The ever popular electric guitar string question

notCardio

I walk the line
I want to try some 8's (which I didn't even know existed), but there are 18 different kinds of 8's for electric at GC (while they're still afloat).

There are 6 different kinds of 8's just among Ernie Balls.

I don't understand the difference between all of them.

What's the difference between nickel wound and pure nickel wrap?

What's the tonal difference between nickel and cobalt, and does cobalt last longer?

What the heck are reinforced plain strings?

I like Exlixers on acoustic, but I'm not a tone snob, and I rarely play them, so some that lasts a long time is important, plus I like the way they play.
I don't know if the coated strings would be the same, or does the coating flake off and they turn to crap?

I've almost always played Super Slinkys all of my life. I have occasionally played Boomers, but I've stuck with the Super Slinkys.


Help, oh wise ones. :D
 
Plain nickel wound Slinkys or similar other brands work fine for me, with a decent lifespan. I'm not one of those players that exudes caustic sweat that kills strings on contact, in which case perhaps one of the coated offerings might help. I don't have much experience with coated strings other than a set of DR bass strings that I didn't like. They feel strange.
 
I don't switch up on strings much. I'm not a string-bending lead guitarist, so I just replace with whatever came stock - the Strat gets USA250R NPS .010 - .046, and the Taylor acoustic gets Elixir Light .012 - .053 Phosphor Bronze. I may experiment if these are not available. The guitarists in our old bands just got the cheapest whatevers and kept a bunch of extra Bs and Es in their cases.
 
Well, I do sweat a lot, but since I'm only playing it sporadically in the house, I don't think that's much of a problem.

But I AM a string bender. That's mostly what I do. Super Slinkys have been fine, but I just wondered if there was something better. Like I said, I didn't even know you could get 8's, so I thought maybe there was something better than the SS that I didn't know about. I've always just gone and gotten more SS. i wouldn't have known how great Elixir's were if they hadn't come on a Taylor.
 
I love the way Martin SP Phosphor bronze strings sound on my Taylor, but the string noise drives me crazy. If I'm planning to record, I use Elixer Nanowebs. I'm lazy, I don't change strings as often as I should.

I've used SuperSlinkys and DiAddario XLs for years on my electrics. Mostly 10-46s, but my semi DeArmond has 10s with a wound 3rd. When I got my Melancon T, it came with 9-42 Elixirs and they sound great. Slowly my guitars are moving to 9s.

I've tried pure nickel strings, and they seem a bit mellow compared to nickel plated strings. Depending on your pickups and guitar, you might like them, they might be too dull. Something to remember, this only effects the wound strings, the plain strings are usually just regular high carbon steel, like the cores of the wound strings.

Some say there's a difference between round and hex core strings. Not having compared them directly, I can't say one is better or worse, but most current strings are hex core. They are supposed to last longer and not break as easily.
 
IME with 8s (which are my favorite size) full nickel usually breaks the high E string (for ME) more easily. I tend to use 9s now since i can by them by the box of 10 or 12(too many guitars)
 
IME with 8s (which are my favorite size) full nickel usually breaks the high E string (for ME) more easily. I tend to use 9s now since i can by them by the box of 10 or 12(too many guitars)

The plain strings in most all sets are high carbon steel with a tin plating. The nickel is only in the wrap wire for the wound E A D and some G strings. This is true for all the "big guys", Ball, DR, DiAddario, Mangan, GHS, etc.
 
I just strung up my G&L asat with d'iaddario pure nickel and Lost that crisp Tele tone. I recorded with it this morning and was able to eq it back in but , I Don't like them. They were recommended for this guitar because of the "Hot" pickups , so I guess I should have known they would be a little duller .. mark
 
Pure nickel I find best for very bright guitars not necessarily "hot" ones, assuming you mean hot or high output pickups, they will definitely keep the high end and snappy tones to a minimum.

As for 8's check out Rev Willy's Mexican Lottery strings from Dunlop, don't know what's different about them but I really like them, at least on client guitars. I use the 10's from the line but have put the 8's on customer guitars and got great feedback.
 
I just ordered a new set of OEM Fender 7250M .045, .065, .085, .105 nickel-plated steel roundwounds to replace the La Bella flats on my Yamaha PJ bass. I'm looking forward to a more Fender-like sound.
 
9.5s tuned down to Eb are a nice slinky feel. They're pretty good at standard tuning too.
 
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