What strings do you use for the electric guitar?

groovie

I've always leaned towards Ernie Ball or D'Addario for the electric, but last night ordered some Rotosound 10's, for a change. They come with an extra 'e' string, I hope that I never have to use it, though.
What strings do you prefer? Good experiences, bad experiences,etc:D
Do the strings make that much difference overall?

martinedwards

I've been using rotosound blue 10s for a few years now.

they're cheap and work

cezet

D'addario ( 9, 10, 11 ) during 15 years. Last year I switched for Elixir at last - better imo.

groovie

I ordered the strings from Strings.ie. They seem like good guys, the strings arrived today, with a code for 10% reductions on future purchases. I went straight back and ordered some Dava picks, just to try them out.

Generic Dreadhead

Interesting topic.
I have used Ernie Ball Regular Slink (10 gauge for years)
Recently got a 2nd guitar and for $hits and giggles set it up with 11 gauge.
I also have a 7 string I sometimes Downtune to Drop A (because i'm a dark and evil demon worshipper )

Sooooooo in an effort to ACTUALLY see if different types of strings within one brand make a difference I'm undergoing a project.
I'm ordering 4 different types of strings (2 packs each) for all 3 guitars (think that comes to like 20 packs total)
I'm going to use each pack for 4 jams/practices, then change so I use all the other packs. Then start the entire process again using the 2nd pack of each string to finally see which 10 gauge, 11 gauge and 7-String type works best with each guitar.

I can keep you posted on the results.... bare in mind these are ALL ernie balls strings from 4 different types of Strings
It's gonna cost €200 for all these strings (so average €10 per pack) but I reckon it's worth it to find the perfect strings to complement each guitar and their custom pickups

Types:
Regular
Stainless Steel
Cobalt
Titanium

Generic Dreadhead

groovie wrote: »

I ordered the strings from Strings.ie. They seem like good guys, the strings arrived today, with a code for 10% reductions on future purchases. I went straight back and ordered some Dava picks, just to try them out.

Just did a side by side... * Edited* AND EACH WEBSITE HAS ITS OWN MERITS

Strings.ie

Cormac... wrote: »

Just did a side by side... Thomann are cheaper FYI (and a better selection... but I didn't need to tell anyone that of course :pac: )

Firstly, groovie, thank you for supporting us, it really is appreciated

Cormac, Thomann will charge €15.00 postage unless you spend over €199 which is a LOT of strings. Our shipping charges start at €1.65 with 90% of customer orders well under a €5.00 shipping charge. Also as Groovie said, he ordered Monday got his strings Tuesday. We work really hard to get customers orders out as fast as possible.
As for prices, actually we're cheaper than Thomann on a fair amount of products and if more people support us we could negotiate better prices from suppliers. Also we regulary do coupon code deals, we have several in place at the moment for discounts and offers and we always try to look after our customers.
Don't get me wrong, i'm a big fan of Thomann but they're not always the smartest choice

pauly58

Yes, different brands of strings make a big difference. I always used Gibson Brite wires on my Les Paul, then just for a change really I put on a set of Ernie Ball super slinky. Gave the sound a nasty metallic edge, which is odd because I used them for years on my Yamaha SG1000.

groovie

Cormac... wrote: »

I can keep you posted on the results.... bare in mind these are ALL ernie balls strings from 4 different types of Strings
It's gonna cost €200 for all these strings (so average €10 per pack) but I reckon it's worth it to find the perfect strings to complement each guitar and their custom pickups

Types:
Regular
Stainless Steel
Cobalt
Titanium

Dude, talk to Strings.ie, see if they can help save you some money.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Strings.ie, just enthused, that's all.

My dava picks came today, I just played for an hour with one, I like it.:D

Generic Dreadhead

Strings.ie wrote: »

Firstly, groovie, thank you for supporting us, it really is appreciated

Cormac, Thomann will charge €15.00 postage unless you spend over €199 which is a LOT of strings. Our shipping charges start at €1.65 with 90% of customer orders well under a €5.00 shipping charge. Also as Groovie said, he ordered Monday got his strings Tuesday. We work really hard to get customers orders out as fast as possible.
As for prices, actually we're cheaper than Thomann on a fair amount of products and if more people support us we could negotiate better prices from suppliers. Also we regulary do coupon code deals, we have several in place at the moment for discounts and offers and we always try to look after our customers.
Don't get me wrong, i'm a big fan of Thomann but they're not always the smartest choice

Thanks for reaching out to me. I'd honestly already placed the order as I'm buying a (recently released) Boss Multi Over-Tone MO-2 and some other bits and bobs off them,
Next time I'll go with a similar volume order with you guys and we'll see what we can work out.

Generic Dreadhead

pauly58 wrote: »

Yes, different brands of strings make a big difference. I always used Gibson Brite wires on my Les Paul, then just for a change really I put on a set of Ernie Ball super slinky. Gave the sound a nasty metallic edge, which is odd because I used them for years on my Yamaha SG1000.

Yeah, the "clank" is not for everyone (it suits me as I never really use a 100% clean sound, even my 'Clean Tone" features a Pitchshifter De-Tune 5%-10% effect more often than not) - Whenever I do go 100% clean the sound isn't too clanky (but I guess thats cause I changed the SD pickups for passive humbuckers... previously it was very clanky)
Also maybe this is just me.... But Fender strings suck... I play a Fender Strat so I like their guitars.... but their strings are awful... particullarly Fender Bullets... just avoid them

il gatto

Gibson Brite Wires. Over the years I've played Rotosound (pretty good), Ernie Ball (fine) and D'addario (meh). Went back to Gibson. They sound really good to me. They feel nice and I find they stay fresh alot longer than other strings. Have them on 3 electrics and have some lined up for my tele when the ones on it need changing. Also going to try them on my acoustic when the Martin ones on it go.

pm1977x

I mostly use Ernie Ball Super Slinky 8s or 9s or else D'addario XL 9s - don't really notice much difference in terms of sound quality

-=al=-

D'addario 10's or elixer 10's usually

Got a present of some DR coloured strings and they're actually excellent as well as looking pretty nifty

Got a black and pink set...



Very decent strings

il gatto

pm1977x wrote: »

I mostly use Ernie Ball Super Slinky 8s or 9s or else D'addario XL 9s - don't really notice much difference in terms of sound quality

8s? I can barely feel the high E playing 9s. 8s must feel like spider webs. Would like to try that sometime. Probably can't be bothered restringing a guitar with 8s as I know I won't get on with them.

noby

Ernie Ball 9's is my go to. More because I found one I like and stuck with it rather than extensive research.
Picked up a Jaguar last week and put XL 11's on it. I might use the opportunity to try different brands of 11's.

wild turkey

I use Martin Darco 10-52
http://www.thomann.de/ie/martin_guitars_darco_d9200.htm

At the time I could get them for €1.69 a set from Thomann so picked up 30 sets
theres no difference between these & D'adarrios only the price & are made in the same factory

I use Super Slinkys on my LP standard though, just for the hell of it really !

Yakult

I find Dunlop strings very good. They stay nice and fresh sounding for a good while and I have rarely ever snapped one of them. Cant fault them!

Brave Badger

D'addario 10's on my electrics and 11's on my acoustics.

www.Strings.ie all the way!!!

Gaspode

Based on feedback on this forum I ordered some strings late last Wed night (so they would have got the order Thursday morning) from strings.ie, and they arrived on friday afternoon. Excellent service I have to say, and the postage was cheaper than bus fare or parking in the city centre!
I now always use Ernie Ball slinky 2221s (10-46) for the electric, I finally settled on them after 2 or more years using the same guitar. I reckon I've tried just about every common brand of strings on the guitar before picking the 2221s.