E String Guitar Sound For Sale (2024 Update)

I am a drummer. My son needed strings. He took a few lessons years ago, and recently decided to try again. Guitar needed strings. I put on a full set and tuned it up. Seem to be functional. Fairly flexible. I didn't want really heavy strings. I know they would wreak havoc on un-callused fingertips!Scott W.

First time using these. I really like them. I immediately noticed how much smoother they feel compared to the previous brand I started out using. They feel so much better on your fingers and they dont feel ridged on the thicker strings. String bends are much better. I think I am going to switch to Ernie Ball from here on out. These seem like a much better quality and better value.hillbillyonlineshopper

Strats, ES, Les Pauls, hollow body Gretschs, PRS, my absolute go to strings. Every electric guitar I own gets set up with em. I absolutely buy in bulk. Great life for frequent use. Haven't broken a string in years. Properly stretched you shouldn't have any tuning issues.Charlie

I was surprised to fine this heavy of a guage of strings. I didn't know they existed. The thing about heavy strings is that you have much more ability to play with dynamic resonance – something you can't really get with light guage strings. With these strings, you can play as softly as you wish but when you really want it to "come out" they don't disappoint. I also only play with the fleshy tip of my fingers which melds into the subtle nuances of chord and solo performance.garycgrieve

The package is for C standard, not Drop C as some people mistakenly think…well, I guess you could use them for Drop C if you like veeeery stiff strings. If you want strings for Drop C, I'd suggest a skinny top/heavy bottom set of strings with an 11 up top and a 54 or so on the bottom so the bottom E tuned to C doesn't get floppy and knocked out of tune easily. Anyway, I've been using these for a long time on my USA core line PRS Custom 24 in C standard. They seem fine for going down a half step to B standard and feel fine even up half a step to C# standard. That's as high as I'd tune these strings up, though. I couldn't recommend these strings more!Josh

I have these strings on my schecter c-1 SLS blackjack tuned all the way down to drop A#, and let me tell you, despite being labeled as optimized for drop C, I don't recommend them for that tuning. 11-52s, 12-54s and 11-56s are better for Drop C, but for Drop B and Drop A#, you will not find a better gauge than these on a 25.5 scale length guitar or a 26.5 baritone. The tension is absolutely perfect! It feels like a 10-52 set in E standard with the E string tuned to D! Like with all D'addarios, they are bright, long lasting, they feel smooth and they absolutely love locking tremolos. I can yank my floyd rose all I want and it still will not go out of tune. Since D'addarios are bright as I stated before, they also remain clear under high gain, which I use my marshall JVM on the red channel with a maxon OD as a boost and a peavey 5150. Between the tuning stability, the tension, the reliability, the playability and the string life, you cannot go wrong with these for baritone tunings!Daniel

These strings are absolutely fantastic for a FULL humbucker guitar (Les Paul or SG). Would not put them on single coil guitars though (Stratocaster or Telecaster). They are a lot brighter and tinnier than Pure Nickel. From this point on, these are all I'll use on my Epiphone SG….sound great and last a long time without losing their sound.White Dog

I build guitars and buy these for setups period. I have tried to use these on one occasion just for kicks but found the tension all wrong. Not so much on the wound strings as the unwound upper strings. I found the tension and feel really poor. They seemed to be ridiculous to bend and if you managed that they felt like they were about ready to snap. I did not like the brittle tone either. The feel of these is just all wrong but they are cheap and fine to use for building but my guitars would never go out with these!Thump54

Musicians Gear strings are perfect for any player. If you get your strings for free because of an endorsement deal, you can claim a better value. I don't have that option = I pay for my strings. I change strings about once a month, sometimes more often, because NOTHING sounds as good as a new set of strings. But I can't afford big coins to keep fresh strings on them. These MGs are very affordable, they sound great, they play well, they are consistent, and I am very happy when I play with new strings. The new packaging helps stop rust and corrosion, so I usually buy in boxes of 10, just so I have some on hand.guitarpicker7

I use these strings all the time. Dont believe all the nonsense you read- they sound good, they last well and they are affordable. If you dont need to pay double or triple for hype, buy these strings. The best sounding strings in the world are new strings. Buy a stack of these and change them whenever you need to. The more you play, the more often you will need to change them. Even a cheap guitar will sound good with new strings. And the most expensive guitar will sound bad with old strings. I love them.reynardfoxe

I build guitars and buy these for setups period. I have tried to use these on one occasion just for kicks but found the tension all wrong. Not so much on the wound strings as the unwound upper strings. I found the tension and feel really poor. They seemed to be ridiculous to bend and if you managed that they felt like they were about ready to snap. I did not like the brittle tone either. The feel of these is just all wrong but they are cheap and fine to use for building but my guitars would never go out with these!Thump54

Musicians Gear strings are perfect for any player. If you get your strings for free because of an endorsement deal, you can claim a better value. I don't have that option = I pay for my strings. I change strings about once a month, sometimes more often, because NOTHING sounds as good as a new set of strings. But I can't afford big coins to keep fresh strings on them. These MGs are very affordable, they sound great, they play well, they are consistent, and I am very happy when I play with new strings. The new packaging helps stop rust and corrosion, so I usually buy in boxes of 10, just so I have some on hand.guitarpicker7

I use these strings all the time. Dont believe all the nonsense you read- they sound good, they last well and they are affordable. If you dont need to pay double or triple for hype, buy these strings. The best sounding strings in the world are new strings. Buy a stack of these and change them whenever you need to. The more you play, the more often you will need to change them. Even a cheap guitar will sound good with new strings. And the most expensive guitar will sound bad with old strings. I love them.reynardfoxe

These are not bright strings, the sound is somewhat dull – not so much you can't boost highs and adjust mids to compensate enough for most purposes, but these will never sound great for anything that needs to pop with bright presence. I am forced to keep a 5 string tuned down a whole step for one of the bands I regularly work with and this is the only game in town. You will need to re adjust your bridge because your intonation will change with these strings on and it may be enough to make solos and high passages sound a but wonky. If you have to keep a rigged tuned down, these are what you need but they put an awful strain on the neck if you try to pull them up to standard pitch – use for lower tunings ONLY.Doug

i've been using these strings for almost 2 years for hard/heavy rock. on a 36" scale 5-string the 135's feel great, and stay nice and tight at Eb or D tunings. at standard E tuning they are extremely tight. i've taken them down to C tuning, which puts the low B all the way down to seriously subterranean G, and that's about where they start to get floppy on a 36" scale bass. i would describe their tone as being loud and punchy, which suits loud, heavy music very well. as for longevity, i'm getting a solid month out of them at 10 hours per week of fairly vigorous playing. i kept the last set on to to see how long they'd go for. after 3 months they're starting to loose temper, and need to be replaced… but that's after a lot of playing.Wesley

I am a new pedal steel player (E9). My new to me PSG was in need of a string change. No experience deciding what is a good string or a not so good string. Decided to try a set of Ernie Ball strings. They installed like any other string. Hold tuning well. I am abusing the instrument about 2 hours a day c/w lots of up and down bending. So far no broken strings. They sound good, hold pitch, seem durable and are priced right. Not much more to say.Alvin

Superb. Do the trick for a quick set. Work for Low-bass A and G as well as E & E6/Cmin7 – depending on scale length.samjhatfield

I already have a small Cordoba guitar that is fantastic. Unfortunately, It doesn't have any electronics. Bought this particular model because it was small, fit in my car easily, and had from what I could tell, a decent pickup (was only intended for co-writes) Played one at the store first, and liked the size of the neck. Tone is what you would expect for a tiny guitar, but passable for my purposes. I really like Cordoba as a brand, but I spent far more time tuning this guitar than I did playing it, and ultimately wound up returning it. It seems that they could have better tuners? It didn't seem like it was a craftsmanship issue? I liked the cut away, it was for great, but the bad Intonation was not anything that could be remedied by a Luthier. Very nice looking guitar. I would pay $100 more for the same guitar, if they could trade up the tuners and remedy the intonation. Almost there, Cordoba!Magic Maria

I began using these strings a few years ago when I began experimenting with extreme low tunings; both standard and drop tunings (anywhere between D standard all the way down to drop-G#). At the time they were the heaviest set of strings I could find in the town where I live so I put them through the paces for a good long while before I tried other gauges/brands. Now, if strung on a good quality 25.5 scale guitar these strings do okay tension-wise all the way down to drop-A# or even drop-A for doomy, drone-type stuff. I found that if I tuned any lower than that they lost all clarity and definition. On a 24.75 scale guitar, however, drop-B was as low as I could get with them and they honestly didn't sound that great. After a few months of experimentation I found that Drop-C on a 24.75 scale guitar was just about right for this set of strings tension-wise. Later, after settling on drop-B as my main tuning, I found that the .56 bottom just wasn't thick enough to provide the string tension and clarity I need for my playing style. I also found, much to my dismay, that the .56 bottom string broke way too often to be such a thick gauge string which makes me think that the quality of these strings is sub-par compared to other brands I've tried since. I even filed down the string saddle to try and reduce the wear on the string but it didn't seem to help. I've also found that these strings rust and corrode much sooner than other brands I've tried even after I started using a string cleaner after playing. The final complaint I have about these strings is that the plain G string they put into this pack of strings sounds ridiculously bad in any tuning and the lower you tune it the worse it sounds. I imagine it would help if they made it a wound string or at least included a wound string in the pack so you could choose between the two. I've since settled on another brand of string in .10-.60 gauge and I am much happier with the tone, tension and definition compared to the EB not even slinky set.ViperDude310

I needed a set of strings to reproduce a heavily Black Sabbath influenced recording (c. Vol 4) that would not thin out in a drop tuning environment, standard for slide playing and standard for thickening the tone and sustain before I got to my amp or effects loop I tried out a set of these when I was informed they are indeed made in the USA. Short answer: Oh yeah, oh hells yeah! The increased tension in the neck might make these strings unsuitable for some players. I'm on a neck though body Gibson SG and have been holding solidly in tune (E=329Hz. A=440Hz, etc).for over a week with no loss. When you put these string on you will need to stretch them with a string stretching tool or by bending the string left to right, right to left with your thumb and finger from the nut to the bridge to keep them in tune, go down the string in 1/2" increments and repeat until you run out of string. Many players put on a set of strings and break as they go, try this and see how much less you have to tune in the overall lifespan of the string, i break in all my strings with this method and it works wonders. I would NOT use these for guitars manufactured with inexpensive components (e.g. knockoffs and starter kit guitars) as you will go out of tune due to the lack of strength on the wood used to build and the tuning pegs which are usually very cheaply produced from inferior metals with shoddy gears and posts and truss rods that are misaligned and/or made form inferior components. Once on these strings sound big, (e.g. yo mama big), the fatter tone and sustain going to these from light and medium gauge .9/.10 – .42/.48 is immediately noticeable and leaving yourself in standard tuning will be much more of a workout on your fret hand, but the payoff is the tone and sustain you can get from the increase in string mass and tension. For the negative reviews I'd be interested to see what kind of guitars these strings are being set up on and what the manufactures recommend. I'm planning on putting the other set of these on a G&L ASAT (AKA Telecaster 2.0) for heavy blues slide and I will observe if that stays in tune as well.as it's a 4 bolt neck, but if your gear is not very good to begin then don't expect adding that much more tension to an inexpensively made guitar to behave like a quality instrument.Sultan of the Six Strings

Unfortunately, I do not have a 7-string axe but if I did, it would be strung out with these babies! I buy them for the 28, 38 & 58 strings for my SRV Strat to get that Texas tone. They play just as smooth & good as any of the other Ernie Ball strings I use. I love the heavy, warm-end tone & the strings do not disappoint AND they're easy on the fingers meaning they're smooth. If you bend strings up a whole step like I do, these strings will toughen you up real fast.. These strings last and never have I experienced any corrosion. Highly recommended if you want that Texas blues tone, jazz sound or you just wanna DJENT!John564Holloway

I was looking for a perfect set to stay super tight in Eb but also retain enough tension in lower tunings. I had been using the Not Even Slinky set and found the higher strings for be a little too thick and the lower a little too thin. So, I decided to give these a shot. I remove the .28 (Normally the 4th string) and that way, I have regular 11s at the top but super heavy strings at the bottom. When tuned to my signature Eb, they retain a lot of tension and are good for a nice chugging sound. When tuned any lower than Drop C, they start to lose a little tension, but still stay manageable. I'd say the lowest comfortable tuning is Drop A before they get too floppy. Overall great strings, EB is the best!Ryan

Ernie Ball Strings are great. They have a lovely "twang" to them when brand new. However, I DO like their Paradigm Strings the most, as they last for 6 months or more before I need to change them. Those Ernie Ball Paradigm Strings are the best, longest lasting strings that I have ever used. I wish Artist Guitars stocked the EB Paradigms (I'd have given a 5* Rating instead of 4* if they had Paradigm Strings). If/when they DO start to stock them and if their price is right, I'll purchase them for ALL my 7 or 8 guitars! ATM I usually purchase 3-pack deals via e-Bay. 😀 I only got these as I wanted a brand new set of 7-String Guitar Strings for my brand new and 1st ever 7 String guitar, the Artist Guitars' Spiritus 7 that I purchased recently. However, I am going to purchase Paradigm 7-String sets from now on. These non-paradigms are just temporary. I'll be purchasing another Acoustic Guitar or few in the future also, as I'd like a JB300NT V2 Steel String Acoustic as well as a new Nylon Classical Guitar. And I need a Bass or 2 also. LOL You can never have enough, let alone too many Guitars! Thank you Artist Guitars. You guys rock!Narayana

(Guitar there were placed on is a Tom Murphy Painted and Aged Gibson Custom Shop 1959 Les Paul Standard w/ Brazilian Fretboard) Back in the day, Ernie Ball strings weren't packaged well; they weren't even sealed. If you haven't tried them since their packaging was reinvented, they're definitely worth a look now. Tried D'Addario pure nickel strings, found the wound three to be too low output. I swear the core wire looked like it belonged in acoustic strings. Maybe I got a factory defect, who knows. Gibson strings sound great initially but the 'G' starts to sound dead after a week and the wound strings sound dead and filthy in three weeks. These on the other hand sound marvelous. They sound great out of the package, stay balanced, and sound good for longer than I thought possible.MidnightRiderInTX

I have recently come back to playing the guitar, Sax is my primary instrument but I have had my Gibson RD Standard since 1978. I have since increased my heard of guitars to 10 electric guitars and 3 bass guitars. I have come to favor the Ernie Ball lights and super lights on almost all my guitars. I play the 9's on all of my Stratocaster copies and the super lights on the 3/4 size guitars. I love the feel as far as tone, intonation, flexibility ease of bends and how the strings hold up as a whole. I would definitely recommend to a friend or buy this produce again.Antonio

I have been using the Power Slinkys (11s) for a few years now. I had switched from another brand because the Slinkys made my Strat sound more Straty. After watching a few videos on YouTube about string gauge, I thought I would buy the Regular Slinkys (10s) and see what difference that would make. When I got online to buy I saw that Guitar Center had a sale on 12 packs and since there is a pandemic, I thought it prudent to hoard strings. My logic was that while I may run out of TP, I would never run out of strings for my guitars. Long story short, you cannot go wrong with the tone of 10s. I do like them better than the 11s. They are much clearer in the low end and you get more definition. I have to do less EQing when recording and they just seem to pop better in a mix. The only downside is that they are taking me time to get used to, I play very heavy handed and these are much easier to bend. But I can already see that I have less hand fatigue.Richard

(Guitar there were placed on is a Tom Murphy Painted and Aged Gibson Custom Shop 1959 Les Paul Standard w/ Brazilian Fretboard) Back in the day, Ernie Ball strings weren't packaged well; they weren't even sealed. If you haven't tried them since their packaging was reinvented, they're definitely worth a look now. Tried D'Addario pure nickel strings, found the wound three to be too low output. I swear the core wire looked like it belonged in acoustic strings. Maybe I got a factory defect, who knows. Gibson strings sound great initially but the 'G' starts to sound dead after a week and the wound strings sound dead and filthy in three weeks. These on the other hand sound marvelous. They sound great out of the package, stay balanced, and sound good for longer than I thought possible.MidnightRiderInTX

I have recently come back to playing the guitar, Sax is my primary instrument but I have had my Gibson RD Standard since 1978. I have since increased my heard of guitars to 10 electric guitars and 3 bass guitars. I have come to favor the Ernie Ball lights and super lights on almost all my guitars. I play the 9's on all of my Stratocaster copies and the super lights on the 3/4 size guitars. I love the feel as far as tone, intonation, flexibility ease of bends and how the strings hold up as a whole. I would definitely recommend to a friend or buy this produce again.Antonio

I have been using the Power Slinkys (11s) for a few years now. I had switched from another brand because the Slinkys made my Strat sound more Straty. After watching a few videos on YouTube about string gauge, I thought I would buy the Regular Slinkys (10s) and see what difference that would make. When I got online to buy I saw that Guitar Center had a sale on 12 packs and since there is a pandemic, I thought it prudent to hoard strings. My logic was that while I may run out of TP, I would never run out of strings for my guitars. Long story short, you cannot go wrong with the tone of 10s. I do like them better than the 11s. They are much clearer in the low end and you get more definition. I have to do less EQing when recording and they just seem to pop better in a mix. The only downside is that they are taking me time to get used to, I play very heavy handed and these are much easier to bend. But I can already see that I have less hand fatigue.Richard

(Guitar there were placed on is a Tom Murphy Painted and Aged Gibson Custom Shop 1959 Les Paul Standard w/ Brazilian Fretboard) Back in the day, Ernie Ball strings weren't packaged well; they weren't even sealed. If you haven't tried them since their packaging was reinvented, they're definitely worth a look now. Tried D'Addario pure nickel strings, found the wound three to be too low output. I swear the core wire looked like it belonged in acoustic strings. Maybe I got a factory defect, who knows. Gibson strings sound great initially but the 'G' starts to sound dead after a week and the wound strings sound dead and filthy in three weeks. These on the other hand sound marvelous. They sound great out of the package, stay balanced, and sound good for longer than I thought possible.MidnightRiderInTX

I have recently come back to playing the guitar, Sax is my primary instrument but I have had my Gibson RD Standard since 1978. I have since increased my heard of guitars to 10 electric guitars and 3 bass guitars. I have come to favor the Ernie Ball lights and super lights on almost all my guitars. I play the 9's on all of my Stratocaster copies and the super lights on the 3/4 size guitars. I love the feel as far as tone, intonation, flexibility ease of bends and how the strings hold up as a whole. I would definitely recommend to a friend or buy this produce again.Antonio

I have been using the Power Slinkys (11s) for a few years now. I had switched from another brand because the Slinkys made my Strat sound more Straty. After watching a few videos on YouTube about string gauge, I thought I would buy the Regular Slinkys (10s) and see what difference that would make. When I got online to buy I saw that Guitar Center had a sale on 12 packs and since there is a pandemic, I thought it prudent to hoard strings. My logic was that while I may run out of TP, I would never run out of strings for my guitars. Long story short, you cannot go wrong with the tone of 10s. I do like them better than the 11s. They are much clearer in the low end and you get more definition. I have to do less EQing when recording and they just seem to pop better in a mix. The only downside is that they are taking me time to get used to, I play very heavy handed and these are much easier to bend. But I can already see that I have less hand fatigue.Richard

These strings are okay for the price, but I've had several problems with them. 1) This is not a sealed pack, so when I bought it the .010 had rusty patches right out of the pack and maybe the .013 too. They're in individual folded paper sleeves all together in an open-air fold-over plastic sheath. 2) They're NOT for your standard extended-range/long scale 8-string. Short scale guitars only. These fit my 25.5" guitar nicely, but when I tried putting these on my Agile Interceptor 30" scale guitar, they were probably 5"+ too short. Didn't even reach the nut, much less the peg (partly because it's a string-through, tune-o-matic, long scale, and reverse-inline, so lots of extra string is needed. Also, on the paper sleeve, it tells you that it's a 30" taper, which means that the string gets narrow after 30" to fit through the tuning peg. On many extended-rang/long scale guitars, the taper will begin before the nut, which you do NOT want. You want the string to be the same diameter along the entire vibrating length. 3) The tension balance is all out of whack. The gauges are okay on the last 6 strings for 25.5" scale. A little too tight from the .054 down (I can imagine on your typical long-scale 8-string they'd be way too tight), but I drop-tune the low strings to E and A, and the .074 is totally floppy and smacking the frets and the 0.64 could definitely be thicker.The Kev

I wrote a review earlier about these strings, but I have definitely changed my mind. I do have an eight string, and I used these for it and wow…they were not very good. The most obvious thing was the .74 string gets smaller WAY before the tuners, even for my seven string. So playing the first fret feels extremely awkward. Second, palm muting on these things sounds hideously dirty compared my old strings or even the stock strings. I also have to agree that a .54 for the E string is very ridiculous. The only thing I'd recommend these for is softer playing or if you never play chords. Otherwise, get the D'Addario or any other 8-string set.Brian Dice