Guitar Center v. Elixir

i like bright bright bright

on my guitars



as soon as the strings have been on

long enough to stay in tune

(10 minutes or so)

they lose their edge

and sound like crap to me



so i never change my strings

until they break

and save a lot of $
 
Booda said:
If I had tons a money I'd probably have a Taylor too... especially since they come w/ Elixir strings :D
B.
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WHAT!!!!!

would you buy a car because you like the fact they put goodyear on them in the lot.

?????????????????????????????????????

this thread is re-dick-uless!

have fun
 
its funny you make this because i went to go buy some at gc the other day and they dont sell them anymore because elixir wanted to charge like 25 bucks for a pack of strings.

so the guy told me to try the daddario exps, which he says are they same thing, i dont know if its true but whatebver. i tried them, they were 10 bucks, and they sound great.
 
tom18222 said:
its funny you make this because i went to go buy some at gc the other day and they dont sell them anymore because elixir wanted to charge like 25 bucks for a pack of strings.

so the guy told me to try the daddario exps, which he says are they same thing, i dont know if its true but whatebver. i tried them, they were 10 bucks, and they sound great.
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Well, the issue is that Elixir didn't want to give up their whole profit margin, and Banjo Mart felt they should. It's the same thing that Wal-Mart does; i.e., large retailers trying to bully manufacturers into giving up any chance of making money while treating their employees fairly. The business model of losing a little on every transaction but making it up in bulk simply doesn't work.

Oh, and EXPs are not the same thing at all. They have a similar coating, that is true, but the process is quite different. D'Addario coats their strings BEFORE they wind them, which means that they can use far less coating, and the strings sound pretty darn near normal. Elixir can't do that, because they don't make their own strings. They buy strings from GHS and then coat them, which means they need far more coating, and the sound that much deader.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
turtlishous said:
WHAT!!!!!

would you buy a car because you like the fact they put goodyear on them in the lot.

?????????????????????????????????????

this thread is re-dick-uless!

have fun
Click to expand...

Dude! Come on. If I have to spell it out

I T W A S A J O K E !

Now that is funny!
 
Light said:
Well, the issue is that Elixir didn't want to give up their whole profit margin, and Banjo Mart felt they should. It's the same thing that Wal-Mart does; i.e., large retailers trying to bully manufacturers into giving up any chance of making money while treating their employees fairly. The business model of losing a little on every transaction but making it up in bulk simply doesn't work.

Oh, and EXPs are not the same thing at all. They have a similar coating, that is true, but the process is quite different. D'Addario coats their strings BEFORE they wind them, which means that they can use far less coating, and the strings sound pretty darn near normal. Elixir can't do that, because they don't make their own strings. They buy strings from GHS and then coat them, which means they need far more coating, and the sound that much deader.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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doesn't elixer claim that one of their types of strings is coated before it's wrapped?
 
Light said:
Well, the issue is that Elixir didn't want to give up their whole profit margin, and Banjo Mart felt they should. It's the same thing that Wal-Mart does; i.e., large retailers trying to bully manufacturers into giving up any chance of making money while treating their employees fairly. The business model of losing a little on every transaction but making it up in bulk simply doesn't work.

Oh, and EXPs are not the same thing at all. They have a similar coating, that is true, but the process is quite different. D'Addario coats their strings BEFORE they wind them, which means that they can use far less coating, and the strings sound pretty darn near normal. Elixir can't do that, because they don't make their own strings. They buy strings from GHS and then coat them, which means they need far more coating, and the sound that much deader.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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So tell me light, recommend if you will. For my next set of acoustic strings, I like a bright shimmery sound. I'd like to run with your suggstion.

Thanks,
 
punkin said:
So tell me light, recommend if you will. For my next set of acoustic strings, I like a bright shimmery sound. I'd like to run with your suggstion.

Thanks,
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Personally, I like the sound of Phosphor Bronze strings. If you want bright, you may want to try some 80/20 bronze (also called bright bronze). As for brand, it is not that big of an issue. Most companies buy their strings from the same manufacturers, and so I go with D'Addario because I like their mininalist packaging and eviromentally sound manufacturing processes, and because they treat their dealer the way a company should treat their dealers. If you want a longer life string, try the D'Addario EXP's. I use them if I'm showing guitars at a festival, because they hold up better under those conditions.

Beyond that, the only advise I can give you is to try as many different strings as you can find and use the ones that work best for you. The string equation has three parts; the player, the guitar, and the strings. I'm not a part of that, so I don't try to force myself into it. Try everything, and play what YOU like. Even if it's Elixirs.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
donkeystyle said:
doesn't elixer claim that one of their types of strings is coated before it's wrapped?
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Ain't marketing grand.

They buy their strings from GHS, or at least they did the last time I heard. They could also very well buy some of their strings from D'Addario, or some other manufacturer (though there are not that many, and those are the two major ones). Hell, for all I know that was their beef with Banjo Mart; maybe GC wanted them to buy from a cheaper supplier, and they didn't feel the quality of that supplier was worth it. All they said to me was that Banjo Mart was making demands they were not willing to meet.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Interesting. I only ever played a guitar with elixers once. the guy had just bought new strings and a sales guy had talked him into buyng elixers. My friend loved them. I thought they sounded and felt awful.

I think that was when they still only offered one style of coating though.
 
I've used Elixirs once, sounded good to me, nothing 'dead' about them.

I'd still rather use some Martins or D'Addario. No strings are worth $10+ a pack.
 
i think we should go back to being like the guy from the tom and jerry show that ripped the cats wiskers out for his geetar:)
 
Or be like Dick Dake and use coat hangar wire...

Simple solution for Elixirs to sell direct. Either that or they'll be identified as a niche product to an even greater degree....Sellers will start priding themselves on the fact that ''Yes! We stock elixirs!''
 
I don't know why people go to such great lengths to make their strings last.

I've heard of people going so far as to boil their strings in hot water. :confused: And even coating them in vegetable oil.

Strings go dead and need to be replaced. That's something you should accept as soon as you start playing the guitar.
 
I use Elixers on my Ibanez Jem, Ibanez Prestige and my Gibson Les Paul Goldtop reissue. The only reason I don't use them on my Petrucci 7 string is that the guitar shops in Dublin don't have them. I've been playing for about 15 years and have used a lot of different strings, the reason I like Elixers is the the feel on the fretting fingers, their extra long life and consistancy of tone - I find the tone doesn't change from take to take (especially if I'm sweating in a hot studio) and I find they require less breaking in than Super Slinkys (I like them too). Only thing I'll say is try them before you bash them.
 
danny.guitar said:
I don't know why people go to such great lengths to make their strings last.

I've heard of people going so far as to boil their strings in hot water. :confused: And even coating them in vegetable oil.

Strings go dead and need to be replaced. That's something you should accept as soon as you start playing the guitar.
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Sure, that's a valid point for people who play frequently. However, I don't get into the studio to play/write/record as much as I'd like and it's a real pain to put on new strings, record one song, and then not play the guitar for a couple of weeks and have to put new strings on again because they're dead. If I have to do that for every guitar I own, it's an incredible expense and it impedes the creative process, since I have to go change strings before I hit record. As little as I play, a set of EXPs will generally last a few months as long as I wipe them down after I play. Definitely worth the extra few bones. I just wish they made EXPs for electric guitars, because I really don't like the Elixirs too much.
 
Light said:
Ain't marketing grand.

They buy their strings from GHS, or at least they did the last time I heard. They could also very well buy some of their strings from D'Addario, or some other manufacturer (though there are not that many, and those are the two major ones). Hell, for all I know that was their beef with Banjo Mart; maybe GC wanted them to buy from a cheaper supplier, and they didn't feel the quality of that supplier was worth it. All they said to me was that Banjo Mart was making demands they were not willing to meet.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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String manufacturers make strings to the specifications and with the materials that the client wants. It's like oil refineries; Shell makes gas for Chevron with their blend and vice versa.
 
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