Why do guitar makers fit rubbish strings on new guitars?

Rocker

It can hardly be down to the unit price as the shop ends up including a set of replacement strings with the guitar. So what if the guitar ended at €5 dearer but could be played straight out of the shop. It is hard enough to play guitar without the frustration of using poor quality strings, imagine how a beginner might give up on the instrument due to difficulty getting a decent tone from their new guitar. 

Fishboy7

I guess because everyone has different tastes re brand, gauge etc.  

I always change the strings straight away.

GoFish

You guys are getting free strings?

fretmeister

They don’t.

They just fit strings that aren’t to your taste, that’s all.

CavemanGrogg

Because strings manufacturers don't give good reach arounds or gobbies?

Though it also could have something to do with the fact the almost every guitar brand/manufacturer also has their own strings.

Roland

A lot of guitars hang on retailers’ walls for months, if not years.

fretmeister said:  They just fit strings that aren’t to your taste, that’s all.

Yeah, there’s no point fitting expensive strings when most of us are going to swap them as soon as we get the guitar home, either because they’re stretched to death, or because we prefer another brand or gauge.

ICBM

Roland said:

A lot of guitars hang on retailers’ walls for months, if not years.

Many manufacturers fit coated strings now exactly for that reason, eg Taylor. Maybe not so much at the budget end of the market…

crunchman

ICBM said:

Roland said:

A lot of guitars hang on retailers’ walls for months, if not years.

Many manufacturers fit coated strings now exactly for that reason, eg Taylor. Maybe not so much at the budget end of the market…

The newer coated strings aren't as horrible as the original Elixirs, but I remember trying a Santa Cruz in a shop years ago with Elixirs.  Wrecked the tone of a great guitar.

Broseley_Bob

The guitar may be some months old before it’s sold so the strings will probably want changing in any event.   

SlopeSoarer

I love this guitar, I'll buy it...

...now I'll put my favourite set of strings on.

Nah, gone off it!

Lestratcaster

Probably cos its going to be sitting in a warehouse or on the shop floor of a retailer for months before its sold and goes somewhere else. Like some above I always change them out when getting a new guitar. Some learners have brought in new guitars they've bought and we replace them after a month or so.

Nikc

My new Revstar came with Elixir 10's - which is what I use.

Tannin

The majority of acoustic manufacturers fit Elixir (or D'Addario XL which amounts to much the same thing), not because they are great strings (they aren't) and not because they are cheap (they are not), but simply because the guitar might hang on a shop wall for months and long-lasting strings are essential. Electric is probably similar.

Neil

Well Fenders come with Fender strings and Gibsons come with Gibson strings, both decent quality.

I would imagine it is the inexpensive guitars that come with cheap strings and would obviously be improved with a decent set.

ICBM

Neil said:

I would imagine it is the inexpensive guitars that come with cheap strings and would obviously be improved with a decent set.

About thirty years ago I was working for a shop which imported a consignment of ultra-cheap no-brand Strat copies from China. Among many other faults, they were strung with only two gauges of string - three plain and three wound! Absolutely impossible to set up properly without first fitting a decent set, which made the whole exercise considerably more expensive… even if about a fifth of them weren’t simply unfit for sale at all.

Thankfully, that level of crap seems to have disappeared even from the very bottom of the market now.

paulmapp8306

Tannin said:

The majority of acoustic manufacturers fit Elixir (or D'Addario XL which amounts to much the same thing), not because they are great strings (they aren't) and not because they are cheap (they are not), but simply because the guitar might hang on a shop wall for months and long-lasting strings are essential. Electric is probably similar.

The D'addario XLs arnt coated.  Their XS range is.   both the D'addario strings are pretty good though, better than the elixirs - even the coated ones.

english_bob

crunchman said:

The newer coated strings aren't as horrible as the original Elixirs, but I remember trying a Santa Cruz in a shop years ago with Elixirs.  Wrecked the tone of a great guitar.

I generally use them on electrics rather than acoustics, but the Elixir Nanoweb and Optiweb strings are much better than the original Polyweb type, which is the closest I've come to experiencing the famous "blanket over the amp" effect.

Elixir Polyweb acoustic strings are the closest I've come to playing a guitar made of lightly moistened cardboard. 

Tannin

paulmapp8306 said:

Tannin said:

The majority of acoustic manufacturers fit Elixir (or D'Addario XL which amounts to much the same thing), not because they are great strings (they aren't) and not because they are cheap (they are not), but simply because the guitar might hang on a shop wall for months and long-lasting strings are essential. Electric is probably similar.

The D'addario XLs arnt coated.  Their XS range is.   both the D'addario strings are pretty good though, better than the elixirs - even the coated ones.

Sorry, that's the ones I meant. The new coated ones they have been pushing for a while now. Can't say I care for them overly, there are so many better strings. I tried one set of each, rated them as fair, and have not bothered revisiting. Still, there are certainly worse strings around. 

Rocker

The guitar in question is a Squier Starcaster, not a very expensive instrument, but factory fitted with the thinnest strings I ever saw. The B string was much thinner than the 10s set E string that I fitted on the guitar. Tonally the guitar is much better with the new strings. This is why I posed this question as the lighter gauge strings did nothing to show what the guitar is capable of. 

paulmapp8306

Tannin said:

paulmapp8306 said:

Tannin said:

The majority of acoustic manufacturers fit Elixir (or D'Addario XL which amounts to much the same thing), not because they are great strings (they aren't) and not because they are cheap (they are not), but simply because the guitar might hang on a shop wall for months and long-lasting strings are essential. Electric is probably similar.

The D'addario XLs arnt coated.  Their XS range is.   both the D'addario strings are pretty good though, better than the elixirs - even the coated ones.

Sorry, that's the ones I meant. The new coated ones they have been pushing for a while now. Can't say I care for them overly, there are so many better strings. I tried one set of each, rated them as fair, and have not bothered revisiting. Still, there are certainly worse strings around. 

What do you consider "good" ?

i used EXLs for ages, but recently have tried quite a few sets.   I felt D'addarios NYXLs were better than the EXLs, and the XLs seemed quite similar but did last longer.  The XSs Im currently testing.  I dont think there quite as good as the XLs but last longer still.  im currently thinking the XSs are decent and good value with their longevity.  XL v NYXLs ? depends.  The former are twice the price as the latter and while they last longer, not sure they lasted twice as long with similar tonality.

I tried several Ernie Balls, inc the more expensive ones, and havent been impressed.

Ive tried stock fender strings - felt the same as the EBs.

Ive never tried Boomers mind, or any more esoteric ones - so would be interested in which options you feel are in the top tier. 

BobHillman

The last 3 guitars I bought were all Harley Bentons (LP,LPJ,Tele) and they all had .10 gauge D'Addario strings fitted. I only changed them because I prefer .11s.