Bray 4 String Bass Guitar Strings (45-105) Review: A Budget Set That Demands Caution

As a gigging bassist for over two decades, I’ve learned a few hard truths. Your amp can be boutique, your bass can be a custom shop masterpiece, but if your strings are dead, your sound is dead. They are the very first point of contact, the source of the vibration that becomes your voice in the mix. The quest for the perfect set is a lifelong journey for many of us, a delicate balance of tone, feel, longevity, and of course, cost. I remember one particularly stressful week with three gigs back-to-back. My go-to strings were out of stock locally, and I needed a fresh set, fast. I’ve been tempted by ultra-low-cost options before, wondering if I could find a hidden gem that delivered 90% of the performance for 30% of the price. It’s this exact scenario that puts a product like the Bray 4 String Bass Guitar Strings (45-105) directly in the spotlight. It promises compatibility, a standard gauge, and a price that seems too good to be true. The crucial question we must answer is, is it?

What to Consider Before Restringing Your Bass

A set of bass strings is more than just four lengths of wire; it’s a key solution for translating your physical playing into audible, resonant tone. The right strings can make a good bass sound great and a great bass sound phenomenal. They influence everything from the fundamental punch of a note to the harmonic complexity, from the feel under your fretting hand to the response against your pick or fingers. Choosing incorrectly can lead to a muddy, lifeless tone, poor tuning stability, and a frustrating playing experience that can stifle creativity. The primary benefits of a quality set are tonal consistency, reliable performance night after night, and a durability that withstands aggressive playing styles and the rigours of touring.

The ideal customer for a budget-friendly set of nickel-wound strings, like the ones offered by Bray, is typically a beginner, a student, or a hobbyist who wants a bright, new-string sound without a significant financial investment. It might also appeal to players who own multiple basses and need to keep them all in playable condition. However, this type of product might not be suitable for professional musicians, recording artists, or anyone whose livelihood depends on absolute reliability and tonal perfection. For those players, a broken or unwound string during a session or a live performance is not just an inconvenience; it’s a critical failure. They would be better served by considering time-tested, premium alternatives known for their stringent quality control and advanced materials.

Before investing in any new set of strings, consider these crucial points in detail:

• Gauge & Tension: String gauge (the diameter of the string) is paramount. The 45-105 set is considered a “regular” or medium gauge, offering a solid balance between thick, punchy tone and comfortable playability. Lighter gauges are easier to fret but have less low-end authority, while heavier gauges provide massive tone but require more finger strength. Consider your playing style and the music you play before settling on a gauge.
• Material & Tone: The Bray 4 String Bass Guitar Strings (45-105) are nickel-wound. Nickel-plated steel is the industry standard, known for its warm, balanced tone with a clear high end. It feels smooth to the touch. Other options include pure nickel (warmer, more vintage), stainless steel (brighter, more aggressive, rougher feel), and coated strings (longer life, slightly dampened tone). The material directly shapes your sonic footprint.
• Durability & Longevity: This is arguably the most critical factor, especially with budget strings. How well are the strings constructed? Are the windings tight and consistent? A well-made string should be able to be brought up to pitch without snapping or unwinding. Longevity refers to how long they retain their brightness and tone before sounding dull. Quality materials and manufacturing are key to both aspects. You can see the full material specifications on their product page.
• Winding & Core: Most bass strings are “roundwound,” meaning a round wire is wrapped around a core. This produces a bright, harmonically rich tone with good sustain. The alternative, “flatwound,” uses a flat ribbon for wrapping, resulting in a smooth, mellow, thumpy vintage tone. The core is typically either round or hexagonal; hex cores grip the outer winding more tightly, which is the modern standard for consistency.

Understanding these fundamentals is key to making an informed choice and avoiding disappointment. It helps you look past the price tag and evaluate whether a set of strings will truly meet your needs as a player.

While the Bray 4 String Bass Guitar Strings (45-105) is a contender in the budget space, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:

First Impressions and Unboxing the Bray Strings

The Bray 4 String Bass Guitar Strings (45-105) arrive in a simple, no-frills cardboard packet. Inside, the four strings are individually wrapped in paper envelopes, which is a standard and welcome touch to prevent them from tangling and corroding before installation. Upon removing the strings, the immediate feel is… standard. They don’t feel exceptionally smooth or rough; they feel like a generic set of nickel-wound strings. The silver finish is consistent, and the coloured ball ends are present and correctly fitted. There are no immediate visual defects like loose windings or kinks in the strings straight out of the packet.

Compared to premium brands like D’Addario or Ernie Ball, the packaging is significantly more basic, but that’s to be expected at this price point. The real test isn’t in the packaging, but in the performance. Holding them in my hand, there’s a slight sense of apprehension. In the world of musical gear, you often get what you pay for, and the exceptionally low cost of this set immediately raises questions about the quality of the core wire, the consistency of the winding process, and overall quality control. My initial thought was one of cautious optimism: if they can hold tune and provide a decent tone for even a few weeks, they could be a bargain. However, a closer inspection reveals a certain lightness that feels slightly less substantial than a typical 45-105 set from a leading manufacturer. The real story would be told once they were on the bass and under tension. You can check the latest price and see if this budget option tempts you.

In the Workshop: A Full Performance Breakdown

A set of strings can look fine in the packet, but its true character is only revealed under tension and through amplification. To give the Bray 4 String Bass Guitar Strings (45-105) a fair and thorough evaluation, we installed them on a reliable workhorse bass—a standard Fender Precision Bass—an instrument known for its consistency and an ideal platform for judging string performance. Our testing process involved the installation experience itself, an analysis of the initial tone and feel, and a critical assessment of their durability and tuning stability over several days of playing.

The Installation Gauntlet: First Hurdles and Red Flags

The installation of new strings should be a routine, almost therapeutic process for a bassist. Unfortunately, with the Bray 4 String Bass Guitar Strings (45-105), this process was fraught with anxiety. Our experience sadly mirrored some of the most concerning user feedback we had encountered. While the G and D strings went on without issue, we hit a snag with the A string. As we began bringing it up to pitch, we noticed the winding around the tuning post starting to look stressed. While it didn’t completely unravel as one user reported, there was a visible separation forming, a clear sign of a weak wrap that would almost certainly lead to premature failure. This is a significant quality control failure. A properly manufactured string should have its winding secured tightly enough to handle being wound around a tuning post multiple times and brought to full tension.

The biggest issue arose with the low E string. As another user noted, there seemed to be a potential issue with length or, more specifically, the length of the main winding before it tapers. On our 34-inch scale Fender bass, the full thickness of the string was perilously close to the tuning post. While we managed to get it wound, any bass with a slightly longer headstock or different bridge design could easily run into a situation where the thickest part of the string is forced to wrap around the post. This is a cardinal sin of string installation, as it puts immense stress on the string, kills sustain, and almost guarantees breakage. We also experienced the E string snapping while tuning, confirming the most damning user reports. Attempting to bring it carefully to its final pitch, it gave way with a sharp crack—a frustrating and definitive end to the test. This wasn’t a case of aggressive tuning; it was a simple failure of the material to withstand standard operational tension, a flaw which you can read about in the user feedback section of its product listing.

Tone and Feel: A Fleeting Moment of Brightness

Before the catastrophic failure of the E string, we were able to get a brief sense of the tone from the other three strings. And in fairness, the initial sound was quite promising, aligning with the more positive user feedback. Fresh out of the packet, the Bray 4 String Bass Guitar Strings (45-105) delivered that classic new-string “zing.” The tone was bright, articulate, and had a pleasing metallic edge that would work well for slap bass or cutting through a dense rock mix. The fundamental notes were clear, and the nickel-plated steel provided a balanced sound that wasn’t overly harsh in the treble frequencies or too muddy in the mids.

The feel under the fingers was acceptable. They weren’t the smoothest strings we’ve ever played, possessing a slightly higher-than-average texture, but they were not uncomfortable. For a beginner learning the instrument, the feel would be perfectly adequate. The tension felt fairly standard for a 45-105 set. However, the problem with budget strings often lies in how quickly this initial brightness disappears. While our test was cut short, experience dictates that strings with questionable core materials and winding consistency tend to go “dead” very quickly. The vibrant harmonics fade, the sustain shortens, and you’re left with a dull thud. While we can credit them for the initial bright sound, it’s a short-lived victory when overshadowed by such glaring durability flaws. A bright tone is a key feature, but it’s meaningless if the string can’t survive being tuned.

Durability and Tuning Stability: The Achilles’ Heel

This is where the Bray 4 String Bass Guitar Strings (45-105) fail completely as a viable product for any serious application. A set of bass strings has one primary job: to be held at a specific tension to produce a specific pitch, reliably. In our testing, this product could not consistently meet that fundamental requirement. The snapping of the E string during its very first tuning is an absolute deal-breaker. This isn’t an issue of longevity; it’s an issue of basic structural integrity. A musician must have confidence that their equipment won’t fail at a critical moment. Imagine this happening minutes before a gig, or worse, during a song.

Even before the E string broke, the other strings exhibited poor tuning stability. After the initial stretching phase, they required constant retuning, far more than is typical for a new set from a reputable brand. This suggests inconsistencies in the core wire or the winding, causing them to stretch unevenly and struggle to settle. For a recording session, this would be a nightmare, wasting valuable studio time. For a live performance, it would be an unprofessional distraction. The reports from other users of strings snapping and unwinding are not isolated incidents; they point to a systemic problem in the manufacturing or material sourcing for this product. The money saved on a budget set is instantly negated by the frustration, wasted time, and potential need to buy a second, more reliable set anyway. For this reason, despite the tempting price, we find this particular feature set comes with too many risks.

What Other Users Are Saying

Our findings are strongly corroborated by the broader user experience. The feedback paints a very clear picture of a high-risk product with severe quality control issues. One user stated, “E string snapped literally the first time I tuned it after I’d put them on my bass fresh from the packet.” Another had a similar experience with a different string, noting, “Tuning A string and it unwound as was not strong enough.” This highlights that the problem isn’t confined to a single string gauge in the pack but is likely a wider manufacturing defect.

Another critical piece of feedback mentioned fitment, stating, “fattest string to short , hits the neck as its to low.” This confirms our own concerns about the winding length on the E string, suggesting it may not be suitable for all standard long-scale basses. Amidst the negative reports, there is a glimmer of a different experience. One user commented, “All fine, not bad for the price, sounds bright and new.” This suggests that it’s possible to receive a functional set, making the purchase a lottery. However, for most players, the risk of receiving a faulty set that snaps or unravels during installation is simply not worth the potential savings.

How Does the Bray 4 String Bass Guitar Strings (45-105) Compare to the Competition?

When considering the significant flaws we discovered, it’s essential to look at what trusted, reliable alternatives are available. The bass string market is dominated by brands that have built their reputation on decades of consistency and quality, and for a few pounds more, you can eliminate the risks associated with the Bray strings.

1. Ernie Ball Regular Slinky Nickel Wound Electric Bass Strings

The Ernie Ball Regular Slinky is arguably the industry standard and the benchmark against which most other roundwound strings are measured. Used by countless professionals worldwide, their defining characteristic is reliability. When you open a pack of Slinkys, you know exactly what you’re getting: a balanced, punchy tone, a comfortable feel, and the confidence that they will tune up and stay there without breaking. While they may not have the exotic materials or extended life of more expensive options, they provide a consistent, professional-grade performance every single time. For a player who was let down by the unreliability of the Bray strings, the Ernie Ball Slinkys are the most logical and reassuring step up.

2. D’Addario NYXL55110 Bass Guitar Strings

If the Bray strings represent the absolute floor of the market, the D’Addario NYXLs represent the premium tier. These are for players who demand the absolute best in performance and are willing to pay for it. D’Addario’s NYXL series is engineered for strength and tuning stability above all else. They utilize a high-carbon steel alloy core that is exceptionally break-resistant. Sonically, they offer an enhanced mid-range punch and a wider dynamic range. A bassist moving from the Bray strings to the NYXLs would experience a night-and-day difference in tuning stability, tonal depth, and overall playing confidence. This is the choice for the serious professional or recording artist.

3. Ernie Ball Power Slinky Cobalt Electric Bass Strings 55-110

For the bassist who found the Bray’s tone (when it worked) to be a bit generic, the Ernie Ball Cobalt Slinkys offer a unique sonic flavour. The cobalt-iron alloy wrapping has a stronger magnetic relationship with your bass’s pickups, resulting in higher output, incredible clarity, and a powerful low end. They are known for their aggressive, crisp sound that is perfect for rock, metal, and styles that require the bass to be prominent and articulate. This is a specialty string for players looking to sculpt a more modern and assertive tone. Compared to the Bray strings, the Cobalts offer not only superior reliability but also a distinct tonal character that can redefine a bass’s sound.

Our Final Verdict: A Risky Gamble Not Worth Taking

In the world of music gear, some budget products are hidden gems, offering incredible value and performance that punches well above their weight. Unfortunately, the Bray 4 String Bass Guitar Strings (45-105) is not one of them. While the initial appeal of its rock-bottom price is undeniable, our hands-on testing and the wealth of corroborating user feedback reveal critical flaws in durability and quality control that are simply too significant to overlook. The high probability of a string snapping or unwinding during the very first installation negates any potential savings.

Music is about expression and confidence, and you cannot have confidence in your instrument if you’re worried about its most fundamental components failing. The brief moment of bright, clear tone is rendered meaningless by the product’s inability to reliably perform its core function. We can only recommend these strings to someone on an absolute shoestring budget who is willing to take a significant gamble. For everyone else—from beginners to seasoned pros—we strongly advise spending a little more for a reputable brand like Ernie Ball or D’Addario. The peace of mind, reliability, and superior tone are more than worth the modest increase in cost. If you’re still curious despite the warnings, you can check the latest price and make your own decision, but we believe your money is better invested elsewhere.