String Venders Poll

[aftec]

Neither. Ernie Ball Slinkies and Elixirs do it for me.

 

[blackba]

Cleartones! But those Curt Mangans look interesting. I see he has coated strings too. Anybody use those?

Not on the coated, but a friend used the flatwounds and loved them. Curt worked for years at either D'addario or Ernie Ball, I can't remember, but he's a super friendly dude and fairly often is the one answering the phone when you call. Dude knows what he's doing for sure. I feel like the strings feel a little easier to use for heavy gauges which works well since I tune to drop C and like not struggling with pinch harmonics on all strings.

I believe Curt worked with Ernie Ball, which is interesting since I can't standy Slinky's, but I really like Curt Mangan strings. I have used their nickel wrapped electrics so far and been pleased. I am considering trying out a set or two of their coated strings. I got on to Curt Mangans since a free back was sent with my Hermida Zendrive pedal, I tried them and liked them. I have since bought more CM strings.

 

[ddawson2013]

For as long as I have been playing, it's always the D strings that break. Doesnt matter what guitar, brand / gauge etc....just the way I play. I put the graphite saddles on alot of my guitars which make them last a tiny bit longer....I've just resigned myself to buying a bunch of single .026 strings and swap it when it breaks..

Yo G, I get all my standard everyday stuff from my local GC. They go through these D'Addario strings like hotcakes. You’re right though, they could have been boxed up somewhere for a long time. It just started driving me bonkers when my precious 1st string became suddenly unreliable. D'Addario strings have been my fave for years - I'm back now . . .

Some n00b at GC the other day heard me explaining my string issue to a salesMAN and told me to keep new packs of strings in the freezer until use. Like my own cryo lab or some $hit.

As far as your "D string" issue, that would drive me f'n nuts and cause me to harm small animals! I'd be calling Dr. Phil over that one.

Those didnt use to come in any protective packaging....are they still that way?

The D'Addario does. They call it "ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY SET - USES 75% LESS PACKAGING" so nothing about freshness, just saving packaging costs.

Don from D'Addario strings here - the above quote is correct in that we started the trend of using less packaging for environmental reasons. However, we use a recyclable baggie that tightly seals the bag and prevents any degradation of the strings as long as the bag remains sealed. So not only is it about being environmentally-friendly, which also reduced costs but freshness was also very important in the process. If you want to see more about our environmental efforts --> http://www.daddario.com/saves/