Ernie Ball bass strings for 6-string bass guitar
The Ernie Ball 2838 6-String Slinky Bass is a string set for 6-string bass guitar. If you are looking for Ernie Ball bass strings for a 6-string bass, the Slinky Bass line is an obvious place to start, as the name is closely tied to the history of modern string sets.
With this model, the background of the Slinky name is especially important. Ernie Ball built its reputation by paying close attention to what players needed in real use. From that approach came sets that differed from what was standard at the time, and that is exactly what made Slinky strings widely known.
The story behind Ernie Ball 2838 6-String Slinky Bass
Behind Ernie Ball was Roland Sherwood “Ernie” Ball, born in 1930 in Santa Monica, California. Music already ran through the family for generations. His great-grandfather wrote “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”, his grandfather had a sheet music publishing company, and his father taught steel guitar.
As a teenager, Ernie Ball played steel guitar professionally around Los Angeles. He toured with Tommy Duncan, known from “Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys”. During the Korean War, he played with the U.S. Air Force Band. After returning, he worked local stages and appeared on television in the “Doyle O’Dell’s Western Varieties Show”. That brought him wider recognition, alongside studio work and teaching.
In 1958, he opened a guitar shop in Tarzana, California. There he saw up close how players adjusted their strings and sets to suit their own preferences. That practical experience became the foundation for what would later become one of the best-known names in strings.
How Slinky strings began
As the electric guitar grew in popularity, Ernie Ball noticed that many guitarists wanted a set with a lighter plain G string instead of the wound G string that was standard at the time. When Gibson and Fender showed no interest, he asked a string manufacturer in 1962 to make custom sets. He sold those under the Ernie Ball brand in his own store.
Later, he saw that some musicians were building even lighter combinations by using banjo strings as a high E and replacing a low E with an A string. Based on that, Ball had a similar set made and called it Ernie Ball Slinkys. Those strings became a major success and were soon being ordered by shops and musicians across America.
The Slinky name is therefore more than a model line; it reflects a way of thinking in which practical playing needs and demand from musicians came first. That gives the Ernie Ball 2838 6-String Slinky Bass a clear identity for players who deliberately choose a set from this line.
An established name in strings
In the early 1970s, Ernie Ball strings were used by artists including Jimmy Hendrix, Pete Townsend, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. Since then, the company has continued to grow and has become one of the largest string manufacturers in the world.
With the Ernie Ball 2838 6-String Slinky Bass, you are choosing a 6-string bass string set from a brand with a long history in the development of modern strings. In a music store like Magna Music, where you can also get personal advice from musicians, that is exactly the kind of product where brand history and practical use come together for your 6-string bass.
