D'addario's secret new strings

Adji

Wonky said:

Adji said:

Hi guys, sorry I'm a little behind the press release, feel free to ask any questions!

XT is our brand new coating process available in a wide range of alloys and gauges. The wrap wire is coated on the wound strings. Yes the plain steel strings are also coated.

The core wire and plain steels also feature our NY Steel and fusion twists (which is a locking, soldered twist at the ball end).

I take it the coating is for extending string life or is it maybe for feel?  I find NYXL's last for ages, so I can't imagine how long they'd last with this new coating.
Personally I can't wait to try these out fro sure.

It is for extended string life.

The new coating process applies such a thin layer of material that you can barley feel it at all so it doesn't affect the feel of the string much. Some other coated strings feel really slick / slippy which not everybody likes.

The new XT feature our NY Steel plain strings and steel cores but NOT the reformulated nickel-plated steel wrap wire (which is primarily what gives NYXL it's distinctive sound).

Looking forward to the feedback coming in when you guys have a chance to test them!

earwighoney

Adji said:

The new coating process applies such a thin layer of material that you can barley feel it at all so it doesn't affect the feel of the string much. Some other coated strings feel really slick / slippy which not everybody likes.

Sounds very interesting indeed. I presume they'll be a bit cheaper than EXP's as well, which aren't my favourite strings but they are my favourite coated strings out there. 

Do you know if the acoustic strings will have 80/20's as well?  The picture in the press release below shows a picture of a 12 string acoustic set (PB) which I'm oddly quite excited about my hands on.  New 12 string sets seem to seldom seen! 

Strat54

You all need to go try some decent strings instead of the mainstream stuff...bit like getting excited over a Ford or Vauxhall.

DLM

@Strat54 Suggest something that will stand up better to my playing than D'Addario 9s at the same gauge and will work out more economically and I'm there, man.

As regular readers will know, I'm a massive bender.

Wonky

Strat54 said:

You all need to go try some decent strings instead of the mainstream stuff...bit like getting excited over a Ford or Vauxhall.

What have you got in mind then?

Adji

earwighoney said:

Adji said:

The new coating process applies such a thin layer of material that you can barley feel it at all so it doesn't affect the feel of the string much. Some other coated strings feel really slick / slippy which not everybody likes.

Sounds very interesting indeed. I presume they'll be a bit cheaper than EXP's as well, which aren't my favourite strings but they are my favourite coated strings out there. 

Do you know if the acoustic strings will have 80/20's as well?  The picture in the press release below shows a picture of a 12 string acoustic set (PB) which I'm oddly quite excited about my hands on.  New 12 string sets seem to seldom seen! 

Hi man.
Yeah, they'll be available in a variety of alloys and gauges, and for various instruments.

Clarky

mburekenge said:

I tried the much hyped NYXL's and thought they were shocking. Felt nice under the fingers but aged even quicker than Ernie Ball's and the b string snapped. Straight back to Elixirs.

I've had a set of NYXL's on my Strat for over 2 years
I teach with that guitar so it gets regular use.. 
and they're still really nice

I was so impressed that I tried a set on my V's and they didn't work well at all..
absolutely no idea why.. so I bunged the EB's back on..

looking forward to trying these new ones tho

fretmeister

I've never tried D'addario coated guitar strings. I've got Elixir Optiwebs at the moment and I like them.

But for bass use - although I've tried just about everything I always come back to D'addario Prosteels. Must have been using them for a good 15 years or so.

Strat54

Like most of you over the last 37 years I've tried pretty much every brand. In more recent years I did Pyramid, Stringjoy and Mangan's till I started with Gabriel Tenorio's. Been using them for for nearly three years now. Amazing strings, last well beyond any other I have tried. On a Tele I play everyday that sits out of the case they lasted a year and then I only changed them out of conscience. Take them off after that time and there's no visible wear like the little nibs on the underside of the plain strings. I bend hard, play hard too. Not tried the 9's @DLM but have a mix of the 10-46 and 11-50 across a dozen guitars.Yes they are more expensive but previously I'd restring every couple of months so its actually cheaper in the long run and a lot less hassle. 

https://www.thegts.co/electric-guitar

DLM

@Strat54 That does indeed sound intriguing, come to think of it, I think you've brought them up before. I shall investigate.

crunchman

Strat54 said:

Like most of you over the last 37 years I've tried pretty much every brand. In more recent years I did Pyramid, Stringjoy and Mangan's till I started with Gabriel Tenorio's. Been using them for for nearly three years now. Amazing strings, last well beyond any other I have tried. On a Tele I play everyday that sits out of the case they lasted a year and then I only changed them out of conscience. Take them off after that time and there's no visible wear like the little nibs on the underside of the plain strings. I bend hard, play hard too. Not tried the 9's @DLM but have a mix of the 10-46 and 11-50 across a dozen guitars.Yes they are more expensive but previously I'd restring every couple of months so its actually cheaper in the long run and a lot less hassle. 

https://www.thegts.co/electric-guitar

My only worry is that they may be made from a harder material and be hard on frets.  Have you noticed any fret wear?

I'd probably rather change strings slightly more often if my frets last twice as long.

thegummy

Launched today - excited about trying them on later!

Wonky

thegummy said:

Launched today - excited about trying them on later!

Can't wait to hear what you think of them

thegummy

Wonky said:

Can't wait to hear what you think of them

First impression is that they feel exactly the same as the normal D'addario EXL strings I normally use so they seem to have achieved what coated strings have been aiming towards.

Only got a short play though, got a really bad shoulder at the moment and it's too painful to play for more than a few minutes.

I do have 2 guitars that are pretty much identical apart from electronics and colours though and the other still has the normal EXL strings so will be able to directly compare them once I'm able to play for longer.

Question for @Adji - are the plain strings in this set the NYXL plains (e.g. NYS010), the standard plains (e.g. PL010) or are they a completely new string? If the latter, will they be available to buy singly? I ask because, if these become my new preferred string, I'd like to have some spares of the thinnest three strings on hand for breakages.

clarkefan

Cheapest 10-46 set I can find is 12 quid from Guitar Guitar, £12.90 elsewhere.  Not yet on Amazon for some reason.

Meanwhile 3 sets of standard 10-46 EXLs (on Amazon) are currently £13.90.

thegummy

clarkefan said:

Cheapest 10-46 set I can find is 12 quid from Guitar Guitar, £12.90 elsewhere.  Not yet on Amazon for some reason.

Meanwhile 3 sets of standard 10-46 EXLs (on Amazon) are currently £13.90.

It's Amazon I got them, maybe they've sold out.

Let's say these last 3 times as long as the standard XL strings (don't know what the claimed numbers are) - even if the 3 pack of XLs was slightly cheaper, I'd still go for these because that's 2 string changes you don't have to do.

Wonky

thegummy said:

Wonky said:

Can't wait to hear what you think of them

First impression is that they feel exactly the same as the normal D'addario EXL strings I normally use so they seem to have achieved what coated strings have been aiming towards.

Only got a short play though, got a really bad shoulder at the moment and it's too painful to play for more than a few minutes.

I do have 2 guitars that are pretty much identical apart from electronics and colours though and the other still has the normal EXL strings so will be able to directly compare them once I'm able to play for longer.

Question for @Adji - are the plain strings in this set the NYXL plains (e.g. NYS010), the standard plains (e.g. PL010) or are they a completely new string? If the latter, will they be available to buy singly? I ask because, if these become my new preferred string, I'd like to have some spares of the thinnest three strings on hand for breakages.

Bad luck with the shoulder buddy, hope it gets better soon.
I'm in a similar situation.  I have seriously bad repetitive strain injury in my right forearm.  So bad in fact that there's a visible bulge on top of my arm and it's sore as hell.  Worst thing of all though is, just like you, I can't play at the moment.

thegummy

Wonky said:

thegummy said:

Wonky said:

Can't wait to hear what you think of them

First impression is that they feel exactly the same as the normal D'addario EXL strings I normally use so they seem to have achieved what coated strings have been aiming towards.

Only got a short play though, got a really bad shoulder at the moment and it's too painful to play for more than a few minutes.

I do have 2 guitars that are pretty much identical apart from electronics and colours though and the other still has the normal EXL strings so will be able to directly compare them once I'm able to play for longer.

Question for @Adji - are the plain strings in this set the NYXL plains (e.g. NYS010), the standard plains (e.g. PL010) or are they a completely new string? If the latter, will they be available to buy singly? I ask because, if these become my new preferred string, I'd like to have some spares of the thinnest three strings on hand for breakages.

Bad luck with the shoulder buddy, hope it gets better soon.
I'm in a similar situation.  I have seriously bad repetitive strain injury in my right forearm.  So bad in fact that there's a visible bulge on top of my arm and it's sore as hell.  Worst thing of all though is, just like you, I can't play at the moment.

Cheers man.

What makes it so annoying for me is I just finished putting together a brand new guitar I've wanted for years but have only been able to play it to test that it works, it's too painful to actually have a decent shot.

Hope yours gets better asap too.

Adji

thegummy said:

Wonky said:

Can't wait to hear what you think of them

First impression is that they feel exactly the same as the normal D'addario EXL strings I normally use so they seem to have achieved what coated strings have been aiming towards.

Only got a short play though, got a really bad shoulder at the moment and it's too painful to play for more than a few minutes.

I do have 2 guitars that are pretty much identical apart from electronics and colours though and the other still has the normal EXL strings so will be able to directly compare them once I'm able to play for longer.

Question for @Adji - are the plain strings in this set the NYXL plains (e.g. NYS010), the standard plains (e.g. PL010) or are they a completely new string? If the latter, will they be available to buy singly? I ask because, if these become my new preferred string, I'd like to have some spares of the thinnest three strings on hand for breakages.

Glad first impressions are good mate!

They are NY Steel but with a coating. Yes, the plain strings are coated too, which is very difficult to do well and uncommon.

They are not yet available as singles, perhaps in the future they will be.

kennedydream1980

I'm a long time Daddario EXL user and can make a set last a couple of months with regular playing. I've just ordered a couple of sets of these new strings and if they deliver what they promise they could potentially last me around 6 months per set. I've tried Elixirs in the past and didn't really get on with them due to the fact they felt too stiff with a greater tension (Probably down to the coating). Plus bizarrely they played havoc with the tuner on my Fractal AX8 (Could this be the coating again?!?) so I'm really hoping these feel and sound like regular daddarios and also have the same tension.