Guitar Strings

[ShanPeyton]

Why do you use what you use? Are you bound by brand? Size? Feel? Price? Do you like to experiment and try a new kind every time? Do you play what your influences Play? HOW DO YOU DECIDE? How often do you change them? Do you like them snappy and new or thubby and dull?

For a lot of us i think is sort of personal thing for others it's a "idgaf just restring it" kind of thing. But it's one of those things i have been curious about? Just want to know what everyone else is doing?

For years i was an EB super slinky guy. YEARS. then i just decided to start trying new brands because i had a real job and could afford such luxuries every month or so. I did all the gimmicky kind of strings, the coated stuff, the anti rust BS, cobalt etc etc. frankly it was all garbage in my opinion. I really wanted to get on board with what Elixr was doing but after trying a couple sets i just didn't love what i was feeling. Sounds wise they were ok but i just didn't like the feel.

Right now after a few years of experimenting, I sort of have a top three strings that are my goto's that i really could care less what guitar i put them on i know that i am going to be happy with them how they feel, how they sound and what i pay for them.

#1 - DR- Pure Blues 9-49.
#2 - Gibson Les Paul Signiture 9-46
#3 - RotoSound Roto Yellows.

Granted they are all different sizes and what not, and i am sure some of you are wtf'ing so hard at that but really i find i just like the way all these string play on any of my electrics. If i had to say one string played any better on any of my guitars the DR's on my Sparrow Rat Rod is heavenly. Bending those strings on those frets... Hot knife through butter. 0 resistance. Pure rock and roll loveliness. The Gibsons kind of lose their life a little more quickly than the other two but for the price and what little tonal qualities i can get out of them before they get flubby i can't really do much better. The roto sounds are just a nice all around string price wise tone wise. they sort of have a big fat chunk to them when they are a few days old and worked in and i love that. I am sure i am mental but i just don't like the sound of a string if they have been on a guitar for more than like 3 months or more. especially if i have been on a writing / playing spree. I gotta change em out.

Once i get my tele built i will begin the string journey again for that sucker and maybe come up with a new favorite for that tele sound? Who knows?

[rammer24]

I'm not a guitar player, but I've always used 9-42. Ernie Ball, D'addario, whatever. Never tried anything fancy like Blue Steel or whatever there is these days.

[Bubba]

Regular slinkies. They last well and I can get three sets for twelve quid online.

[Armistice]

D'Addario 10s & 11s on electric, Elixir on acoustic.

The good thing about D'Addario strings is that I've memorised the pack colours so i can just point at them and it avoids inane conversation with the guy at the till.

And Elixirs have a half life of a decade on acoustic guitars.

[miroslav]

Why do you use what you use? Are you bound by brand? Size? Feel? Price?

I've tried a lot of different brands...and a few different gauges. Tried coated strings a couple of times...hated them.

GHS, Everly, D'Addario, EBs, Fender...probably a few others in there...and the last 10 years or so, I settled on just one brand - Curt Mangan.
IMO, they are some of the best quality steel/nickel...and some of the most consistent quality from batch to batch....and they last.
Also there isn't some radical difference from fresh out of the pack compared to a bunch of hours/days of playing. They also hold their tone.

Unlike many other brands that have their strings made for them by some bulk manufacturer, that is also making strings for other brands...Curt Mangan does their own, from start to finish. They are not a big marketing company, lots of hype and promo...but, the people who use them, swear by them, and generally become exclusive Curt Mangan users....which is kinda what happened with me.
Curt Mangan was a major guy over at Ernie Ball...and then he broke away and started his own line, because he wanted to make a very specific kind of string.

I've used standard 09 gauge for many years, in my younger days...then for awhile I was making my own custom sets...using 09 set for the high three and a light set for the low three...like from an 08 standard set. I liked that there was a bit less of that low end boom with that combination, and it helped the high three strings stand out more when strumming chords.
About 15-20 years back I switched to standard 10-46 gauge...but recently I have thought about trying that same approach again, and using the three low strings from an 09 set, though I would maybe just do that on a couple of my guitars.
Basically the standard 10-46 gauge works well for me, for most stuff...just sometimes I think less low end would help with more articulate chords on some rhythm tracks.

There was also a period during my 10-46 years..maybe about 7 years ago, where went with an 11 gauge set on my guitars, and I still have at least one guitar strung with 11s...but I found that the 11s had too much fundamental tone and not as much harmonics blended into the overall sound when playing rhythm guitar when I want to get classic Pop/Rock sounds. I think the 10-46 sets are best for that...and 09 sets are also good...but after playing 10s and 11s...I find 09s way too soft now for how I like to play. I tend to dig in a bit harder on the strings...so the 10s work best...kinda the perfect balance of feel and tone for most Pop/Rock music....IMO.

I'll grab the guitar with the 11s when I want a more bolder, rounder, cleaner tone. Same thing with differences in scale length...sometimes I prefer the sound/feel of a guitar with 25.5" when I want more ring, more clarity...and then 24.75" when I want do do more creamier, crunchier stuff.

[Lt. Bob]

10-46 on 25.5" scale gits
11-48 on 24.75" scale

preferred string brand is D'Addario NYXL 's even though they cost about twice as much as anything else.

A noticeably more powerful output .... a slightly fatter sound .... they get in tune and stay that way almost immediately and they last a long time.
Best electric string on the market.

But sometimes I can't afford them or don't have time to order any, so I always have a box with a few dozen sets of Ernie Balls on hand for when I can't.


oh, and for picks I generally use a Fender shaped heavy .... this pick in fact.

[ido1957]

Dean Markley Signature 9-42 for decades literally (They may have had a different name over the years). Just familiar and they do their job.

[Greg_L]

For most of my life I used whatever strings were cheap when I'd go buy them. I didn't care. The only thing I cared about was "light gauge". If they were "light gauge" I'd use them. Not knowing what made them light gauge or why I liked them didn't matter, I just liked them. Any brand, any time, any where, if they were "light gauge" they were fine with me.

Now as I've unfortunately gotten wiser, and everything fucking matters now, I realize that "light gauge" could have meant any damn thing, but it usually meant the strings were 9s or 10s. So with that new knowledge I started refining my search by looking for 9s or 10s instead of some arbitrary name. Cheap and easy was still the first rule, but I knew they had to be 9s or 10s. The difference still didn't matter.

Then....as I seemed to maybe get better? I started noticing the difference on the guitars I like to play, and for me, 10s are where it's at. I like Gibsons and Gibson scale lengths, and 10s feel just right for me on those guitars. 9s are way too slinky, 11s are too heavy, 10s are just right Goldilocks. To get that seem feel on a Fender scale length, I keep 9s on my Strat. But that piece of crap collects dust, so whatever. 10s for me. No hybrids, no mixes and matches, just regular ol 10-46.

Now, for the brand, Lt Boob tipped me off on D'Addario NYXLs, and his description is right on the money. I love those strings. They feel hard, yet have the proper slinkiness, and holy shit they stay in tune better than anything I've ever played. Big, bold, punchy, powerful sound. Gauge for gauge, they seem to create more output than similar strings in their gauge range. I never would have thought a string could live up to it's hype, but NYXLs really do. They also last a very long time and maintain their bright new sound. Great strings....but they are three times as much as Ernie's. $$$$$

So for me, it's usually D'Addario NYXL 10s and Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 10-46 puke green/yellow packs.

[Lt. Bob]

...but they are three times as much as Ernie's. $$$$$

So for me, it's usually D'Addario NYXL 10s and Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 10-46 puke green/yellow packs.

yeah .... you can get those Slinkys for about 36 bucks a dozen from time to time so when I see that I buy a dozen so I always have strings.
I buy NYXLs by the 5-pack ..... but that's more than a dozen sets of Slinkys

[Greg_L]

Oh yeah, string changes....I don't have any set schedule. When they start to sound dull enough to bother me, they get changed.

[Lt. Bob]

I change mine when they either start breaking or go flat at the octave.
Sounding dull doesn't bother me ..... but that Stinnett is a string breaker and even the NYXL's will start breaking when they get old on that guitar.
But sometimes they'll last till the intonation goes out at which point I change them .... I like my guitar to be at least close to in-tune.

[Greg_L]

I change mine when they either start breaking or go flat at the octave.
Sounding dull doesn't bother me ..... but that Stinnett is a string breaker and even the NYXL's will start breaking when they get old on that guitar.
But sometimes they'll last till the intonation goes out at which point I change them .... I like my guitar to be at least close to in-tune.

Why do you think the Stinnet breaks strings?

I'm lucky that I'm not a habitual string breaker. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I broke a string. It just doesn't happen to me. *knock on wood*

Drumsticks? I'll break the hell out of those things.

[miroslav]

10-46 on 25.5" scale gits
11-48 on 24.75" scale

I assume you do this in order to maintain a consistent feel between the two scale lengths...heavier gauge on the short/looser scale and lighter gauge on the longer/tighter scale...yes?..or do you do it for tone flavor too?

They feel hard, yet have the proper slinkiness, and holy shit they stay in tune better than anything I've ever played. Big, bold, punchy, powerful sound. Gauge for gauge, they seem to create more output than similar strings in their gauge range.

I've not tried the NYXLs, and I know some people really like them...but in many ways, what you are describing above about them...applies to the Curt Mangan that I use.
CM also uses a better grade of steel, sourced specifically for his strings, like the NYXLs...and IMO, the CMs do outperform many other brands.
You might want try them...they too are not on the real cheap side, but certainly less than the NYXLs. If you use a lot of strings, you might like them as an alternative.
I'll say this...if you like EB Slinkies...you will like the Curt Mangan strings more....not that EBs suck, I like them too...but having used both, I can see/fee/hear the improvement with the CM strings.
I'll have to check out the NYLXs one of these days...but TBH...I just bought 2 dozen pure nickel CMs over the holidays, and last year I stocked up with about 2-3 dozen of the nickel-wound...the bulk prices were really good, and they are completely sealed, so they ain't gonna go bad.

I buy them usually bulk, and if you get like 2 dozen or more from Curt Mangan...there's a significant price break that he does.
I also buy them from Strings and Beyond...they'll run specials from time to time, especially on bulk buys.

[EDIT]

Oh...picks...I'm pretty much set with the Tortex III picks...yellow/.73
I tried many...I have dozen of different types/thicknesses in my pick collection. I use to play real thin picks, but worked up to the .73...tried even thicker stuff, but didn't care for the feel.
The Tortex III have a sharper point, and are pretty stiff without feeling thick in-between my fingers... and they are not as tubby round in the middle. I love how they work the strings.

[Minerman]

I use Elixr .009-.042 on all my guitars, they seem to last a lot longer for me...I'm gonna get around to try the D'Addario's that Bob & Greg like so much, but I need to use up what I've got first...

I did try all kinds of different strings back in the gigging days, but settled on the Ernie Ball Super Slinky .009-.042's, & stuck with those for years...They just felt & sounded "right" to me...The Elixr's are ok, but again, I'm gonna try the D'Addario's that Bob & Greg use before too long...

I've got all kinds of different picks, but most of the time I use the yellow Dunlop 73mm Tortex picks...

[Greg_L]

I've not tried the NYXLs, and I know some people really like them...but in many ways, what you are describing above about them...applies to the Curt Mangan that I use.
CM also uses a better grade of steel, sourced specifically for his strings, like the NYXLs...and IMO, the CMs do outperform many other brands.
You might want try them...

If I ever see them out and about, I'll get some and try them. I'm probably not gonna order any. Next time I do an online order from somewhere I'll see if they have them.

[miroslav]

They're HQ/manufacturing is in Colorado...I'm sure the stores in TX should stock them.
If you can't find 'em...I'll be happy to send you a set to try out.

[Greg_L]

They're HQ/manufacturing is in Colorado...I'm sure the stores in TX should stock them.
If you can't find 'em...I'll be happy to send you a set to try out.

Sure thanks. I'll PM my address.

[JD01]

I use Hybrid Slinkies. Have done for years, orange pack 9-46. Even the guy who built my guitar raved about the NYXLs that Greg and Bob said about but I still have a few packs of Hybrids to her through first.

[Lt. Bob]

10-46 on 25.5" scale gits
11-48 on 24.75" scale

I assume you do this in order to maintain a consistent feel between the two scale lengths...heavier gauge on the short/looser scale and lighter gauge on the longer/tighter scale...yes?. .

yessir .... not for the tone .... it's just that 10's feel a bit rubbery to me on a Gibson scale.

[ocnor]

Like most of you I've tried multiple brands of strings. I used Dean Markley strings for many years until the quality of the plating turned to shit around the turn of the century. Since then I've switched to D'Addario EXL110 which feel smooth and stay in tune really well.