What brand of strings do you use and why?

[Bloody_Inferno]

Stuck with Elixirs since 2013, and used Optiwebs almost exclusively since they came out. Though I do still use Nanowebs here and there and have been trying out Daddario XS's lately, but otherwise Optiwebs all the way. For flats, I use Daddario Chromes.

 

[MFB]

Ernie Ball 10-52 in standard, like a little extra thickness in my low end for "maximum riffage"

When I end up grabbing my 24-3/4" scale C standard machine, it'll be a set of EB Mammoth Slinky 12's since that seems to be roughly the same tension as what I'm getting now for standard.

 

[c7spheres]

GHS Boomers for the lower wounds, GHS burnished nickel wound 24 for the g string, and sub zero 's for the high B and E. The burnished nickel sound great and gets rid of the ear piercing twang of the G, stays in tune better, but wears out faster than a normal wound Boomer 24. The sub zeros take off the shrill and and a smoothness too, but stil have plenty of high end. They definately don't break as easy and last longer than plain steel's too. They're not hype, imo. I might be changing to a wound 24 or 22 Boomer on the G though. The burnished nickles are really nice, but expensive and they wear out faster than the others. Like 3-4 times faser. Totally worth it if you can afford the price though. - Doing a custom set like this is about $12-$14 rather than $6-$8, but it feels better, statys in tune better, give the tone I watn better etc. My gauges are; dy70-56-44-30- bnr24 -cr14cr-cr12 (sometimes 13-10) I don't think they even make cr-12's any more but I still have some left.

 

[4Eyes]

NYXLs or Cobalt Slinkys, depending on what's available at the moment of purchase. They last and hold tunning longer than regular strings

 

[op1e]

NYXL cause I don't play as much as I should and don't change my strings often enough and they're good or like 6 months for me. If on the cheap then regular XL's, 10-52 for half step or drop C.

 

[sakeido]

Elixir nanoweb for life.. they last forever. Never as bright as new Ernie Balls or Daddario or whatever but the sound doesn't change for a year and the feel is the best

I'm still working through my big order of .068s I got in 2007. They sound the same as fresh nanowebs. Not bad for a Gore-tex engineer's side hustle

 

[youngthrasher9]

Ernie Ball Paradigm or Stringjoy. I really want to try Stringjoy orbiters but they are only available in limited gauges so far. If I’m going cheaper then I’ll buy Dunlop Heavy Cores, which I actually love but again the gauge selection is mid.

 

[nightsprinter]

Ernie Ball 10-52 in standard, like a little extra thickness in my low end for "maximum riffage"

When I end up grabbing my 24-3/4" scale C standard machine, it'll be a set of EB Mammoth Slinky 12's since that seems to be roughly the same tension as what I'm getting now for standard.

This is the way.

Haute tension bass side or no tension.

 

[BenjaminW]

Ernie Ball. Super Slinkies happened to be the extra strings that came with my uncle’s old guitars and started using them from there.

After using 9s forever and trying to switch permanently to 10s, I found my sweet spot in their 9.5s. I like that they’re slinky like 9s, but feel a little thicker because regular 9s honestly feel too small in my hands and could use something a little lighter than 10s. They honestly beat using 9-46 imo.

 

[Jamiecrain]

I always used regular D'Addarios because they are very common in stores, easy to replace and last long enough.
Now I'm switching to Ernie Ball because they sell convenient loose string packs and it's better for me to make my "custom sets", also they're cheaper. But they don't last as long from my short experience with them years ago.
I don't like to switch brands a lot because even when you buy the same gauge of strings the tension and the feeling is different from brand to brand, and then you might have to change your guitar setup for the new strings.
It's nice to experiment, it's just that I wouldn't want to get used to a brand that's not easy to find and then if a string snaps I have to order from another country, or even worse, the set is discontinued or the brand shuts down.

So in this thread, I'm hoping to see some obscure choices and the reasoning behind it

Used Daddario for years mainly because the coloured balls made it easy. Then I found the e string would break just a little too often. Switched to EB and found them more reliable but dull. Tried NYXLs in recent years and suddenly realised they were far superior. More expensive but actually felt good to play. Have bought boxes of them so won’t be switching again for some time!

 

[Nachtmahr]

GHS Boomers 11-64 for A standard on one 7 string, and EB Regular 8 for 2 steps down on the other 7.
We don't have a lot of choice here in Germany, and EB Regular 8s is the only set that allows you to go down to G/F without having to buy these light top heavy bottom sets, where the top is too light and the bottom too heavy. And Boomers have a nice sound, imo.

Wish regular D'addarios had these gauges too. I don't buy NYXL 11-64 just for practice purposes, so I switched to GHS. La Bella are underrated as well, but I wanted 11s on the treble side.

 

[DECEMBER]

Just put on a Stringjoy set for the first time. I only stretched them twice and they stabilized faster than any other strings I've used. (I just put D'Addario XL's on another guitar today, stretched them 3 times, and they were very flat within 15-20 minutes of playing. They eventually stabilize, but take longer).
The Stringjoy's feel and sound good. I still like NYXL, too. These are probably the only 2 I'll buy from now on (and Optima gold-plated for the plain strings).

 

[torchlord]

The last time I bought strings I bought strings from Juststrings.com because they sold the individual strings in groups of 12 non packaged. They buy them from GHS. If I recall correctly they are Boomers. I also set my guitars up for progressive sets. When I was in contact with the Just strings guy he also gave me an spreadsheet with all the string guages so I could customize my set to the scale length of my guitars. So you just input the scale length anf it outputs the tension similar to what the string calculators do on the net that you can find now.

I always used regular D'Addarios because they are very common in stores, easy to replace and last long enough.
Now I'm switching to Ernie Ball because they sell convenient loose string packs and it's better for me to make my "custom sets", also they're cheaper. But they don't last as long from my short experience with them years ago.
I don't like to switch brands a lot because even when you buy the same gauge of strings the tension and the feeling is different from brand to brand, and then you might have to change your guitar setup for the new strings.
It's nice to experiment, it's just that I wouldn't want to get used to a brand that's not easy to find and then if a string snaps I have to order from another country, or even worse, the set is discontinued or the brand shuts down.

So in this thread, I'm hoping to see some obscure choices and the reasoning behind it

 

[Marv Attaxx]

Also part of the NYXL gang, playing them exlusively.
Tried pretty much everything but to me NYXLs feel the best, last long (I switch strings maybe every half year), never seem to break and I really like this pleasent piano-like top end. Everything else just seems kind of "muffled" in comparison.
Using the 1059 set on my 7 string (Drop A) and the 0980 set on my 8 string (Drop E), works perfectly fine for me. Also: tuning stability!

 

[TheBloodstained]

For guitar I stick to Elixir as much as I can. I like the sound and feel of their coated strings, and they usually last longer for me than uncoated strings. I tend to sweat a lot in my hands.

I play mostly 7-strings or down tuned 6-strings, so I've been buying their 7-string 0.10 to 0.56 sets religiously. I use the 7-string sets on 6-strings as well (only use the bottom 6 strings in that case), and that has worked well for me so far. No really good reason other than it was easier to do it that way instead of having a lot of different sets laying around.

I recently tried buying their 7-string 0.10 to 0.59 set, but I haven't tried it yet. I think the slightly fatter bottom string will be great for my playing style.

For bass I use Dingwall strings for my Dingwall NG3, and for everything else I've often used DR strings, but I'm kind of in the process of trying new bass string brands. It's a really slow process though, because I rarely change bass strings

 

[Poul Winther Knudsen]

After trying NYXL I can't possibly go back to regular steel strings. They cost about double but with way more punch and chime, lasting easily five times longer and never breaking, it's not a tough choice.
No sets fit me so I use all individual strings from 9.5 to 70.

 

[bjgrifter]

Once I find a set I like for a certain tuning, I run with it, but I keep a spreadsheet with the guitars and which set, plus an alternate I'd accept if I'm in store.

I do a NYXL 980 set for my 8-string, a LaBella 9-64 for my Agile Septor. If I'm going to run a default on trying a tuning, I'll generally go with EB. I wouldn't say I'm brand agnostic, but once I find something works, I try to stick with that. In the highly unlikely event I would wind up with an endorsement, I'll deal with it then. The only strings I've not had good luck wiith were DR, but that was earlier when I got into guitar, so possibly user error.

 

[PipeRain]

Dean Markley Blue Steels on all my electrics except for the Jackson Se7en, it gets Heavy Cores, and the Ibby ES-175 clone gets D'Adarrio Nickels. The Breedlove Concert gets Ernie Ball Aluminum Bronze. The Jackson JS3V gets a mix-n-match set of D'Adarrio XL's and the JS3 gets GHS Super Steels. The early 90's Ibby EX bass gets Blue Steels and the Ibby TR gets Boomers.

 

[Riffer Madness]

I was using DR tite fit on 6 string because they are one of the few brands that use round cores and I prefer the tone, feel, and longevity. I highly recommend them for normalish tunings.

Then I moved on to drop tuned 7 and needed custom guages plus the extra tension that round cores have, so I tried MAPES and liked the guages but their quality was subpar.

It's a shame because they also sell octagon cores as a tonal compromise between hex/round and I've been wanting something like that for years. They stopped offering the customs shortly after I got my order.

In their defense, they don't normally produce 7 string sets and I suspect that the quality issues were due to their equipment being improperly calibrated for my weird guages. I'd give em another chance if they started doing customs again.

Right now I'm waiting on some custom 9.5-66 from Newtone. As long as the quality is good, I'll probably be on the Newtones for awhile since they are the only custom string company I can find that offers round cores and precise increments on the lows.

 

[slippityslaps]

Just put on a Stringjoy set for the first time. I only stretched them twice and they stabilized faster than any other strings I've used. (I just put D'Addario XL's on another guitar today, stretched them 3 times, and they were very flat within 15-20 minutes of playing. They eventually stabilize, but take longer).
The Stringjoy's feel and sound good. I still like NYXL, too. These are probably the only 2 I'll buy from now on (and Optima gold-plated for the plain strings).

Another vote for Stringjoy. Got my first set (10s, with heavy bottom) and I really like them.