New D'addario NYXL strings

[JeffB]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

Uhm, yeah..uh...no thanks Mike

I remember I bought a set of those back in the 1980s. Wolf Marshall used them. I really do not remember what I thought of them other than, beaucoup bucks!

I couldn't take the NYXLs anymore. My CTS really started acting up due to the extra effort for bending. I noticed a bit of corrosion starting up on the plains already, and I even wiped em down with dunlop string cleaner last night. Musta been a spot I missed. I am PH string death incarnate! Fear me normal strings!

I put a set of Cleartones on. I dig the tone, very good for a coated set. Bright enough and clear- not dull at all like EXPs, Titanium Slinkys, or Elixirs. My les paul came with them, and I thought they felt great but did not sound too good at the time, but I have swapped pups, and done a total rehaul on the setup since then. They still need to settle in ..they are still bouncy/floppy and lots of WOWwwww..when ya hit chords. Time will tell.

 

[JeffB]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

I'm curious Jeff, how often do you play in an average week to kill a set? Now I only have three guitars, but I rotate between them more or less evenly so I can keep a set of XL110's on a guitar for a few months and they still sound and look great.

Since I started working again, not as much as I was before. I would estimate about 12 hours average. Some saturdays when my wife takes the little one out for the day,I often play for 5-7 hours,.so add that on top.

The big thing in recent years is how corrosion has become an issue with me as I have gotten older. If I do not wipe down Slinkys or Dads every time when I am done, the next day there are rust/corrosion spots all over them. Sometimes the cleaner won't take it off. Slinkys will last me about a week to 10 days with careful wipe downs before they are dead.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

Worth is relative to the individual.

If I could get 7 or 8 weeks out of a set, 12 bucks would be worth it to me. Changing strings every week gets old, not to mention just about the time they settle up for good is when they die/corrode out beyond keeping them on. I have found a few sets that last longer for me on average..blue steels and boomers, but I hate the tone of them on my Les Paul...they are way too bright.

Do you wipe your strings during and after playing,or is it just your chemical makeup? I can get a decent amount of time out of a set of strings..I use one of those string cleaner things that goes around the strings and it cleans pretty well.

Ok read your post above Jeff...LOL

 

[El Supremo]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

Since I started working again, not as much as I was before. I would estimate about 12 hours average. Some saturdays when my wife takes the little one out for the day,I often play for 5-7 hours,.so add that on top.

The big thing in recent years is how corrosion has become an issue with me as I have gotten older. If I do not wipe down Slinkys or Dads every time when I am done, the next day there are rust/corrosion spots all over them. Sometimes the cleaner won't take it off. Slinkys will last me about a week to 10 days with careful wipe downs before they are dead.

Buddy of mine has the same thing. Coated or the stainless steel variants worked best for him. Other strings barely last him 2 days. The chemicals are weird like that. My father could always tell if I sneakily played his bass as the strings would turn bright red if I did.
Usually I can get 3 gigs or 1 month out of set before their dead.

 

[superpete]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

i'm having the same issue with the ernie ball m-steel. noticably more tension on the wound strings, likely due to the different core.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

And now for another opinion about NYXL, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Rob Chappers (skip to 8:51 if you want to avoid the banjo).



Disclaimer: I'm affiliated with D'Addario. And I've personally used NYXL strings and didn't experience any of the criticisms in the OP. Zero.

 

[JeffB]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

Not that I care what anyone else thinks, but Rob is an endorser, so without even watching this I am pretty sure I know what he is going to say about them.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

Well, just him slapping them on and giving them a first stretch and then them staying relatively in tune is interesting...

 

[Farkus]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

Haven't tried the NYXL strings but I tried the EB M-Steels. Acoustically they sound great. I didn't notice any tension difference. I haven't played them amped up yet but so far, so good. I dig the cleartones also.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[B-Nads]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

I usually play 10-52 or 11s. I tried these today on my Burny LPJr and i honestly cant tell between the g and high e A way too light for me. They do sound lively, but what a battle getting them intonated.

 

[gkex]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

Well these sound pretty nice I guess and TWELVE DOLLARS!

Seriously tho, anyone like the EVH strings? I have always had EB as long as I can remember and I am looking to try something new.

 

[Oinkus]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

String corrosion can be helped if you wash your hands very well with HOT water and soap before you play and wipe down the strings every time you set it down. Some people just have that effect on strings. I can keep a set of Cleartones on a guitar forever but I have more then a few to play also , think the ones on my beater bass have been there for 4 years or so and still sound great.

 

[JeffB]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

Yeah I gave up on these real quick. I felt tonally they were a big improvement on the previousXL formula,but otherwise, no thanks. The Gretsch 11-48s I am using now have less tension than the NYXL 10-46, though to be fair, they are round cores, and have a soft feel by nature. With the NYXLs, I needed to make a significant truss rod adjustment. With the Gretsch strings, I was back where I started with Slinky 10s.

The EVH strings are very good if you can deal with the limited gauging. They have a sweeter tone, and more broken in feel right off the bat than XLs.

Its funny, I much prefer the strings Dad makes for other manufacturers, than their own formula. Gretsch, Fender, EVH, good stuff.

And FWIW, I do wash before I play with hot water,.and soap. As I have CTS in both wrists, I have to loosen up and stretch out before I play. I also use Dunlop string cleaner/wipe down after I play.

 

[Dark Order Lord]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

God your all wimps!!!???? Dudes, they sell at their cheapest in Australia for $16.99, and I received a free set of the new D'Addario NYXL1046 string to try out from D'Addario Aust... The verdict? These are the BEST strings I have ever played in 24 years. And this is coming from a dude who normally plays 11-50 gauge and breaks the wound .38 A string in a matter of hours. I could not break these and this is one whole gauge thinner that what I normally play, and these 1046 gauge sound fatter and thicker than the 11-49 gauge I normally play. These will become my official strings, until D'Addario come out with the 11-50 gauge in September. After 8 hours of bashing these D'Addario NYXL1046 strings last night at rehersal, they hardly wenr out of tune, they have the steadiest most solid chords, and the mids are broad, tight and clear. And I could NOT break the wound strings... The NYXL strings are my official strings for Dark Order. 21 years of my band and I have been this blown away by a set of strings!

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

I'll try them. I have a Gibson Buckethead Les Paul Studio that I tune down a fourth, B to B. It has locking tuners, so I can't put baritone strings on it because they don't fit through the holes in the tuners. So I put .013 - .054 - Ernie Ball Not Even Slinky's- on it. Those work fine, but still just a little floppier than I'd like ideally. Do they make .012 - .054 NYXL sets?

I also have a few guitars with 24 3/4" scale lengths that I like to play blues on, or just riffing, no rock lead soloing. I like a little more tension on those too. I usually put Power Slinky's (.011 - .048) on them. Sounds like a .010 - .046 NYXL set might be great on those guitars.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

I really want to try them but I see it as a double edge sword due to the cost. Either I don't like them better than my usual EXL110s and I'm mad I bought into marketing hype for strings that cost ~3 times as much as ones I know I like and have played for years. Or I love them and I'm stuck buying strings that cost ~3 times as much as the current' D'Addario's I use. Damned if I do, damned if I don't. So I'm going with the ignorance is bliss route and am trying to avoid the urge to buy them as long as possible. :biglaugh:

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

I've been using D'Addario for years. Their original Phosphor Bronze acoustic strings were truly revolutionary back in the '70s, and a Godsend. So I use either J-Series or EXPs on my acoustics; light, medium or bluegrass gauge depending on the particular guitar. I also like Martin's SP and the Clapton strings, too. Phosphor bronze please, not the 80/20 brass.

I used a lot of different strings on my electric guitars over the years: Balls, GHS, Peavey, Fender, Gibson, Markley, and Bill Lawrence to name only a few. But over the last 20 years I've settle on using Fender Super Bullets in the 9-42 gauge on my G&L guitars with the Dual Fulcrum vibrato. I think the bullet end does help with tuning stability in guitars with a vibrato block. Everything else with a hard-tail gets D'Addario XL, and again the gauge varies by guitar.

I got a beta set of the new D'Addario's but haven't tried them yet--lost them in this mess for a while, but I'm going to try them on my next change.

Jeff, did you find that they intonated the same as the regular XL set? And did the guitar require a truss rod adjustment or a vibrato claw adjustment?

I thought Dark Order's comments were pretty spot on as to how Dad advertises these strings. They are designed to require minimal stretching, get in tune, stay in tune and not break. I usually don't break string on my electrics (KNOCK ON WOOD!!!), so it's not a big selling point for me. I will be interested in the tension and feel. I know when I first tried Elixirs on my acoustics, they required truss rod adjustments due to higher tension than the D'Addario sets. And I broke them...a lot. And they didn't sound as good to me as the PB strings, so no more Elixirs.

And by the way, the biggest problem I have with string life is that I hit hard, and fret hard. Fret wear into the strings is the issue for me. I'm good about keeping my hands clean, and wiping them off with Dunlop 65 String Cleaner after the gigs, but that can only do so much.

So as a rule, about 12-15 hours of gig time is about all I get from a set of strings--on my Number One G&L Legacy, that's about 2-4 nights of four-hour gigs. Keep in mind I use both a Legacy and a 2HB guitar, like a Paul or 335; about 60% of the gig is Legacy. With my sofa guitars, I do better, but I still typically change them after about 20 hours.

I don't mind changing strings, since it does give me a little time to do regular preventative maintenance. It's therapeutic....I mean for me.

(It should be noted however, that I no longer own a guitar with a $%#&-ing Bigsby! LOL! I HATED changing strings on that guitar!!!!)

Bill

 

[Bludave]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

I just ordered a bunch of strings but I use 11's anyway

 

[Dark Order Lord]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

Ok. The word from our rep in Australia is that the other gauges, like 11-49 are arriving here in September. So what that mean for you in the USA could only be a month earlier maybe.

All I am saying is stop being a pansy over $4usd vs $12usd BUY 1 set and test it for yourself. If you love em then great, if not keep going with the crapy cleartones and elixirs, or just keep going with your regular Dads and EB's which there is nothing wrong with those (except snapping), I am just sick and tired of buying a new set and them freaking out that after 1-2 gigs or 1-2 6 hour rehearsals that my A or D string or less often my E wound string are going to snap. And they do 90% of the time

I wanna play a set till the are dead of tone, and THEN change them. Thankyou NYXL1046, when they mean play fearlessly it not a joke, and I am still getting used to this new thing

 

[LReese]

Re: New D'addario NYXL strings

I really want to try them but I see it as a double edge sword due to the cost. Either I don't like them better than my usual EXL110s and I'm mad I bought into marketing hype for strings that cost ~3 times as much as ones I know I like and have played for years. Or I love them and I'm stuck buying strings that cost ~3 times as much as the current' D'Addario's I use. Damned if I do, damned if I don't. So I'm going with the ignorance is bliss route and am trying to avoid the urge to buy them as long as possible. :biglaugh:

Yep - There's really no reason for me to go for coated. I'm not bad on strings (I keep them wiped up after playing) - They are in pretty good shape after 6 months.

I did try some coated strings - sounded OK, but they were tough on my fingertips.