Having watched with great interest the current discourse on fret wear and strings, I’d be interested to hear what folk are using and why. For myself, I use elixir optiweb .09’s having made the step just recently to move down from .10s as they’re less work. As coated strings, they seem to put the tension up by around half a gauge but last for ages and retain pitch longer. What are your thoughts?
Favourite strings
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D'addario NYXL 9-42 and 10‐46 here. Sounds fantastic and last forever
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D'addario NYXL 9-42 and 10‐46 here. Sounds fantastic and last forever
I think I tried those, they were great but I’ve been on the elixirs so long I went back
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Curt Mangan 9s and 10s. Round core, I personal have grown to like round core better than hex. I don't break strings, so the added robustness of the hex core is immaterial to me.
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Sometimes I like try different brands but I always come back to ernie ball regular slinky 10.46 E std (11.48 if Eb)
I'm used to them and I like how they sound.
I don t sweat a lot, I always wash my hands before I play and I use a bandana to clean strings when I finshed.
I change strings when the A starts to have signg of the frets under.
Last time I ve bought them it was 5€/pack or so.
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I have used the ernie ball regular slinky 10-46 since the beginning of time.
When I find something that works for me I stick with it just like the KPA. -
I've made the rounds on strings, currently Elixir on most guitars.
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I've made the rounds on strings, currently Elixir on most guitars.
excellent call sir
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GHS because my heroes use them, and after a pre-bend, they stay in tune for days on my guitars including FR bridges. I've broken Slinkys before right at the bridge but never GHS Boomers.
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I'm in the Elixir camp as well after trying almost everything the market has over the years. Elixirs are a tiny little more stiff but I am so used to it, easy to bear with on my 10-46s. And sound quality and feel are super consistent over a long time. Elixir Nanowebs on the brighter guitars, Elixir Optiwebs on the ones with less highs. I even have them on my Taylor acoustic. Great feel there
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Ernie Ball or GHS Boomers 10-46.
11-52 on my 335 and Gretsch.
On my main guitar, I use those Ernie ball "M-Steel", they got a different thing going.
Elixir 12s on my acoustic.
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I'm using Elixir too at the moment. .010's on my Strat-scale guitars and .011 on my LP-scale ones. .012 phosphor bronze on acoustics, I think these sound great. I saw an offer for a bundle of Cleartone strings: a lot more affordable than Elixir's. Are these strings any good? Do you have any experience with them?
I saw all the video's about .009's being more resonant and everything. This gauge still feels like dental floss to me, what are your thoughts about lighter strings? SRV must have heard something torturing himself with .013's.
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Daddario for me. Not that it matters so much. But they're the cheapest since I always buy 10 set packs. 09-46 and 10-52.
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I'm using Elixir too at the moment. .010's on my Strat-scale guitars and .011 on my LP-scale ones. .012 phosphor bronze on acoustics, I think these sound great. I saw an offer for a bundle of Cleartone strings: a lot more affordable than Elixir's. Are these strings any good? Do you have any experience with them?
I saw all the video's about .009's being more resonant and everything. This gauge still feels like dental floss to me, what are your thoughts about lighter strings? SRV must have heard something torturing himself with .013's.
I really liked the move to .009s, less effort and really similar tone. I have a hefty pick which gives a really pingy tone on the high strings and it works fine. I have a video on the share your music thread using a Charvel with .009s to get a thick old jazz tone so all good there. Haven’t tried cleartones but would be interested in how you get on if you give them a try
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Longtime D'Addario user, I've tried some other brands but I always end up coming back. The NYXLs are great, but I like the regular XLs too.
I also like Rotosounds, and the extra high E string they include is a nice touch. -
I saw all the video's about .009's being more resonant and everything. This gauge still feels like dental floss to me, what are your thoughts about lighter strings? SRV must have heard something torturing himself with .013's.
Personally I think it's not a matter of tone as much as a matter of stability and it depends a lot on your playing style imo. I used to use 10 for everything but then I listened to recordings of jazz duos I did and would often hear the chords going slightly out of tune. Even with a very light touch, the way you need to bend your fingers when playing harmony will make some notes have more pressure applied than others and no matter what, the strings will go slightly out of tune if the gauge is too light.
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Not a bad thing to lighten your touch, though, even if you have to adjust a bit. Over the years I went up in gauge, eventually to .012s, but bending is also a lot harder to do and it was stressing my finger joints quite a bit. I went back to .010s, and then 09.5s which I used to play for many years, but now I find .009s to be a lot more fluid for my style of playing.
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D'Addario 9s and 10s all day 99% of the time. Depending on which guitar and purpose sometimes mixed from 10s to 9s.
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I've been using D'Addario XL 9.5 pack for a while, but will be switching to GHS Boomer 9.5s. I find the quality/tone of GHS to be better.
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I've never bonded with D'Addario strings and I've tried about 30 sets over the years. I find the XL to be too bland, if that's possible. The NYXL's are too hard and inflexible for my style.
I used Elixir for many years and still use Nanowebs or Optiwebs on a couple of my electrics, but they just lack a bit of sizzle for some parts to my ears. I love the feel.
I don't have any idea why, but the DR Veritas electrics with Xeon trebles just sound and feel great to me.
