Strings: Pick your Metal

[MesaENGR412]

Just wondering what everyone's preference is as far as strings go. Ya know, company, gauges, and what they're made of.

I've tried Ernie Balls(9's, 10's), D'Addarios(9's), Fenders(both super 150's and superbullets 9's, 10's), GHS(10's and ZW 13-70's), and Dean Markely's(9's, 10's, 11's, 12's) and to date the Dean's have held up better than any of the other. My fav.'s so far (in about 10 yrs of playing) are the Blue Steel 10-46's.

SO, what's yours?

-AJH

 

[kylek]

GHS Boomer TNT's

10-52

 

[MetalMatt]

My Electrics:
GHS Boomers and Progressives my first choice. They don't have alot of string life but I don't mind changing strings often. Plus I like the feeling and sound of new strings.
Deans Markely's Blue Steels are next.

The only brand I really don't like are DR's. Always had bad luck with them.

My Acoustic:
Martins Silk and Steel

String gauge for guitars varies.
Heavy on my ESP, medium to medium-light on my Kramer (the Floyd Rose doesn't like heavy gauges), and light on my Applause.

 

[ytse_jam]

ernie ball 10-46 on my fender strat USA...they seem to maintain a good tone for many months

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

D'addario 11's on my Ibanez SZ for anything from standard to drop d half step down! Sounds great, never rust, and keep a nice tone for quite some time!

 

[Russ]

I played Markeley 10-52 for 10 years after the early Boomers. I tried a brand called Scalar that were decent. They were nice when new but seemed to last forever. I now play Markeley or Slinkys usually 10's but I switch back and forth from 10-52 and 10-46.

 

[yettoblaster]

Bargain barrel.
Whatever's in there is usually $3/set.
Fender stainless gets blown out regularly at one place I go.
Sometimes I have to mix and match sets because they're not always 10-46, but that's OK.
I like stainless, but right now have a few sets of DR coated in red and blue. At least they're nickel and 10-46. Seem to sound OK, even if the blue ones look kinda gay.

 

[musicbox]

been using d'addario for 5 years. 11's on my strat, 10's on the godin. played the rest, and just kept coming back to the d'addario's. they just sound like me.

john pearse phosphor bronze mediums on the acoustic. went through hell before I found these, brilliant tone once they're worn in and they just get warmer the more i play.

metalmatt, what are the silk and steels like? i never got around to trying a set...

 

[ytse_jam]

i bought my fender strat about 5 years ago and after a year i upgraded strings' gauge from .009/.042 to .010/.042 and i noticed a really big improvement in my sound, which became fatter, fuller and more defined... i really don't know if a pickup change (keeping the .009s) would have improved the tone as much as changing strings' gauge! so i wanted to know if upgrading from .010/.046 to .011/.052, or maybe heavier, would improve the tone one one more time...a question to the guy who's got .011 on his strat: did you have to reset the trussrod?

 

[musicbox]

Changing from 10's to 11's deffinitly changed my tone alot, probably just as much as going from 9's to 10's. I use very high-output pickups with a light attack to get my sound, so more string meant more output from my fingers(rarely use a pick). I had the guitar professionaly set up with a truss rod adjustment and intonation...Probably a good idea if you havent changed it from 9's.

With my maple neck, I noticed more bite/snap/quack. The character of the guitar/neck seemed to reveal itself a little more, and the extra tension on the strings makes for very satisfying bends.

 

[yettoblaster]

Yeah I like more resistence too.
I may try 11's again soon.
I'm using 12's on my Jazzer.
Feels too light when I go to my Tele with 10's.

 

[Peace]

I've played D'Addarios 10-46's for years and saw a post on here a couple of months ago about webstrings.com so I checked out the site and decided, screw it, I'll give 'em a try. I have to say for the price the quality is fantastic.. EASILY as good as any set of D'Addarios I've ever played if not better in all honesty... I've played boomers and ernie ball in addition to D'Addarios and I'll stick with these (webstrings) for quite a while.

I placed an order for like 24 sets at, I think $2.85 a set... something like that. Got them in three days.

I'll definitely order there again. I'm very please with the strings. Great quality definitely worth a look.

 

[Guitarzan]

GHS Boomers TNT set.

 

[eldi]

I like d'addario's on my Les Paul .010-.046, and Fender Bullets .011-.052 on my strats, though i don't think they make those in the bullets anymore

 

[redmax61]

I've been a longtime D'Addario user. My hands are just so caustic on strings that it took me forever to find something that gave me good balance and that didn't seem to very in tone from guitar to guitar. About two years back, a friend turned me on to Webstrings. I agree with what Peace said about them. They are great strings, and at $2.85 a set, you can't beat that with a stick!

 

[Platypus]

I love GHS but they die after like a few couple hour sessions. I use D`Addario and I'm about to order some Snake Oil Strings based on a few recommendations

 

[J.R.B.]

For EADGBE-46-36-26-17-13-10
For DADGBE-52-36-26-17-13-10
For CGCFAD-56-42-32-20w-14-11
Usually Markley's but sometimes DR's
For acoustic-anything light......anything heavier and my fingers go to sh!t

 

[Old Believerf]

Snake Oil Brand 9-42 Original Nickle Formula on the Strat and the Lester.

Elixer Custom Light on the Taylor.

 

[RiffMaster91]

daddario 12-54 for Standard to Drop D to Drop C

 

[jr3d]

I use GHS ZW 11-70's becuase they have such a good resonance to them.