Strings. Which ones do you use?

Roland

Newtone. I used D’Addario 10-52s for decades, but can’t get bulk purchase discounts that are available on more common sizes, and there are increasing occurrences of fakes. Last year I tried round core Newtones (every couple of years I test my preferences on strings and plectrums). Newtones seemed to last longer, so there’s not a big cost difference, and I’ve stuck with them.

rossi

You have to buy new ones ? I thought you just played your guitar until one broke then bought  a new guitar,oh well .

Mark1960

Ernie Ball 9-42s Paradigm. Last for many weeks, stay in tune, intonation spot on!

guitarfishbay

D’Addario on everything. XL nickels for guitar, phosphor bronze on acoustic, XL nickel or Pro Steel on bass depending on the bass.

Combination of tone, feel, availability of the gauges I need and they happen to be reasonably priced too.

guitarfishbay

Roland said:

Newtone. I used D’Addario 10-52s for decades, but can’t get bulk purchase discounts that are available on more common sizes, and there are increasing occurrences of fakes. Last year I tried round core Newtones (every couple of years I test my preferences on strings and plectrums). Newtones seemed to last longer, so there’s not a big cost difference, and I’ve stuck with them.

I do like Newtones but I’ve literally never had a fake pack of D’Addarios since they started the scheme for loyalty points online. I’ve probably checked almost 50 packs at this point too. I know they exist but as of yet I’ve never had a set 

Dave_Vader

jonnyburgo said:

Am I the only one who doesn’t really notice a difference? It still sounds like me whatever I use.

True, but sometimes for as little as 3 minutes before my big sweaty hands kill them stone dead into blackened rusty tetanus breeding grounds.

Anything that will do more than one gig without snapping is a good thing - but they need to be cheapish for the same reason.

horsehead

I usedto use Ernie Balls...just felt dead after a while, moved onto NYXL strings...pretty good, felt fresher, btthe tried Curt Mangan and bloody hell! They are top notch!

Various guages and dead good to deal with, get some on your guitar!

Moonrunner

I use Ernie Ball Super Slinky for electric and D'Addario for steel string acoustic. I like playing nylon strung guitars too, but don't know what make I use there.  

ICBM

For me it's mostly about feel and longevity more than sound - I don't notice a huge difference between most brands of non-coated strings once they've 'played in', although one of the nice things about the Newtones is that they sound like that out of the packet, and stay sounding the same for a very long time.

But I hate the sound as well as the feel of Elixirs, and all other coated strings apart from DR Dragon Skin, which I only hate the feel of .

scrumhalf

D'Addario 9-42.

It took several years and many different brands and guages to arrive at that choice.

Blueingreen

Elixir Optiwebs or Nanowebs.  I haven't compared them with other high end coated strings offering long life, but much prefer them to "traditional" strings.

Modellista

Elixir Nanoweb all round, 10s on electrics and 12s on acoustics.

Tonally I don't think strings make much difference on electrics, and I like the way the Elixirs play and last for ages so they're a no-brainer.  Tried the D'addario NYXLs and they're pretty good as well.

I do wonder a bit whether there's a better choice tonally on acoustic.  But I don't think I've found it yet.  I would be willing to sacrifice some longevity for tone on acoustic, particularly for home use.  I just find that standard strings keep their zing for about a week on acoustic, whereas Elixirs never really lose it, they just wear out very slowly.  Once the coating starts coming off around the strumming zone it's time to consider a change.  There is a characteristic crispy treble with Elixirs, but I'd rather have that than no treble at all, which is what you get with one-week-old conventional strings in my experience.

If I could combine a more balanced tone with the longevity of an Elixir I'd be very happy indeed.

Wonky

Last year I changed my main string choice from Ernie Ball super slinky 9-42 to Thomastik Powerbrights of the same gauge.  I do use 10's on some guitars too. I've also got a Jazz box with 11 flat wounds on.
I had an interesting experience recently when I bought a guitar which had a new set of NYXL 10's.  Now being in mind that I do play 10's on some of my guitars, I found the NYXL tensions to be really high.  The moment I started bending them, it honestly felt like 11's.  I tried to live with them for a few weeks and they hammered my finger tips, to the point where I had to change the strings.  So I put Thomastik Power Brights 9's on and whilst it is better, they don't suit the guitar and I may have to just put some other make of 10's on.  Or maybe even a set of NYXL but 9's instead.  Haven't made my mind up about it yet.
Anyone else noticed this extra tension with these NYXL's?

guitarmangler

Wonky said:

Last year I changed my main string choice from Ernie Ball super slinky 9-42 to Thomastik Powerbrights of the same gauge.  I do use 10's on some guitars too. I've also got a Jazz box with 11 flat wounds on.
I had an interesting experience recently when I bought a guitar which had a new set of NYXL 10's.  Now being in mind that I do play 10's on some of my guitars, I found the NYXL tensions to be really high.  The moment I started bending them, it honestly felt like 11's.  I tried to live with them for a few weeks and they hammered my finger tips, to the point where I had to change the strings.  So I put Thomastik Power Brights 9's on and whilst it is better, they don't suit the guitar and I may have to just put some other make of 10's on.  Or maybe even a set of NYXL but 9's instead.  Haven't made my mind up about it yet.
Anyone else noticed this extra tension with these NYXL's?

Yes . I think the nyxl’s feel ‘tighter’. I had to do a tiny tweak on the truss rod too, to compensate.

mudslide73

I've gone over to Newtone too. I very much like the lower tension of their round core strings now my hands have gone to seed  

earwighoney

I've not used Newtone acoustic strings for a while, but I found them to be the pick of acoustic strings I've tried but unalike some other chaps I found they didn't last as long as some other brands out there but I should revaluate them at some point. 

They are great for alternate tunings as well.

Alnico

D'addario NYXL when I can afford them, XL the rest of the time, it kind of depends what I'm doing.

If I was going to play live I'd use NYXL no matter what.

Explorer, Jackson DK2 and Ibanez RG550 use 10-52

Firebird uses 10 or 11-52 depending on how I feel and LTD EC-401 has 13-70 tuned to B standard.

jacklawtey

Anything other than Elixir Optiweb (11-49) and they're dead in an hour. These have been an absolute revelation for me. 

Blaendulais

jonnyburgo said:

Am I the only one who doesn’t really notice a difference? It still sounds like me whatever I use.

All in the fingers!

HAL9000

D’addario 9-42s for me. Sound better and last longer than the EBs I used to use. Only issue is D’addario’s ridiculous two-together packaging.