Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

[SepultuRick]

Hi, i know this kind of thing gets done a lot and its all down to personal preference but i feel that having the right strings is important and so i must ask. What are the main differences between elixir nanowebs and dr tite fits? i currently have dr tite fit 10-50 on my 25.1 scale guitar and while i like them, they are kind of tight feeling for my liking. so i am thinking of going back to 10-46 and might try elixir though DR are my current fave brand.

Out of people who have tried both, how would you compare them? also how do dr high beams compare to dr tite fits inyour experience? thanks

other brands i have tried are:
GHS (great for about 1 hour then crap)
Daddario (hate them, feel too 'metally' and rough to my hands and strangely tight)
Ernie balls (not bad, i like the softer feel of these strings though tone is average).

of course those are just my opinions based on my experiences. please help. cheers

 

[Dave]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

I've typically been a DR fan, I like GHS Boomers too. I've used Elixirs on my acoustic for years and love the stability and they're a bit more comfortable. I'll be putting some 10-46 polyweb Elixirs on my strat tonight to revisit them. I used them in the past, but thought they were a bit uninspiring-thought I'd give them another shot.

I've never used the tite fits-maybe I'll drop some in my tele. It's time to get rid of those 9s!

 

[tc]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

dunno bout the drs but nanowebs are nice until they start flaking and the coating has a unique feel i despise...average strings only they last longer

 

[tc]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

sorry to hijack but whats the difference between nano and polywebs??

 

[Jackson Distortion]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

I've used both and all I remember 'bout the Elixir's were that that lasted TOO long haha. And I've used DR HiBeams which had a bright edge but are supposed to sound similar to regular Tite-Fit's.

I liked the Hi-Beams best for one because they were easy to bend. They were also nice to the touch.

 

[spacecaptain21]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

The Elixirs have a strange feel to them so I say DR. I may be a bit biased though as I use DRs on my electrics and love them. May wanna check into some of the other DRs such as the afforementioned Hi-Beams or Pure Blues, depending what you're looking for.

 

[jonathane40]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

Hi 3NZ, polyweb and nanoweb is the type of coating the strings have. Polys have a thicker coating that nano. I use elixir mostly on my acoustic and preffer nanowebs because they are not as harsh on my fingers.

cheers,
jon

 

[MikeS]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

It's mostly a feel issue to me... I hate the feel of coated strings, notable exception being the D'Addario EXPs for acoutic because they don't feel like a coated string.

If the Tite-Fits are tight try the High Beams. Same string, but a hex core with a smaller cross section area than the round core Tite-Fits makes for an easier to bend string. The trade-off is that they are brighter. For a mellower tone that is easier to bend, try the Pure Blues. They don't feel as stiff as the Tite-Fits. I use Pure Blues on my 25.5" guitars and Tite-Fits on my shorter scales because I like the slightly stiffer string on the slinkier length.

 

[lex666]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

Hey,

I think I've tried them all...

The DR's I didn't really like. They have a texture or feel to them that is very unnatural. Kinda slippery, as if they were oily... They also seemed to produce a 'flat' sound similar to used or dead strings.

I tried Elixir Polyweb strings, the one with the thicker coating. I actually like they way they feel, but they also produced a sound that was flat, IMO. One benefit I found in the Elixirs was that they removed alot fo the 'finger squeak' when sliding my left hand up and down the fret board.

Right now I've got D'Addario EXP's on my acoustic. So far they feel pretty good. They don't feel coated at all and that might be one of the drawbacks for me. They also produce alot fo finger squeak, a benefit I like in coated strings.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

first i nust confess that i cant stand coated strings. tried elixer poly and nano, the exp's and even dr's coated strings. didnt like any of them.

mike did a good run down on the different dr's. i typically use the pure blues but i do like the tite fits, i use the hi beams on my tele but i dont even think ive pulled it from the case in about three years

 

[sosomething]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

I used Elixirs for a while. If they managed not to break before I wore the coating down to a sticky tone-killing goop (which only ever took about three days maximum) I was lucky. I found them to be among the worst strings for my playing and body chemistry that I've ever used.

DR wins for me hands-down versus every other string I've tried. I use heavy picks and play with a heavy hand, and I've yet to break one. I've been using them for three years now almost exclusively and only ever have to change them when they start sounding and feeling dead - which can take up to a couple of months. This is with heavy playing, gigging, sweating... the works. I also find their tone to be truer and fuller than most other strings I've tried (and I've even tried "boutique" $25-a-pack strings). I love 'em. I usually use their "Tite Fits" 11-49 and 10-52 guages, but I like their 100% nickel "Pure Blues" strings for certain applications as well.

 

[pinto79]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

I can't stand coated strings. I find I lose touch with the string itself. I found with Elixer Nanowebs that they actually lasted a shorter amount of time than my normal GHS Boomers. I wore the coating off in about 2 hours of regular playing and the next morning, the strings were going black and crusty in my picking area.

I have tried a few different varieties of DR strings and find them too inconsistent to bother with. With GHS I don't have to re-adjust my intonation with every string change and I get exceptional life from them.

Electric guitar strings are so cheap and are so easy to change that it also seems silly to me to pay a premium for a string that "lasts longer"

 

[Dave]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

i dont even think ive pulled it from the case in about three years

GROUNDS FOR DISMISSAL!!!!

 

[CGord]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

I've only used Elixir bass strings, I didn't like them. I switched to High Beams, & am now using Ernie Ball. The Elixirs smoothed the sound out too much; the DR's added a nice edge or grind to the tone, but I went to EB's for the .135 5th.

For guitars, I used Boomers for years, but was constanly breaking high E & B strings, so I wanted something else. The one thing I remember about Boomers is the crazy sound change they went through as soon as they were played for awhile. You really hear that metallic ring when they're new, but that goes away very quickly.

I tried DR's after reading Dime say that Scott Ian & Ty Tabor recommended them to him. Loved the High Beams, I found they added a real aggressive, rough texture to the sound. More grind. (I'm speaking in terms of high-gain rhythm here.) Switched to the Jeff Healy set for the .056 6th string vs the 10-52 High Beams, I think they're just Tite-Fits in a custom size. The aggression in the tone mellowed a bit, but the tradeoff for the bigger 6th string was worth it to me.

Then I started fooling around with lower tunings (lower than drop C) & needed bigger gauges. I wound up trying Ernie Ball Slinkys, since I could buy individual strings in the gauges I was after. I've wound up liking them a lot. At first I didn't like the way they felt, as though there was too much friction or drag on the strings, but I must've gotten accustomed to that, since I no longer notice it. The lower price compared to the DR's is nice, too.

If DR made the High Beams in the gauges I'm currently running, I'd go back to them. For any other brand (or different variety of DR), though, I'd rather stick with the Slinkys.

I have yet to break a DR or Ernie Ball string.

 

[scottish]

Re: Elixir strings vs DR, who has used both?

personally i dont like elixer acoustic or electric strings, dont like the sound or the feel. acoustic i use either d'addario exps or cleartones andthey both sound great and dont really feel like a coated string.

electric wise i use DR tite-fits or pure blues. on one of my guitars i have their coated black beauties which i like a lot. they definitely feel coated but that is balanced out by how smooth they feel and i think they sound good too.