String Brands....

[jeggz]

It’s a combination of ideas for me.

A) I think 50s/60s P90s/PAFs/Pats, “like” the pure nickel more.

B) Less fret wear (I’m not sure if it’s true, but it is in my head)

C) Modern hot wound humbuckers “like” plated nickel more.

 

[BadPenguin]

Depends on the guitar.
D'Addario 10-46
D'Addario 10-46 Half wounds
D'Addario 13-56 Flat wounds

 

[dmac in SC]

Elixir..nothing else needs to be said

 

[BKS]

Gibson brite wire sometimes but most of the time GHS boomers or custom shop.
Thomastik for flats.
Bought a set of framus regular 7 to try once i need to restring my ht7. No idea how these are... They were cheap tho

 

[Armenfish]

I have a set of Curt Mangan pure nickel to try, anyone has tried?

 

[rykus]

Bern using the DR pure blues for 20 years or so... ever now and then I splurge and buy a bunch of pyramid or infeld but I like the DR for the price.

I buy from an online place too cantvrecall the name but its way cheaper than the local shop that only has cheap generic crap.

Rather play nickle than refret and I like the tone feel better too. Less acidic these days it seems but that's what got me on the pure blues is they last way longer for me.

 

[ArchEtech]

9/46 hybrid slinky

Recently the odd 9.5 hybrid pure nickel rockers. I think 9.5/48 maybe ?

 

[CB91710]

DR Pure Blues 9-46

 

[JMP]

I flip flop between a10-46 set from the following: Ernie Ball (regular nickel plated), GHS Boomers, Dunlop, and pure nickel offerings from GHS and Ernie Ball. I like mix it up.

 

[JMP]

I’ll use anybody’s nickel plated steel (for the bright wound string zip), in 0.010” - 0.046” usually.
Lately Earnie Ball.

Same here. I rotate between GHS, Ernie Ball, Dunlop, and Rotosound. They’re all a bit different, but I enjoy the variety.

 

[bossaddict]

On my Gibsons, I use Pyramid Max Performance 10-48. My second favorites for Gibsons are the Gibson Vintage Reissue 10-46.

 

[JTPhinney]

Has anyone heard of String Joy? They make a pure nickel string that bends smoother than anything else I have tried... Throbak are also very good...

 

[Wesner477]

Good ol' slinky 10-46.
I'll be trying Ernie Ball Slinky Heavy Top Skinny Bottom next tho

I went from the EB Slinky’s to the heavy top skinny bottoms and LOVE them. I do a lot of drop D and have found the lower end to play very nicely.

 

[LP1865]

I went from the EB Slinky’s to the heavy top skinny bottoms and LOVE them. I do a lot of drop D and have found the lower end to play very nicely.

I was gonna use them for a custom tuning TesseracT use

 

[dbruno]

I switched to Pyramid Nickel Classics years ago. Slightly more than the average strings, but 100% worth the additional cost. They sound and feel incredible on a Les Paul. Very vintage all nickel round core tone. Super stable and last a long, long time.

 

[wully]

Anything that’s cheap..

 

[BSeneca]

Try a set of Gibson Vintage Reissue Pure Nickel. They last at least twice as long as anything else I have tried. They sound great, too.

I buy a lot of extra wound strings, though, so I have been using D'Addario Pure Nickel and I just purchased 10 sets of GHS Nickel Rockers and Burnished Nickels to try, since they can be purchased by individual string.

GHS was the Gibson string supplier before regime change. Their packaging looks very similar, now, too.

The D'Addarios were sweet to play, but they didn't last like the Gibson V RI's last.

I used to use the Vintage Reissue strings too. I agree they lasted longer and did sound great. I sold Gibson at a store for years and they were readily available. Cant find them around Harrisburg Pa area anymore

 

[BSeneca]

I currently use DR. They like the Gibsons last longer. Gets a little pricey for as many guitars as I have. When gigging on a regular basis I sometimes just go D'Addario. Theyre dead after a night anyway. My Italian sweat kills them. Non Gibson I like Bullets on my Fenders especially my Strats. They fill the tremolo cavity as opposed to the ball ends. Its a bitch sometimes to get them out when changing strings! Gauge I am 10-46. Used to play 11-52 especially on my old Customs. Got tired of buying different sets. Especially if I only need one and the set I had was always the opposite one I needed

 

[NotScott]

I have tried all the brands mentioned above and gone through a few phases with strings, different strings for my single coil guitars vs my humbuckers, pure nickels vs plated, round core vs hex core, coated vs regular, etc., etc.

As for some of the above that were mentioned:

Started with GHS Gus Series (aka Nickel Rockers) but they started breaking on me.

Tried Fenders. They were OK but started finding rusted strings. Regular Gibsons the same.

D'Addarios always sounded a bit brighter than EBs to me but that brightness goes very quickly. I LOVE their NB acoustic strings! I have them on all of my acoustics.

DR Pure Nickels I never could get along with. I always had intonation and buzzing issues with their D strings and yes, I followed their installation instructions to the letter and tried multiple sets over a period of a year.

Elixir I tried on my Martin. I wore through the coating after 3 hours and had to change them. They also sound too dull to my ears.

Gibson Vintage I really liked these strings! However, they are hard to find in stock at your local shop and I have a thing about not using hard to find items on gig instruments.

Curt Mangan nickels I like very much. My bandmate has an artist endorsement so I can get them at a good price but again, if I can't find it in a mom and pop in Bumfuck Arkansas, I am not eager to gig with it.

Pyramids, Throbaks, SITs, SOBs are all nice but are too pricey and/or too hard to find.

I like the warmth and thickness of pure nickels vs plated strings but I have found that I can approximate the sound for either by slightly adjusting pickup height.

Nowadays, I stick with EB Regular Slinkys 10-46 for my electrics. They have a nice balance between highs and lows and last me three gigs if I remember to wipe them down after each use. I really like the EB Cobalts on my SS fretted guitars. They have more balls than regular EBs and last a bit longer but their price and availability keep them as just a novelty or session string. For acoustics, I love the D'Addario NBs. They sound and feel right and last forever.

There aren't many manufacturers of strings in the world and many brands are the same thing just in a different package. My advice is find a readily available set that makes you, your guitars and your budget happy and stick with them.

 

[WannaLesPaul]

I need to use coated strings, so now I'm trying out different brands since they are freakin expensive here.

I think I like the Elixirs best. Nice tone and they feel kinda slick (even though the coating eventually flakes off) but they cost about $16 a set.

Right now I've got SIT on my Strat and they sound good. Cost about $11. We all religiously used SIT back when I was a teenager. They were cheap and stayed in tune hehe. I think they were around $2 a set then LOL

I'm trying the newer D'Addario XT on my Les Paul. These are basically the NYXL set with a coating... cost about 12 bucks. You really cant feel the coating at all and they sound nice, but seem a bit stiff. I always use the hybrid 9-46 sets.