D'Addario XT Strings

FarleyUK

Anyone else tried these...?

I was an avid NYXL user, but thought I'd take a punt on these to see how I get on. Surely can't be any worse than Ernie Ball Paradigms

Wonky

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/159948/daddarios-secret-new-strings#latest

kennedydream1980

I have some on the way, should be here tomorrow so I'll report early next week.

thegummy

Got a set on one Strat and normal XP ones on another.

Not had a ton of playing time yet but so far they feel exactly the same.

So if they last enough longer by comparison they'll be a winner.

FarleyUK

They feel.... Smoother to me so far. Good first impressions from the 15 minutes playing I did earlier.

kennedydream1980

9-42 Strings arrived this morning. I had a bit of free time so I managed to get them on my guitar.

Initial impressions are they feel, sound and have the same tension as regular daddario exl’s, which is exactly what I was hoping for. 

These will be my go to string from now on.

thegummy

I actually put these on pretty much the same time I put a set of EXL110 on a near identical guitar and I plan to play them both equally in the coming months so it will be a pretty good comparison test.

FarleyUK

Played for a couple of hours last night - VERY impressed with these strings so far, actually feel a lot nicer and easier to play than the NYXLs I used.

I think they're keepers

Wonky

FarleyUK said:

Played for a couple of hours last night - VERY impressed with these strings so far, actually feel a lot nicer and easier to play than the NYXLs I used.

I think they're keepers

I'm interested in how they're different/easier to play than the NYXL's as I know what those play like.  Could you elaborate a little?

thegummy

Wonky said:

FarleyUK said:

Played for a couple of hours last night - VERY impressed with these strings so far, actually feel a lot nicer and easier to play than the NYXLs I used.

I think they're keepers

I'm interested in how they're different/easier to play than the NYXL's as I know what those play like.  Could you elaborate a little?

To me they're completely indistinguishable from XL strings so if you're tried them you can compare to that.

lysander

FarleyUK said:

Played for a couple of hours last night - VERY impressed with these strings so far, actually feel a lot nicer and easier to play than the NYXLs I used.

I think they're keepers

In what way do they feel easier to play than the NYxl ?
I find the NYXLs a bit easier to play than the EXL as they are easier to bend at the same gauge.

FarleyUK

lysander said:

FarleyUK said:

Played for a couple of hours last night - VERY impressed with these strings so far, actually feel a lot nicer and easier to play than the NYXLs I used.

I think they're keepers

In what way do they feel easier to play than the NYxl ?
I find the NYXLs a bit easier to play than the EXL as they are easier to bend at the same gauge.

Hard to describe - they feel 'smoother' in a way...? Slinkier?

kennedydream1980

Okay little update. I had to take the set of XT strings off my guitar as the top E and B strings on the guitar had become badly tarnished and corroded. I put them on the guitar on the 7th September as mentioned earlier in this thread. So they lasted 3 weeks.

Just to be clear these were on a guitar which is constantly on a stand in my studio room, it’s never put away in a case. I’ve never wiped the strings down/cleaned them since I put them on and the guitar does get played a lot. That being said it doesn’t seem to reflect the claims that D’Addario are making about these strings. It’s possibly my sweat that has eroded them, but I’ve used regular D’Addario XL’s for years with no issues. I can normally make a regular set last for 2-3 months providing I wipe them down after each session.   

I’m going back to Elixirs for now.

How is everyone else getting on with them. 

thegummy

kennedydream1980 said:

Okay little update. I had to take the set of XT strings off my guitar as the top E and B strings on the guitar had become badly tarnished and corroded. I put them on the guitar on the 7th September as mentioned earlier in this thread. So they lasted 3 weeks.

Just to be clear these were on a guitar which is constantly on a stand in my studio room, it’s never put away in a case. I’ve never wiped the strings down/cleaned them since I put them on and the guitar does get played a lot. That being said it doesn’t seem to reflect the claims that D’Addario are making about these strings. It’s possibly my sweat that has eroded them, but I’ve used regular D’Addario XL’s for years with no issues. I can normally make a regular set last for 2-3 months providing I wipe them down after each session.   

I’m going back to Elixirs for now.

How is everyone else getting on with them. 

That's pretty crazy, I've never had a set of strings last anything near as short a time as that!

I put mine on the day they came out, think it was about the 3rd of September, and have played them every day and they're totally fine. As are the normal D'addario strings I put on my other guitar at the same time.

kennedydream1980

thegummy said:

kennedydream1980 said:

Okay little update. I had to take the set of XT strings off my guitar as the top E and B strings on the guitar had become badly tarnished and corroded. I put them on the guitar on the 7th September as mentioned earlier in this thread. So they lasted 3 weeks.

Just to be clear these were on a guitar which is constantly on a stand in my studio room, it’s never put away in a case. I’ve never wiped the strings down/cleaned them since I put them on and the guitar does get played a lot. That being said it doesn’t seem to reflect the claims that D’Addario are making about these strings. It’s possibly my sweat that has eroded them, but I’ve used regular D’Addario XL’s for years with no issues. I can normally make a regular set last for 2-3 months providing I wipe them down after each session.   

I’m going back to Elixirs for now.

How is everyone else getting on with them. 

That's pretty crazy, I've never had a set of strings last anything near as short a time as that!

I put mine on the day they came out, think it was about the 3rd of September, and have played them every day and they're totally fine. As are the normal D'addario strings I put on my other guitar at the same time.

I used to have the same problem with Ernie Balls, they would last a few weeks then I would need to change them. But as I said I’ve always been fine with regular D’Addario XL’s.

thegummy

thegummy said:

I actually put these on pretty much the same time I put a set of EXL110 on a near identical guitar and I plan to play them both equally in the coming months so it will be a pretty good comparison test.

Couple of months later and both sets of strings are still totally fine (thanks to ICBM and co for convincing me to stop changing strings monthly).

Kind of annoying in a way cause I really want to try out some 9.5 strings (after being pleased with the feel of Eb tuning on 10s but wanting the notes to be on the same frets as my basses) but want to keep going to see how much longer the XT set lasts, if any.

FarleyUK

I keep changing my strings monthly as well......! Still loving the XTs, but every string set I try seems to get a bit 'rusted' due to my acid sweat after a couple of weeks, even when using Fret Fret to clean them.

Doctorfunk

I put a set on a guitar a couple of weeks ago and I prefer the normal D'addario strings. I don't think they have the same flexibility that their regular strings have.

thegummy

FarleyUK said:

I keep changing my strings monthly as well......! Still loving the XTs, but every string set I try seems to get a bit 'rusted' due to my acid sweat after a couple of weeks, even when using Fret Fret to clean them.

Wow really? The past couple of months I've played pretty much an equal share of both guitars for combined 4-5 hours just about every single day and both the normal D'Addario and the XT's are both still totally fine.

FarleyUK

Yep - I've got alien acid for sweat!

Kebabkid

D'addario were at Guitar Guitar doing a promotion of their new string range and put a set of XTs on my guitar for free - thank you.

At first, I thought they were ok and I'm a D'addario EXL user anyway (9.5s and 10s) and they're also my preferred bass strings. Within a very short space of time, I found them stiff, dull and lifeless. I've also tried the NYXL's in the past and didn't get on with them and so whilst D'addario will still have my custom, I won't be switching to the XTs.