Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Stevepage on April 13, 2010, 03:47:17 PM

Title: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Stevepage on April 13, 2010, 03:47:17 PM
So I've been a huge fan of D'addario strings for ever. They're perfect in tone and they usually last me months (I don't sweat that much).

But recently, strings keep breaking on me and it's not my guitars.

Strings snapping and unwrapping at the ball end as well as breaking at the tuning post all on sets of strings only a couple of weeks old.

So because of this, I'm thinking of using a different brand.

I've been looking at DR's, SIT, Dunlop and Elixir. Any one have an opinion on these? I'm tempted to go Elixir because I've had good experiences before.


Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Johnny Mac on April 13, 2010, 03:54:12 PM
I used DRs for a few years and changed strings on my Feline Lion last week to D'adarrio.  They wont stay in tune in this guitar so I'm going back to DRs. They're a bit more but they last for ages.

Strings direct do a good mail order service too.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Philly Q on April 13, 2010, 03:56:15 PM
Interesting you mentioned D'Addario, they were on Newsnight last night in a feature about US/international companies trying to compete in the Chinese market.

Apparently they've switched some of their Chinese production back to the US - wonder if that includes the strings?  :lol:
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: hermetico on April 13, 2010, 03:57:15 PM
I think what your really need is to lubricate every site where the strings enter in contact. You can also file those with a very fine one.
Use graphite grease or something similar.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Stevepage on April 13, 2010, 04:02:18 PM
I always lubricate the nut and bridge with big bends nut sauce, which helps with tuning stability. But these strings are breaking in places where they don't come into contact with anything
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: tomjackson on April 13, 2010, 04:41:43 PM

I've just gone back to D'addario actually, they have a deeper less bright tone than some, seem to last and the 11's on my strat are easy to bend.  I'm sure there's better but it's a pain finding out....
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: dragonfire709 on April 13, 2010, 05:05:08 PM
I've recently switched to the Feline strings. I was using Ernie Balls for years, but with the amount of gigging im doing at the mo it was costing a fortune. I cant tell a difference between them, they're a little bit cheaper and I'd rather support a small local ish company.

Cheers

Roy
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on April 13, 2010, 05:08:33 PM
I've recently switched to the Feline strings. I was using Ernie Balls for years, but with the amount of gigging im doing at the mo it was costing a fortune. I cant tell a difference between them, they're a little bit cheaper and I'd rather support a small local ish company.

Cheers

Roy

Thanks Roy
Our strings are made for us here in the UK by Picato
I have been very pleased with them and we're able to be pretty sensible price wise
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: MDV on April 13, 2010, 06:48:29 PM
Newtone here.

Longish lead time on the custom stuff, but you can get normal sets from strings direct, they last donkeys, sound great and I've never broken one (save when some roundwound unravelled when I cut the ball end off, I winged about it and they said 'they do that, someone should have told you, we'll send replacements that dont' - I've never broken one in action).

After that GHS are my favourites, but they dont do gauges I need. 
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: 38thBeatle on April 13, 2010, 07:01:14 PM
I was given a lot of sets DR's recently. Haven't yet had occasion to put them on but I look forward to doing so. Hitherto I have been using Rotosounds as my local store lets me have 3 packs for the price of two. I have been quite happy with the quality.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: LazyNinja on April 13, 2010, 07:03:31 PM
I get Rotos for the free extra e string  :lol:
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: WezV on April 13, 2010, 07:13:26 PM
I get Rotos for the free extra e string  :lol:

which you wouldnt need with another brand :P

i had had so many sets of roto's break on string up, really dont like them

newtone's if i have time for the order, DR's behind that but more often than not i end up with d'addarios  when i am popping into the local shop to have a chat.  Tried to get them to stock newtone's, especially since its a local company
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Lew on April 13, 2010, 07:17:47 PM
I'm using Rotos at the mo as they came in a bkp box, hope they don't break!
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Roobubba on April 13, 2010, 07:39:17 PM
I have some custom sets of Baritones on order from Newtone - looking forward to finding out hat all this fuss it about :)
For now, I'm using D'Addarios - they last AGES, and I like the tone of them.

Roo
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: MDV on April 13, 2010, 08:08:10 PM
I get Rotos for the free extra e string  :lol:

With rotos you should get a free extra set. I've had a roto 52 break in literally 5 minutes.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: MDV on April 13, 2010, 08:10:40 PM
I have some custom sets of Baritones on order from Newtone - looking forward to finding out hat all this fuss it about :)
For now, I'm using D'Addarios - they last AGES, and I like the tone of them.

Roo

Did you get thick-core-high-tension-at-lower-gauge goodness? I get that in 12, 15, 20p, 32, 44, 60; working pretty well for me, but thinking of getting slightly thinner ones (I picked those for drop A#, now in drop B again)
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: dave_mc on April 13, 2010, 08:31:27 PM
With rotos you should get a free extra set. I've had a roto 52 break in literally 5 minutes.

hehe

I've been using rotos for years and I haven't broken a string in years. I bought a couple of packets of newtones, though (but haven't fitted them yet, surprise surprise).

(a) Interesting you mentioned D'Addario, they were on Newsnight last night in a feature about US/international companies trying to compete in the Chinese market.

(b) Apparently they've switched some of their Chinese production back to the US - wonder if that includes the strings?  :lol:

(a) lolwut? I only watched the first bit, with clegg getting harangued by paxman.

(b) hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Andrew W on April 13, 2010, 08:33:27 PM
I've been using DR Blues 10s and 11s for a while now.  I've never had one break yet and I do like the tone.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Oli on April 13, 2010, 08:37:01 PM
D'Addarios for me, use the nickel wound and the half-wound ones, both sound great, and last for ages. SIT strings weren't too bad when I tried a set, but i think i'll favour D'Addarios for now.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Philly Q on April 13, 2010, 08:47:14 PM
(a) Interesting you mentioned D'Addario, they were on Newsnight last night in a feature about US/international companies trying to compete in the Chinese market.

(b) Apparently they've switched some of their Chinese production back to the US - wonder if that includes the strings?  :lol:

(a) lolwut? I only watched the first bit, with clegg getting harangued by paxman.

(b) hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

You missed Ed Miliband being slapped around by Kirsty Wark.  He was there to talk about the Labour manifesto - which he wrote - but seemed very keen to dodge every question about it.  :roll:
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: hermetico on April 13, 2010, 09:13:02 PM
I always lubricate the nut and bridge with big bends nut sauce, which helps with tuning stability. But these strings are breaking in places where they don't come into contact with anything
Well, I am running D'Addario in all my axes and I am happy by now.
I make extreme bendings, dive bombings and all sort of things without any issue. I just changed the last ones because they started to rust too much for my taste.
I purchased some packs of '09 and '10. Maybe, am I not affected by those chinesse batches?

Let me think... I had only a case, between maybe 15-20 re-strings, where the high E break just during the first bending but, that happened only once. :?
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: DavidRees on April 13, 2010, 09:13:28 PM
Newtone Electric Masters 10-46 and Newtone Electric Slide Classics 15-56
don't break, don't rot and make me sound better than I really am...
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: gordiji on April 13, 2010, 09:17:59 PM
ernie ball tens but will try others esp if there'z an offer, in fact i've got some ghs boomers in the drawyer.used
fender stainless steel for a while but they didn't sound better or last longer. in fact i don't notice the difference
between makes if it's the same guage, they all sound good when new,boing.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: cerpintaxt on April 13, 2010, 09:21:01 PM
Using the Rotosounds that came free with my BKP's and I have to say I'm really impressed. I always used to use D'addario 9's  on my old Tele' and I rememmber having a few snap on me, just like you said.

This dude seems to like the Rotosound Pure Nickels:

http://www.peerlesstone.com/node/134 (http://www.peerlesstone.com/node/134)

Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: dave_mc on April 13, 2010, 10:01:10 PM
You missed Ed Miliband being slapped around by Kirsty Wark.  He was there to talk about the Labour manifesto - which he wrote - but seemed very keen to dodge every question about it.  :roll:

oh, i saw a bit of that, too. :lol: I guess i just missed the d'addario bit :oops:
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: loudblackguitars on April 13, 2010, 10:20:28 PM
DR's. Try the Dimebags. They are treated and last forever. Never broken one despite nonstop whammy abuse..
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: nfe on April 13, 2010, 10:39:33 PM
I really like Newtones as well, the wait can be a real nuisance but I order ten sets at a time these days to cover myself. At the moment I'm using14-18-26w-36w-48w-60w on 25.5" guitars (Down a 4th to C) and 14-18-26w-36w-50w-70w(down a b5th to B) on 24.75" all the wound strings with the thicker cores.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: LazyNinja on April 13, 2010, 10:50:04 PM
which you wouldnt need with another brand :P

i had had so many sets of roto's break on string up, really dont like them

newtone's if i have time for the order, DR's behind that but more often than not i end up with d'addarios  when i am popping into the local shop to have a chat.  Tried to get them to stock newtone's, especially since its a local company

With rotos you should get a free extra set. I've had a roto 52 break in literally 5 minutes.

Pffft I've never had any issues with tone or string breakage with Rotos. I pick hard as well. The brand I had the most problem breaking strings is D'Addarios although they do sound good. I might give something else a go next time I buy a batch though because I just ended up with lots of spare e strings!
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Plexi Ken on April 13, 2010, 10:50:29 PM
I'm also a Newtone user but as I only use standard sets of 10s & 11s I can order from Strings Direct, avoiding the long lead time.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Frank on April 14, 2010, 06:22:54 AM
I've always used Ernie Ball strings and whenever I've changed to a different brand I've always changed straight back. Most of my strats have the 10 to 46 set, telecaster is 11 to 52 and I've got one HSS strat with the 9 to 42 set.

I occasionally buy a lottery ticket with the numbers 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46. Is that sad?
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: MrBump on April 14, 2010, 08:03:51 AM
Ernie Ball regular 10s for me too.

I like Rotos.  Tried D'Addarios, and HATED them for some reason...
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Philly Q on April 14, 2010, 08:07:16 AM
I occasionally buy a lottery ticket with the numbers 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46. Is that sad?

Just as much chance of winning as anything else!
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on April 14, 2010, 09:42:30 AM
I occasionally buy a lottery ticket with the numbers 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46. Is that sad?

Just as much chance of winning as anything else!

Not as bad as using the number sequence from lost
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Frank on April 14, 2010, 10:14:39 AM
I occasionally buy a lottery ticket with the numbers 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46. Is that sad?

Just as much chance of winning as anything else!

Not as bad as using the number sequence from lost

I reached a point with Lost where

(a) I didn't know what was going on
(b) if I did know what was going on, I wasn't sure why it was going on and
(c) I didn't care any more
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Will on April 14, 2010, 12:03:28 PM
I occasionally buy a lottery ticket with the numbers 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46. Is that sad?

Just as much chance of winning as anything else!
1,2,3,4,5,6?
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Roobubba on April 14, 2010, 12:06:42 PM
I occasionally buy a lottery ticket with the numbers 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46. Is that sad?

Just as much chance of winning as anything else!
1,2,3,4,5,6?
Yes, exactly the same chance of winning as 1,2,3,4,5,6.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: tomjackson on April 14, 2010, 12:20:38 PM

Bet the jackpot would be lower though, you'd have to share it with thousands of other smart arses that picked 1,2,3,4,5,6!

I find Ernie Balls really clangy when you first put them on
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Stevepage on April 14, 2010, 12:24:58 PM
Two string brands I don't get along with, Ernie Ball and Rotosound.

Ernie Ball - Sound good for all of 5 minutes, they become dead sounding too quickly and they snap more frequently

Rotosound - Sound good for quite a while, that's if you don't break them first.

I think I'm gonna try some pure nickel strings next, just to see what they're like.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: dave_mc on April 14, 2010, 12:54:08 PM
I reached a point with Lost where

(a) I didn't know what was going on
(b) if I did know what was going on, I wasn't sure why it was going on and
(c) I didn't care any more

same here :lol: I still watch it though, figure when I've watched this far I might as well watch to the end.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Stevepage on April 14, 2010, 01:23:37 PM
I think the guitar gods are giving me a sign to try something else, because now a second string has broken on the same set, this time between the nut and tuning post. Faaaaantastic.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: gingataff on April 14, 2010, 01:25:00 PM
In summer I tend to use Eixirs to combat the humidity and my acid fingers.
In cooler months I like GHS Nickel Rockers (not a fan of Boomers at all), and I also use the BKP Rotos as I still have quite a few packs left.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Stevepage on April 14, 2010, 01:43:20 PM
Just gone with a set of GHS Burnished Nickel strings, also got myself some more Eric Johnson Jazz III's (they're much better than regular Jazz III's)
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: gingataff on April 14, 2010, 02:33:31 PM
I'm not sure if you've already seen it but there's a new type of Jazz III out with a Stickle Brick type grip on it.
I'm waiting for the XL version though.
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: Stevepage on April 14, 2010, 02:35:17 PM
I'm not sure if you've already seen it but there's a new type of Jazz III out with a Stickle Brick type grip on it.
I'm waiting for the XL version though.

Yeah the Max Grips, I was gonna try them or try and find the Carbon Fibre Max Grips (which are impossible to find), but the grip on the EJ's are just fine. They're a touch bigger too
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: hermetico on April 14, 2010, 05:47:24 PM
I'm not sure if you've already seen it but there's a new type of Jazz III out with a Stickle Brick type grip on it.
I'm waiting for the XL version though.

Yeah the Max Grips, I was gonna try them or try and find the Carbon Fibre Max Grips (which are impossible to find), but the grip on the EJ's are just fine. They're a touch bigger too

LOL
I also use Jazz III picks but, the smaller ones and, no issues with hard picking or bending.
I guess you had a damned set of strings. Probably a bad production batch.
Did you complain D'Addario?
Title: Re: Strings. Which company?
Post by: PhilKing on April 15, 2010, 07:39:31 PM
I use Snake Oil Brand, DR or D'Addario.  Snake Oil last a really long time (their bass strings last years!).  They are more expensive, but if you look at the time they last they come back into line.  DR Pure Blues are the second choice, but I am not that keen on their 11-50 set gauges.  I sometimes use the BK sets for setup, but a lot of the time I give them away.