Strings

[bucketshred]

The Feline strings were covered in rust in 2 days... I can't understand This as I've never heard any bad said of them.

Hmm - that sounds odd - wonder if you somehow got a duff set

It is true that some people can rust strings faster than others - to do with sweat & body chemistry, but to be duff in 2 days - most odd.
Always worth wiping down strings after use - no matter what your tendency for rusting stuff

Give me a shout and I'll send you another set to try if you wish.
It may be that you don't get on with them for some reason , but I'd hate it to have been down to a dodgy set for some reason

Mine on the other hand have lasted just fine! When I run out, I'll definatley be buying some more, the string tension is nice.

(I use Feline 10-52 btw)

[Johnny Mac]

Clapton uses Ernie Balls - has done for years.  I've used EB's for 20 years and love them.  10's on Fenders, 11's on Gibsons.  I like the tone, tension and durability.  Seems I'm not alone - we sell many more packets of EB's than D'Addario's, Rotosound, etc..

The ones I'm thinking of are not EB's, that's probably his name on the back of the pack along with lots of other users for an endorsement deal.

I use EB's too and can't see what wrong with them!

[Johnny Mac]

Lots of good ideas but sadly nobody seems to have tried the Optima Gold or Skull strings  :( . I'm also getting conflicting advice on the need to reset. So far half the advice I've receieved says I will need the trem reset and half says thaat as long as they're the same guage it won't matter. Very confusing for a non technical person like me  :?

I did use a set of Optima Gold years ago. I bought them at the London Guitar show in 1989  for 10 quid! They did last a long time and looked cool.

[opprobrium_9]

uggg, Ernie Balls :rock:, i tried those out once, i don't think i could have more bad things to say about them.  Firstly they sound like shitee, even right after you get them stringed up, and tuned perfect.  The amount of "after-the-string-up tuning" that i had to do was appalling,  maybe it was just the pair i got, i dunno... but something tells me, especially from all of the bad things i have heard other people say about them, that they are bad regardless.  Honestly i would go with D'Addario's, but i may have to look into these other brands some others have mentioned.

[plastercaster]

Oh yeah EB's are AWFUL for retuning, Can't believe I forgot that.
I usually have to tune the d'addario high E for 3 days on my Tokai, and thats usually fairly small adjustments, to get it stable.
EB's took at least a week, and still didn't hold tune as well.

[Kilby]

I have to be honest and say apart from them going dead on me incredibly quickly, I havn't had any other issues with EB strings.

Apart from my old Hondo LP copy that wouldn't stay in tune back in the days when the local store only stocked EB

[LazyNinja]

The Feline strings were covered in rust in 2 days... I can't understand This as I've never heard any bad said of them.

Hmm - that sounds odd - wonder if you somehow got a duff set

It is true that some people can rust strings faster than others - to do with sweat & body chemistry, but to be duff in 2 days - most odd.
Always worth wiping down strings after use - no matter what your tendency for rusting stuff

Give me a shout and I'll send you another set to try if you wish.
It may be that you don't get on with them for some reason , but I'd hate it to have been down to a dodgy set for some reason

Mine on the other hand have lasted just fine! When I run out, I'll definatley be buying some more, the string tension is nice.

(I use Feline 10-52 btw)

True about the sweat thing. My fingers don't sweat and my strings typically last at lest two months.

[Philly Q]

I'm also getting conflicting advice on the need to reset. So far half the advice I've receieved says I will need the trem reset and half says thaat as long as they're the same guage it won't matter. Very confusing for a non technical person like me  :?

The truth of that is, no-one can give you a yes/no answer - trems are very sensitive things and no two guitars are exactly the same.  If you buy the same gauge you'll probably be fine, it certainly won't make a huge difference.  If you find the back of the bridge sits a bit higher or lower after changing strings, the spring claw screws will just need a tiny tweak.

In defence of Ernie Balls, I normally use D'Addarios but if anyone out there has a Kahler trem, EB RPS are the only "reinforced" strings that don't break after about 5 minutes (wonder what Kerry King uses?).

[Hurley]

d'addrio and DR hi voltage for me.......i have tried practically every string out there and these two came out top for me

[38thBeatle]

Someone told me yesterday that EBs and D'addario are made in the same factory-I have no idea whether this is true-perhaps some of you would know.

[HTH AMPS]

wonder what Kerry King uses?

Dunlop 10-46s apparently

see for your self here... http://www.coastmusic.com/pdfs/news/2006/Kerry_King_Signs_on_with_Dunlop_Strings.pdf

http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/strings&cat=5

 :twisted:

[Philly Q]

Dunlop 10-46s apparently

see for your self here...

I wonder if the plain strings are reinforced?  Whenever I tried regular strings with the Kahler, it was tune up - touch trem bar - snap!  The worst were Kahler's own strings, the high E broke before it was even in tune.

Then again, perhaps string technology has improved in the last 20 years...

[Colin Johnston]

Oh yeah EB's are AWFUL for retuning, Can't believe I forgot that.
I usually have to tune the d'addario high E for 3 days on my Tokai, and thats usually fairly small adjustments, to get it stable.
EB's took at least a week, and still didn't hold tune as well.

Sounds like you aren't stretching your strings properly when you fit them.  I'll happily put a new set of EB's on and gig them that night.  Let the guitar get up to temp at the gig, tune up & check it again before the second set.  No probs.

[Orkestra]

i've always found Rotosound to make some great strings... I can't abide EB's, they sound dead after the first day to my ears. I love Fender strings, but same problem after a couple of days they mellow out too much. Rotosounds are constantly punchy... Dean Markley are great too but to brittle at first for me.

[TomW]

I've never had any problems with EB's, but I've never tried any thing else so I've not got anything to compare them to. I think I may try something different next time.