Win a Year's Worth of Rotosound 's New Guitar Strings

Bigsby

"One of the key goals behind the packaging refresh was to improve product differentiation."  That was a really good move, some of the packs were very similar.

I've been using Rotosound since the 80s, and love the new designs. The old design had almost dated to the point of looking quaint...  

I also agree with the comment that the Green could look more green (looks quite yellow in the photo), and also the Orange could do with black to give it more contrast like the Yellow. But overall, a big improvement. 

roberty

They look cool. I use rotos for bass and sometimes guitar when I need a standard set (ie not downtuned). The extra high string thing is a bit weird. The last time I broke a string was 2010 at the Camden purple turtle lol

stickyfiddle

fretmeister said:

digitalscream said:

flying_pie said:

fretmeister said:

Leisceoir said:

Really like the different colour packaging. How many packets is a year’s worth exactly?

It says 12.

No mention of bass strings which is very odd as it was bass strings that made them famous in the first place.

No mention of bass strings because one pack is a lifetime supply

Exactly. I always assumed that @fretmeister is only here because he's been shunned by the bass community on account of being weird and wanting to change his strings.

I've got some flatwounds that are over 5 years old!

Some I've even done the handcream thing to get them deader more quickly.

I put TIs on my #1 P when I built it in mid 2020 and they're just bedding in nicely... I put Cobalts on my other P and they're still horrible bright! 

crunchman

Schnozz said:

Been using yellows for 20 years so I miss the lion, but the subsequent packaging colours have been much more bold.

Never do away with the extra high E! Helps beginners and clumsy folk like me.

I haven't broken a string in years.  I'd just wind up with an accumulation of 50 high E strings sat around doing nothing.  It adds to the cost for me, and it adds to the environmental cost as well.

YorkGhost

crunchman said:

Schnozz said:

Been using yellows for 20 years so I miss the lion, but the subsequent packaging colours have been much more bold.

Never do away with the extra high E! Helps beginners and clumsy folk like me.

I haven't broken a string in years.  I'd just wind up with an accumulation of 50 high E strings sat around doing nothing.  It adds to the cost for me, and it adds to the environmental cost as well.

I agree with this to be honest, I'd rather cheaper packs with no extra.

JCA2550

I didn't like like them at all for 6 string duties, they sounded dull, lifeless and were the only brand I kept breaking but I have always liked their roundwound bass strings, Swing and Rotos. Maybe it's time to give Orange another go?

fretmeister

stickyfiddle said:

fretmeister said:

digitalscream said:

flying_pie said:

fretmeister said:

Leisceoir said:

Really like the different colour packaging. How many packets is a year’s worth exactly?

It says 12.

No mention of bass strings which is very odd as it was bass strings that made them famous in the first place.

No mention of bass strings because one pack is a lifetime supply

Exactly. I always assumed that @fretmeister is only here because he's been shunned by the bass community on account of being weird and wanting to change his strings.

I've got some flatwounds that are over 5 years old!

Some I've even done the handcream thing to get them deader more quickly.

I put TIs on my #1 P when I built it in mid 2020 and they're just bedding in nicely... I put Cobalts on my other P and they're still horrible bright! 

E45 cream rubbed in and then dry sponged off.

Less smelly than the chicken fat used by Duck Dunn and J Jamerson. 

domzolo

BobHillman said:

domzolo said:

Why is orange singular and all the rest are plural?
I hadn't noticed this before on the old packs and now I can't unsee it!

I use rotosounds and personally I prefer the old design, all the information was really clear on the front and I could almost read them without my glasses! This new design uses up all the key real estate with two words (Roto [colour]) which don't really mean anything.

Because if they were oranges, people might mistake them for fruit.

I suspect you're right. Somehow being singular it gets away with it even though a single orange is still a fruit.

Greggypoos

My favorite for years. I'd recommend them to anyone that hasn't tried them recently. Plenty of times I've found use for the extra string too.

Neil

Been using Rotosounds for many years as I like to buy British if I can. 9's for Fenders  & 10's for Gibsons.

I like the old design but I'm sure I'll get used to the new one.

That reminds me, I've got to order some 10's, just used the last set. 

EricTheWeary

I think the old design with the guitarist figure was a bit cluttered. It did, however, have the gauge in big numbers and for those of us who who don’t buy Rotosound regularly that’s more useful than the colour system. It’s maybe a bit too small on the new design and barely legible on the orange. In that photo (and could just be my screen) the green looks more like a different shade of yellow. 
There is an inconsistency between the yellows and reds having base colour plus black whilst the others have light and dark versions of the base colour. I presume this is for clarity (two versions of yellow probably wouldn’t work) but I wonder if black over base would have worked for all of them. I don’t like the orange on orange (again might just be a photo/screen thing)and wonder if that at least could have been black over base. 

Overall it’s a smarter design but I’d like some tweaks on the colour contrasts. 

Schnozz

crunchman said:

Schnozz said:

Been using yellows for 20 years so I miss the lion, but the subsequent packaging colours have been much more bold.

Never do away with the extra high E! Helps beginners and clumsy folk like me.

I haven't broken a string in years.  I'd just wind up with an accumulation of 50 high E strings sat around doing nothing.  It adds to the cost for me, and it adds to the environmental cost as well.

Well...

Now I've spoken on the matter, you've got two remaining options...

1) Thread them into a tunic for your annual visit to Bicolline.

AND / OR

2) Start playing the pan pipes.

CountryDave

Like the revised packaging.  Never had a problem with the old stuff - using 9-46 for years.  Nowt wrong with a refresh every few decades.

drofluf

Love the new packaging! Really striking

timmypix

I really need to give Rotosound another go - I had a duff pack a few years back and that put me off a bit, but I generally hear nothing but praise so perhaps I was unlucky. 

Love the redesigns, they look great. Will they apply to signature sets, too? I could do with Mike Amott 11-59s for C standard silliness!

johnboyno8

I used to use Rotosounds on everything when I was a teenager. 
As an Oasis fan,  I always remember your advert in the guitar magazines with Andy Bell holding his Burns Bison bass (yes..... technically Noels).

Will have to give them another go

fretmeister

I love the sound of their Monel Flatwounds.

Unfortunately I have a bad skin reaction to them so I can't use them.

TheModiesel

Looks fresher, nice! 

BillDL

I've used Rotosound strings since I started playing in 1980.  I actually prefer the packaging that has just been replaced.  In my opinion there was absolutely nothing wrong with it as it was, other than perhaps the very dominant Union Jack that a (probably) small number of UK citizens don't have much affection for, and also the closeness of appearance between electric and acoustic string packs.

Extending a theme and similar "front cover" layout across other types of string in the full range is a good idea, as is the inclusion of a QR Code, and I suppose to some new customers a list of endorsees might be of some significance.  The product packaging of ANY commodity needs to display the most important details for the consumer the most prominently.  For clothing the sizes and fabric types are the most important, whereas for perishable goods the use-by date and probably also (in the current political climate) the country of origin are what customers need to be able to see without having to hold the item up to the light in a supermarket while squinting at the label.  For guitar strings the type, size, and individual gauges, and composition of the strings are the most important aspect for the player.

The outgoing packaging had the size eg. "10" very clearly displayed and the guaged sizes of each string were larger than they are now.  They are still easy enough to read, but the "w" designating a wound string has been removed.  Grouping the size, string gauges and string composition in a grid at the top right is a good design choice, but only if it is uniform across the range.  I notice that on the packaging for the electric strings it says eg. "nickel on steel" in this grid, whereas for 80/20 Tru Bronze it says "acoustic" instead of string composition and the "80/20 bronze" only appears further down the packaging.

The good thing is that the packaging for acoustic guitar strings now leaves a consumer in no doubt that the strings are acoustic ones by virtue of the dark silhouette of an acoustic guitar being shown and the colour of the pack.  The old packaging for acoustic strings could easily be mistaken fairly easily for electric guitar strings due to the packet's close resemblance to electric strings of the same size because the seated player of the acoustic guitar was in white and partly merged into the Union Jack.  In fact I did this recently while counting how many packets of 10-46 "yellows" I had left in my string box.  Amongst them were three packs of 80/20 bronze acoustic strings in the bright yellow packs.

ScreamingDave

i quite like the new packaging.  It's the first time I've been aware of the red, white & blue ball ends.  I like that as well.  Definitely going to move over to these when I next buy strings.