Moving on from Elixirs?

[marcwormjim]

After a few years of using Elixirs on my guitars and basses, I find myself doubting that I'll continue on with them. Due to their durability, I go so long between changes that, each time I need to buy some more, my previous source no longer carries them; and the next-cheapest source is closer in price to retail.

It's finally to the point that I'm considering just buying several packs of plain strings for the cost of one pack of Elixirs.

Are there other brands of coated strings that the community would recommend, based on value?

 

[decreebass]

Contrary to popular belief, Elixers don't last much (if any) longer than any other strings. The reason they SEEM to last longer is the coating prevents the corrosion that builds up and deadens the strings faster. However, they still deaded on a structural level; so you're basically playing with dead strings but because they look and feel clean, you don't even realize it; until you change strings, at least. Then you're blown away! There is a large psychological aspect to the allure of Elixers...

Anyway, yes, just buy some Slinkies and change every week or two. You get that amazing "new string" feel, sound, and inspiration much more frequently.

After playing for 20 years, I believe the best use of Elixers is on an acoustic or guitar that you rarely play.

 

[HoneyNut]

^ I have the same opinion. Been using Elixirs for 5 -6 years now until 2015 when I played plain wound strings and it felt so much better. You can feel the strings vibrated on your finger tips. Felt nice under the fingers.

Elixirs lasted a month. But now Ive switched to Daddarios standard (after trying Ernie ball slinkys, Ernie Rock and roll, rotosound nickels, ghs boomer) and after I wipe the strings after every session, it lasts just the same. I'm still changing strings every 3-4 weeks.

 

[Anant Naag]

Or if you like warm tone, just start using flatwounds.

 

[decreebass]

Or if you like warm tone, just start using flatwounds.

 

[MatthewK]

I stock up on them whenever they're cheap. Last time I got 'em at $5 a pack. I have 20 sets or so right now, which should last me... I don't even know, probably forever. Yeah, they do wear. Just slide your finger underneath the plain strings and see how rough they feel on the bottom. But they feel good forever, and I haven't noticed degradation in tone or intonation even after a year. The big thing for me is feel. Regular guitar strings, even brand new, feel uncomfortable after years of using elixirs. I don't know about y'all, but corrosion was the reason I changed strings when I used uncoated, they would get corroded after a a couple weeks to a month. I've never had Elixirs get that way.

 

[decreebass]

I just use GHS Fast Fret and my strings never get nasty. But the truth is that guitar strings lose brightness and 'zing' and if you have the same set on for a year, it happens so slowly that of course you're not going to notice lol.

It's just like an oil change. Sure, you can drive until the engine seizes, and the oil has lost its effectiveness long before you start to really notice it, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't change your oil regularly.

But again, this is just my opinion and personal experience with string changes.

I used to play bass professionally; I started out using DR and Elixer - but eventually, I had to buy in bulk because if you play 4 hours a night 5 nights in a row, those strings are DEAD (not like, tuned D-E-A-D, but dead, death, killed). It doesn't matter how clean I kept them, they were dead on a structural (molecular?) level.

 

[marcwormjim]

Contrary to popular belief, Elixers don't last much (if any) longer than any other strings.

No disagreements here. I'm of the minority that just prefers the feeling of the coated strings. I also prefer the dead/warmer tone - a lot of brands sound too snappy and twangy until they break in to the point that I like. I was fortunate to have been invited to review every brand offered by the music stores I subcontracted, and the Elixirs were my favorite-sounding and -feeling out of the box - no marketing voodoo necessary.

Plus, my hands/sweat don't gunk-up or corrode strings - Meaning I'm not even the target consumer. I simply like them...but not enough to justify the rising prices I've been experiencing.

 

[CRaul87]

Am I the only one that prefers the feel of old string over new ones!?
I mean I can barely play anything when I put new strings on as I have zero grip on the strings.

 

[decreebass]

Am I the only one that prefers the feel of old string over new ones!?
I mean I can barely play anything when I put new strings on as I have zero grip on the strings.

lol I think you might be alone

You might try Ernie Ball cobalts or M-Steels. They have a bit more "bite" on the fingers (they're also not as visually bright).

But especially with the unwound strings, I NEED them to be as slippery as glass under my fingers. I don't need ANY friction. Plus when they get old the overtones are all gone and my rig sounds lifeless. In fact, I suspect there has been many a guitarist who has swapped pickups, speakers, and amps just because he didn't realize it was his strings that were dead all along lol!

 

[Nlelith]

In my experience with Elixirs, they indeed don't last longer structurally, what leads to intonation issues, and adds a little more "rattle" to the sound, but otherwise, they don't loose tone at all. I did a lot of testing on this subject, and my sweat usually destroys any other brand strings in the matter of hours, but Elixirs never tend to tarnish/loose tone for me. That being said, I don't like their tone that much. Wound nanowebs are good only for high-gain/djent sound, because of the nasty rattle I mentioned above, it always makes Elixirs sound very bright/mid-range-y. And it can't be eliminated with EQ or amp settings, so playing something crunchy or clean with Elixirs sounds bad, I always hear that "zzziiinnnggg" from the wound strings...

Now, alternatives... Only other corrosion-resistant strings I've tried are Cleartone (all other coated strings usually have very bad reviews). What I do like about Cleartone strings, is that their wounds sound like any regular non-coated strings. But I don't like that their plain strings are either untreated, and my sweat wrecks them faster than usual strings or they are treated, but they rust anyway. <- If anyone knows for sure if Cleartone plain strings are treated or not, please, tell me. I asked manufacturer about them, but they didn't reply.

I myself have settled on D'Addario strings. Most consistent quality I've seen. And while they do rust and loose tone, they don't do it nearly as much as most other brands. I also had similar experience with Dean Markleys and DR Strings, but they don't offer single strings/gauges that I need most.

Also, you mentioned plain string packs in your post... If you really have issues only with plain strings corrosion, then just order single plain Elixirs + single wound D'Addarios... I had this idea for some time now, but didn't try it yet. I highly recommend ordering from guitarstringsonline, cause there you can order custom sets of both brands. And plain Elixirs are not that expensive.

 

[Great Satan]

I used to live right on the sea and every other string used to corrode within a week (not to mention hardware on guitars), elixirs were the only ones that could take it.

Besides that i'm a) too lazy to change strings that often anyway b) i don't think i've EVER broken an elixir string and c) i prefer it when strings aren't so bright as it is.

 

[mnemonic]

Elixir always lasts months and months for me, I can't say the same about non-coated strings I've tried. Though in the last couple years the only non-coated strings I've used were D'addario (lasted the longest) and Ernie Ball (which seemed to be dead by the end of the week at best).

I am a bedroom player though, no gigs for me.


I did have a non-coated low B on my seven once from I think D'addario, while the other 6 strings were Elixir. They started out sounding pretty similar but the uncoated string did die a lot quicker, and sounded noticeably duller/dead, while the other 6 elixirs were still going strong.

I guess everyone's skin chemistry is different. Uncoated may last ages for some people, and other people may kill coated strings. Certainly would be boring if we all preferred the same thing.

 

[edsped]

I've noticed no difference in tone when changing out a 6+ month set of Elixirs for a new set. They're also not a dark string, not sure where people get that impression. Intonation may be compromised a bit from fret wear after a while but to say they "die" as quickly as normal strings just doesn't make sense.

OP, why don't you just buy a bunch in bulk? Even if you have to pay retail for them, why is that worse than buying a bunch of uncoated strings that you'll have to change every couple weeks? Where do you live, anyway?

 

[NicePants]

Contrary to popular belief, Elixers don't last much (if any) longer than any other strings. The reason they SEEM to last longer is the coating prevents the corrosion that builds up and deadens the strings faster. However, they still deaded on a structural level; so you're basically playing with dead strings but because they look and feel clean, you don't even realize it; until you change strings, at least. Then you're blown away! There is a large psychological aspect to the allure of Elixers...

Anyway, yes, just buy some Slinkies and change every week or two. You get that amazing "new string" feel, sound, and inspiration much more frequently.

After playing for 20 years, I believe the best use of Elixers is on an acoustic or guitar that you rarely play.

So you'd be playing on corpse strings? That's metal as .....

 

[Petar Bogdanov]

I actually like the specific tone of Elixirs for metal. It has less of that extreme top-end scratchyness, but plenty of high-mid. Not to mention, looking all clean and purdy pleases my OCD.