Notes Of A Guitar String For Sale (Jan 2023 Update)

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

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've been playing/collecting new and vintage guitars for 26 years, and regularly try new strings. I noticed that if these strings contact the bridge when re-stringing, the color will chip off immediately. Secondly, they feel like dull plastic. This feels like your fingers are dragging, and seems "cheap". Thirdly, I had to adjust all the pickup heights on the low-E, as the heavier strings sound completely dull and lifeless. I also received a damaged string, and contacted DR customer service. I haven't even received a response in two weeks, which demonstrates how unimportant we are. In this day and age, where online retail is more important then ever, this is unacceptable. This is NOT a reflection on Guitar Center, which always takes good care of me. Ultimately, these strings are a cheesy gimmick that will hopefully fade out. If you want quality coated-strings, try Elixir.DS

I decided to pick up guitar after a 15 year break and found Rocksmith to be a pretty useful tool. I put these on my guitar to help with getting familiar with the fretboard and neck. Because it's been awhile. The first couple of days, the strings sounded great with no issues, but a couple of weeks in, some of the strings sound muted a little bit and are just not as crisp as non-coated strings. i'll probably take these off sooner than later. I would recommend these for RockSmith but if you're looking to just dress up your guitar, I would caution against them.Citiznkain

I'm a beginner and I never learned to read music. I bought these strings specifically to play along with the game Rocksmith 2014. For those who are just starting out, these strings make it easier to learn to play because of the individual colors of each string. I have bought multiple packs of these strings. I've recently bought a electric guitar, acoustic/electric, and a bass. I have put these strings on all three. Love them. As an added bonus, these strings really light up underneath a black light.Mark just starting out

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

Have changed to the classic core after years of using their xxl strings. Strings seem to be easier to bend, plus keep their tone longer.Mark '. D. R.

I have been doing a comparison of silk & steel strings from multiple brands, and these are by far the loosest feeling and easiest to play. They really do feel like having nylon strings on a steel guitar. This is great if you want to make playing easier, and it definitely does. The sound is pretty good too, not as loud as regular strings but a more sweet sound. If your guitar has low action you will probably get fret buzz since these are basically extra lights. Also, another plus to these strings is that they are wrapped with silk at the ball end, which is good for delicate or older instruments. I would recommend these for people who want the easiest to play strings. Otherwise the LaBella 710L strings sound similar and aren't quite so light.Chris

Looking at the description, I wasn't sure if it had "silk" threads underneath the wrap wire. On the Martin website, "silked" seemed to refer to the windings at the ball end. I took a string apart and, indeed, it is a true silk and steel. I'm using them on a very old Gibson flat top with many repaired cracks. Also, my hands seem to be degrading where normal strings are too high tension.Roy

Smoother, more comfortable to play than typical wound strings. OK, silky, if you will. Price is higher, though, and they have a shorter lifespan. Before they wear out, they sound good.Ned

Recommended by a friend. The action on them is great. Great tone. Love the way that they sound and feel. Have tried many other types of strings and these are by far the best ones I have used. I will use these from now on. I am still learning how to play and these strings are make it easier.Chris

After trying a few different brands and gauges of strings over a five year period I have finally found the perfect brand/set of strings for playing in C# and drop-B tunings. I started out playing Ernie Ball sets on a 25.5 scale guitar in standard tuning but when I began experimenting with down-tuning I found the EB sets to be lacking in tone and definition the lower I tuned my guitar not to mention constantly breaking my low E string. When I switched to playing a 24 3/4 scale guitar in C# and drop-B I had to start looking for a new set of strings because the EB "not even slinky" sets I had been using just were not cutting it. I tried Dean Markley Blue Steel .13's with a wound 3rd string and found the top strings to be cumbersome and the low .56 still not heavy enough for dropping the low E to B. I went to every single music shop in town looking for a light top/extremely heavy bottom set and I finally ran across the GHS .10 – .60 set on sale, two for the price of one. Perfect! These strings last forever. If you use some GHS Fast Fret on them they keep their tone better than any other brand of string I've tried and I have yet to break a string in the year or so I've been using the GHS .10-.60 sets. The tone is fantastic and they sound great on a mahogony/maple body guitar with EMG pickups. It does take some getting used to the difference in string gauge between the low and high strings but it didn't take me long to learn to adjust my pick attack for the lighter strings on the top end. If you know how to set up your guitar for heavy gauge strings get 'em and go to town! If not I would highly recommend you take your guitar to a guitar/music shop and have it set up by a pro. Oh, for you kids out there: these strings are NOT meant for standard tuning and they will not make you sound like Zakk Wylde but they might make you a better guitarist if used as intended. I now use GHS strings on all my electric guitars.ViperDude310

touring in the 80s I used GHS boomers GBCL, I stopped playing in the 90s and somehow ended up using EB hybrid slinkys. I found an old pack of boomers in a guitar case compartment i hadnt opened since 93. Somehow they were still fresh and strung up one of my guitars from the 80s. Wow, the wound strings EAD (or C# G# C# my tuning) are definitely Louder and breakthrough more than the wound EBs… (the plain steel sounded identical). There are soooooooo many fake garbage and laughable opinions on guitar products these days on the tube that I decided to do my own experiment to confirm what I was hearing. I proceeded to purchase 26 packs of these GHS boomers GBCL (which are the wound strings from a 10s set and the plain strings from a 9s set). Using 2 identical guitars (even color), Logic X via a PreSonus FireStudio input, dunlop red acrylic 1.5mm pick and as consistent as possible pick of each strings. The only difference was that each guitar had a new set of strings, one got GHS boomers GBCL and the other ErnieBall HyBrid Slinkys. I averaged the 12 picks of each string by merging the 12 waveforms into a single track for each guitar for each string, the wound strings of the GHS boomers were clearly louder, rang longer by at least 7.2, 5.9, 4.6 seconds respectively (tuned toC#, G#, C#). the Plain Steel string waveforms were virtually Identical between the sets though. If you arent sure what this tuning is, its simply DropD half a step down (aka dropC#). Plugged into a Dual Rectifier, Laney and a Vetta, on a high gain channel you get this Extra Gain that breaks through, so needless to say ill be back to using GHS boomers GBCLs on all my guitars!!!thundercab

I played D'addario strings for the first 10 years I played guitar, then about 4 years ago I decided to take a shot at making a custom gauge set specifically for my guitar. Ernie ball strings are easier to find individually so I changed brands. I can't even begin to describe how much of a difference it makes having consistently ascending string tensions across the fretboard on my 7-string (~21 lbs at low end to ~13 lbs at high end) especially for fast players. Sweeps and arpeggios immediately feel more natural. My 7-string is currently tuned to drop G (d,A,F,C,g,D,G). With a 25.5" scale the best gauges are .010,.014,.019,.028,.039,.056, and .074 if you want a good middle ground between tight strings and bendability. Give it a shot, you won't be disappointed.Cameron

I have a Jackson that has single-coil pickups in the middle/neck position. The guitar is in standard D and I use the 10-52 Ernie Ball set. The 17 gauge G string always sounded a bit weird on the neck pickup. After hours of googling and youtubing I found out that this is rather common on unwound strings (esp. the G). Switching to the wound 18-gauge string was all I needed to cure this problem. It makes it quite a bit harder to bend the string though.Mike

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

Definitely the best strings at the price point lately. They have a thinner or smoother wind than Ernie Ball slinkys or Daddarrio exl and this results in less finger noise and a zingier tone IMO. I'm into clean and classic rock, and I doubt you would like these over the former two names if you were into more modern and metal sounds. It depends on the guitar for me, on my strat I could use just about any strings. My guitars with humbuckers seem more picky, at least to my ears. I prefer these over the other two as far as cheap strings go, and these are often cheaper. Win win. Used to be I would never have preferred Fender strings so either my tastes are changing or these strings have changed over the years.Joelish

Overall: Don't pay any attention to the low price these are great strings. Have used Fender 7250's on all kinds of bass guitars they always sound great and feel good. Years of use have proved quality. I put them on my Jazz bass, my PJ, and my Squire, have used them on Samick, Music man, OLP, and Epiphone basses, all good.Scott

According to a Fender rep, these are what came on the Fender PJ bass I ordered from Musician's Friend. They produce the classic Fender tone I wanted. I eventually replaced them with a set of Fender 7250L (.040, .060, .080, .100) to make it easier to play on the guitar's 9.5" fingerboard radius. I stayed with Fender because of the tone that the 7250M strings produce. The Light's have slightly less oomph on the low end, yet all the tone while the lighter gauge makes for nice melodic work on the high end of things. If you have a Fender bass and want Fender tone…Vice

I got the first set of these as a gift and put them on one of my guitars. When I played the guitar it seemed a lot easier to play, silky smooth, and sounded very good. I would not think that strings could make that big of a difference but they do. I feel just like Yngwie ripping up the fret board. I just bought 10 more sets so I don't have to wait for them anymore, the strings are popular and last time I ordered they took 4-6 weeks. I would highly recommend them if you want to play hard rock, metal or just melt some face any day of the week.kenny-g-guitars

These strings are awesome. I am a die hard EVH user. I own 27 guitars and have EVH strings on all of them. But I am now migrating towards these strings. Some of my top model guitars are strung with Yngwie strings. I buy them whenever I can. They feel great and sound even better. If Yngwie actually uses this product, I can see why. They feel great under my fingers when I play like Yngwie.sjk5150

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

This was a great price on my favorite strings. Shipping was very fast too. Unfortunately, "new" does not mean the same as"fresh" and I have now learned the difference. These do seem to be genuine Elixers, but a few problems which led to broken strings may indicate that these were either sitting on a shelf for a very long time or else exposed to moisture. Normally, brand new strings will be very springy when you first take them out of the sleeve. They generally will uncoil into a straight line, but every single one of these maintained a strong curl or twist in it. But that alone was not a problem for me. The strings installed normally and tuned well, but the tonal quality seemed a little sub-par compared to what I was used too. Still, it's possible I was just imagining that. The strings were fine for a month. Held there notes as well as any, and the tone was at least decent, though I still felt it was missing something. But after one month I had the B string break. I usually keep Elixer strings for 6 months before they finally lose their great tone and I replace them, and because I wind plenty of extra string around the posts, I haven't had a string break on me in over 8 years. Breaking one now pretty much confirmed my earlier suspicions. I went ahead and replaced all 6 strings with the next set, but 2 weeks later and the high E string broke on me. For now I'm borrowing the high E from the final set, but the first chance I get I will be replacing every string with a new, fresh set from a local music store. I don't think I'll buy strings online again because of this apparent problem of freshness.jaredlang85

These strings have been a lifesaver for me. My hands aren't acidic and I easily get a year from them before needing to restring. I use the same brand on my PRS electric, too. (10's). I gig weekly in our church worship band so I prefer a string that holds tone and these just deliver. Super product! I do prefer these over the 80/20 and any poly web version…for tone and I feel the poly version stifles string resonance too much.BradM

Long lasting, great sound. I went to my girlfriends sisters home for Xmas and a few guys got a some guitars out and we played some rock, country and bluegrass on Elixers strung on acoustic instruments. They claimed the strings were three years old. They sounded quite good for their age. After seeing a John Paul Jones interview where he said Elixers were all he used. I already used them but his opinion completely sold me. I even bought an Elixer tee shirt. I use them on all my guitars and mandolins. I won't settle for anything else. I just bought a FX5 that had Addario's on it. No pause, I replaced them with Elixers. Great sound. Long lasting. Stay good looking too. Buy multiple set bundles and save money.easymedicine1

I was experiencing string squeak and a fellow musician suggested flatwound strings. I chose this brand to try. They have perform well. Just ordered another set.SG

I Love Rhythm and blues, jazz and swing. But I also like folk music and great C&W riff lines. To be honest, I have only been using these strings for about three weeks but I like them so much that I plan to use them on most of my instruments. So far, In my opinion, these strings are clean and crisp and they have a very satisfying tone even at higher volumes; and, at the present time, they appear to be pretty flex-able and easy on the fingers. Oh, one other thing, I really like the priceTC

I have a used 2005 hollowbody Cort Yorktown. I tried D'Addario ECG23 (10-48 "chromes" flatwounds). They were nice, but for this guitar, they were too bright, at least on the treble strings. I put on these DR flatwounds (11-48) and immediately heard the difference. The tone was mellower, including (especially!) on the treble strings. Don't ask me why. After all, the high E is just .001 inch heavier, but the consistent softened jazz sound was there, from low end to high end. Guitars differ in variables (woods, pickups, etc), so all I can say is that for my guitar (laminate maple back and sides, laminate spruce top and original humbuckers), DR 11-48 flatwounds did the trick. Will stick with these from now on. (By the way, both brands have a wound 3rd string, but DR's is 22 instead of 20. Go figure!) At one point, I was even thinking of replacing the neck pickup. Thank you, DR, for saving me that trouble and expense!A. G.

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

I had been using 0.13 baritone strings on a 25.5 scale Ibanez 6 string and never could get it to intonate well if I went lower than b standard. With these strings I can get it to Ab standard or Drop F# while still maintaining an almost perfect intonation. Plain steel 3rd isn't my Forte, but it works.Barry Baritone

these sound incredible at the B and A range. Particularly A because they are so thick. I dont play in F but they still hold tune and tension amazingly. They sound sharp and are very lively strings. Im going to try the 10-60 next week. the 65 gauge is a little to big for versatility. I plan on buying a third guitar and that will have these strings designated to it.Reza

On the right guitar these strings are fantastic. I'm a fan of carbon fiber acoustic guitars and these seem to really tame the higher end response that composites are known for. These are loud and powerful but seem much more manageable than mediums from phosphor bronze or 80/20 sets for fingerstyle. They are also not as wimpy feeling as Silk and Steel sets from other makers. If you like the tone, have a short scale guitar or want wonderful playability you should give these a try. They are really nice and the quality is immediately apparent.alternate roots

If your fingers get tired from playing, these strings ate for you. Once you get use to the warmer tones (not bright like brass wound strings), you will enjoy playing your guitar.tg-60

I bought these for my Baby T traveller guitar which has piezo pickups installed. I get a clear mellow tone without the harsh bright sounds of bronze wound strings. Very happy. Recommended.janet548855