Dean Markley Nickel Steel Electric Strings are now Crap! Anyone notice they are not the same as they were???

thedimwitt

Active member
Dean Markley Nickel Steel Electric Strings! Anyone notice they are not the same as they were years ago?

I had an online store for strings and tubes about 15 years ago that was a failure because I didn't play to get it to come up first when people did a search. I bought strings and tubes that I already used anyway so if it didn't workout, I could still use my it all and I bought a lot of inventor because the manufactures would give you a volume discount.

My supply of Dean Markley strings are all most gone so I bought the newer packaged version and they are not the same. The ball ends are different colors and not as many turn on the balls. They also don't sound the same or stay in tune as well.

Has anyone else noticed this and if so have you found a close to the old Dean Markley substitute?

I appreciate responses but I'm only looking people who used them when each string was individual packed in paper envelopes. Not the newer ones they're all packed together in plastic.

Thanks
 
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Dang,I hope they didn't change. I haven't used recent ones..In the 80s and 90s I'd buy them by the boxes.Tons of em Blue steel in 9-46. Still have some left from then and they're great on my metal guitars..I use Dr pure blues on everything else nowadays. I haven't tried any of the latest version to compare the 2.
 
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They switched to outsourcing from D'Adarrio several years ago, if Im not mistaken. Fender did too.
Really? I didn’t know this. Not a fan of D’Adarrio anymore. Despite their insistence that they haven’t changed the way they produce strings, I think they feel like shit. It would make sense that Markleys don’t seem the same now too.
Curt Mangan coated strings is what use now and I love them.
 
Honestly, I always felt they were crap....back when i was actually trying a bunch of stuff, i found that they sounded dull a lot faster than other brands. On the other side, I never gelled with Elixirs, because while they lasted longer, they felt too slippery for me. I basically found GHS Boomers and Ultex Jazz IIIs and haven't used anything else in 15 years, because unless you settle on something, you'll forever have rabbit holes...YMMV!
 
Honestly, I always felt they were crap....back when i was actually trying a bunch of stuff, i found that they sounded dull a lot faster than other brands. On the other side, I never gelled with Elixirs, because while they lasted longer, they felt too slippery for me. I basically found GHS Boomers and Ultex Jazz IIIs and haven't used anything else in 15 years, because unless you settle on something, you'll forever have rabbit holes...YMMV!
Yes, I agree that they did sound duller fast but that was cool. They were too bright for a week or two, then they sounded warmer and stayed like that for a long long time.
 
I switched to DR Pure Nickel Blues years ago. I hate how they package them 2-per-envelope now, but it's the best sounding Nickel string I've found.
 
I stopped when I got to Elixirs. Through I did play the Blue Steels for a long while.
 
Honestly, I always felt they were crap....back when i was actually trying a bunch of stuff, i found that they sounded dull a lot faster than other brands. On the other side, I never gelled with Elixirs, because while they lasted longer, they felt too slippery for me. I basically found GHS Boomers and Ultex Jazz IIIs and haven't used anything else in 15 years, because unless you settle on something, you'll forever have rabbit holes...YMMV!


I’ve been using super slinky 9s for like 12 years and before that D’Addario 10s. Elixirs also felt odd to me. I love ultex sharps.
 
I played Blue Steels for 20+ years & then they became hard to find & wehn i reached out to Dean Markley they said " Please be Patient we are looking for a new Supplier" so i switched to D'Addario in the exact same gauge 11-52 with the .18 unwound G.
 
I played Blue Steels for 20+ years & then they became hard to find & wehn i reached out to Dean Markley they said " Please be Patient we are looking for a new Supplier" so i switched to D'Addario in the exact same gauge 11-52 with the .18 unwound G.
Yea I remember using Blue Steels for years and then something changed with them, didn't like the feel or sound of them :( I remember back in the 90's it was like $14 a set for the Blue Steels, YIKES!!
 
I used to use Dean Markley's till about 2010-ish, around the time they changed the packaging again. They just didn't seem the same anymore. Been going through different string brands since then, but landed on NYXL around 2016 and been using those ever since. Best sounding strings i've ever used.
 
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