Expensive Coated Strings

Personally, I haven't noticed that big of a difference between string brands. That being said, my friend uses Elixers and swears by them (even when I tell him that he can pick up quality strings for a fraction of the price that he pays for him), even though they break on him every two weeks or so. Although my opinion is a bit bias, seeing as though that I've never really used Elixers on my guitar, I don't really think that 20$ strings (or any type of guitar strings for that matter) will give you "awesome tone", I'm more concerned about the amp or guitar that i'm playing through.

I love my Elixer's. I get them for $12.99 from musiciansfriend.com.

Regular strings are too squeaky for me. I hate regular strings.

I don't notice a difference in sound, I have switched back and forth and wound up back with Elixers strictly because they are easier for me to use as a beginner.

But I hear they break easier and that can be expensive. I don't hammer the guitar long enough or hard enough yet to know if they last longer or not, I just hear they break on others' often. When I eventually see the day they start breaking on me and too often, I will switch back to regular strings and spray that dry powder on them, which I have done and it does help.

I've read many posts on this forum about strings. From them I've gleened that strings are a personal choice. And the reasons people use the brand they do is not easily quantified. Usually the reasons boil down to the person likes the way they sound. I've very seldom seen answers about how long a set lasts. Sometimes it's about the feel of the string or the lack of slide noise. I use D'Addario custom lights because that's what came on my guitar. They sound good to me so I see no reason to try something else. I have a suspicion that if you did a blind test of phosphor bronze strings people couldn't tell the difference between two different brands. And if they could they couldn't pick out the brand they use.

I used SP strings, then went to SP+. I didn't notice any difference in sound quality, but the SP+ lasted a lot longer... for a while. Last year, the lifespan shortened quite a bit, and after buying from a different music store (to eliminate old stock as a cause) and still seeing not much extra life for the 200% price premium, I switched to Elixirs.

Sound quality seems no different from other good steel strings.

But I hear they break easier and that can be expensive.

I use Elixer's and have never broken a string.....Never!(read below) And yes, IMHO, they do last a lot longer than other strings.

I don't hammer the guitar long enough or hard enough yet to know if they last longer or not

I do! I hammer the crap out of them on my acoustic when I want to (and that happens more often than not (it happens when you get in the mood to hammer))! Still haven't had one break yet. Of course now that I say this, I'll end up breaking one............off to knock on wood.

Sound quality seems no different from other good steel strings.

I agree, there is not a noticeable difference.

One thing I have noticed though, when they die……THEY DIE!!! My last pair lasted almost three months. The day before I changed them I started to notice a “dullness/flatness” in the sound. I play every day so I can definitely say, I got my moneys worth.

Another point, yes the strings will fray BUT, it does NOT affect the sound at all!

All in all, I wouldn't buy them if they weren't worth it.

I sometimes notice a difference in strings. For instance, when I use my Martin SPs, there's a complete difference in tone and feel that a set of those cheap strings they sell at Sam Ash or the Musicians Friend brand strings for $2 a set.

I think I notice a difference much more on electric strings. I notice a huge diffrence between daddarios and ernie balls and dean markleys. But I would be hard pressed to identify which was which in a blind test.

If you find a brand you like, then use it. Experiment a little. If you use Martins for years then randomly decide Elixirs sound better, then go for the Elixers. Personally, I'd never use anything other than Light Martin SP Phosphour Bronze. I'm just fiercely loyal for no apparent reason.

Like JosephLefty said, the elixers squeak less. Not so much so that I can justify the price difference though. Other than that, I've not noticed much of a difference.

If you don't get a chance to play the guitar all the time (say you have a job and kids etc 8) ), then the coating is a big plus as it prevents rust.

One of GN's authors used to say "Change you strings every 40 hours or 40 days, which ever comes first."

That's 40 hours of playing, or 40 days of sitting in the case.

With coated strings, you can go a lot longer than 40 days, but may want to change them after 40 hours of playing, depending on how hard you play.

-Laz

On a similar topic...

I've invested in a couple of sets of Newtone strings which I've heard are very nice handmade strings:

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/Catalogue/ViewProduct.aspx?productId=991

I think the gauge I got was 12-54 but this is higher than the strings I believe come on the seagull S6+ range (unless the shop had replaced them with something else). This shouldn't cause any problems should it? Should be ok up or down a gauge without any adjustments to the truss rod I think.

I have been using Elixers for a year now , having swapped from Martin SP's.

And i really love them. They DO last appreciably longer, they sound great.

In my opinion, its the "standard" strings that are expensive, worked out on an hour's played per set basis.

Cheers

Matt

In my opinion, its the "standard" strings that are expensive, worked out on an hour's played per set basis.

But how much do you play? I very rarely break strings, but somehow I always manage to break when I'm using elixers. I don't get anymore life out of them than any other string.

David

I play a lot. And hard. And have only broken one string (I think it was the A) in a year. And I haven't heard of anyone apart from you that's breaking strings. Very odd!!

Matt

I don't think I've broken a string playing - any string brand, on any guitar - in maybe 3 years. I figure I play an average of about 5 hours per day between practicing and teaching (that's my guess of actual playing time - I don't usually play more than a few minutes during a lesson), but that's spread across multiple guitars. I change my strings when they go dead or lose intonation, which seems to be anywhere from 3 weeks (probably close to 40 hours on the instrument) to 6 months (maybe 150-200 hours of playing time... that's on a classical guitar, Pro-Arte strings). Average playing time on all guitaris is probably in the 60-80 hour range before a string dies.

U2Bono, I agree there's a huge difference between $2 strings and $15 strings. I was comparing the sound between 'good' strings (SPs, Dean Markley Signature series, etc.) and 'high end' strings (SP+, Elixirs). I haven't used budget strings in at least 25 years - they sound 'twangy' and they break frequently; when you figure breakage, the cost is the same, or more, than good strings - so I don't see any bargain in spending more money for lesser sound quality.