Ernie Ball Cobalts...anyone else try them yet?

shasha

shasha

Fractal Fanatic
Just got a new/used guitar off e-Bay. Now I've been wanting one of these for a while (Carvin CT6) and I'd played one with the stainless steel frets before, but this thing arrived and I was blown away by it being even better than I remembered the other being. So I let it settle in a bit and tweaked the truss rod just a bit, but what I couldn't get over was how great the strings felt. I assumed that they were brand new. I asked the seller what brand and gauge they were and he told me that he put them on like 5 months ago and that they were the cobalts in .10. Now I'm a .09 guy myself and I had a feeling that these were a bit bigger and to be honest I've been thinking about stepping up a gauge, but this is making the decision to do it on all of my guitars really easy to make. Now they are a bit more expensive, but they obviously last a lot longer and if you are like me and never break strings anyway this is probably going to work out great....at least for me.

Anyway, before I go ahead and buy a case or two and restring and setup every guitar for .10's, I was just wondering if anyone had some horror stories or bad things to say about these strings.
 
I've got a set sitting in front of me, but haven't put them on a guitar yet. I think the guy at GC talked me into them a while back because they were out of the Elixir Nano's I usually use on my Anderson DT Classic.

I was about to restring it, so I'll let you know what I think too. Mine are 9's though.
 
I LOVE THEM!!! Actually just picked up a pack of the M-Steel's to try as they are supposed to be better than the Cobalts. I love the cobalts...Havent had any issues with them, they have a bit more output like they claim..and seem to have more sustain.....Some people have said they dont like the feel of hte strings like they have more 'grip' for slids and such...I can see that possibly, but its just an adjustment you make.....

I'm due for a restring so I'm gonna throw those m-steels on and compare.
 
I've never used them myself, but I know a few people who have. From what they tell me, the cobalts eat nickle frets faster but do good with ss frets.
 
I hated them. felt very rough under my fingers, oxidized quickly.

i just put the new D'Addario NYXL's on my guitars and LOVE them. I haven't tried the M-Steels yet, but I can't imagine them being better than the D'Addarios.
 
Thanks for the info guys. Maybe I'll just keep them on the Carvin for now and pass on the other guitars. The thing is like 9 years old and the frets look brand new. We'll see how they hold up with this set and then go from there.

Good argument for getting stainless frets on all of my guitars or just selling these off and going that way. I can't believe how much I like the stainless steel.
 
jlynnb1 said:
I hated them. felt very rough under my fingers, oxidized quickly.

i just put the new D'Addario NYXL's on my guitars and LOVE them. I haven't tried the M-Steels yet, but I can't imagine them being better than the D'Addarios.
Click to expand...

NYXLs are the shit. I usually break at least a D and or a high E every weekend. I have been playing full gigs 3 a week plus extreme 4 hours practices about every night for the last month just to see how far they will go. Not broke one yet. Still have good intonation and feel fine!! These suckers save me a ton in time and cash.
Broke the cobalts easy, and didnt feel right to me. But I'm sure my nickle frets will feel the pain.
 
I tried the cobalts. I liked them but a little different feel. I have been using the msteels for several months and like them better. They are holding tune very good even after whammy abuse. I normally play dr's but these are good too. They are louder and have more output. I have been on an extended trip for 6 months and only have a Jem with me. So I can't really compare with anything else. I would use them again.
 
I play pure nickels....bought a telecaster on ebay put earnieball cobalt just to give it a try...insane
amount of output and clear tone....buuttttt i like pure nickel more so i went back.
 
I did some string experimentation
I loved the way Colbalts felt... on the wound strings
but i thought they sounded AWFUL
I couldn't get my tone or the tone i wanted- and it sounded like there was always an awful sounding boost or overdrive pedal on everything I did at all times.

D'Addario sent me a ton of strings to try- I enjoyed the stainless steels but not something I'd use regularly...
I really liked and was impressed by the balanced tension strings-

I'm an 8 user and the balanced tension 9's had the feel of 8s and tone of 9's and I was blown away but how you can bend equally on each strings

(in case you think this is a commercial/paid endorsement for daddario i should clarify- after i told them i loved what they sent me- they told me artist pricing and it was more than musiciansfriend+tax+shipping)
 
Maybe I need to go ahead and see what this thing sounds like with regular strings before I make a decision. I'm actually loving the sustain and attack, but I've already started looking at a pickup swap because I thought that the sound was a bit harsher than I expected. I was definitely surprised at how hot the output was compared to other passive guitars so it may be the strings doing something. Then again I could try lowering the pickups a touch.
 
I've used a lot of strings over 30 years of guitar playing everything from Latin Jazz and Classical on Nylon to flatwounds to ... you name it. Each string has a characteristic sound and feel, so a lot of it has to do with preference. However, I can tell you for sure my recent experience with Cobalts. Only the wound strings contain the Cobalt alloy - the plains are regular EB compound. The Cobalt does eat your frets and that pretty much is a killer for me. I don't know if the M-Steel strings (EB) are available without the Cobalt windings but as long as there's Cobalt I won't be using them. I need to check if Picato strings are still available. I use EB 10's for Rock generally but some guitars have 11's and Elixir for my acoustic.
 
Don't know about the fret wear as I didn't have them on long enough. As advertised, they made everything hotter which I don't need. I was breaking strings and was just curious about the hype. Didn't like them at all. Been using EB's for years. Recently switched to DR tite fit and absolutely love them. Still breaking strings though.
 
I have a pack sitting on my desk that have been there for about a year. After buying them, I read about how they eat frets and rust easily. My body oil/sweat eats Elixir's, so I don't think the cobalt will stand a chance. Also, I like my frets to not be eaten up by strings, so I'm scared to use them.
 
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