Longer lasting strings?

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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    I bloody hate restringing guitars so I use Elixirs on electric and acoustic and pretty much never change them.

    For bass I found Elixirs to be shit and Warwick EMPs to be loads better.

    For non coated strings I've found DR to be the longest lasting and best sounding. I like them more than Elixirs, but lazyness keeps me on the Elixirs (which I like more than anything other than DR)
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  • thomasw88thomasw88 Frets: 2316

    just bagged a 2for1 deal on the DR dragon strings from strings direct. £11.99+£1 for delivery isn't bad.   Not tried them but they're a bit cheaper than elixirs so got to be worth a bash. 

     I've found that elixirs are the best if you have toxic hands like me!.  saw comments about not liking the feel of them but I got used to them very quickly. I'm not sure I could tell the difference from one  brand of strings to another tbh.

     

    http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/p/921183/dr-handmade-2-for-price-of-1-dragon-skin-coated-electric-guitar-strings-10-46-medium-2-pack/

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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    Let me know how you get on with them. If they sound like normal DRs I'm sold.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    Going by the acoustic ones, I think they sound very similar to the uncoated ones - the odd thing is that they feel slightly dirty, even though they're not... disconcerting at first, but not as bad as the slippery feel of other coated strings, to me.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    I used to use fast fret on DRs anyway so the slippery thing doesn't bother me.
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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4028
    I love the brightness of new strings so put a new set on each gig. 

    I don't like re-stringing so on most of my guitars I've got Schaller locking tuners which cuts the time down a lot.  The only bit I always enjoy is when I set the tuner to play an A440 and I bring the strings into tune.  I love it on the B and top E when you actually get the note.  There's something really satisfying about it.

    Anyway, that's just for whatever guitar I'm gonna use that night.  For practice I mostly use an RG so I put Elixirs on that.
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  • EdGripEdGrip Frets: 736
    I too tend to find standard RotoSounds just go on forever where Ernie Balls would have plain strings like black crusty cheesewire in a couple of weeks. Been experimenting with D'Addarios lately - they seem fine too on a Tele setup.
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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    Dean markley blue steels! Cryogenically frozen for max life and sparkle!
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700
    viz said:
    Dean markley blue steels! Cryogenically frozen for max life and sparkle!

    Tried them, normal DM's lasted longer for me............

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • usedtobeusedtobe Frets: 3841
    mike_l said:

    All these wrong un's who like restringing.........

     

    Yep, I'm one of them too...

    :)
    It's strangely therapeutic, isn't it?! I had a mate who loved polishing his guitars - similar sort of thing, I suppose..
     so if you fancy a reissue of a guitar they never made in a colour they never used then it probably isn't too overpriced.

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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700
    usedtobe said:
    It's strangely therapeutic, isn't it?! I had a mate who loved polishing his guitars - similar sort of thing, I suppose..

    I'm not commenting on what I polish regularly..........

     

     

     

    It's my guitars you dirty minded people

    :-B

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • The best gauge for me looks like it might be the DR 10-56 jeff set, so I'll give it a go.  

    I'm kinda wanting to try the 10-60 DDT set to let me get into D Standard and drop C, but I don't want to have the nut on the LTD recut for it if I'm planning on selling it later this year.  It works okay with a 56 gauge, though, even though it's realistically cut for around a 48 gauge.  If it had a vibrato, it'd probably not work so great.
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  • grungebobgrungebob Frets: 3299
    See I must be lucky in this dept because I hardly ever have to change strings. I've tried a few different brands over the years but keep going back to Ernie balls. I don't gig but play everyday and can keep a set on a guitar for close to a year before the G starts to lose tuning and tone.
    ,
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  • grungebob;138255" said:
    See I must be lucky in this dept because I hardly ever have to change strings. I've tried a few different brands over the years but keep going back to Ernie balls. I don't gig but play everyday and can keep a set on a guitar for close to a year before the G starts to lose tuning and tone.
    ,
    Bloody hell. I did mine 3 days ago, and it's at it's good point, despite me having a bad tone day.

    In 3 days time, they'll be dull. 3 days later, nasty overtones will appear.

    Do you sweat purified alcohol?
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    I'm like grungebob - I can get a year or more out of strings even on a guitar I play regularly. I don't sweat much which helps, and I do keep them clean too.

    What kills them in the end is dents on the underside where the frets press into them - they stop intonating properly.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    Obviously thinner strings last longer.
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    ICBM said:
    What kills them in the end is dents on the underside where the frets press into them - they stop intonating properly.
    I find the dents on the underside to be a problem as well.  This is one of the issues that has put me off coated ones.  They will likely fray and/or dent on the bottom.  I'll have to see how my latest experiment with coated ones works out.  If they fray or dent after the same amount of time as regular strings it is quite a lot of money down the drain.
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  • drwiddlydrwiddly Frets: 911
    edited January 2014
    ICBM;138298" said:
    I'm like grungebob - I can get a year or more out of strings even on a guitar I play regularly. I don't sweat much which helps, and I do keep them clean too.

    What kills them in the end is dents on the underside where the frets press into them - they stop intonating properly.
    I'm the same although, if I'm gigging regularly they only last a couple of months. As @ICBM says, it's the dents from the frets wot kills 'em.

    Some people sweat like the creature in Alien. I let a mate play one of my guitars at a jam session a couple of years ago and he destroyed a new set of strings in an afternoon!
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  • bertiebertie Frets: 13564
    edited January 2014
    Im about to try some D'addy  pro-steels.................... but a wipe down after a sweaty sessions and/or some light application fast fret now and again helps enormously 
    just because you don't, doesn't mean you can't
     just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
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  • grungebobgrungebob Frets: 3299
    ThePrettyDamned;138273" said:
    [quote="grungebob;138255"]See I must be lucky in this dept because I hardly ever have to change strings. I've tried a few different brands over the years but keep going back to Ernie balls. I don't gig but play everyday and can keep a set on a guitar for close to a year before the G starts to lose tuning and tone.
    ,
    Bloody hell. I did mine 3 days ago, and it's at it's good point, despite me having a bad tone day.

    In 3 days time, they'll be dull. 3 days later, nasty overtones will appear.

    Do you sweat purified alcohol? [/quote]
    Only on Saturday mornings ;) I just don't sweat that much in my hands. I do play quite thick strings 11-54 I think they are and noticed last night the G has a kink in it right where I pick.
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