Cobalt Strings and D-Tuna.....a bad combination?

[Guitar Guru]

Hey,

I shall start off by saying I love EB products. I have been using their strings for a while, and own a EBMM Axis, which I LOVE!

Cobalt strings came on the market. I was stoked to get my hands on them. Finally got my gauge (10-52). Put them on my Axis. The D-Tuna stopped functioning. After many hours of taking things apart, blaming the D-Tuna, and reworking the guitar many times, I finally brought it to my tech to have a look.

It stumped him as well. Finally after a few more hours, he discovered the problem.
The cobalt strings were stretching in the bridge cavity every time the D-Tuna would be activated. It was impossible to get the D-Tuna to bring the guitar into pitch, without tightening the fine tuner to the point that the D-Tuna wouldn't pull off the shaft at all.

I am not quite sure, but I have a feeling that the cobalt strings do not have a hex core. Can someone in EB-Land confirm that for me? It's my experience that any strings without a hex core will not react well with guitars equipped with D-Tuna's.

Totally unfortunate, since now I can't use those strings on my Axis.

 

[RoboZen35]

Ernie Ball Cobalt strings do have a Hex-shape Steel core wire.
Im sorry to hear about your D-tuna issue. Maybe try a lighter gauge and see if the tension is better.

 

[Guitar Guru]

Ernie Ball Cobalt strings do have a Hex-shape Steel core wire.
Im sorry to hear about your D-tuna issue. Maybe try a lighter gauge and see if the tension is better.

Hmmm...interesting. I don't think going to a lighter gauge is going to make a difference. Either way, changing string gauge for me is not an option. Especially if all the other EB strings work fine at the gauge I use.

Appreciate the response though!

 

[RoboZen35]

You'll never know the outcome unless you try

I personally am a long time user of the Skinny top- Heavy bottom sets. From experience,
the skytop-hvybottom have a greater tension on standard tuning than the regs (obviously) LOL.
Just try and see if it makes a difference.

I love the new cobalts and dont think I can see myself ever going back. Unless im broke! LOL

 

[Big Poppa]

it shouldnt be an issue at all..

 

[TNT]

I agree - it has "nothing" to do with the d-tuna or Cobalts. In addition, it's not really "clear" what you are describing, e.g., d-tuna stopped functioning, bridge cavity, etc. . .??

If you set it up correctly it will all work correctly.

 

[DrKev]

I can't think of any reason why the Cobalts would react any differently than any other string on the market. Like BP said, it' shouldn't be an issue.

Try the forum search function. A lot of people have had problems with the D-Tuna that were eventually solved. You may find the answer you need.

 

[Guitar Guru]

Thanks for the replies, guys. So here is what happened:

Guitar was perfectly setup and d-tuna worked absolutely fine. My EBMM Axis was strung up with regular slinky EB Strings (10 - 52). I restrung it with the cobalts, doing one string at a time to ensure that my setup remained the same.

Anyway, once that low E cobalt was installed, stretched, and tuned up, it help fine tuned to D. The D-Tuna, when engaged, would only bring the tuning up half a step.....perfectly to D#. There was not enough thread on the finer tuner of the d-tuna to bring it to E. If I cranked that fine tuner to it's max, I might hit E, but the d-tuna would not easily slide back to D at all.

My tech and I reviewed every other variable. We read over all of the other threads pertaining to d-tuna issues and such. Trust me: I was hoping it was something to do with the d-tuna.

So our last ditch effort was to put a regular E string back on the guitar. We did not adjust anything on the d-tuna. Simply removed the cobalt, put the normal slinky back in it's spot. The D-tuna worked like it should.

Hence my original question regarding the hex core on the cobalt. Not sure if the cobalt string is softer somehow? I remember putting a fender string on my axis (perish the thought!!!) and the same issue happened. But that string did not have a hex core.

Anyway, I will experiment putting the cobalt string on my wolfgang and see if the same thing happens or not.

 

[TNT]

Ok, it's a little clearer! However, the string should have nothing to do with it.

Yes, sometimes the D-Tuna can be picky, and you have to dial it in just right sometimes. I've done it so much now that I automatically push down just a micro hair so that it slides back easy. Yes, you need a little room there to do that.

The D-Tuna requires a more delicate detailed set up, but once you have it in the crosshairs (with a new string put on) it should work fine.

 

[Brian]

Hey Guitar Guru, please email Chris at [email protected] and we'll make sure to dig into this for you! This is the first we've heard about that, and the Cobalt line definitely has hex cores. Well get to the bottom of it for you!

Thanks,

Brian

 

[Guitar Guru]

Hey Guitar Guru, please email Chris at [email protected] and we'll make sure to dig into this for you! This is the first we've heard about that, and the Cobalt line definitely has hex cores. Well get to the bottom of it for you!

Thanks,

Brian

Thanks Brian! I have sent him an e-mail. Appreciate the help!

 

[Teddis007]

Amy Resolution

I have the EXACT same problem. Regular EB silnkys are fine with Dtuna.
With Cobalts I cannot fine tune to E ( it binds up)

What is the solution EB please ?

Thanks Brian! I have sent him an e-mail. Appreciate the help!

 

[Teddis007]

Anyone from EB around? Guess I just return all these AMAZING strings.

I have the EXACT same problem. Regular EB silnkys are fine with Dtuna.
With Cobalts I cannot fine tune to E ( it binds up)

What is the solution EB please ?

 

[beej]

They're closed Fridays.

Fwiw, I'd follow Brian's suggestion above and contact Chris at the email address above.

 

[Guitar Guru]

Hey Guys,

Sorry for the delay in responding. First of all, I want to say once again: I love EB products. I use their strings and guitars.....I gig for a living. Their products rule!

Secondly, major thanks to Chris at EB for all of his help. Once I contacted him with my problem of the cobalts and the D-tuna, he got to work on it right away.

The EB lab techs came to basically the same conclusion as I had: the Cobalts will NOT work with the d-tuna. The string will continually stretch and never get to pitch properly. The only way around this is to either go to a much lighter string, and even then it probably won't work properly, OR use a normal nickel string for your 6th, and the rest cobalts......or no cobalts at all on guitars that have d-tuna's.

I was beyond impressed how quickly they jumped on this issue. Chris and his team at EB should be commended. I love the Cobalts on my Les Paul's. But for my Axis and Wolfgang that are equipped with D-tuna's, I'll just be using the normal EB Slinky's that I have been using for years.

All the best, guys! EB Rocks!

 

[DCStingray]

Thanks for the update Guitar Guru, and thanks for bringing this to our attention!

....by the way, this is Chris

Just to clarify, Cobalt strings are definitely more flexible than your average string which which as a result means the D-Tuna may have to travel farther in order to make the same change in pitch. Unfortunately, you run out of travel on the D-Tuna for a 52 gauge Cobalt string in order to change the pitch by a whole step for this scale length and tuning. We can't test everyone's individual setups since many things can influence the tension and flexibility of a string such as tuning, scale length, string gauge, etc. I hope this helps clarifies things for everyone.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[wired]

I have been using Cobalts w a D-tuna on my EVH for several months and have not had the problems you're describing. I had to adjust the fine tuner on the d-tuna the 1st time I installed the Cobalts, but it has worked fine. The only time I've noticed it not return to pitch is when the strings get a little old, but other than that, no problems.

 

[DCStingray]

Thanks Wired!

What gauges are you using?

 

[Apoc]

Hello Everyone!

I'm a first time user of (any) Ernie Ball products: yesterday I purchased the Cobalt strings (10-46) for my Peavey Wolfgang. I just put them on and I have the exact same problem mentioned in this thread. I ended up taking off the D-Tuna. However, I will keep it off and use these strings simply because they sound so darn good! Immediately I noticed the ridiculous sustain on the low E string - unplugged! I play through a Mesa/Boogie Roadster 2x12 combo in a small carpeted room at low volumes, so getting a clear sounding string was imperative given my already acoustically unfavourable circumstances. I simply love how percussive and tight the bass is when doing fast, muted riffs, and the chords ring out more clearly and simply sound thicker. In fact, the clean channel sounds much bolder/thicker and at the same time has more of a sparkle to it. The only cons I've noticed so far are that the strings feel rougher on my fingers (I was using Elixer polywebs prior to this so anything will feel rougher by comparison), and of course, the D-Tuna issue. If anyone has found a solution to the D-Tuna issue, please PM me! Either way, I think I've found my new strings... My only potential concern at this point is longevity as I have very corrosive fingers, which is why I loved the Elixers. In fact I had them on for 14 months before changing today, and they only reason I changed was because I wanted to clean and oil the fingerboard. I don't expect any non-coated string to last that long, but I hope I can at least get a few months out of them. I used to burn through regular strings in a few weeks, so I don't know how realistic my expectations are, but I'm loving the sound and will see how well these Cobalts fare. Anyhow, rock-on everyone!

 

[DrKev]

Welcome to the forum, Apoc!

Personally, I found Cobalts do last longer. With their extra treble content and sustain they sound good for much longer than regular strings. Of course no two people have the same oil/sweat chemistry so YMMV. The rougher feel I got used to quickly and then totally loved the slinkier tension!

BTW, if you ever decide to change strings again, do give the coated Slinkys a try. Almost identical tone and feel to standard Slinkys but last way longer. Excellent strings!