I've tried em all, 40 yrs+. I always considered Ernie Ball strings to be "pedestrian". Why? I'm a snob I guess. But you know, when I'm wrong I'll admit it. Out of frustration I put a set of Pure Nickel on my Strat & Tele and I was blown away! I'm just bummed that I was so pigheadded all those years. If you're playing single coil pickups these are IT. I'm not so sure about humbuckers. So there you have it. BTW the plated strings dont hold a candle to the Pure Nickel. They actually are "pedestrian".
LOL, well I decided to try Ernie Ball Classic Rock and Roll super slinkys pure nickel again last month. After about two weeks I rounded up all the packs of nickel plated slinkys I had and gave them to my son--and ordered 6 more packs of the PURE nickels from Sam Ash [free shipping]. I was sooo wrong.
These are the greatest strings ever! I guess the old saying about the original being better than the imitators that come along after is true.