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Question Cobalt Strings - yay or nay?

fjk1138

fjk1138

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Messages
96
Thinking about trying some out eventually. Anyone try them that wants to chime in and say how they worked out for you? Thanks.
 
I love cobalts, I play the hybrid 9's. Fantastic sounding and playing and they last well too if you keep them clean.


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Loving them, that's what I'm using on my gigging guitars these days. In addition to how good they sound, they last a long time and don't dull out quickly.
 
I use them on my guitars with Floyds. The windings on the ball ends aren't very good, but that doesn't matter with a Floyded guitar because I cut the ball ends off. Otherwise they have great feel and tone.

On my other guitars where I need to have the ball ends and their windings stay intact, I prefer M-Steels or Paradigms.
 
I've never had an issue on the ball ends of the Cobalts (or Slinky's for that matter) ... if that's an issue for you on your other guitars, I'd check the saddles for burrs or sharp edges (the usual culprits).
 
beej said:
I've never had an issue on the ball ends of the Cobalts (or Slinky's for that matter) ... if that's an issue for you on your other guitars, I'd check the saddles for burrs or sharp edges (the usual culprits).
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I've had the ball end of the high E string unwind on a couple of sets.
 
Thanks Guys, interesting comments. May break down and try a set.

DrKev - excellent review also, thank you.
 
flyingvluvr said:
I've had the ball end of the high E string unwind on a couple of sets.
Click to expand...
If you're having the same issue on the same string at the same place, it's more likely that a sharp edge is digging into the string, breaking it and causing the unraveling. Easiest way to fix that is to smooth out the edge.
 
beej said:
If you're having the same issue on the same string at the same place, it's more likely that a sharp edge is digging into the string, breaking it and causing the unraveling. Easiest way to fix that is to smooth out the edge.
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One of the guitars had a Bigsby vibrato, nothing was cutting into the string, the winding at the ball end just came undone, it happened twice.

The M-Steels and the Paradigms have much better, reinforced windings at the ball end.
 
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Ok ... but I'm saying you shouldn't need a more reinforced ball end if your guitar has no issues. That's not something that happens to everyone.
 
The three wound strings offer a very unique sensation compared to other brands' products in the market.

Pleasantly rough, yet with a silky/velvety sensation. Also, a "gummy" sort of sensation, due to high-elasticty I suppose. However, they lose the 'brand-new' sensation relatively fast. Especially, if you play daily, say over 3 hours (the three unwound strings are regular Slinkys).

It's a product you should try I think, although a little expensive. I fancy the 3 wound strings tremendously.

PS: Cleaning and conditioning the string always helps of course.
 
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I used Super Slinkys for probably 25+ years. Tried a pack of Cobalts and instantly switched. Absolutely LOVE the tone.
 
I'll tell you in a couple of weeks.

My guitar teacher sold me on trying them because of the extra growl that he gets out of them on his tele. I thought if they could snarl like that on a Tele, imagine what they can do on an Axis. :)

Gonna try to do an oil and wax and put them on over the long weekend.
 
I've tried the Cobalt Strings, and they were nice, but I still prefer the Ernie Ball RPS Strings; 10-46. By the way, I'm new to the forum here. Hello everyone.
:)
 
Welcome aboard, Jim.

I'm still trying to decide on the Cobalts. They have pluses and minuses for me. I like the little added growl they give me. A low E chug sounds pretty nasty with these things and pinch harmonic squeals seem to come much easier. But overall, they do seem a bit brighter than my regular Slinkys. It's going to take a little time for me to decide.
 
beej said:
Ok ... but I'm saying you shouldn't need a more reinforced ball end if your guitar has no issues. That's not something that happens to everyone.
Click to expand...
Okay, I'm giving the Cobalts another chance on my non-Floyded guitars. They're certainly much more economical than the Paradigms and they sound as good as the M-Steels.

I like the 3-pack deals you can get with the Cobalts, too.
 
I'm slowly coming around to the Cobalts. Feel is slightly different under the fingers, which took some getting used to, and there are still times where something sounds a little "off" to me (not "off" bad, but "off" different from what I'm used to). But then I crank up the distortion and chug. :)

I wasn't wild about the Paradigms. I had them put on after my last setup. I didn't dislike them, necessarily, but after a couple of months, I really just decided they weren't for me. I may try the Cobalts out on a couple of other guitars, though.
 
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