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Post subject: String.... Madness...
Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 6:46 pm
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I don't know where to start here LOL...
K... since forever ago.... I've always used EB's.... LOVED them... best strings overall. Consistent in sound.. feel etc...

Now... I'm using D'addario's... I NEVER liked these before... Didn't like the sound... the feel.... always preferred EB's to D'addario... until recently. I had a pack of the XL's given to me by a friend... so... last string change I decided to go with them... wasn't expecting anything different... figured I would just use em till ready for the next string change and go with my trusted EB's again.

Well.... I'm sticking with the D'addorio's... They sound better... feel better... everything about them is better than the EB's.
I've been using EB's for the last 20 friggin' years!... WTF happened?

I also find that I'm really digging a 9.5 radius a lot more than 7.25 these days... AND... I've also switched from using standard size Tortex pics... to Jazz III's hahhhahhhhahahha... Weird-Ness indeed...

Anyone else going thru something similar to this? :?

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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 7:33 pm
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EB all the way lol!

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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 7:47 pm
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My preferences keep evolving, also. Rosewood used to be my favorite fb. Now it's ebony, followed by satin maple, followed by rosewood.
I use the D'Addario XL 9.5's on my Strats. It's a nice compromise between the too stiff 10's and too flimsy 9's.

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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 9:34 pm
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Drew365 wrote:
My preferences keep evolving, also. Rosewood used to be my favorite fb. Now it's ebony, followed by satin maple, followed by rosewood.


If you're a mature person like yours truly, that change could also be because the rosewood has changed. The Brazilian rosewood used in the past was much denser, durable and close to ebony in hardness, while the Indian rosewood used these days is much softer, and closer to maple in hardness.
I fully understand and support why Brazilian rosewood is no longer used, but I wish they had changed to a wood that's more like Brazilian rosewood is, and not Indian rosewood which although a relative, is IMO an inferior substitute. African blackwood would likely be much closer (although even harder than ebony).


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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 10:44 am
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Well..... I can't say I have a prob with the Indian Rosewood... I've always preferred Rosewood boards over Maple.

The current Indian Rosewood boards feel pretty good to me... I honestly can't say that the Brazillian's feel better... Pretty sure my '62 AVRI (1987) has a Brazillian Rosewood board.... my newer Blactop has the Indian Rosewood... The Blacktop's board feels just as awesome as the older Brazillian Rosewood board... they feel... well... they BOTH feel like nice Rosewood boards :)

Being a harder Rosewood... perhaps the Brazillian will hold up better in regards to re-frets & overall wear. Can't deny that the neck on my AVRI is doing good... and that guitar has seen some serious play time with me.

But, then again, I don't foresee any issues down the line with a re-fret or overall wear on the Blacktop. I guess time will tell....

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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 10:46 am
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Strat-Slinger...I went through a period of string change too, but after playing the other brands for a couple months, I ended up right back with the EB's!

The 9.5 radius on necks, much easier to bend and play on, and much more hand friendly, especially with a satin finish. Maybe that's why my EC Strat is the one that feels the best. It is clearly a compromise over the earlier Fender standard of 7.25 and the satin finish is kind of like a well worn in lacquer finish of an old guitar. Hmmm...maybe EC was on to something. :mrgreen:


T2

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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 8:23 am
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T2Stratman wrote:
Strat-Slinger...I went through a period of string change too, but after playing the other brands for a couple months, I ended up right back with the EB's!

The 9.5 radius on necks, much easier to bend and play on, and much more hand friendly, especially with a satin finish. Maybe that's why my EC Strat is the one that feels the best. It is clearly a compromise over the earlier Fender standard of 7.25 and the satin finish is kind of like a well worn in lacquer finish of an old guitar. Hmmm...maybe EC was on to something. :mrgreen:


T2


I guess I'll just have to see where everything goes... I'm giving the XL's a run for it... got a bunch of those for future string changes... I have them on both my Strats right now.... so far... so good... but, ya never know :lol:

Satin finish does feel nice :)
It's funny... I actually like how the regular urethane finishes feel too... a lot of folks don't care for the feel and sand down the back of the neck, but I'm fine with them :D

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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 9:28 am
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Odd, I recently stopped using XLs because I kept getting strings that had dead spots, and areas of unusual discoloration...
...right out of the pack :shock:

I've been Content with Fender nickel bullets and GHS Boomers, but I'll eventually give XLs another fair go-around.
And while I'm at it, I'll give EBs a try!


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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 5:10 pm
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T2Stratman wrote:
The 9.5 radius on necks, much easier to bend and play on, and much more hand friendly, especially with a satin finish. Maybe that's why my EC Strat is the one that feels the best. It is clearly a compromise over the earlier Fender standard of 7.25 and the satin finish is kind of like a well worn in lacquer finish of an old guitar. Hmmm...maybe EC was on to something. :mrgreen:

And keep in mind that Clapton has pretty slim fingers, so a narrower neck is not a lot of problem playing on for him. Bending, however, works much better with a larger radius, and that is likely the main reason why Slowhand went away from 7.25" to 9.5'. Combined with a V neck for giving extra sideways bracing meant he could play bends easier. And he sure did some nice things :)

Having larger hands, I find that an even larger or compound radius works better for me. Unfortunately, there are no larger radius necks with a fat V. The closest thing is probably the SRV neck, but I can't get that on a Tele...


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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 6:58 pm
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Not a fan of D'Addarios at all.

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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:56 am
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Yesterday, a string almost killed my dog.
I was re-stringing my SG, and tried some strings I don't normally use.
As I pulled up on the A string to tension it before the final tuning, the ball end came flying off at high speed. It's the first time I've seen one fly off across a room. Possibly due to the design of the Gibson bridge?
Anyhow, I now definitely won't use Dean Markley Helix strings. There appears to be some quality issues.


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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:46 pm
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That totally sucks :o
I used to use Dean Markley's years ago.... way, way back there... in a time... that even time forgot... Then I discovered EB's and realized what I was missing... until my recent adventure with the XL's... which is still a WTF moment in my mind... because I never used to like D'addario's before :?

I remember about a year or so ago... I grabbed a pack of those at this small music store I went to from time to time... they were out of EB's... so I figured... I'll just grab a set of Markley's... Totally dissapointed... I couldn't wait to get them off... I actually made a special trip out to the GC (40 minute drive) specifically to get some EB's... went home a cut those Markley's off right quick :twisted:

Never again willl I use them... even if there's nothing else... I'll play the old strings on the guitar until I'm able to get something decent if need be...

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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:26 am
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This is just my own personal opinions and experience with strings....

For my electrics, while I've pretty much tried every brand out there at one point or another in the 30+ years I've been playing, I always come back to GHS Boomers. I like EB Slinkeys...have used them in the past and would use them again in a pinch, but they just don't seem to have the longevity of the Boomers. Likewise, I do like Fender strings as well, but for the price difference, again I usually come back to Boomers....considering how many guitars I have, that difference of $2 a pack adds up rather quick. I have used D'addario's a couple of times over the years and I do think they sound decent enough when fresh, but those just seem to rust out on me REALLY quick. Could just be me or my body chemistry or something along those lines, but I've never had a set of D'addario's last more than a week or two. Did an outdoor show a few summers back where I had D'addario's on one of my acoustics and yea...got -1- day out of them. Because of the humidity, they just pretty much rusted while I was playing.

For my acoustics on the other hand, I currently use EB Earthwood's. Again they seem to have the best balance of tone and longevity for the money. Martin's aren't too bad, but like Fender they usually seem to be a tad on the pricey side. I used to LOVE Kamen strings for my acoustics, but alas, I haven't been able to find them for some time now...seems they stopped making them.

And my basses get Rotosound all the way! I have used EB bass strings on occasion as well as GHS...even tried a set of Markley's once (felt like my fingers were sticking to the damn strings), but there's just something about the Rotosounds that have a lot more punch and much better definition than any other bass string I've ever tried.


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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:42 am
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The only good thing I found about the Dean Markley Helix was that it makes a higher-pitched squealie like sound when sliding dry/callused fingers up and down them, compared to normal strings.

But I won't be using them again, fershur.

EB Cobalts work great for me. A bit more expensive than their slinkies, but they are loud, sound good, I get a good grip on them, they last well, and the only bad thing about them is that the bass strings make my fingers black after a while.

I tried the M-Steel ones, but they are not for me. Way too stiff and overpriced.


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Post subject: Re: String.... Madness...
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:45 am
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I had pretty much been using Fender Bullets (mostly because Fender kept sending them free to me over the 18 mos. they had my '57 for Warranty work).

But, one of the best Luthiers/Guitarmakers in the country, Gabe Hoffman, son of Charlie Hoffman (Hoffmans Handmade Guitars) suggested trying the XLs (9s).

WOW... what a difference. The Feel and Tone were noticeably improved.

I've since swapped the strings on 3 other guitars to the XLs and the same improvement was seen in each.

One difference I did notice about the XLs was they seem to take longer to stretch. The Tuning doesn't 'settle in' and stabilize for an extra day or two after a string change vs. the Fender Bullets.

I did use a set of EBs much earlier, but being such a new player at the time, they didn't seem especially remarkable to me. Maybe it's time to give them a 2nd look.

cheers!

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