Big Poppa, tell us about strings ...

[jeffrey]

Okay, I am by no means trying to start anything here. I think BP has talked to me enough in person to know I'm not like that! This is a sincere question!

I've played EB strings many times over the last 20 or so years I've been playing guitar, but I always seem to go back to D'Addario XL-110's (and XL110-7's for 7 string). There's just something I prefer about the tone and feel. I don't know exactly what it is, I have no idea actually, but I can feel it and it's a tangible difference to me.

BP, do you have any insight into what they do differently with their strings vs. EB strings? Is it just the differences in alloys itself or the winding, etc?

My heart would rather play EB strings over anything else, but my fingers prefer D'Addarios. Why? I have no freakin' idea.

Please don't turn this into a flame thread guys, it's a sincere question!

 

[Smellybum]

ever considered a finger transplant......... mine love EB's - but I can't play worth a F"£?K!!!!!!!

 

[Larry]

The only thing i remotely like about the D'Addario strings is the Color balls at the ends. It looks pretty cool when you put the strings on a floyd and leave the balls by the tuners. But that isnt enough for me to kick the slinkys.

 

[jeffrey]

ever considered a finger transplant......... mine love EB's - but I can't play worth a F"£?K!!!!!!!

Hahah

 

[jeffrey]

The only thing i remotely like about the D'Addario strings is the Color balls at the ends. It looks pretty cool when you put the strings on a floyd and leave the balls by the tuners. But that isnt enough for me to kick the slinkys.

The colored ball ends are handy for stringing up. You can grab strings instantly by color just knowning which color is which string.

Handy, but not necessary.

 

[DrKev]

There is no doubt that different brands of strings (ok, manufacturers) do sound and feel different. I don't think there is much between them quality wise, but then again, I've used regular and super slinkys for 15 years now (except for a one year spell a few years ago when I went to F*****r strings). I just prefer the sound and feel of slinkys. Nothing beats 'em in my book.

And FWIW, I don't think the coloured ends are really any more convenient. I'd still have to grab the pack to see what colour is what gauge, and would take just as much time, if not more, when on stage and doing an emergency string change. For d'Addario it was more a useful means of reducing their packaging cost (in my admittedly poorly informed opinion).

 

[jeffrey]

On-stage emergency string change?!

The shame.

Invest in a back-up guitar.

 

[Larry]

I can usually tell by the feel of the string for which one it is

 

[beej]

This is solid discussion- people swear there are differences between brands.

So between manufacturers, is there really a difference and why?

Love to see a "consumer reports" type report on tone, longevity, etc.

(I'd still buy EB, though, so I stay on Sterling's good side ... )

 

[phatduckk]

well ill chime in regarding bass strings.

I used to never use EB strings but that all changed a while ago. For years I was on the string hunt - I'd switch pretty regularly. I'd stay with a certain brand/model/guage for a little while to get a feel, not be 100% happy then try the next. Eventually I found 2 sets I liked...

About 4 years ago I became a big fan of blue steel. They felt different to my fingers and I liked the sound. At this point I had been playing bass for about 8 or 9 years... not quite a rookie ... and for some reason I ALWAYS broke Blue Steels. For me, the Blue Steels didn't last too long either so when I broke 1 string I'd restring the whole bass w/ a fresh set to keep the brightness consistent from string to string. This literally had me changing sets every 1 - 2 weeks. Pretty rediculous. Before I went with Blue Steels I hadn't broken a string on bass for a few years. Ya, I play aggressively, but this was just crazy... over the 4 or 5 years leading up to me using Blue Steels I'd broken maybe 2 or 3 strings total and now I was snapping 2 or 3 a month. It got expensive... plus, even if they didn't break they went dull faster than I'd like so I swtiched again.

So the next set I really got into were DR Hi Beams. Again, they felt good, sounded good so I used these exclusively for a few years. I'm not good at explaining feel and sound so its pretty impossible for me to articulate reasons for my choices besides "I like em".

These served me well for a quite a while untill about 1 or 1.5 years ago when I got my Buttercream Sterling and of course it was strung up with Super Slinkys. Immediately I fell in love w/ the tension of these strings and they sounded great!!! and they're not stainless steel. So in a strange swing I went to nickel from stainless.

The honest reason why i didn't give EB Strings a shot throug my early "string hunt" is silly... I didn't like the colors of the packaging. Stupid, i know. But for some reason I didn't gravitate towards the bright pink packaging. Lame reason!

Anywho... around Open House time I started craving for more of the brightness that I used to get from stainless strings. So at this point I discovered the stainless steel slinkys. I got a set of those and a set of the DR hi Beams I used to love and strung up one Sterling with the DR and the other with the Stainless Steel Super's.

The Super's one the battle. Again, I suck at articulating feel and tone etc ... they felt better to me and alos sounded better - also loved the tension. so the Stainless Super Slinkys came ahead in all my judging criteria and are now the king string for phatty. Now I buy about 10 sets of Stainless Supers at a time. I love these strings!

 

[Wide'Iwas]

I saw on a morning talk show in chicago there is a large guitar maker here making strings in elgin IL and the company was GIBS**

The talk show guests had a live camera there filming them makeing the strings So I had believed that all large guitar makers make ther own strings!

So this is a shocker to me of what BP has just said!

 

[heavymetaljames]

I have drawers full of slinkys - I like to recommend to people I teach to change their strings once every few years! So open the drawer - look the best damn guitar strings in the world! I won't settle for anything less now - and I've tried them all!

I now know that there is more important things in life than using the best strings - and that is keeping BP in his lavish lifestyle!

 

[beej]

well ill chime in regarding bass strings.

Good story man. Yeah- I remember you were into DRs- I think I still have the pack that came with your SR4 that found it's way into my house ... (still love that bass BTW! so does my bands bass player)

I've never branched out on the bass side, but for guitar I went EB->D'Addario->EB again. Never been able to conclusively say whether or not their was a difference and have reversed my opinion several times.

 

[phatduckk]

Good story man. Yeah- I remember you were into DRs- I think I still have the pack that came with your SR4 that found it's way into my house ... (still love that bass BTW! so does my bands bass player).

im glad your diggin the bass!

 

[robelinda2]

well, i have to say i really can tell the difference between EB strings and D'addarios, which to me feel like crap, same for Dean Markley too. The only strings which i think comapre to EB in terms of feel are GHS, but i'll always buy EB slinky's if i can.

 

[rrhea]

I think that D'Addarios, GHS and EBs all feel relatively the same, and the sound between them is fairly comparable. I could use any of those brands and be happy.

That said I switched from D'Addario to EB recently making the first time I switched brands in over 15 years. Mainly because the local GC stocks the Hybrids and not the D'Addario equivilent... makes them easier for me to get hold of. I really like the EBs and don't even miss the D'Addarios. I can tell a slight difference, but I am not sure what exactly it is. Seems that maybe the plain EB strings have a slight bit more tension than the D'Addarios, especially the G. But all that could be in my head.

In short, I don't think you could go wrong with any of the three brands I mentioned here. However, it is cool to patronize the company and creator of the custom guitar string set, Mr. Ernie Ball himself. They've been at this string making thing for a long time.

Ryan

 

[DrKev]

On-stage emergency string change?!

The shame.

Invest in a back-up guitar.

Actually, it's very rare at all that I break any strings when I shouldn't - good maintenance and regular string changes. No backup guitar required really; I'm putting my pennies aside to buy something from the best guitars makers on the planet.

So between manufacturers, is there really a difference and why?

Well, like I said, it's been a long time since I really tried any other brands, barring Fender. At the same gauge, I find that Fender strings are noticeably higher tension in comparison with EB slinkys. (I believe in response to the higher tension, Fender last year introduced sets of lower tension strings). Tone wise EB slinkys and Fender are not dissimilar to my ears in that they both have a balance of lows mids and highs that I like. (Obviously, the Fender stainless wound are brighter on the lower strings than the nickel wound.) Fender strings sound good, and I do really like the bullet ends they have, though I am perfectly happy with my slinkys.

I don't really leave strings on the guitar long enough to tell you about longevity, though Fender nickel wound strings are very soft and the frets will wear flat spots VERY quickly. One rehearsal and I wanted to take them off. I lived with it for a few weeks, then tried the Fender stainless, looking for a brighter sound, and then said "Heck with it, stay with what I know and what I'm happy with". I've never looked back.

From what I remember (this is going back 12 years or more) tone wise D'Addarios had more upper mid in the sound, which I don't like at all. GHS boomers were the opposite, a bit of dip in the midrange. Anybody else find the same?

Now, if memory serves me from another recent thread, BP is meeting up soon with the head of the EBMM French distributor? Excuse me for shouting but CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE GET ANY STORE IN PARIS TO STOCK EB MANDOLIN STRINGS??!! Nobody is even interested in ordering them for me. It's even more difficult than buying the small teardrop picks I love so much, and nobody will order them for me either.

 

[Big Poppa]

Drkev

Iam having Lunch with Patrice and Lina Vigier tommorow/////

 

[DrKev]

Well, say 'Bonjour' de ma part and bon appetit!

 

[SteveB]

I have drawers full of slinkys - I like to recommend to people I teach to change their strings once every few years!

Sheesh! I usually change my strings after 2 weeks. 3 max. I'm one of those guys who sheds flesh onto the unwound strings. I clean them frequently with Fast Fret while they're on the guitar.