Locator.