A bass player in pain

[Fox Mulder]

A friend of mine recently shifted from playing guitars to bass (pick). He plays in a progressive metal in the likes Opeth with minor influences from Judas Priest. He's doing pretty good but would wanna know the minimal yet good enough gauge for standard tuning (b-e-a-d-g).

He also wants to know what picks (gauge and all that jazz) he should go for. Kindly drop in them guitar centre links and suggestions. Thanks a ton guys!

 

[egan.]

http://accessories.musiciansfriend....Regular-Light-5String-Bass-Strings?sku=104383

I wouldn't go lighter than this b/c it actually gets harder to pick lighter gauge bass strings b/c the recovery time is so long (they get floppy). Maybe he could get by with these but I doubt it would make a huge difference in comfort. Also, while I prefer the sound of steel, he might like nickel as it's a lot easier on your fingers.

 

[Djunn]

I recently changed my bass strings to what Egan suggested and I can say that they are pretty comfortable to play and have a very nice tone. I had to drill the bridge just a little to fit .130 though, but not a big deal if you have necessary gear. Some basses even doesn't need it. Mine is a cheap Ashton 5 string with very old strings and B string was almost unusable due to shitty tone, but Prosteels moved it to a new level. I'm very happy with it.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Thank you!