NY XL D'Addario Strings

[Jacew]

Re: NY XL D'Addario Strings

Yes SS strings are a little brighter. The real downside is however is because they are so hard they are extremely hard on your frets. If you play out a lot like I do it's an absolute killer for your guitars!!

Indeed. Pretty much need SS frets as well with them.

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: NY XL D'Addario Strings

I would never use SS strings simply due to excessive fretwear. I do have one guitar with SS frets, and I think they add a little brightness in a very good way.

I put S.I.T.s on my other Charvel, and they do indeed seem brighter than the NYXLs, and lack nothing else. So, back to S.I.T. for me, although I can see the appeal in NYXLs.

[peedenmark7]

Re: NY XL D'Addario Strings

Good topic, glad I found this.

I had been saving my player points for just about 25 years.... I don't know if the new points system was fair with my old points packaging or not, but was happy to read that D'addario was now letting you get strings with your points rather than pint glasses that the logo comes off 1st run through the dishwasher, irregular sized t-shirts, stools poorly painted, etc.
However, I was thoroughly irritated when found that I could only get NYXL's , not the XL's I have been using exclusively since 1983.

Months after getting my points , I inquired about using them for XL's and was told by a players circle service rep,sit tight, that they were "thinking" about opening the program up to whatever strings you want [makes sense right] which never happened , and when I re-inquired same guy said he never told me that . Whatever....
So rather than have 21,000 pts sitting, I took the NYXL's not knowing they were also 3 times the cost... I thought 13 sets of strings was a little lean for 20 years of saving the stupid packaging .
I hope the 10+ pounds of strings I am gonna send them will be worth my while

Anyway, my NYXL findings are as follows:

The strings do indeed last longer than the XL's. I'm in the mid west and the weather swings from humid to bone dry and everything in between , my guitars travel with me as well.
Having a a collection of guitars ranging from 35-60 at any one given time , I'd certainly like to extend the life of strings on guitars that seldom see daylight or are rarely played, so as not to have to change crusty strings on guitars I never touched over a year or two span.

The strings are definitely louder unplugged/acoustically than the XL's , and the overall timbre or tone is not as metallic , they seem more balanced, but
they do have a pronounced mid spike amplified which I do not care for, especially while playing clean.

Under gain through my '76-78 Master Volume Marshalls they seem to cancel the presence out , Mesa F50 they accentuate the bad mids, I use an F50 because they don't have that typical Mesa mid hump , in my Vintage Fender amps, be it Super Reverb or Concert they pull up the mids a little too much for my liking.

The tuning hype is nonsense, If you have a guitar with tuning problems, you will always have tuning problems until you rectify the cause.
I installed a set on a modded '85 Jackson Soloist Custom back in November, that came factory with a Kahler, but was later modded to Floyd, no lock nut mod. I have the trem blocked and use it as my house hard tail guitar for ease of tuning. This guitar has an issue with the D string nut slot, and NYXL's or not, tuning there is no better, and overall only marginal improvement with regard to string stretch/slippage.
However, 2 months later they still sound brand new to me, and I really play this guitar.

If you have a Floyd equipped guitar that is properly set up, AND STRETCH YOUR STRINGS, you should have no tuning issues period... 90% of my guitars carry a Floyd, none newer than 1986 and I have ZERO tuning issues. I tune between gig sets whether the guitar needs it or not, I want my fine tuners in the same spot each time I pick up the guitar and the guitars that sit on stands most of the night go through periods of hot and cold depending on the lights, and strings will expand and contract, go out of tune from that alone.

I had no idea these were balanced tension strings until I read this posting. I did find the feel a bit different than my XL's , not that I was subconsciously playing the guitar differently , the lower strings just seemed, no different when bending than the high ones, which again I like and dislike depending on what I am playing or how aggressive I am soloing, etc. I think this might be the biggest draw for me as I sat comparing this guitar to another '85 Jackson Soloist with Regular XL's. The wound strings also have a different feel from the XL's which I honestly don't mind at all.


Is it enough to make me buy them after the last of the players circle sets are gone ?? Will I even keep the last 12 sets ?
I'm gonna say at $12.99 a set, a resounding no...and a likely not, as why mess with something new that you are on the fence about or have to dink around with your guitar , which is set perfectly after hundreds of XL's have been on it. ??
I've tweaked the rod on my main guitar maybe 4 times since 1985, the guitar is rock solid, so why muck it up.

While touring during the 80's , I changed my strings after every single show on my main, every 3rd on my backups , whether they got used or not, so longevity is not an issue.
I like the sound of the XL's, they are a bit jangly metallic sounding when new, no note jumps out more than another unless I make it so,and they are fairly transparent, I want no added coloration period.
Downside is that the XL's strings do degrade after a couple weeks and everything you like is lost until you install a new set.

Now, I have heard that the XL's were re-formulated at some point over the past 18 years ? Is this true ? Different core shape or material ?
I have noticed what I believe to be a different wind feel at times , but this could be my man-o-pause kicking in !!

****************
The feedback I would really like to hear is from Roland Guitar Synth users, as to whether the perceivable loudness of the string makes any difference on how well the GK pickup triggers notes or picks up the signal ??
If there was some tangible evidence to support that, I would more than likely keep the strings I have and switch that guitar over permanently as that is all it is used for.

Anyone ?

[Mincer]

Re: NY XL D'Addario Strings

Thanks for that review.

I used the NYXLs wiith guitar synth, but mine was with RMC piezos, not the Roland GK pickup. I have to say, I don't notice any difference in synth tracking with the more expensive strings.

[6stringerguy]

Re: NY XL D'Addario Strings

To throw my hat in the ring I’ll say this
I love the sound and feel of nyxl
The chronology of my string habits was
Ernie ball slinky (first week of playing electric)
Daddario XL ( the following two months)
Daddario NYXL (the following 18 months)
Ernie ball paradigm (on a single guitar to give em a try, not my thing)
Elixir nanowebs (this is tricky as I’m really enjoying the nanowebs at the moment and have just got my entire collection strung up with a elixirs so I can test the tone in all the tunings I use, the longevity and the feel)
If I prefer the elixirs I’ll stay with them if not back to nyxl for me
Price for me isn’t much of a issue as I happily get 3-4 months out of a set of nyxls

[tnvol]

Re: NY XL D'Addario Strings

I really like them on my tele. Not so much on CU24. Plan on trying them on a LP. I've been a regular XL guy for years and have zero issues with them.

[Jacew]

Re: NY XL D'Addario Strings

To throw my hat in the ring I’ll say this
I love the sound and feel of nyxl
The chronology of my string habits was
Ernie ball slinky (first week of playing electric)
Daddario XL ( the following two months)
Daddario NYXL (the following 18 months)
Ernie ball paradigm (on a single guitar to give em a try, not my thing)
Elixir nanowebs (this is tricky as I’m really enjoying the nanowebs at the moment and have just got my entire collection strung up with a elixirs so I can test the tone in all the tunings I use, the longevity and the feel)
If I prefer the elixirs I’ll stay with them if not back to nyxl for me
Price for me isn’t much of a issue as I happily get 3-4 months out of a set of nyxls

Ernie Ball 9's: Too slinky...
Ernie Ball 10's: Felt great and I used them quite a while.
Dunlop 10's: When I switched to these, my tone improved vastly. I realized that ernie balls just don't work with my guitar. Plains had annoying screech that went away with those strings.
NYXl's: much better than dead sounding dunlops I had previously. I used these since they came to spring 2017 (I think)
Curt Mangan's: Best I've played. And cheap. Much livelier and slightly brighter than NYXLs. Don't last as long and take couple of hours of playing to get them sound right (unlike NYXLs).

I started to use custom gauges with NYXL's. Custom sets of Mangans cost 8€ (10$) vs. NYXL 16€ (20$)

[Jeff_H]

Re: NY XL D'Addario Strings

I actually have a set that I haven't tried yet..... the guy at my local music store recommended them to me. I used to use SOS strings exclusively, but I'm almost through my stash. I have always preferred pure nickel strings, so I bought a dozen from Curt Mangen. I'll have to give these a try.