D'addario strings - packaging nuisance

Voxman

I think D'addario strings are excellent, and they are quite reasonably priced.  But I've noticed that over the last year or two they have 'intertwined' two strings together - 6th/5th, 4th/3d, 2nd/1st.  (I use EXL120's - super light gauge .009-.042).

Not an issue if you're completely re-stringing a guitar at your leisure at home.  But a real nuisance if you have a string break at a gig and need just one string quickly - this happened to me last night!  Goodness knows why D'addario does this, but if anyone from D'addario is looking in (I've actually just dropped them a line on this)....please DON'T do this, and keep them individual.  

Anyone else use D'addario's and irked by this? 

p90fool

Yep, I stopped using them completely. One string change in the dark behind a half stack, trying to figure out what bloody colour the ballends were was enough for me.
I used up my remaining stock on studio-only guitars and never bought them again.

jd0272

I agree, but I have to push on as they're my favourite brand.

GuitarMonkey

Yes, this is annoying. Even in good light.

bluechargeboy

Annoying. Their cheapness keeps me coming back. I suppose the "lean" packaging could be related to the cheapness....

mart

That is pretty useless. Some company (I can't recall which) has them in pairs, but the pairs are E/D, B/A, G/E, so you can easily tell which is which.

Misty

I agree totally, very annoying. I won't change brands as I've used them for the last 25 years but that packaging is a real pain.

GuitarMonkey

bluechargeboy said:

Annoying. Their cheapness keeps me coming back. 

They are pretty good strings too, mind.

mart said:

That is pretty useless. Some company (I can't recall which) has them in pairs, but the pairs are E/D, B/A, G/E, so you can easily tell which is which.

Your namesake, (CF) Martin. 

Johnnyseven

Why not take a spare guitar to avoid dissapointment?

richardhomer

The packaging has been a USP for D'Addarios for years - low environmental impact and keeps the strings fresh.

Personally I've never found it a problem - though to be fair - I've never broken a string on a gig.

Their strings are head and shoulders better than any other brand in terms of life expectancy and consistency - unless you get into coated ones which I don't like on electrics.

xmrchi

I think you all need to man up and understand that each string has a certain thickness, which is a tell tale sign....... :-)

I'll get my coat

ICBM

Plan ahead.

Keep a set of string packets from some other brand, separate your spare D'Addario set into individual strings at home in good light, and put them in the string packets.

Use that set every time you time you change strings and replace with the new-new ones so the spares are always fairly fresh.

p90fool

Bollocks to all that, I'll just buy someone else's, otherwise they'll never get the message

thermionic

I think they've been like this for more than a year or two. Doesn't bother me at all - I don't gig, so I always replace all six at the same time.

ICBM's idea sounds like the perfect solution. Or just carry a pack of a different make when you play live.

Lixarto

p90fool said:

Bollocks to all that, I'll just buy someone else's, otherwise they'll never get the message

Never rated D'addarios myself.

ICBM

p90fool said:

Bollocks to all that, I'll just buy someone else's, otherwise they'll never get the message

I'd prefer to keep using them so that other companies get the message that individual packaging is wasteful and a nuisance at any other time than when changing strings at a gig...

It's one of the reasons I like D'Addarios - apart from them being great strings.

p90fool

Hippy

beed84

The electric strings of theirs don't seem to agree with my PH balance, or whatever it is.  They corrode after hours.  The classical strings seem to be ok but in terms of packaging, they're all bundled together and the only way to identify which string is which is by the tiny speck of colour at the ends.  For some reason, there is nothing on the classical packets to refer the colour and string to which I found really annoying.  After I've used my remaining sets, I'll move onto another brand.

thermionic

I've just restrung one of my acoustics with D'Addario EXPs and I somehow mixed up the D and G, had to take them off and swap them over. One of the disadvantages of pairing them up as opposed to individual envelopes!

Moe_Zambeek

Prior to the 'pairing', D'Addarios were all bundled in together were they not? So in fact they're better than they were...

ICBM

p90fool said:

Hippy

No, lazy skinflint . Excessive packaging wastes money so the strings would end up slightly more expensive. I find individual packets a nuisance when I'm changing all the strings at once too, it's quicker just to get all of them out at once.

beed84 said:

The classical strings seem to be ok but in terms of packaging, they're all bundled together and the only way to identify which string is which is by the tiny speck of colour at the ends.  For some reason, there is nothing on the classical packets to refer the colour and string to which I found really annoying.  After I've used my remaining sets, I'll move onto another brand.

Don't they still put the little sticker on one end? The last lot I had did,although it was a few months ago now.

I'm surprised it's not obvious from the string thickness too, they're really quite different in nylon sets.