Any troubles with Ernie Ball strings lately? Breaking that is...

[shredless]

I did try some slinky 9s the other day and lm in love with the feel and sound. I think the nickel ones may have an issue.

I started out on daddarios but switched to nickel after reading some article about vintagey and mellow.

Im done with them.

 

[TheLoudness!!]

The few times I have used D'Addario, they also feel much stiffer to my hand than EB strings. I simply cannot bend them as easily.

 

[shredless]

Yeah lm ascared to go back to daddarios...l do like these slinky 9s.
Ive thought my guitars just havent felt or sounded right over the last couple years. Thought it was just me becoming a shittier player.
Musta been those damn strings.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

When I went back to EB's, I tried other gauges. 10's, 9's, and 8's. Something interesting I found with 8's, is a sound I hadn't heard in decades. It's hard to describe, but with that particular gauge on a Les Paul and lots of amp gain, when you whack, say, an open A or E chord just right, not only does it go slightly sharp for a second as you'd expect, but the vowel also changes as if there's a slight "wah" in there. In the right situations, it adds an intensity to the chord. It's very subtle, but it's cool. Doesn't happen with 9's or 10's, I think maybe because the tension is higher and they snap back (recover) quicker.

If you listen close, you can kinda hear what I'm talking about in this queued GnR clip. There are 3 hits, the 3rd one sustains. If you focus closely to the 3rd, you can hear the vowel change like a wah as it sustains (left speaker). It actually is a wah, but I'm saying this is kinda how it sounds:

(To hear it at the queue multiple times, you have to refresh the page or keep clicking back to 0:38.)


I think that's pretty bitchin'.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

This is for certain in my case. I only play at home but I can't stand the thought of not using them up completely before I change strings. But I'm the type of person who squeezes every last drop out of a tube of toothpaste.

Quality is not a value add in manufacturing. In my experience there is an ebb and flow to Quality. Profits go up, Quality goes down. Quality goes up, profits go down. It's a constant battle.

Ok. But you're certainly not squeezing every last drop of tone out of your guitar. Players spend hundreds and thousands of hard-earned dollars on gear, put in the effort to learn, craft, and hone their skill, and then some of them forfeit all of that over a $6 pack of strings.

This is why the entire music industry is failing today. If this keeps up, eventually there will be no more music, ever.

 

[Wildeman]

No problems, I'm not loyal to any brand and just buy whatever is on sale usually, that's when I stock up.
I hardly ever break a string and when I do it's almost sure to be the guitar. Ern's have always been good to me.

 

[anitoli]

Musta been those damn strings.

Pssst..........mav xformers..........

 

[Dogs of Doom]

guitar strings are cheap...

try playing cello, violin, or bass...

violin:

$73-77/set (4 strings)


$101/set:

cello & bass get more expensive...

 

[Tatzmann]

Since i came across these i use them exclusively.



Can't milk them myself though, for some reason
the woman went apeshit on me as i hauled in the
bags containing the bugs.

 

[Arc Anjil]

I played GHS Boomers when I gig'd many years ago. I've used EB Cobalt 9's for over 6 years now and love them.

Only time I broke one of those strings was when I hadn't changed them in God-knows-how-long (but a real long time!).

 

[shredless]

Pssst..........mav xformers..........

explain? or at least a hint?

 

[anitoli]

explain? or at least a hint?

Made in Vietnam transformers are now the cause of all guitar/amp problems.....................................

 

[shredless]

Made in Vietnam transformers are now the cause of all guitar/amp problems.....................................

oh yeah, u said mav but yes

 

[PelliX]

1. You probably don't change them often enough. If you're playing at home a lot, change them every 2-4 weeks. If you're gigging, put a fresh set on the day before each gig - think of it as $5.50 for insurance against you making yourself and your band look unprofessional. Whenever I see live guitar players breaking strings, the first thing I think is: "LOL! You didn't change your strings before the gig, did you?". (Refer to fig. A below.)

Tell me he looks unprofessional....



You can really imagine those guys in the front going "Oh man, he's killing it! ... naw, wait - what a plonker, he should have put on new strings. I ain't buying the album now..."

3. For some odd reason, you're using a quarter as a pick.

No self-respecting guitarist would ever use a coin...

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Tell me he looks unprofessional....



You can really imagine those guys in the front going "Oh man, he's killing it! ... naw, wait - what a plonker, he should have put on new strings. I ain't buying the album now..."



No self-respecting guitarist would ever use a coin...

View attachment 150315

Ok, now let's see how you handle a string break live.
BTW, you forgot to mention BB King.

 

[PelliX]

Ok, now let's see how you handle a string break live.

As the only guitarist in my band it's a little hard to pull a BB... As the tech in the band I also can't really do the SRV swap either. I think, in all honesty, I'd probably try to pull a quick one for a laugh; nod to my drummer to stop and start singing the first lines of I've Got The World On A String. Some might get it, some might not. That's the best I can think of, haha!

 

[paul-e-mann]

I use EB 10's lime pack going on near 20 years, I never change strings unless a string breaks and I replace only that one string, with that said I rarely break strings. I like the sound of well broken in strings over bright sounding new strings.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

I use EB 10's lime pack going on near 20 years, I never change strings unless a string breaks and I replace only that one string, with that said I rarely break strings. I like the sound of well broken in strings over bright sounding new strings.

You also remove the pickgurds from your Les Pauls don't you. Ahhhh... c'mon, you can't fool a Corleone with that fake goldtop in your avatar.

 

[Ronquest]

Super Slinky 9s on all my guitars, no problems.

 

[Ronquest]

You also remove the pickgurds from your Les Pauls don't you.

Like mud flaps on a Camaro.