Ernie Ball Aluminium Bronze question

YorkieBarre

Can I please get a view from any players that have experience of Ernie Ball Aluminium Bronze strings on whether the set I’ve put on my guitar are a duff set or if this is normal for these strings?

Having acquired an all mahogany small bodied short scale guitar a couple of months ago, I’ve been trying a few different string types to find out what works best for blues fingerpicking. So far I’ve tried Ernie Ball PBs (nope), 80/20s (possible), Newtone heritage PBs (maybe) and most recently Ernie Ball Aluminium Bronze. I have a set of Monels to try next. However, the Aluminium Bronze that are on at the moment MAY be old stock and I’m not sure if they truly reflect the intended sound of these strings.

Out of the wrapper the wound strings looked very dull rather than shiny like PBs. There’s no corrosion spots visible, just rather dull looking down the whole length of the string. On the guitar they are strong on the trebles and the fundamentals, which I had expected, but two unexpected things are: the thick E string is noticeably quieter than the other strings, so not ideal for dead-thumb bass lines, esp on a small guitar. Secondly, the strings leave mucky black streaks on my fingers from the first time I played them. Normally strings on my guitars only go ‘mucky’ after a few weeks of regular play. I clean them each session, but they’re mucky again next session.

I suspect this packet of strings may be duff, but it may be normal for this type of string. Any views please?

JonnyBgoode

These are my go to strings for my cedar topped Furch, superb strings for fingerstyle that are bright, crystal  clear clarity yet full of colour, the basses are just awesome sounding. I have used them for years, they are a slightly different colour to PBs (not as  'gold') but the low E should not be quieter.

I have heard about other people having the black marks on fingers, I don't get that. 

Mike Dawes used them for years before his D'Addario sponsorship, Andy Mckee uses them also.

rustneversleeps

I use mondels on all my hog guitars and their great and last for ages.Be warned  at first they  will not sound great,give them awhile to settle in.

YorkieBarre

Thanks for that. They’re certainly less ‘gold’ than the PBs, so they possibly are ok rather than a dud set. I find the sheer scale of black marks rather off-putting, so will probably swap them out to try the monels quite soon as my next step on the exploration journey. The lack of bottom end compared to other types of string I’ve tried is odd given your comment, but hey ho, life’s full of mysteries!

JonnyBgoode

Are you sure the 6th string is properly seated under the bridge? Can't think what else might be the problem.

YorkieBarre

Thanks, yes it is but worth checking.

CarbonCopy

I use the Ernie Ball Aluminium Bronze on my mahogany Martin OMC-15ME and have had no such problems. They are my favourite strings for that guitar now.

It does sound like a duff set. Did you buy them from a proper music store or somewhere like Ebay or Amazon? There are some fake strings going about apparently.

Tannin

I have a set on order to try out but it hasn't arrived yet. Looking forward to giving them a go, though I have no idea what guitar might be suited to them.

No one is going to fake Ball aluminium bronze. When you fake something, you fake a best-seller, not a weird little niche-market product. Things like D'Addario EJ16s and Elixirs get faked a lot.

CarbonCopy

Tannin said:

I have a set on order to try out but it hasn't arrived yet. Looking forward to giving them a go, though I have no idea what guitar might be suited to them.

No one is going to fake Ball aluminium bronze. When you fake something, you fake a best-seller, not a weird little niche-market product. Things like D'Addario EJ16s and Elixirs get faked a lot.

Apologies, I didn't have the top 10 best selling acoustic strings to hand!

JonnyBgoode

CarbonCopy said:

Tannin said:

I have a set on order to try out but it hasn't arrived yet. Looking forward to giving them a go, though I have no idea what guitar might be suited to them.

No one is going to fake Ball aluminium bronze. When you fake something, you fake a best-seller, not a weird little niche-market product. Things like D'Addario EJ16s and Elixirs get faked a lot.

Apologies, I didn't have the top 10 best selling acoustic strings to hand!

LOL.