Curious what brand strings you guys use? I just picked a very nice used 2008 MIM strat that had silver bullets and they sounded a bit dull and lifeless and I changed to different brand and wow the guitar came to life again.

Not sure if it was only due to the fact of changing strings or different brand or maybe both? Anyways your opinions welcomed.

Electric guitars I use Fender super 250's (9's) and Gibson pure vintage reisue's (10's) then on acoustics Martin SP 80/20's

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Ernie ball's slinkys

on the acoustic you can't go wrong with d'addario, on my strat i use dean markley blue steel 9's

Dean Markley Blue Steel. 10-46 on my Strat, 11-52 on my Tele.

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2004 American Deluxe V-Neck Strat w/Kinman Blues
2007 American Deluxe Tele w/Kinman Broadcasters
Mesa Boogie Lonestar Classic 2X12
Fender Cyber-Twin SE

I custom make my string sets out of Dean Markley Blue Steel Electric and Dean Markley Flatwounds. And I use the same strings on both my Electrics and my Acoustic.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

DR Pure Blues 9-46

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Tried Fender Super bullets.
Now running Ernie Ball Slinkys - not really doing it for me.

Will probably try either DR or Dean Markly Blue steel next.

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MIM Std Tele, MIM HSS Strat, Homemade Mongrel Tele, Blues Jr, Champ600, coupla pedals...sweeeet!

D'Addario .11s on everything except my Squier Strat, which has Ernie Ball .12s on it. I don't care for the feel of lighter Ernie Ball strings, but I like the feel of the .12s. Other than that I'm not very picky about strings.

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I use D'Addario .12s on my acoustic guitars and Ernie Ball .11s on my electrics. I used to use Martin strings for acoustics, but the D'Addarios are cheaper and I can't tell the difference anyway. For electrics, I use Ernies because the package tells me that everyone cool uses them -- kidding, I like the way they sound.

Fender Super bullets 10’s on my Malmsteen guitars. My MIJ’s and the squires, the gibsons, the bc, charvell, all get Gibson Bright wire 10’s….and my acoustics get ernie ball electric strings in 11’s....

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jmpman,

In your case if was mostly likely because of replacing old strings with new strings, as opposed to changing brands. For the record, I use Fender 150TR strings. They are pure nickel strings which I believe gives a warmer tone. I've been using them forever.

I'm picking up what your putting down. Heck yes. The yellow package with high E a .10

I use D'Addario EXL120s (9-42) on my electrics, and D'Addario EJ16s (12-53) on my acoustic.

Gil

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Where ever you go, there you are

1998 Ovation 1861 Standard Balladeer Natural
Taka - 2005 Squier '51 Black
Yume - 2006 Squier Strat Cherryburst
Houbi - 2008 Fender VG Strat Blizzard Pearl - won here
Fender Super Champ XD; Vox DA-5

The one thing I hope you are getting out of all these responses is that there is no single "best" brand of string...everyone has their own personal preferences. When I first started playing, I used Slinkys for quite a while but then when the GHS Boomer's came out, I switched over to those...and until this last year, that's -all- I used on my electrics. The Boomers have a similar sound as Slinkys but they seem to hold up a lot longer (and I'm a lazy bastard...I don't usually change my strings until I -have- to! LOL!). Now this last year I've started to move back to the Fender Super 250's and/or Bullets on some of my electrics. I had tried Fender strings many years ago and had serious problems with string breakage (often just tuning the instrument) but this no longer appears to be the case. I still use GHS on my MIM Strat with Duncan pups and on my old Kramer (w/ Dimarzio humbuckers) but for my single coil Strats I've started using the Fender strings...they have a bit brighter tone than the GHS which seems to work well with the single coil Strats I have and so far they seem to be holding up pretty well.

I also have to agree with gadabout in that the big difference you experienced very likely came from simply putting new strings on the instrument. Regardless of which brand you eventually choose, new strings will always sound better than older strings. Even on a brand new guitar, you have to remember that the instrument could actually be several months old or older by the time you buy it "new". It's been sitting in warehouses, it's been shipped back and forth and once it's on the show room floor, it could have been played by dozens of people before it ever even got to you, etc., so those strings that were put on at the factory could very well be ready to be changed as soon as you buy it. Whenever I buy a guitar, new used or otherwise, I ALWAYS plan on a new set of strings and a full setup before I sit down to really start playing it.

Anyways, again here this is really a personal preference thing. My suggestion to you is over the coming months, try out several brands of strings and decide which -you- like the best...only you can decide what sounds best to your ear. Some folks like Slinkys, some like GHS, others like D'Addario and Fender. I've even met a few folks who actually like SIT's (blecchhhhh). What I like however or what others on this board like is completely irrelevant...only you can decide what is best for you.

Peace,
Jim