What strings you guys are using?

[ericsabbath]

Im using elixir nanowed 10-52

the best! :D
they are very smooth without getting loose and buzzy and the TONE lasts for at least 5 months (ddadarios start to suck after the first week)

[exoslime]

i tried a few different brands and types the last years, and my search ended with Ernie Ball Power Slinky for standard setups on my guitars.

there are many other great sets but ernie balls sounds great to me, and are not expensive so i can frequently change the strings on the guitars i play most.

[Transcend]

Im using elixir nanowed 10-52

the best! :D
they are very smooth without getting loose and buzzy and the TONE lasts for at least 5 months (ddadarios start to suck after the first week)

yup i was amazed when i first tried them.

Im interested in trying DR strings but none of my local stores stock them

[JSHRED]

I play high gain / high speed lead stuff. Vai/Satch/Gilbert/Petrucci etc.

Way back in the days when I was playing strat-scale, I played 08-38. Not only have I come to appreciate strings with a little more mass, but 8 gauge are bloody impossible to find in stores, which gets to be a hassle.

I've been playing Dean Markley "High Gain" 9-42 for a couple years now on my les paul scale guitars. I like them a lot. A good tone and good longevity. Supposedly they're treated for corrosion, and they do seem to last.

Lately I've come to feel like 9-42 is a little light for all my les paul scale guitars. I'm thinking of going 9-46. Dean Markley doesn't have a 9-46 high gain string set, so I'm thinking of starting my search from scratch. I hear good things about the DR Hi-Beams.

Speaking of DR, I used a set of DR "Black Beauties," the ones wrapped in a black plastic or polyethelene type material. I had 10-46 on an ESP Eclipse with a floyd. They were pretty cool, I liked the feel. But I came to realize that with only part of the string actually being steel/nickel, the power of the output suffers greatly. I put a set of black Beauty 9-42 on my Shawn Lane charvel and I regretted it. They were so thin sounding it was painful.

[dave_mc]

out of what i've tried, i like rotosounds... i prefer a warmer tone (for most guitars), though. :)

[gwEm]

another string thread :)

it depends on the guitar, but the default choice is feline 11s. they have the absolutely best feel i've found so far.

i don't really prefer the heavy 50 E on that set though (except when i rarely do drop tunings), so i'm almost as happy using a d'addario set of 11s (49 E), which i used to use for years. it seems silly, but i think the difference affects the feel/sound of that low E quite a bit. though as i say, its great for drop tunings.

to be honest, although i like the feel of heavy strings - i've realised in the past weeks i do prefer the tone of 9s, which i used when i was starting to play.

one would think that 10s would be the ideal compromise, and i've tried a couple of sets, but its an akward 1/2 way house to be honest - neither fish nor fowl.

if anyone can suggest a really bright sounding set of 11s, i might experiment again.

[opprobrium_9]

I won't touch Ernie Balls with a barge pole, because, er... "worst strings I've ever used, they either go flat sounding and corrode in no time or snap like buggery" (and they're far too bright when I first put them on).

That is basically my look on it.  Plus they detune like a bar-steward, i mean once i put them on EVEN WEEKS LATER they are still detuning obnoxiously like a mofo.

[Ben_W]

D'addarios Nickel Wound 11-52. They last ages, and I couldn't gig without them. I like to have confidence they won't snap after some big hard chords. I like the tone of 'em too.

[Sifu Ben]

I use Hybrid Slinky's on my standard tuned guitars, and Skinny Top, Heavy Bottoms on my C# guitar. I used to use Elixir, but I much prefer the tone and feel of the Ernie Balls.

[Fourth Feline]

D'addario XLs here too :   10 - 46 on Fender / longer scale guitars , and 10 - 52 on Gibsons and my Tanglewood 335 copy.

Nice detailed, balanced and articulate sound.   The bass end is just bright enough to sound clearly on a mahogany guitar, where I find another favourite ( GHS Burnished Nickel ) gets a bit too soft on the bass strings.

They are consistent - and seem to be the choice of a lot of famous 'clean' players and tone hounds , such as Mark Knopler, Larry Carlton, Robben Ford e.t.c.  Once broken in, they are easy to intonate accurately - and stay in tune /stable for a long time.  They also seem to last a long time for me too. when last gigging, Ernie balls seemed to go too mellow sounding, and the nickel plate would come off of the top tree strings, leaving me with black fingertips and a duller sound. D'addarios claim no 'magic' quality, but I.M.O. are a great balanced 'workhorse' amongst strings.  

The only drawback, is that if loosening the top 'E' string to any large degree ( to allow fret polishing / maintainence work ) e.t.c. - that same top 'E' always seems to snap when re-tuned at the point where the string goes around the rear of the ball end.

Still my choice though ...  :)

[Fourth Feline]

 OOps ! double post... :oops:

[JSHRED]

Well damn. Yall must have some big old hands. It seems like the consensus is 10's and 11's. Maybe they just grow them big back in Britain, but I just can't handle big strings like that. Especially on 25.5" strat scale. I'm too much into the bends and vibrato and little tricks, I try to play a strat with the Stevie Ray type strings and I just about pop a callous.

Oh well, to each his own. That's what makes guitar great, there are as many approaches to style and equipment as there are players.

 :)

[sambo]

^I'm the same as you JSHRED. I've tried to like 10s or 11s but in the end 9s is where I'm most comfortable.

[AndyR]

I've got Elixir on an accoustic - and they do last a very long time, without tone deteriorating drastically. But the initial tone when they're new does seem a bit dead for me, so I'm likely to stop using them next time I restring the thing (Unfortunately I've become a BKP-fuelled tone-snob since I last restrung the thing!! :lol:)

if anyone can suggest a really bright sounding set of 11s, i might experiment again.

Have you tried steel strings? Last band I was in (crumbs, 5 years ago, I guess), the other guitarist was getting horrible sores on his hands, and he found out that he had, or had developed a nickel allergy - poor b@stard. Anyway, he had to switch to steel strings - they seemed a lot brighter.

They're not for me though, I like "clear but mellow" it seems. They also seemed to feel a touch "rougher", and I believe they EAT frets if you've got a heavy left hand (like me!).

[AndyR]

Well damn. Yall must have some big old hands. It seems like the consensus is 10's and 11's. Maybe they just grow them big back in Britain, but I just can't handle big strings like that. Especially on 25.5" strat scale. I'm too much into the bends and vibrato and little tricks, I try to play a strat with the Stevie Ray type strings and I just about pop a callous.

Oh well, to each his own. That's what makes guitar great, there are as many approaches to style and equipment as there are players.

 :)

:lol: I ended up with 11s sort of by accident.

I started out with 9s (must be thirty years ago) on humbuckers. I got a strat in the early 80s, and 9s were OK but there was something missing with the switch to single coils...

Then SRV's Texas Flood came out, and it was WTF!!?? how does he get that sound? We read the articles etc, and all ran out to get our 13s... and promptly ditched them! I switched to 10s on fender scale as a compromise then - and it did sound better for me - and I stayed with it for years.

Then when I started gigging on gibson scale with 10s, it was all too floppy, and I was having trouble keeping chords in tune while I was concentrating on doing the vocals. So I upped it to 11s, keeping 10s on fenders.

Then I "retired" and didn't play electrics at all for a few years. One day I wanted to play my strat, and all I had was a box of 11s. I was a bit wary putting them on, but it sounded great :)

Now I use 11s on all electrics (or, er, 15's if I'm setting one up for slide only!!) I like the way that gibson and fender lengths respond differently to the same gauge, and at 11, both work for me. Note, though, I am not a fast/smooth/arpeggio sort of guy :lol: - I play big bends and lots of vibrato (and wear frets out like nobody's business) and I expect to "feel it" when I push the things...

But yeah, it IS great how we all do it differently :D

EDIT: I (selfishly) wish guitar shops would string their guitars with 11s though - I have to use a lot of imagination nowadays to figure out what a guitar really feels like :lol: