Hi all,
Disclaimer - Some of you are going to think I'm an idiot after this, but here goes;
When I buy a guitar, I find out what the original strings fitted to it were, and buy 10 or 20 sets of them, and put them away. When it comes time to change strings, I grab a new set, destring, clean the guitar, then replace them. When stocks get down, I buy another ten sets or so. My logic is that the manufacturer know whet they are doing, and will put on what best suits the instrument.
As an example, A Telecaster gets fender branded strings identical to what was fitted by the factory the year that guitar was made... Strat, the same - fender strings that were fitted at the factory that year, Les paul - The same Gibson strings that were fitted at the factory. I thought I was so smart, but tell you what - the quality of these brands of strings has turned to shit. I think it's time to survey the options and move away from 'Brand X, manufactured at the lowest price possible, branded for the instrument maker' strings.
To celebrate the new firmware today, (Thanks @FractalAudio !), I grabbed a Les Paul, that was restrung last week, and started playing.. Half way through song 1, the E string went way flat ... like WAY flat... I tried to tune it back up... turns out the (ball) end winding had let go, and the string was just unravelling as I tried to tune it up. The last set was pretty dodgy in quality and broke too soon (Nope it's not the guitar). So that's the last couple of sets of Gibson strings. About 1/4 of the Fender sets I get have corrosion on the strings so if I get one of them, I throw the set out, and grab another, hoping it'll be good this time.....
So ... Advice please - Is there a string brand/model that is consistent in quality, and remains so over the years? I like bright sounding strings if that makes a difference. I don't care about cost or advertising - Just quality and consistency. I want to know that if I grab a new set of strings out of the bag, it'll be in perfect new condition, and the quality will be consistently good. As long as I can find identical gauges to what was intended for my guitars. I think it's time to change brands.
Thanks
Pauly
Disclaimer - Some of you are going to think I'm an idiot after this, but here goes;
When I buy a guitar, I find out what the original strings fitted to it were, and buy 10 or 20 sets of them, and put them away. When it comes time to change strings, I grab a new set, destring, clean the guitar, then replace them. When stocks get down, I buy another ten sets or so. My logic is that the manufacturer know whet they are doing, and will put on what best suits the instrument.
As an example, A Telecaster gets fender branded strings identical to what was fitted by the factory the year that guitar was made... Strat, the same - fender strings that were fitted at the factory that year, Les paul - The same Gibson strings that were fitted at the factory. I thought I was so smart, but tell you what - the quality of these brands of strings has turned to shit. I think it's time to survey the options and move away from 'Brand X, manufactured at the lowest price possible, branded for the instrument maker' strings.
To celebrate the new firmware today, (Thanks @FractalAudio !), I grabbed a Les Paul, that was restrung last week, and started playing.. Half way through song 1, the E string went way flat ... like WAY flat... I tried to tune it back up... turns out the (ball) end winding had let go, and the string was just unravelling as I tried to tune it up. The last set was pretty dodgy in quality and broke too soon (Nope it's not the guitar). So that's the last couple of sets of Gibson strings. About 1/4 of the Fender sets I get have corrosion on the strings so if I get one of them, I throw the set out, and grab another, hoping it'll be good this time.....
So ... Advice please - Is there a string brand/model that is consistent in quality, and remains so over the years? I like bright sounding strings if that makes a difference. I don't care about cost or advertising - Just quality and consistency. I want to know that if I grab a new set of strings out of the bag, it'll be in perfect new condition, and the quality will be consistently good. As long as I can find identical gauges to what was intended for my guitars. I think it's time to change brands.
Thanks
Pauly