Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

[TwilightOdyssey]

I just got a few sets of Dean's strings to try out against my usual DR Pure Blues. I've heard that they are tonally similar but that the Snake Oil strings last much longer.

Anyone have much experience with 'em?

 

[beandip]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

I had a customer that would only play Snake Oils. I don't know where he got them, but he always had packs of several gauges to give a bunch of folks a chance to try 'em. I gave 'em a shot, to stray away from my usual EB rock and rolls and D'addarios. I had no qualms. Sounded similar to the EBs and had a great feel. I can't comment on their life. I wound up having to do some work on that guitar and so they only stayed on for about a week.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

I have tried them in the short term but not in the long term...I don't want to get hung up on someting I can't get in stores plus Dean has had issues in the past filling orders.

I was impressed with them but it wasn't my guitar and I didn't spend too much time with it however the owner of said guitar swears by them.

I just put in an order for some DR Pure Blues in custom gauges and Im hoping I like them...

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

I have tried them in the short term but not in the long term...I don't want to get hung up on someting I can't get in stores plus Dean has had issues in the past filling orders.

I was impressed with them but it wasn't my guitar and I didn't spend too much time with it however the owner of said guitar swears by them.

I just put in an order for some DR Pure Blues in custom gauges and Im hoping I like them...

Did you order the 10-52s?

 

[aleclee]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

I like 'em but can live without 'em.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

Did you order the 10-52s?

Sho' nuff did...I gotta wait until Monday before I'll have any details but the ball is rolling...

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

Believe it or not, Pure Blues can't be had in NYC! I have to go to Hoboken to get 'em. I think they are the best strings you can find, but there are two strings I've not tried yet: one being Snake Oil and the other being R Cocco (The "R" in DR, according to legend -- http://www.coccostrings.com ). I've heard from people I trust that R Cocco strings are even better than DR, but they were like finding hen's teeth until recently.

I played with the Snake Olis acoustically last night whilst they were stretching; will play em in anger at rehearsal tonight.

 

[scottish]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

i didnt like them at all. they only lasted about a week for me but i tend to destroy non coated strings anyway.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

i didnt like them at all. they only lasted about a week for me but i tend to destroy non coated strings anyway.

Interesting, thanks for the feedback. I'm the opposite -- coated strings give me the willies.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

Didn't live up to the hype for me. I wore a few sets out in a matter of weeks on different guitars. I went right back to my DRs afterwards.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

I tried their pure nickel formula. They were good strings, but I liked the GHS strings I was using at the time better.

Later on I tried their rock forumla. It was also good, but not good enough to make me switch away from Ernie Ball.

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

I usually stick with D'Addario or DR but I've played a total of 3 sets of Snake Oil Rock Formula strings (10-52). They had a nice feel but didn't seem that different from any other string available in stores.

As for Leo's ability to fill orders, I placed an order probably a month ago for two sets of strings and they still haven't come. I emailed Leo Muser and he told me to forward him the PayPal email one more time so he could process the order; that was two weeks ago...

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

Believe it or not, Pure Blues can't be had in NYC! I have to go to Hoboken to get 'em. I think they are the best strings you can find, but there are two strings I've not tried yet: one being Snake Oil and the other being R Cocco (The "R" in DR, according to legend -- http://www.coccostrings.com ). ....

You´re kidding right? I can get custom guage DR sets on a whim in Germany and you can´t get them at all in NYC??? That´s just screwed up, man.... :beerchug:

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

Zerb, I kid you not!

After a 3 hr rehearsal tonight, playing a guitar I know very well -- I think that the Snake Oil strings are definitely darker than DRs, and a have a bit more midrange push.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

I can't get custom pure blues either!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

I can't get custom pure blues either!

Yes you can!

 

[phil_104]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

Nothing special IMO, but I can destroy anything made of metal with my acid-hands (I should be in xmen...). Anyways, they didn't last or feel any better than my EBs.

 

[vinterland]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

I've heard bad things about their customer service and ability to fill orders.

 

[jimijames]

Re: Any fans of Snake Oil strings here?

I've been using them for about a year now, and I have had an order or two not show up at my door, but that was fixed with an e-mail and a paypal receipt. FWIW I've had the same set on my strat for 4 months now and they're still not grimy; they don't rust like steel strings do, which is very nice. As for the tone, they are darker than traditional strings, with the rock formulas being closer to the Ernie Balls I remember. They're the closest to my favorite set ever, the GHS nickel rockers, gauged .11-.48 - However I can only find the Eric Johnson ones now, which aren't the same gauge and sound different to my ears so I'm sticking with snake oil until something better comes along.

I usually use them until they break, which on average is about 3 months or so. Also, I don't notice an appreciable degradation in sound quality throughout the life of the strings, but my hands don't sweat very much and the sweat itself isn't exactly acidic or anything.

Again, like with anything, YMMV