Guitar String Not Making Sound For Sale (2024 Update)

These are great strings be not for everyone. They are different in that they aid the upper register of vocals. I've put them on a 00-27 and a J 200; tow very different guitars. The affect is magical for those musicians who want a harp-like tone from their steel strung axe. They have an interesting configuration. From e to E; 12, 16,12,16, 23 W, 30 W. The result is crisp, clear highs and rich lows. These strings are different, but wonderful.goeller2006

I have tried countless strings over the years, and these John Pearse strings are fantastic! You name it, I've tried it. Everything from D'Addario, Elixer, Martin, Gibson, DR, Cleartone and even Dean Markley. Cheap and expensive, I have tried them. All I can say is that these are the best acoustic strings I have tried to date. I just went from a set of Elixers (which I thought were expensive, but good) to these, and these strings won out hands down. As soon as I installed these, my guitar absolutely came ALIVE! It was almost like night and day. Everything was better! Immediately what I noticed was the added volume and projection I was getting, but most of all, it was the tone that absolutely sold me on these. With these strings I heard more woodiness, percussive body, clarity, string to string definition, harmonic overtones, and resonance than any other acoustic strings I have heard to date. The top end also opened up and became even more tactile and transparent. These strings are just more organic, yet highly defined and less sterile than anything else I have heard, and they also have a very balanced output from string to string that is excellent. In no small measure, these strings have been a bit of a revelation. These strings are also very smooth, and I also noticed less finger noise between fretting notes and bar chords as well. However, regarding that smoothness, I also noticed something interesting as well. Just try to follow me with this: These are the first set of John Pearse strings I have ever installed, so I don't know if this is a "one off", but as smooth as they are, I also noticed that the unwound strings have an ever so slightly uneven and wavy finish to them in spots when you shine them in the light. I don't mention this as a negative IN ANY WAY, but just purely as an observation. Besides, I could care less because they sound so darn amazing. Anyway, my point of mentioning this (and this is based purely on conjecture), is I wonder if the barely perceptible finish inconsistencies contribute to the overall tonality of these strings? TBH, I have never seen strings that had this kind of "inconsistency" to their finish before, and I am wondering if this has anything to do with the great tonality of these strings? All the other strings I have bought over the years have been extremely smooth and consistent in their diameter and finish. Again, I don't mention this as a negative in any way because you never feel this while playing in the least. The only time I noticed it was when I looked at them under direct light. These strings sound fantastic, and obviously their specific alloy and construction plays a great part to their sound, but on the other hand, I have never seen strings with this kind of finish before, and yet I have also never been so excited about a set of strings before either. There has to be something to it. The only other thing I can mention is that these strings also have excellent string life as well. I have had these on my acoustic after about a month and a half of use, and they still sound fantastic! Anyway, all I can say is that I have tried A LOT of strings, and these ones are the standouts by far. Buy with confidence. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Peace. 🙂Eywa Dude

Had a pesky b and e string on short scale 000. Solution was it wanted more tension to ring true. The 13 and 18 did it; short scale so they play like lighter strings! The 22w g is awesome, the rest balance nicely. 52 is lite for E but not much of a sacrifice; drop D tuning still do-able. SO HAPPYJohn

Silk ans Steel strings seen to have less tension a smoother feel and sound mellow. I use them on my parlor guitar and they are plenty loud. I fell back in love with my parlor guitar after putting silk and steel strings on. I still use EXP17's on my dreadnought and different sizes on my electrics like heavy tops on my 335 and 10's on the tele and about to try 7's on my strat. I think guitars are all different and need strings that match the guitar and the style of your playing. I have no problem going from one gauge to another. Most of my practice is on the acoustic with the 13-56 tuned Eb, then when I pick up another guitar It seems to be faster and easier along with being more fun if that's possible. I love D'Addario strings sorry now spending so much money on trying other brands. I recommend trying D'Addario silk and steel on any folk/acoustic guitar first!Lewis

I'm no professional. I like to play around the house and I often do solo music in church. I tend to only play acoustic guitar because I love the sound. However, the 80/20's make me want to vomit both in sound and feel. These strings take anything you play and transform it into a smooth and beautiful piece of art. They feel wonderful, very soft but still very present. They sound so warm, but also articulate every sound. If the EJ40's ever get discontinued, I might just hang up my axe and stop chopping down tunes.JC_Broussard

I've tried DR strings with the recommendation of others and found them to be my absolute favorite for my old Yamaha acoustic. The Black Beauties, which these replaced, played great but had premature coating wear. I like the feel of them, especially on pull offs, where the strings stay put until you say go. The Neons are coated much better and everyone wows them and wants to know if they are real (or plastic). I like them a lot, they have that good feel and less finger pain, but the rainbow effect may wear off in months to come. Then I'll get another set of DR Black Beauties.Gregg

Nothing wrong with these strings. Not the best sounding strings I have ever used, but they sound good enough for live gigs.Judson Prof

Just started playing open tuning slide. Thought I would try phosphor bronze over nickel strings. I prefer nickel for a resonator sound.Larry D.

I've been using these strings for a few years and I've always been happy with the tone. These tend to have a slightly lower price point over other brands.Jeff

I have tried alot of reso strings in search of the best.Jim Dunlop'resonator strings are probably the best so far.High quality phosphor bronze and well balanced.They come with an extra .018(B string)for adding a little more mass to the high D string. I tried the extra .018 and it's exactly what I've been looking for. .016' are kind of wimpy if you do alot of single string playing. I'm comparing these to D'Addario EJ42 reso strings. My usual preferance. I really like the Dunlops better. They seem a little heavier though the same guage.Just a really well made tonally rich set of strings.RANDAWG

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 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

These are outstanding strings. For many years I held off using them because of the relatively high price. I had read and heard the general narrative about how much better they felt and how much longer they lasted than conventional strings. I recently purchased a nice mahogany Taylor and it had a factory set of Elixirs on the guitar. Anyway, tired of the "grungy," tacky feel that my strings would often have after only one gig, I tried the Elixirs. I'm now an Elixir convert. They feel terrific, even after 3 or four gigs. Musician's Friend is a great place to buy these. Fast, free shipping and a really easy, no-brainer purchase now that I understand what all the fuss is about. Buy these and you'll not regret it.Billy The Kid

When you play guitar outside, your strings decay pretty quickly, unless you've got coated strings for protection. The coating on most coated strings get frayed and buzzy too quickly. A set of Elixirs will last three or four weeks of daily outdoor playing, and virtually never break. I can't imagine how long they'd last if I only played indoors!whowhatwhywhenwherehow

These are a bit pricy, but if you can afford them, I recommend them. To me, the advantages are 1) they last longer before the intonation goes sour and the treble starts to decay 2) they are quieter, meaning less string/finger squeak 3) they seem extremely uniform and predictable. No hot, dull or buzzy strings out of the box, or bad ball end wraps, which I've experienced using other brands.55music

I'm a senior citizen jammer, having played guitar ever since Peter, Paul & Mary were young. These guitar strings have been my favorites for many years. Recently I tried some others, simply because I wasn't in an area where these were sold. I noticed the difference right away, and so did my fingers! The Elixirs are recommended for my Taylor GS Mini, and for good reason. I've had them last for years in the past, and now that I'm playing more than ever, I change them quarterly. They are superb strings and easy on the fingers, so I recommend them highly.NikiRoo

Fat Sound, my local dealer stack up these exclusively over the 80/20 because they sound so good. They are luthiers I trusted for many years for advise. If you want get add some boldness to your acoustic guitar, try one of these. They are probably the best sounding acoustic guitar strings from Elixir. I tried these briefly on my Taylor DN3. It came equiped with Elixir Nanoweb 80/20. When it was time to stock some replacements, my local dealer had only the Elixir Nanoweb Phosphore Bronze and argued that they sounded better on Taylor guitar because they have warmer tone. It turned out they have a great tone and are very lound and very well projecting, but unfortunately, the tension is much higher then the Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 of the same gauge, and it made my studio guitar sound like a folk guitar. Sincde I did not want to mess with the near prefect factory setup of the DN3, and I prefered the Studio tone of the 80/20 over the Folk tone of the Phosphore Bronze, I decided to go back to the 80/20. But that doesn't mean they are not good strings. They are in fact better sounding in many ways then the 80/20, but I the 80/20 just suites my taste better with this specific Taylor DN3. The Phosphore Bronze strings have huge and clear mids, and a lot of high mid harmonics. Yes they have much more tension then the 80/20, and would probably require neck adjustement when switching from 80/20 to these, but the bold and forward folk/blues tone pays back for that small sacrifice. They have much more harmonics then the 80/20, and the high E string is not too bright. The first thing I noticed with these strings was the fact that the High E string was not lean, but rather fat and well defined. . However, compared with the 80/20, the lows are a bit overwelmed by the bold mids. Which is not bad at all, it's just that my DN3 has a clean and well defined low end with the 80/20, which is not as noticeable with the Phosphore Bronze. My next guitar will probably be more for Folk and will have these strings.Pierre-BJnej

Put these on a bright, shimmering guitar that had old strings maybe a year or more and put on these Elixir Nano supposed upgrade by suggestions at my local guitar center and immediately took them off an put the old strings back on! These are dull, muffled sounding dead resonance producing strings. They SUCKED compared to old di Addario strings? Waste of time and money. They were put on a Ibanez EW Monkey Pod wood 6 string acoustic guitarDas Fuut

I spent 15-20 minutes on the phone attempting to get info on the correct size Fret Wrap. I didn't. The CS person said this one would work. It's too small and depresses the strings rather that just muffling them. I play Ibanez and Fender electrics – so the necks are already pretty small at the nut. The medium size would have been the correct choice. So I can't NOT recommend them. Just get the right size for your needs.YeahOK

The Gruv Gear Fretwrap is easy to use and provides really good dampening on my 6 string bass, making it easier to play the higher register strings without major muting across the fingerboard. Thus avoiding the rumble from the low b string.David T.

As a bass player, Ive finally gotten around to working on the small, but important, parts of my bass playing: cleaning up my sound. Especially while playing fast notes, high up on my bass and without a floating thumb, Ive had too much clutter coming from strings which were ringing sympathetically. Gruv Fretwraps has been a godsend to alleviate that. Is it a crutch? I dunno. Im not paid to be a Puristrcharlesphoto

There's not a lot of choice for acoustic baritone guitars. I buy D'Addarios for my other guitars so I was happy to try these and they've become the strings I use on the baritone. By the way, a decent acoustic baritone guitar is a wondrous thing – buy one if you don't already have one.DJ

I put these .008s on a vintage Telecaster on 3/8/18. Today is 9/16/19 and I still have them on! I read that Billy Gibbon's guitar tech mentioned they never break, so I've been curious to see how long they last. I've been playing over 50 years and do ridiculous bends all the time…like 4 fret bends and beyond with these strings. I just did a gig with this guitar yesterday and it still sounded awesome. Just out of interest, I'm keeping them on until I notice they sound dead or one breaks. I do play other guitars, but this has been an interesting study for me to see how long they sound awesome. These strings give you a very warm sweet midrange just like it says on the box. I also bought the .007s for another guitar just to see how easy it would be to play and hear what they sound like. They are hilariously easy to bend, but by "going up" to these .008s, I felt better with them and they are still easy for doing 4-hour shows. Highly recommend!Mark B.

These strings feel like clothes hangers. Hard and stiff and non responsive. They do not stay in tune after stretching. I feel bad to review this product poorly. I have always played Dean Markley Blue Steels forever…. trying these makes me understand why I would never change what works. ZZ Tops sound is amazing and how Billy G gets there is all his own… just would never work for me. All the Dunlop strings feel stiff and hard to the fingertips…. sorry… not sorrylongwhip

Great guitar strings, Takes a little getting used to, from where the strings are so light, But it makes play so much easier. Bending the strings, and holding a note are a breeze, with these baby's, Its almost to easy, I use to use #8 , So it was not to much of a change to the #7, I love them. They are amazing for blues. If your coming from real heavy strings, you might want to start with a set, a little below those heavy strings, Or these things may feel like spaghetti.la.guil.g4q7czqpia

These are my favorite roundwound strings and i use them on a broad range of guitar types: Gretsch w/ Surf 90s (single coil DeArmond-type), Gretsch with Filtertrons, and various acoustic archtops. I find they have a very long life because of the coating, but also the alloys they use seem to maintain tone for a long time. The strings are coated, but they use an enamel on the wrap wire before they wrap them, so they feel just like normal strings, but a little more slick. I really love the texture that the coating adds. The coating immediately gives you a "2 day played in" feel and sound which i LOVE for a few reasons: 1. I hate fresh string sound. 2. It gives you consistent tone from day 1 to day 45. It is great to be able to open a new pack, and have you guitar sound like it did with strings that were a month old. The strings seem to have a good deal of mass which makes them really nice on acoustic archtops, especially when you have a floating pickup. They have the tension to drive the top, and have a slightly darker sound that makes them more like acoustic strings. Awesome. The one big problem with these specific strings is that the 24 G is plain. That is a very thick solid wire. It makes the G really stick out tonally and it huts to play. I throw it out and replace it with a wound 26 coated that i buy in bulk from a string vendor. If Ernie Ball would fix this issue they would be perfect strings.polishbroadcast

I put these on my 27" 7 string (with a low .074 on the bottom), and I must say that tuned to Bb standard, they still felt very good and tight. Normally I would opt to use at least a .058 for this, but the store was out! They feel fantastic – not too slippery like some other coated strings that I've tried. I do have two gripes with these strings. Firstly, they are INSANELY bright sounding. I play mostly post-metal/grungy/sludgy stuff, and the definition is simply too much for my tastes. However, if you're looking for a lot of string definition, these guys are great. They would be amazing for drop-C (maybe even drop B) metal. For my style, though, they're just too bright. Personal taste. Also, the plain/unwound .024 is just stupid. Not sure what EB was doing here. Make it a wound .024 and you're going to make everyone a lot happier. All in all, great strings. Great definition (if that's your thing), super solid feeling, and I have a hunch that they're going to last a long while!7_Stringer

I really like these strings. They are warm, and give what I believe to be the best tone on my Stratocaster's and Telecaster. I don't really remember when I first started using Pure Nickel strings (of any brand), but I DO know I have never used anything but Pure Nickel since. The strings got a 4 star rating. I purposely omitted 1 star because, I feel they don't last as long as say a Nickel wound D'Addario would…but then again, I have not found a Pure Nickel D'Addario set of strings. So I forfeit the longevity for the tone. I DID just today order some Fender 150M (medium gauge 11's)…which are also Pure Nickel. I would never order 10 sets of strings if I didn't like them. Once I get to play the 11's, I will give a review on that product page. As far as Fender Pure Nickel strings go…you can't go wrong on the tonal quality. Rock on!!!White Dog

For years I've played flatwound strings, but when I bought my new Fender American Professional Jaguar I was taken by how lively and expressive the strings were! I left them on. There was a learning curve, with me having to learn a lighter touch, but the more I played them the more I liked them, I went on the Fender website, clicked on the "Chat with us" button, and asked what set came on the Jaguar. It was this set – the Fender 250L Super 250 Nickel-Plated Steel Electric Guitar Strings. VERY musical, VERY expressive! I play jazz-inflected folk, fingerstyle or various flatpicks, including Fender 351 Thins and Dunlop 204s. There's a reason Fender puts these on their guitars!RubyTuba

BUY THESE ! I hadn't used Fender strings for 30 years . A friend of mine bought out a music store so to liquidate he sold me all the strings and drum sticks in stock .. there were mostly Fender strings so I started using them . 20 packs of 9's lasted me well over a year . I work at least 3 night a week as a lead guitarists / vocalist . so I use my main Strat a lot . after I ran out of Fender's I used GHS and noticed I was breaking strings .. so I tried the Ernie Ball's .. breaking strings again ! I went to a local music store and bought a pack of Fender's . as an experiment I wasted to see how long before one would break . SIX WEEKS ! .. THEY LASTED 6 WEEKS ! .. That's 18 gigs , 3 hours pr night for a month and a half every Thursday Friday and Saturday . and they still sounded good ! FENDER RULES !horsesass123

A colleague of mine turned me on to these, and in particular to this strange gauge of 9.5 – 44. I had struggled in the past with standard 9s on a guitar with high output pickups and a warble-happy whammy bar. I find these strings to handle really nicely, a perfect amount of slick and grip (finger contact) and they positively scream in my current configuration. I've put them on a guitar that I don't play live often, and I find that the strings don't deteriorate over time with the guitar being left in the case. This is very subjective and a question of personal chemistry. I mean, I've seen players go through a pack of the best "long-lasting" string on the market in one night, so it'll always come down to which material lends itself to your handling. Despite the price tag, I am not sorry that I've purchased those, and I just picked up a few more packs to tide me over the months of session work.Boyan P.

I have been using these strings for about a year now, when I had to drop down to 8 gauge strings due to carpal tunnel in my left hand. I wanted to go with a higher quality string since I would be using such a light gauge. The NYXL series does not disappoint. They are extremely flexible, stay in tune, last a really long time and they sound incredible. I had concerns that I would be sacrificing tone, but this has not been the case. Not only are the strings not aggravating my carpal tunnel, I'm enjoying the ease of playability and wicked vibrato and bends. I wish I had made the switch to these strings much sooner.Jon

This is the first time I tried these D'Addario NYXL strings. I got the nickel wound electric strings, regular light. I think these strings are one of the best I've used. I started playing guitar when I was very young so I've been playing for a lot of years. These nickel wound electric guitar strings are easy to play. The strings are nice on the fingers. Some strings make my finger tips get tuff, but tuff to the point that it affects the preasure I use on the strings. These nickel wound strings don't do that. I have had them on for some time now and none of them broke. I like the tone of the strings. It made tuning the guitar very easy after I strung it. There is something to say about having strings that are easy to string, tune, and have a great tone. If you are playing out some where and a string breaks you need to work kind of fast to get up and playing again. These strings do the trick.penny

what can i say, i have been using Ernie Ball Slinky's for almost twenty years.and would not think of any other string. they are so flexible, i think i am using regular guitar strings. it doesn't take a Hercules to pull the strings down to the frets. and they always have the sound i am looking for. look, i am going to shoot straight. most musicians are not rich.and struggle until that day(if it ever comes) we get discovered or finally break through. most of us don't. so, if i can get a string that allows me to do what i can with a bass, and sound like the most expensive bass ever made, at a price where i can eat dinner that night,that's a win-win. so whether i am playing for a bunch of my friends, or playing in some major concert venue.i will continue to use Ernie Ball products.david

I've used Ernie Ball guitar strings for quite a while now, so when I got myself a bass I immediately knew I would try their bass strings as well. So far, so good. I'm just as happy with the bass strings as I have been with the guitar strings. Excellent brand; great quality and value.lumina_racer

For many years the Martin M140 ruled the acoustic guitar world, then sadly one day they disappeared. Now the sound that you've heard on many (many) Woodstock era recordings is back. You MUST give these a try. You'll be a believer!Rocky G.

I was out on the road when I broke two strings on my acoustic guitar. As luck would have, I was visiting one of those lovely European countries, whose stores close on Sunday. Understandable. Store owners also want to go and visit the festival where things are happening. So, a fellow guitarist introduced these to me. I felt silly, because I had never up to that point associated the Martin brand with strings rather only their (quite popular) acoustic guitars. After trying these, I've been purchasing from the Martin line of strings ever since. Martin strings now adorn my mandolin as well.Boyan P.

Great supplier. Top Quality. Good 'in between' size for the first string on a Les Paul . just 0.0005" smaller than the usual 1st string in a set of 10's ? can it really make a noticeable difference? actually it does make bending slightly easier, without being as loose as a 0.009" Experiment and see what you prefer.mukka

Changed my life. My ex-wife's lawyers are taking my calls again and my twin daughters Jessa and Jamanda have resumed making eye contact with me.Pbone

D'Addario string user since starting out as a teenager. the widest variety of single strings available on the market, perfect for experimenting (wound G) or replacing broken ones so always have a spare set on hand.Jason

pretty good, high quality string. i bought this expecting a pack of 6 and ended up only receiving 1. it was my fault, i should have read more carefully. but maybe it would be helpful to have a picture of the actual product.sonicyouthfan123

I have used these strings on my guitars for over three years with out any problems with them losing their intonation. And they seem to last for about over two years under daily playingd_rock_e

As always Guitar Center backs up everything they sell. I purchased 2 sets of strings for a 12 string guitar and an e string broke while putting in on. I told the people at Guitar Center just in passing and they gave me a replacement string. Typical of Guitar Center.Coach Ed

Bought these strings cause I have been using Dunlop 10's for a few years now and wanted to try out a set of 7's. They do sound a little brighter to me then 10's as one would expect but they still have great tone. I can see why someone with a problem like arthritis should use these strings, fingering a cord is effortless and bends a just ridiculous. I could bend up 2 whole steps without a problem. If you use these you have to be a very light player. When I swapped out the 10's on my Les Paul for these I was thinking I could lower the action a bit but as it turns out if I played as hard as I did before I would get al kinds of buzzing. I would guess this is cause there is less tension on the strings which would allow the range they move to be more then a higher gauge string. I gave these 5 stars cause they are great strings, have great tone, I never broke a string in the time I used them and they stayed in tune. That being said I have since gone to 9's. As I said there not for everyone. I would recommend them to a friend but only if they were looking for the qualities that I found these strings to have.Shot

I've been using 7's for the past several years on my Epiphone SG's (with Gibson '57 humbuckers), and although they make the sound understandably a bit thin or tinny, you can make up for this a little bit depending on the amp you have. Even so, the better feel is what I was really after, and these have come through every time in that respect. My hands don't cramp up or anything, and I can do string bends with total ease. Previously I had used 8's, which I think were Ernie Ball, but noticed a better difference in feel and playability when I switched to these 7's (by the way, I use .46 Dunlop picks and have for many years). From the reviews I've read on these the past few years, a lot of people like these 7's like I do, so I hope Dunlop doesn't stop making them anytime soon. Their price is very reasonable too. I will say, however, that I've had a few issues at times with the high B & E strings popping out of the bridge saddle and, in the case of the high E, even getting snagged on the bottom edge of a fret or two, but this could've been the condition of the guitar too, plus my SG's are tuned a 1/2 step down from standard pitch, so the strings are even slinkier than they would be otherwise. Also, I've very rarely ever broken one of these 7's (if I ever have), but nonetheless there's an increased risk, surely, of that happening due to their thinness. Still, all things considered, I like these strings and will continue to use them when possible.Rick

These strings feel like clothes hangers. Hard and stiff and non responsive. They do not stay in tune after stretching. I feel bad to review this product poorly. I have always played Dean Markley Blue Steels forever…. trying these makes me understand why I would never change what works. ZZ Tops sound is amazing and how Billy G gets there is all his own… just would never work for me. All the Dunlop strings feel stiff and hard to the fingertips…. sorry… not sorrylongwhip