Cleartone strings, opinions?

jon the art guy

jon the art guy

Nerdy Nerd
Any opinions? Apparently they've got a superthin nickel coating on them, unlike the Elixirs et al. I'm looking forward to getting my Godin's guts open to fix the wiring while I'm at it.

I'll also give my opinion on them when I get a good stretch on them.
 
Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

I like them, much more than elixirs

I've been back to uncoated strings recently cuz I got a deal on some GHS and d'addarios but cleartones are great.
It's been to long since I had cleartones on to make any comments on any perceived sonic differences except to say when i switched back to GHS boomers I really liked the in your face tone of the boomers. Nothing *wrong* with cleartones and they last me like 3 or 4 months when uncoated strings last me 2 or 3 weeks tops cuz of my acid sweat

edit: I used to like elixirs but they don't coat the plain strings with anything last time I checked. They used to but they stopped. Thats been my issue, who cares about my wound strings if my plain strings are rusted?
edit 2: just checked: elixir is finally back to an anti-rust plain string. 'bout time!
 
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Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

I just ordered some. I love Elixirs, they're especially great for a guitar you don't play too often, because you wont wear away the coating and they protect against aging, so on account of that good experience, Ill give these a try and report back also. I wouldn't be able to speak to how well they age for a few months though, maybe a year if their product hype is to be believed.
 
Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

I remember reading Cleartones aren't coated like Elixirs but differently by dipping in a chemical or something. I found a neat way to extend the life of non-coated strings. I place them in one of those small zip press type plastic bags & spray WD40 on them, leave them in for a day or overnight & then use them. They last me more than a whole month this way before showing black signs of rust.
 
Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

I have been messing around with a set. They definitely are corrosion resistant. They have a big tone. But I find them a little harsh sounding (no worse than Dads), and the feel sucks, IMO. I did not like the set that came on my les paul initially, but figured it was the setup. Still do not like them, they have a real loosey goosey rubber band like feel to them compared to everything else I have had on the guitar.
 
Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

I use the acoustic sets on my Taylor, they're great! Nice smooth sound and they last a very long time. I prefer D'addario for electric, though.
 
Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

those may end up on the SG. I wanted a very delicate string for the Godin that seemed like it was an uncoated, but was a dirty liar. Like that chick at church. You know...that one.


mmhmm.


I haven't been to a church in 30 years, but I assume there are those type of girls. I used to go places where they were more evil on the outside. :\
 
Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

I tried 2 sets and one of the wound strings went dead within 2 or 3 days.
The whole set was done in 2-3 weeks. I get 3-4 months out of a set of elixirs.

They sounded good but felt really grippy and slow for me
 
Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

I won a couple of set, from here, a few years ago. I liked them very much, but, I had a problem with the ball ends coming unwound and fell off(!!!), and that was a deal breaker. I'm back to my Ernie Balls, and have also been using Dunlop, lately. By the way, Both guitars I tried them on had fixed bridges, so it wasn't like they were getting whipped by a tremolo... They have a lot of loyal users, so, my experience is apparently not typical. Maybe I should give them another chance?
 
Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

Been using Cleartones for several years since they first came out. Great strings ,last long , sound good. Have them on everything I own (7 electric guitars,2 acoustic, 2 basses) A little pricey, I buy the cheap 10 packs of D'addarios for string break repairs on sale. Way better than Elixirs IMHO , I have tried many of the different types they make too.
 
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Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

I got some Cleartones installed finally. They are very sticky feeling, like very old, rusted strings tend to feel, but with uniform consistency. It's not bad if you like to play blues and do lots of bends, the stickiness help you keep the string under your fingers. It also makes pull-offs more snappy, like shooting off a rubber band. But if you're shredding, or doing a jazz style that requires sliding your fingers along the string in lieu of bends and dives, your fingers can get hunk up on the stickiness. After some practice I bet you can learn to work with it, but I think it would be needless effort when you can always get Elixers instead. Good for blues / funk, not good for technical playing. As for sound, they sound like electric guitar strings.
 
Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

I hate the Dadario coated....last a few days more then regular strings. Never tried clearton but read lots of bad comments about them. My guess is they are similiar to D'Adario's.
Love the elixirs....wish they'd come up with a normal coating that feels like a regular string.
One thing for sure is they keep their ring for months. I just replace the steel strings every couple weeks and can get three months out of them. I buy the 10 packs of plain steels.
There's a reason Taylor puts them on all their guitars. A turd guitar will sound like a rose with Elixirs. When people compare Martins and Taylors you always have to ask are the strings the same. Taylor would lose 25% of their sales if they did away with Elixirs on all their guitars.
 
Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

goodtimes54321 said:
I hate the Dadario coated....last a few days more then regular strings. Never tried clearton but read lots of bad comments about them. My guess is they are similiar to D'Adario's.
Love the elixirs....wish they'd come up with a normal coating that feels like a regular string.
One thing for sure is they keep their ring for months. I just replace the steel strings every couple weeks and can get three months out of them. I buy the 10 packs of plain steels.
There's a reason Taylor puts them on all their guitars. A turd guitar will sound like a rose with Elixirs. When people compare Martins and Taylors you always have to ask are the strings the same. Taylor would lose 25% of their sales if they did away with Elixirs on all their guitars.
Click to expand...

I absolutely hate Elixers. Overpriced strings that leave white snow all over your clothes and case.
 
Re: Cleartone strings, opinions?

i use elixer nanoweb on my acoustics since i barely play em and changing strings before each time i play isnt something im going to do. i would never put them on my electrics and i dont really care for the way they sound on acoustic either but i havent found a coated string i like the sound of. i tried a few sets of cleartone electric strings and i thought they were fine but i use nickel strings 90% of the time on electric
 
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