Good quality guitar strings

[Ilikebeaver]

I am looking to spend around £30 on a set of electric guitar strings.

Have no idea which brands are good or not.

Any recommendations?

[BorkFactor]

In all honesty, I would be buying a set of Ernie Balls and changing them more often. I use these, love them:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ernie-Ball-2215-Skinny-Bot...

You can get coated ones but I personally don't like them. I don't think they sound as good, and when they start to wear they can become very harsh on your fingers.

Other thing to consider would be cobalt strings, I tried them on my Strat and actually quite liked them. They sound and feel different, so you may not like them!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ernie-Ball-2721-Cobalt-Reg...

[Asterix]

I've been using Ernie Ball greens (10's) for nigh on twenty years. I'd get boxes at a time.

[Justin Cyder]

Asterix said:

I've been using Ernie Ball greens (10's) for nigh on twenty years. I'd get boxes at a time.

This is exactly what I do. Ernie Ball slinky 10-42, ten sets at a time. Works out about £4 a set usually.

They do a line called Cobalt which I gather are treated to inhibit corrosion, but I've not heard great things about them.

The obvious thing is to give your strings a good wipe down after playing. The crud from your fingers accumulates at a rate & there's acid in sweat that does damage but ultimately a piece of very thin wire stretched to high tension is going to lose it's elasticity over time irrespective of what brand you go for, it's just normal behaviour.

[Gaspode]

I agree with BorkFactor on changing them more frequently, but personally I prefer Fender Superbullets for electrics, and Elixirs for acoustics.

[C2james]

I like Ernie ball but for my gibsons I really like Gibson 10 brite wires, especially on my les Paul.

[Fantuzzi]

I was a big ernie fan, but after playing on what I think were D'addarios on my Jackson from stock, I think I have to say goodbye to mr ernie if the d'addarios are the ones I think they are.

[Justin Cyder]

Must admit I've stuck with Daddarios for years for my acoustic. Good life, zingy tone, nothing to complain about.

[GoBig]

Just re-strung my acoustic with D'Addario Phosphor Bronze 12's this afternoon.

I've tried Martin, Elixir etc but really like the tone of these.

Ernie Ball Slinkys for electric though.

HAve a look at http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk .

[scrubchub]

£30 on a set of guitar strings? That's a lot of money for strings. As other's have said, D'Addario, Ernie Ball, Fender - any of the mainstream brands are fine. Change your strings nice and often, try out a few brands and you can't go far wrong.

Personally, I use Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky - light top strings, medium bass strings. It's done for me for years.

One of my students swears by "David Gilmour Boomers". I've personally never seen them in a guitar shop but he likes them.

Edited by scrubchub on Sunday 27th October 17:01

[Fantuzzi]

Yeah pretty sure my dinky was strung with D'addarios XL120s, they stayed clean for ages, the superslinkys were shot after a few weeks.

I know what Ill be getting in my christmas stocking!

[Tom_C76]

I like coated (EXP/Elixir) on the acoustic, as they seem to go dull and lifeless quickly, but use standard Fender on the Les Paul, Fender Bullets on the strat. Acoustic ones are under 15 unless I go to the local place in Ely, electrics normally 6 to 7.

[davepoth]

The elixir ones are good if you aren't a heavy player IME. But as said above, changing strings more often is the best answer.

[Bebee]

http://www.stringbusters.com/

They help you choose with an explanation next to each make.
Discount for quantity too

[Mastodon2]

£30 on one set of strings? On a set of bass strings yeah, but on guitar strings, I'd expect them to be made from monk's hair. I think I pay about £6 for a 7 string set.

I use D'addarios, 9s for me, which I'm sure used to be "mediums" (back when ah wur a lad and all that), but are apparently "superlights" now. They give the right amount of tension I like to feel in standard tuning on a 7 string, so I'll stick with them I think. I tried a few different types of Ernie Balls back in the day, but found they just went dead too quickly. Another failed foray into finding other strings as Elixer Nanowebs, but the webbing just peeled off them, so their top quality tonal lifespan was not wildly longer than normal strings, and I didn't think they sounded that great out of the packet anyway.

[Fantuzzi]

Mastodon2 said:

I tried a few different types of Ernie Balls back in the day, but found they just went dead too quickly.

The ones on my Jackson were made of magic I think, I had them on for months! It was mad I kept thinking that they'd go like F1 tires and turn dead over night but kept sweet for ages.

[dern]

it's very very subjective. I've settled on Dean Markley Nickel Steel strings having tried fender and ernie ball and not liking them. I found that the ernie balls and the fenders felt flat much more quickly.

It's all down to personal taste though so try a few different sets. It'll probably come down to when you perceive a set wears out and how it feels when it does so. There's very little in it when they're all new.

Mark

[HarryFlatters]

I've used Rotosound Yellow for the last ten years, £4 a box

[Cheeky Jim]

D'Addario's for the Acoustic and Ernie Ball Slinky on the Electric...

For the average Joe, these are more than adequate...

[NiceCupOfTea]

Sorry about the thread resurrection chaps.

I have a Yamaha Pacifica 112 that i play once in a blue moon. Took it out for a strum a couple of weeks ago and the e string broke. Is it standard practice just to replace that string, or to replace the whole set? I have no idea what's on it - whatever the music shop strung it with (or Yamaha put on!)