A question for Greg (and anyone else who want's to chime in)

Yes but will a Shure Sm57 capture the magical resonance of these strings up front of a blasting amp?

[LOL OK TROLL ALERT SORRY HA HA HA I'm so silly]
 
muttley600 said:
Me I just keep my gear well serviced and plug and play mostly. .
Click to expand...
yep ..... I make sure I'm prepared and I don't waste energy worrying about what others do.
If someone plays poorly, for whatever reason, I don't allow it to bother me any more.
I have fun ....... period.
I have a gig Sunday where I have to get up at 6:30 am to get to a beach gig in time for a 9;00am start time jazz /blues brunch and the night before there's no way to get to bed before 3:30 am.

Even so I will have fun and enjoy myself.
At least it won't be the usual difficulty singing early in the morning thing. My voice will still be warmed up from the night before!
:D
 
Last edited:
Which place has the jazz brunch?

I remember going to the Bon Marche a few times in the '70s. My aunt would always drag us over there when we were in town.

Come to think of it, my cousin's brother-in-law owned a little club in BR. I'll have to find out what the name of it was. Maybe one of you guys played there, though I think one of the reasons he bought it was to give his band a place to play.
 
Okay here's my quick review of these D'Addario NYXL strings....

First off, these strings could cost half as much if they didn't go full luxury with the matte packaging and included sticker that I'll never stick on anything. Secondly, I hate D'Addario's color-coded string identifiers. My usual Ernie's come in a cheapo plastic pouch and paper sleeves per string. I like that better. I can put the old strings back in their respective sleeves for backup/emergency. I don't need a chart and a flashlight to know which string goes where.

Thee feel...I personally didn't notice much difference in feel or bend-ability. I went with standard 10s on my SG and the guitar still feels the same as it always has. No problem there. What I did notice is that, for me, they don't feel stiffer or bigger than they actually are, but they do feel harder. It's weird, they do feel like the steel is actually harder. They feel more firm without being harder to bend. That was pretty cool. The winding seems to be slightly different too. Maybe that contributes to the harder feel. I didn't like this as much. One of my favorite things to do is big gnarly pickslides, and I didn't get the same violent screech from them that I do with other strings. That's a stupid problem to have, but it matters to me. I can live with it though.

The sound....they do sound more robust than similar gauge strings. They just sound bigger. They sound like a bigger gauge string. Single notes explode through the pickups and into the amp. Open chords ring big and clear. Barre chords sound massive.

The tuning....I'll be damned, they stayed in tune all night. Brand new strings, a quick stretch in, and all I had to do was very minor tweaks right out of the case and it was pretty much good all night....on an SG.

So that's that. Will I use them again? Yes, I think so.
 
Been using D'Addario strings for over 20 years. Bought thousands of sets. Great strings. Set up fast, last a long time, hold intonation better.

These new ones I thought were hype, Nope. They are actually an improvement.

I like em.
 
I've tried all kinds over the years...GHS Boomers, Everly Rockers, Ernie Ball Slinkies, D'Addario XL...probably a couple of other brands.

The last 10 years I settled down with my current favorite stings...Curt Mangan Fusion strings.
IMO...YMMV...To Each His Own...etc...etc....I think the Curt Mangan are the best of the bunch for tone, feel and longevity.
 
Greg_L said:
Okay here's my quick review of these D'Addario NYXL strings....

First off, these strings could cost half as much if they didn't go full luxury with the matte packaging and included sticker that I'll never stick on anything. Secondly, I hate D'Addario's color-coded string identifiers. My usual Ernie's come in a cheapo plastic pouch and paper sleeves per string. I like that better. I can put the old strings back in their respective sleeves for backup/emergency. I don't need a chart and a flashlight to know which string goes where.

Thee feel...I personally didn't notice much difference in feel or bend-ability. I went with standard 10s on my SG and the guitar still feels the same as it always has. No problem there. What I did notice is that, for me, they don't feel stiffer or bigger than they actually are, but they do feel harder. It's weird, they do feel like the steel is actually harder. They feel more firm without being harder to bend. That was pretty cool. The winding seems to be slightly different too. Maybe that contributes to the harder feel. I didn't like this as much. One of my favorite things to do is big gnarly pickslides, and I didn't get the same violent screech from them that I do with other strings. That's a stupid problem to have, but it matters to me. I can live with it though.

The sound....they do sound more robust than similar gauge strings. They just sound bigger. They sound like a bigger gauge string. Single notes explode through the pickups and into the amp. Open chords ring big and clear. Barre chords sound massive.

The tuning....I'll be damned, they stayed in tune all night. Brand new strings, a quick stretch in, and all I had to do was very minor tweaks right out of the case and it was pretty much good all night....on an SG.

So that's that. Will I use them again? Yes, I think so.
Click to expand...
i"d call that an excellent and thourough review and agrees with my own impressions of them. The 'harder' thing seems more accurate to me than 'stiffer' and I know this is vague which is why i originally said it was difficult to describe ..... they feel different somehow but I find it hard to put my finger on the specificity of it.
 
I love the cheap strings. Erie Balls and ghs boomers are great for me. When I was gigging I always put a fresh set on Thursday for Friday and Saturday. I love brand new strings that are stetched out and ready to rock. brand new strings sound awesome and strings that aren't brand new sound..... just OK.
 
I hate brand new strings on an electric. Acoustic is a different story.

I'll keep a set of strings on my personal guitars till I break one. But not before then. :D
 
RFR said:
I hate brand new strings on an electric. Acoustic is a different story.

I'll keep a set of strings on my personal guitars till I break one. But not before then. :D
Click to expand...

I have to agree...I'm the same way.

Until I feel the fret gouge getting deep on the strings...I don't change them.
Sure, fresh strings have some bright sparkle to them....but it's a rapidly diminishing effect...which is why the guys who get addicted to that sound, end up changing them almost daily. If seen guys talk about changing them after a couple of hours of playing (that's how fast that bright sparkle fades away).

I prefer string that have a few days of playing on them...when their tone has settled down to a more consistent thing.
Nothing I hated more than fresh strings today...cut a couple of tracks...then you go to do a couple more passes the next day, and the guitar sounds way different.
Also, if you play hard...you bend big, and dig in harder on the strings, as opposed to a light touch...fresh ones can be a PITA with holding their tuning.

Anyway...to each his own...whatever your preferences...but I like worn-in strings more.

Now, if you have those hands that ooze nasty toxic sweat..and your strings look like they fell into a sewer after a few hours of playing...then you have no choice but to change them more often. :D
 
I don't go any set number of gigs, tracks, or practices before changing strings. I just go by instinct. Like....I haven't changed this guitar's strings in a while, probably time to do it. I do notice when tuning starts to become a problem, then I change them. I don't sweat from my palms and don't drip sweat all over my guitars, so that's not a problem for me. String changes come down to mostly just tuning and "it's time" for me.
 
miroslav said:
I have to agree...I'm the same way.

Until I feel the fret gouge getting deep on the strings...I don't change them.
Sure, fresh strings have some bright sparkle to them....but it's a rapidly diminishing effect...which is why the guys who get addicted to that sound, end up changing them almost daily. If seen guys talk about changing them after a couple of hours of playing (that's how fast that bright sparkle fades away).

I prefer string that have a few days of playing on them...when their tone has settled down to a more consistent thing.
Nothing I hated more than fresh strings today...cut a couple of tracks...then you go to do a couple more passes the next day, and the guitar sounds way different.
Also, if you play hard...you bend big, and dig in harder on the strings, as opposed to a light touch...fresh ones can be a PITA with holding their tuning.

Anyway...to each his own...whatever your preferences...but I like worn-in strings more.

Now, if you have those hands that ooze nasty toxic sweat..and your strings look like they fell into a sewer after a few hours of playing...then you have no choice but to change them more often. :D
Click to expand...
I have to disagree about fresh strings being a PITA to hold their tuning. If you only wrap the string around the post once before tightening, tune UP to pitch, and stretch the dog ass fuck out of the strings....you're good. I haven't seen many guitarists with a heavier right handed technique than me and I do huge albert king style bends.

Most people that have trouble with tuning stability on new strings make way too many wraps around the tuner post and also don't stretch them enough before the show.
 
I think I've broken more new strings stretching them, than I do playing them...so trust me, I stretch the SHIT out of new strings. :D
Still...after you play them for awhile, they will settle in some more, and be more consistent overall than when brand new...IMO...YMMV...etc...etc.

Anyway...the thing I dislike the most isn't the tuning thing so much, it's the rapid change in tone/feel when they are new.
They sound nice for a few hours of playing...but it doesn't last long enough to make it worthwhile...IMO...YMMV...etc...etc.
 
I like the sound of fresh strings....plus I like the feel of them. I put them on and stretch the hell out of them on Thursday. after a stretch them I play for probably an hour unpluged. The brand new snap and pop is gone by friday. Still, the sound over the course of Fri-Sat is superior to the sound the have the following weekend....not to mention the feel and slinkiness. So, I cheng ed them every Thursday if I had a weekend gig.
 
any set that dies after 2 weeks is a bad set,if this happens consistently consider changing brands or look for a dealer that isnt flogging old stock ...

yes they do loose that "brand new" brightness after a few days,after that they should settle in and last for at least a month .. ernie ball slinkies (my old brand) last around 3 months of everyday play (and im an average greasy sweater)



for newbs:-

a tone dead set can last a long time,they just sound shit (this is when an experienced player changes em)

when a set dies they start stretching out again,that causes em to go out of tune .. when you have to tune up more those fookers are gonna snap!

there not actually that many string making factories in the world,there lots of re branded strings (where a factory sells the strings to uncle bob and uncle bob sells his own brand) so when you see "what brand of strings do you use" threads many people are comparing the same factories strings under a different name .. (same goes for guitars too :D ) that's why when a "new" string comes along were sceptical and call it snake oil



edit:- forgot to say thanks to greg for the great review !

edit,edit:- was just thinking .. if your local guitar shop keeps running out of strings then thats the place to buy from .. it means there buying in small quantities :D and that means you aint never gonna get old stock ... reserve a set ! ;)
 
Last edited:
Good review... got to admit that I am kinda curious. I think I'll have to give em a go now, although I've been playing slinkys for years. In fact, aside from a few failed experiements I think I've been mainly playing slinkys for over 20 years! I remember having a little Earnie Ball sticker in the back window of my Nissan when I was 17.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top