Need some help choosing new strings

[dimebagfan01]

So I'm in a bit of a predicament, guys. I'm looking for good set of .010-.052's for my guitars but due to my nickel allergy, they have to be 100% stainless steel. The only option I've really found is D'Addario's Pro Steel line, but I'm not a fan of how they play/how long they last at all. They feel dry as a bone out of the package and after a week my guitars feel like they've been sitting in a pawn shop for a decade. Does anyone have any suggestions for a better option?

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

I've never used stainless steel strings so I can't comment on feel, however, I do know SIT and Curt Mangan make 10-52 stainless string sets. Ernie Ball makes stainless steel strings but you would need to buy singles in order to make a 10-52 set as they don't make a SS 10-52 set.

http://www.curtmangan.com/10-52-stainless-wound/
http://sitstrings.com/products/electric/power-steel-electric/ps1052

 

[dimebagfan01]

I've never used stainless steel strings so I can't comment on feel, however, I do know SIT and Curt Mangan make 10-52 stainless string sets. Ernie Ball makes stainless steel strings but you would need to buy singles in order to make a 10-52 set as they don't make a SS 10-52 set.

http://www.curtmangan.com/10-52-stainless-wound/
http://sitstrings.com/products/electric/power-steel-electric/ps1052

Sweet! Just ordered a couple sets of both to try out. I'm really surprised that Ernie Ball never made a 10-52 set in Stainless. They were one of my favorite brands prior to finding out about the allergy and I was really disappointed to find out how scarce the market is for stainless strings.

 

[McBrain]

How did you like the strings? I also have a nickel allergy and can only use ss strings. The brands I have tried so far all had the really dry/rough feeling to them, so I just stuck with Daddario since they were pretty cheap and easy to come by. I also tried the German brand Pyramid Strings, but they felt a lot slinkier at the same gauge, but less dry. Then I tried to go up in gauge for a tighter feel, but then the dry feeling was the same as the Daddario's. So if you find a brand that feels closer to nickel strings, I would love to hear from you.

 

[jl-austin]

I also have nickel allergy. I have found that the strings I like the best are the D'addario half wounds (SS).

SS strings are bright by their nature, the half wounds help with that some, because they are "dull sounding", so add in SS, and they actually sound pretty good. It does take awhile to get used to them, but they seem to last forever. They also have a few benefits, no wounds, so less sliding noise, they seem easier on the frets because there are no wounds grinding into the fret, only the whole string (they will still wear out a set of frets though). Because there are no wounds, there is no "gunk" that fills up between the frets. It all seems positive from my point of view, only thing, they don't sound and feel like nickel, but I also see that as a positive, as that is "my sound now".

But, again, it does take some time to get used to them, and you DEF have to change the settings on your amp. I have also thought about swapping out my pickups to lower output, because the SS strings are so bright.

 

[McBrain]

I just found another alternative for fellow nickel allergy sufferers. D'Angelico Electrozinc strings: https://dangelicostrings.com They're made by D'addario and coated with zinc instead of nickel, but the feel of them is almost the same as nickel. Not a lot of gauges to choose from, but I guess that could change in the future if they become popular. The output is slightly lower on the wound strings compared to nickel since zinc isn't a ferromagnetic metal like nickel, but nothing that can't be corrected by adjusting the amp and/or pickup height. I also tried the 24k gold strings from Optima, but they were even lower output and still had a rough feel almost like acoustic strings. I find SS strings to be harder to play fast tremolo picking on, because of the rough surface so I'm ecstatic about these. Before finding the zinc strings, I tried pitching to Elixir to make coated SS strings for guitar like they do for bass, since that would probably help a lot with the rough feel, but there's probably not a big enough market for something like that.