Elixir strings - up close and personal

Sporky

ICBM said:

(Although I'm beginning to understand where my most hated guitar phrase comes from, if people actually like this feel .)

I'd say they play more like snot than butter.

stickyfiddle

ICBM said:

I don't think they sound played-in - or even new for that matter, although they do sound more like new than like played-in, to me. They just sound thin and tinny, mixed with a bit of lack of punch. I like genuinely played-in strings - not dead ones - I always keep them clean and I can get months out of them even on my gigging guitars. (Maybe weeks if I was gigging as much as some of you.)

I'm actually surprised that they last so long for other people - whenever I work on a guitar with some on that aren't nearly new they seem to be frayed both over the frets and where the pick hits them - you can feel the roughness of the material, I find this very annoying, possibly because I play with fingers only so I might feel it more.

I also find they have an annoying tendency to break - almost always at the tuner post - if they need to be slackened to do some work that doesn't require a restring. I don't know why, but it's noticeably more so than other strings.

And that's even before the feel of them, which is the worst thing - to me they feel greasy and like strings do at a very sweaty gig, constantly in need of wiping. Horrible. (Although I'm beginning to understand where my most hated guitar phrase comes from, if people actually like this feel .)

The D'Addarios are different - they felt draggy and like dirty normal strings, and sounded dead and muffled... but I think I'd probably choose them if I was forced to and it was them or Elixirs. Or take up the accordion.

They do fray if you use a pick, but if you don't use one they're fine. Either way you only get frayed bits under your fingers if you use both. I do, but it doesn't bother me. 

Blueingreen

Been using them for nearly a year now and never had any problems with fraying or strings breaking but I play with a light touch and don't dig in hard.  I think I've only broken about 3 strings in my entire playing life, and certainly none in the past 10 years or so.

thermionic

Great photos. A Polyweb, Nanoweb and D'Addario EXP side by side would be interesting...

I also discovered Elixirs when I bought a Taylor, and at first they were a revelation. Smart marketing move by Taylor because a guitar that's been hanging up in the shop for 6 months is going to sound zingier than one with ordinary strings. I tried D'Addario EXPs and it was like gaining an extra octave below, so I've stuck with them. They don't sound bright for as long as Elixirs but a fuller sound overall I think.

Might be time for me to try uncoated strings again for a while and see how they compare.

Paul_C

I like them on my acoustic.

jimmyd

I think the greasy description joys the spot, I couldn't get on with them either when I tried them. However, my favourite strings are D'addarios so.shows how much I know

jimmyd

*hits the spot. Not joys the spot.


DAMN YOU AUTOCORRECTING PHONE. DAMN YOU TO HELL.

p90fool

I'd rather have my spot joyed than hit, any day of the week.

JookyChap

The fotos are stunning, but I'd be interested to see similar ones of, say, Ernies and Elixirs side by side after they have both been played for a month or so...

I think I'm the odd one out, I never really liked Elixirs but did like the D'Addario  coated ones. Then went back to Axetec where I belong.

randomhandclaps

Fair enough if you like Elixirs, but I hate them for the studio. 

I don't really get the longevity angle applying to gigging or recording guitars as they are twice the price of standard strings and I would sooner change string twice as often.   Bands used to turn up to record and when I used to check their guitar for intonation etc 7/10 they would have old-ish strings on.  You would suggest they change them and if they had bought into the Elixir spiel they would moan that they 'only re-strung it a few weeks ago' and 'this strings are coated to last longer'. 

After two days of recording the Elixirs are just as knackered as any other string (and that provided the coated hasn't started breaking up) and tone wise they are definitely thinner sounding than most. 

If you like the feel and the sound then that's grand, but I wouldn't pay the price in the belief it will save you money long term.

 

monquixote

randomhandclaps said:

Fair enough if you like Elixirs, but I hate them for the studio. 

I don't really get the longevity angle applying to gigging or recording guitars as they are twice the price of standard strings and I would sooner change string twice as often.   Bands used to turn up to record and when I used to check their guitar for intonation etc 7/10 they would have old-ish strings on.  You would suggest they change them and if they had bought into the Elixir spiel they would moan that they 'only re-strung it a few weeks ago' and 'this strings are coated to last longer'. 

After two days of recording the Elixirs are just as knackered as any other string (and that provided the coated hasn't started breaking up) and tone wise they are definitely thinner sounding than most. 

If you like the feel and the sound then that's grand, but I wouldn't pay the price in the belief it will save you money long term.

The intonation is fine on mine months later. 

Lew

ICBM;11477" said:

String in a condom.

Explains pretty much everything I hate about them .

this :-)

digitalscream

randomhandclaps said:

If you like the feel and the sound then that's grand, but I wouldn't pay the price in the belief it will save you money long term.

As @monquixote says - they do save money for an awful lot of people, because they might be twice the price but (for me at least) they last at least 5 or 6 times as long as normal strings.

Sporky

digitalscream said:

As @monquixote says - they do save money for an awful lot of people, because they might be twice the price but (for me at least) they last at least 5 or 6 times as long as normal strings.

Likewise, except an even bigger margin for me. I don't play an awful lot; EBs rust on the guitars where Elixirs stay perfectly decent for ages.

EdGrip

This is all interesting - I tried a set on my acoustic once, and didn't like the sound as some above have said. (There's nothing quite like a new set of bronze acoustic strings)
That experience put me off ever trying them on electric. I think I should give 'em a go.
- Ed

PS - I was a long-time Rotosound player, but recently I bought some D'Addarios for fun, and I prefer their relatively lower tension. Both are good strings. The only strings I really dislike are Ernie Balls.

EdGrip

Also, because I am poor and lazy, my electric guitar strings spend a lot more time sounding dead than zingy. As a consequence I am accustomed more to old strings than new ones and, if I'm honest, actually prefer them. I clean each string when I finish playing.

stickyfiddle

randomhandclaps said:

Fair enough if you like Elixirs, but I hate them for the studio. 

I don't really get the longevity angle applying to gigging or recording guitars as they are twice the price of standard strings and I would sooner change string twice as often.   Bands used to turn up to record and when I used to check their guitar for intonation etc 7/10 they would have old-ish strings on.  You would suggest they change them and if they had bought into the Elixir spiel they would moan that they 'only re-strung it a few weeks ago' and 'this strings are coated to last longer'. 

After two days of recording the Elixirs are just as knackered as any other string (and that provided the coated hasn't started breaking up) and tone wise they are definitely thinner sounding than most. 

If you like the feel and the sound then that's grand, but I wouldn't pay the price in the belief it will save you money long term.

 

You're missing the point. They aren't for those guys who can get 2 days solid recording from a set of EBs or D'ads. They're for guys like me with corrosive sweat who can't get more than 2 *hours* from regular strings before they look and feel shite. I can get 6 months from a set of Elixirs easily, and usually closer to a year with no intonation or tuning problems at all. That makes them something like a tenth the cost of EBs.

p90fool

randomhandclaps said:

Fair enough if you like Elixirs, but I hate them for the studio. 

I don't really get the longevity angle applying to gigging or recording guitars as they are twice the price of standard strings and I would sooner change string twice as often.   Bands used to turn up to record and when I used to check their guitar for intonation etc 7/10 they would have old-ish strings on.  You would suggest they change them and if they had bought into the Elixir spiel they would moan that they 'only re-strung it a few weeks ago' and 'this strings are coated to last longer'. 

After two days of recording the Elixirs are just as knackered as any other string (and that provided the coated hasn't started breaking up) and tone wise they are definitely thinner sounding than most. 

If you like the feel and the sound then that's grand, but I wouldn't pay the price in the belief it will save you money long term.

 

I totally agree. As I said in my earlier post, I wouldn't dream of turning up to a paid session with Elixirs on, I have too many issues with players using them in my own studio.

I too have corrosive sweat, so having to change my EBs every gig for three decades means that I never play with knackered strings, which is what coated strings sound like to me.

I can imagine that players whose style doesn't need that new string liveliness that I prefer could benefit though, as long as they don't seriously expect them to last indefinitely.

lustycourtier

I love them because if  I put rotos or ernie balls on anything, I kill them dead in the first set. Doing 8 sets or so a week, thats annoying. Ive used Elixirs for over a decade, however yetserday I whacked a set of D'addrios 12s on my Marr and they sound and feel great. I do know that at at at 11pm on Friday, Ill be regretting the decision....

ChrisMusic

EdGrip said:   Also, because I am poor and lazy, my electric guitar strings spend a lot more time sounding dead than zingy. As a consequence I am accustomed more to old strings than new ones and, if I'm honest, actually prefer them. I clean each string when I finish playing.

Back in my "previous life", growing up as a perpetually skint musician, it was either dead strings or take them off, put them in an old pair of the girlfriends tights, in a pan of boiling water for 15 mins, and then restring for the weeks gigs. Rarely broke one either. Did they sound like new, no, but like they were played in.  I don't know, yung uns today, don't know you're born, when I were a lad we used to live in shoe box at bottom of t'garden ......

Seriously though, after returning to playing again I am trying strings (both gauges and brands) to find what I like and what suits me best now, so this discussion has been very helpful, if not conclusive.

The reason for boiling up old strings was that I remember them being around £5 a pack all those years ago, and they are still £5 a pack, allowing for inflation they should be between £20 to £25 today, and that's bass string territory, ouch.