Can you recommend some electric strings?

i loved the feel of cobalts but hated the tone
everything felt overdriven and unreasonably hot

mixed with Evolutions/Evo2/high output dimarzio they were hell
 
I used GHS Boomers for years(I still use them on bass) but on a recommendation I switched to D'Addario's and have pretty much stuck with those. I have also used the Ernie Ball's from time to time.
 
USED GHS Boomers for 35 years. Try others, and like 'em, but always seem to go back. But it is a very personal thing. Buy a bunch, try 'em out. You may even find different axes like different strings.
 
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The one string that almost pulled me away from Boomers were the DR electric (not the super-bright nickel blues model - just their standard DR Electric Tite-Fit). I love the feel and sound of 'em. And I swear they bend easier than other strings of the same gauge, perhaps because they have a round, not hexagonal core. BUT: EVERY (and I mean EVERY) guitar tech I know says they don't hold intonation and/or that every set you put on alters intonation - you need to re-do intonation each time. I haven't tested this, and I still have a few sets left, so I may put one on my Strat and see, but if true, it's a damn shame - they bend easy, sound great, and keep their tone for a long time.
 
Loquenau said:
Yeah, I remember that. They were bass-ier, without being bassier. I may try some again eventually.


Thomastic.....I tried some Thomastic Infelds around '99....can't remember whether it was flat wound.....

I remember Ernie Balls being pretty cheap, at least the super slinkys.

Unless you're doing serious, consistent whammy, and perhaps crazy bends, I can't see why you would break a string. ((Edited for clarity.))
Click to expand...

When I break a string, I feel proud of myself, like I really pushed my playing to the limit....unfortunately, I don't break strings too often.
 
(putting on helmet again)

I tend to play true Fender strings (.009-.042) with my real Strats and Teles.

I use PRS strings (amazing, long life, almost never break) with my PRS's

Almost everything else is a crap shoot.

My guitar tech tells me that he selects D'Addarios - not necessarily because of the tone, but because of the mechanical consistency. He says that after mic'ing out (measuring) the gauge, there's so much variation in many brands - these are very consistent. Obviously, this makes his job (action, intonation, nut height/width, etc.) a lot easier. I'm not sold yet, but the guitars do sound very decent coming back from the shop.

BTW - a brief aside to Marky (because I love Maypo too): I find that when I break strings, there's an audio echo in the room... it sounds like this:

"I might notta broke you wonky bastid if you'd occasionally change yer strrrings!"

Eeerie how that goes ;^}
 
I had my main guitar blocked to do some experimenting with strings.

For those of you who like Ernie Ball Cobalts... D'Addario Stainless steel strings have all the tone and output and an even better feel... ditch the cobals for Prosteels

I also realized using 8's- Ernie Ball and D'Addario 8 string sets have different guages... After almost 10 years I think I'm ditching EB for D'Addario...

On top of that- I'm BLOWN AWAY by the Balanced Tension Strings

The Balanced Tension 9's are killer... bending has hit an entirely new level on these strings. the same amount of effort across all the strings raise the pitch the exact same amount...

They're not that far off from my old 8's i used to use... the low E is solid and less flabby (40 from 38) and the top 2 strings are full of tone and no more pingy sounding string slap from the ernie balls.
 
Well I tried Chris Campbell, Elixir Nanoweb, and DR (again). The DRs felt and sounded a little....hard. Liked the Nanowebs, and they seemed to last a good two or three months. I think I like the Chris Campbells best over all, though. Plus you can get 'em on ebay straight from them, and for the best price.
 
I've pretty much used DRs for the last decade. Not exclusively, I've tried others, but I always come back to the DRs. Different gauges, and such for different things, of course, but mostly titefit 10's. I'm a lazy guitar tech, so it's nice that I can get a few months out of them before they go flat. Plus, my sweat doesn't rust them. I can't even use Ernie Balls, they rust within 24 hours of me touching them. I can also leave a set of DRs on a guitar I rarely play in a humid room without them rusting. Plus I like the tone.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jeries said:
i loved the feel of cobalts but hated the tone
everything felt overdriven and unreasonably hot

mixed with Evolutions/Evo2/high output dimarzio they were hell
Click to expand...

I had the same negative experience with Cobalts. My favourite right now are DR Blues. They last and the tone is great especially with stainless steel frets which can tend to give off a bright sound.
 
Wow. A lot of comments by folks who have tried a lot of different strings.
One thing i'm still wondering - How different does the string brand make a guitar sound?
Is it a significant difference or is it subtle?
Are various brands really all that different, or is it more a matter of choosing string composition, regardless of brand?
 
I've been using .09 super slinkys forever now. They work, they never break and last forever and a day.

But I do think that you really have to do some experimenting. If my son or my friend comes over and plays any of my guitars within about an hour the strings turn into black razor wire. I can play the same set for literally two years and they stay clean. That's just body chemistry and different people react to different materials differently.

One a side note I bought a case of d'Addario strings. I literally broke every single string in the case. I'm not exaggerating either; it was so bad that I just started swapping them out one at a time because I knew that the set wouldn't last more than a few days. I mean that's obviously a bad batch, but after that I never really bothered to try them out again.
 
Ok, I love Thomastik Infelds, the Infeld Super Alloy for my Strat and the Power Brights and with Heavy Bottoms for just about everything else ... but lately I've been trying Circle K strings, on my RG2228 and Strat, and I really like their feel and sound ... a lot! So much so, I bought a pair for each of my guitars. Check out Circle K, you will not be disappointed.
 
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