Re: Strings, is there a trade off between longevity and sound Quality?

Smellyfingers

Thank you for the suggestions. I might try the monels and/the elixirs next time. The guitar tech fitted Ernie Ball's to the my 12 string last time, but not sure how long they will last

BillDL

telehack said:

bertie said:

One naked string to avoid tho,  Thomastik Spectrum Bronze  - dull as bloody dishwater 

It just goes to show how different guitars and preferences affect this. I too dislike coated strings but I really liked the SB112 Spectrum strings from Thomastik on a Gibson acoustic. One man's dull is another man's rich. 

That's the same for me.  Perhaps I actually prefer slightly "dull" (probably best described as mellow) as opposed to bright zingy strings.  I have never really liked the sound of brand new strings, particularly on an acoustic, and I always enjoy the sound just after they have begun to lose that new string brightness.  I use the Thomastik Spectrum Bronze SB111 on a few of my acoustics and find that the low end sounds more like the 12s of many other brands while retaining a more flexible, softer feel that I find easy on the fingers.  One make and type of string obviously don't suit everybody though, and that's the reason you can fill a wall of a large music store with packs of strings alone.