D'Addario's XL'S are very nice. They are smooth to the touch, have a good amount of life to them, and they are consistent from pack to pack. (no dead strings!). The Ernie Ball's that I tried were the hybrid slinky type, and they sounded dead to me. DR's are also great strings. If you are on a budget(who is'nt)try to find Bass Blasters made by Dean Markley. Before I got an endorsement w/them I bought these whenever I could. I mean if a store had ten packs, I bought them all since they were about $20.00 a pack and they had TWO SETS of strings per pack and they sounded pretty damn good. Incidently I just bought a used Distillate and there was a set of Alembic strings in the case. so I threw them on and noticed small bits of corrosion on them(Mind you the former owner hardly played this thing at all from what I was told, so they just sat around) but they still sounded killer! Take this with you, nothing sounds like stainless steel round wounds,but they are tough on the frets. Nickel over steel round wounds are close but don't quite have that zing,but they are easier on your frets. There are strings like Elixer's or Thomastiks that don't have that grit tone that stainless steels have, but they will sound the same way from the first time you put them on, well- for a long while. Tonally they do last longer than average strings. Take care and Happy Holidays!
