Strings Talk

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Strings Talk

Hey Johnny, you should try a set. You don't have to pay full retail. I get them online for right at $20/set. Still pricey, but worth it.

I might. I'm gonna get a set of flatwounds for my bass again first. I had them about a year ago and switched them out for the Marcus Miller Dunlops (love Dunlop so much) but I miss the flats. Maybe after that I'll get a set of the Optimas. I wish they made seven string sets.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Strings Talk

Anyone try those new D'addario Nyxl strings? Got a free promo pack for buying a four pack.

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Yes. I liked them at first, then grew to hate them. A lot of top end and weak on the midrange. I thought there was something wrong with my guitar/pickups or amp. It took awhile for me to figure out it was the strings.

Although I haven't tried it myself I suspect they may be good for high output pickups, but with PAFs and P90s I hated them.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Strings Talk

My G&L guitars with the Dual Fulcrum Vibrato get Fender Super Bullets in 9-42 gauge. The bullet end really does work to aid tuning stability. I have also used Stainless and Pure Nickel bullets.

My other Fender scale guitars get D'Addario XL strings in 9-42. I will sometimes use the XLs on the vibrato guitars, but I much prefer the Bullets.

My Gibsons get XLs, mostly 10-46, but a few get 9-46. I also use the XL strings on my DanElectro 12-strings.

Phosphor bronze is preferred for my Martin, Taylor, Takamine and Ibanez acoustic guitars. I prefer D'Addario J-Series and EXPs, or Martin SP and SP Lifespan. All of my acoustics are dreads, so most get Medium gauge. The Ibanez gets Light gauge. The two Takamines are 12-strings and I use EXP on these. Coated strings are used on guitars that might not get played a lot, and when I'm playing one guitar a lot I'll just use regular strings, as wear will be more of an issue than corrosion.

I have 55 guitars at the moment, with 14 acoustics. I like the D'Addario, Martin and Fender strings for their tone and consistency. They're relatively inexpensive and easy to find. I do a lot of string changing.

Bill

 

[greekdude]

Re: Strings Talk

Anyone try those new D'addario Nyxl strings? Got a free promo pack for buying a four pack.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Yup on my floyd Carvin dc135. They are the most stable string I had ever tried. No string stretching, instant stability.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Strings Talk

I currently go back and forth between D'Addario and Ernie Ball for both acoustic and electric.

Really digging the Phosphorous-Bronze on acoustics and nickel wound for electrics although I have a Charvel with Cobalt strings that sound and feel awesome!

I used Elixirs back when I was playing Taylor acoustics but they didn't sound good on my Gibsons and D'Addarios sound the best on my Eastman.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Strings Talk

Just as if you pay for a semi-custom guitar like a Suhr you will generally get a better instrument than if you only paid a fraction of that for something like a Mexican Strat (no offense - those are good guitars for the money); so too if you're wiling to pay more for strings you can get better ones than the brands being discussed here so far. I got bitten by the premium string bug about 25 years ago and haven't looked back. For most of that time I used Thomastik-Infelds on all my guitars (Spectrum acoustics, Power Bright, Blues Sliders or Jazz Bebops on electrics). Recently I discovered the only company I've found that makes better strings than T-I. It is a relatively small German company called Optima; and I now use nothing but their strings on my guitars. A distinguishing feature on a lot of Optima sets is a 24 carat gold plating on all the strings in the set. Whatever this does to the strings sonically I don't know, but they sound terrific, and they WILL NOT ever rust or corrode. Which is a good thing because they can last a long time between changes. If you haven't found a string brand that really does it for you, do yourself a favor and just try a set of these higher end ones. There are reasons they're pricey as they are.

i like the blues sliders a lot but they dont make 11's and i seldom use 10's these days. havent seen optimas in a long time but i feel like they are brighter than the pure nickle round core strings i usually use. great feeling strings though!

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Strings Talk

i like the blues sliders a lot but they dont make 11's and i seldom use 10's these days. havent seen optimas in a long time but i feel like they are brighter than the pure nickle round core strings i usually use. great feeling strings though!

Check out Just Strings. They sell some accessories, but as the name implies, 90% of their inventory is strings and from almost any company you can think of.

 

[mrpinter]

Re: Strings Talk

i like the blues sliders a lot but they dont make 11's and i seldom use 10's these days. havent seen optimas in a long time but i feel like they are brighter than the pure nickle round core strings i usually use. great feeling strings though!

Stringsbymail has good prices on all the strings I talked about - including Optimas.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Strings Talk

I have almost depleted my stock of old Fender 250's with the Swedish steel core.
On my electrics I use either D'Addario Pro steels or the XL Balanced ones, 10-46.
The Nylon string uses D'Addario extra hard tension, and my Seagull either uses EB Reg Slinky 12-54 or D'Addario EJ-16 12-53.

 

[mrpinter]

Re: Strings Talk

I suppose I should have put in a disclaimer in my first reply in this thread: for most of the '90s I was on retainer with Thomastik-Infeld (advertising/artist relations/trade shows), so I learned a LOT about guitar and bass strings... even a little bit about bowed instrument strings. I used their products exclusively for almost 25 years but, like I said, I've moved on recently to Optima strings on everything.
What I use now: on three electric guitars: Maxi-Flex Gold 10-46; one old school tele style guitar gets their Jazz Flatwounds (not gold plated); my sole acoustic gets their Gold acoustic 12-52 set.

 

[MichYank]

Re: Strings Talk

I like GHS. I grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan so call me a homer! They do everything I need. Usually 10-50somethings! Cheers.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Strings Talk

I jump around depending on pickups, amp, etc. Lately it's been Gibson Brite Wires on all my guitars. It's the only string both my Les Pauls and my SC245 like, and they seem to hold up longer than anything I have used recently.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Strings Talk

I like D'addario for being pretty consistent IME, but I also like Fender Bullets for strats, I dunno I just feel like they sit nicely in the block. I also like the fender pure nickel strings. When brand new, to me they sound glorious. There's something about a fender guitar with fender strings, for me anyways.

EB slinky plain strings rust on me too quickly but are great for a few days.
Tried Elixir, then cleartone. Cleartones are nice, doesn't feel much like a coated string. Plain strings just got played out before they got rusty. Elixir had that crap for a while where they weren't putting any anti rust treatment on the plain strings and thats the time I switched to cleartone. For me thats half the point of coated strings.

I tried the DR Pure blues once or twice and was impressed. Been meaning to try them again but I got some d'addario 10 packs to get through first.

 

[LLL]

Re: Strings Talk

...

 

[Jackson Distortion]

Re: Strings Talk

10-46 gauge strings experienced in alphabetical order:

Cleartone - My favorite strings to date. My sweat kills untreated/uncoated strings in about an hour of play. These have held up to my sweaty ass and perform how I want and creates some spectacular sounds when not expected (due to their increased volume). Overall love!

D'Addario XL - If I need alternate strings to the Cleartones, the XLs are most likely those.

D'Addario NYXL - Nope. They don't sound right to me and I don't care for their feel.

D'Addario Balanced Tension - Thery're okay but, I prefer my A and D strings to be thicker. But, if you're looking for balanced play and decent tone - Go for 'em.

D'Addario EXP/Coated - The tension is slightly altered on the wound strings enough for me not to like them. Plus, they're NYXLs which I don't care for.

D'Addario ProSteels - The texture of the winds aren't conducive to my operating effectively.

Dean Markley NickelSteel/Blue Steel/Helix - A touch too much tension (NS and BS) for my liking which makes them unusable. I found the Helix sets elliptical winds influenced the sound in a way that made the set sound 'tinny'.

DR Hi-beams & Coated - I didn't like the rather vanilla bright tone of the Hi-beams and I don't like DR strings low tension. Due to the color of the Black Beauties, trying to wind them around the tuning posts evenly was an experience I don't care to go through with ever again. Cool concept though. DR strings are underrated I think.

Dunlop - Didn't like their low tension primarily.

Elixer Polyweb & Nanoweb - The Nanowebs have hella unbalanced tension and I don't have Popeye's forearms. The Polywebs have a touch too much tension for me but, I thought they were actually better than the Nanos.

Ernie Ball Slinkys & Reinforced - Not enough tension for me and kinda not ballsy enough.

Ernie Ball Cobalt - Didn't like the feel of the winds.

Ernie Ball Coated - It's nice to know that the people behind this set have a sense of humour.

Ernie Ball M-Steel - These strings are made from the souls of Germans.

Ernie Ball Stainless Steel - I don't recall disliking them but, I'll probably not use them again.

GHS Boomers/Coated/Progressives - The round core allows these strings to be bent easily which I don't prefer. But, not bad strings. They're basically D'Addario XL's sans hex core. The Progressives have increased tension on the wound strings and are very bright.

Gibson Brite Wires - I didn't like them the first go around (I felt like their tone was hollow and the strings too easy to bend) but, I still have some sets it looks like. I might try them again just to review 'em here again.

SIT - I needed the muscle of Mr. Hyde full-time but, the soft-spoken Dr. Jekyll interfered too frequently.

Thomastik-Infeld Superalloy - Yarn, laced-with Gold is how I describe them. These are supposed to be good for use with many effect pedals. I'm not that kind of guy, so these strings and I had to part ways.

I've tried some others like Fender and different gauges but, my memory on those is poor or not informative enough.