Fender ’white packet’ strings: yay or nay?

paulnb57

I use the Fender 250’s  on everything, for years always been fine

Yorkie

So, I have been using these for almost a week now. 

Obviously need much more time to assess potential breakages (I haven’t broken a D’Addario in ~3 years) and see how they “age” under constant use, but so far I don’t think I could tell the difference between these and D’Addarios. 

Happy times. 

Jon

fretmeister

I love the Yngwie signature strings so I’ve no reason to doubt the quality of the others they make.

Yorkie

fretmeister said:

I love the Yngwie signature strings so I’ve no reason to doubt the quality of the others they make.

Except price. One packet of Yngwie signatures goes for roughly the same price as three packets of 9s. It could be due to production numbers, but who knows.

Fingers657

Yorkie said:

There, right below the big numbers: 

“Made in the USA”

£11.99 on amazon for box of 3 sets.

Yorkie

Fingers657 said:

Yorkie said:

There, right below the big numbers: 

“Made in the USA”

£11.99 on amazon for box of 3 sets.

That's the whole point of the thread, they're cheap and they seem to be good. 

impmann

Now here is a thing that'll blow some folks minds...

If you buy D'Addarrio strings in bulk direct from them for OEM use, they don't have coloured ball ends. 

I used to buy these in 500s of each string for an OEM set up operation direct from the factory and they had plain ball ends.

Fingers657

I bought 3 pack box of Originals a couple of weeks ago but haven’t used them yet.
I also bought a 3 pack box of 09
Super 250’s
Nicke-Plated Steel 
Ball End
.009 - 042 
End of last year and they are good.
I haven’t tried the 10s yet.

fretmeister

Yorkie said:

fretmeister said:

I love the Yngwie signature strings so I’ve no reason to doubt the quality of the others they make.

Except price. One packet of Yngwie signatures goes for roughly the same price as three packets of 9s. It could be due to production numbers, but who knows.

I’m used to buying bass flats!

Yorkie

fretmeister said:

Yorkie said:

fretmeister said:

I love the Yngwie signature strings so I’ve no reason to doubt the quality of the others they make.

Except price. One packet of Yngwie signatures goes for roughly the same price as three packets of 9s. It could be due to production numbers, but who knows.

I’m used to buying bass flats!

How does one go from 50s to 8s without snapping three strings on the first bend?  

ICBM

Yorkie said:

I can understand why people might think that… left D’Addario, right Fender. Different gauges though (11s vs 10s), so red DA is closer to gold F. They look uncannily similar.

They look more like D’Addarios than fake D’Addarios do!

fretmeister

Yorkie said:

fretmeister said:

Yorkie said:

fretmeister said:

I love the Yngwie signature strings so I’ve no reason to doubt the quality of the others they make.

Except price. One packet of Yngwie signatures goes for roughly the same price as three packets of 9s. It could be due to production numbers, but who knows.

I’m used to buying bass flats!

How does one go from 50s to 8s without snapping three strings on the first bend?  

I can't cope with 50s!
40-100 flats are about the same as 45-105 rounds in most cases.

It's a shame Fender don't do a set of 250 series 9-46 though. That would be very nice on my LP.

EDIT: I tell a lie - they do! Lovely!

CavemanGrogg

Fender really put me off of their strings when they released their bullet things, not that I have ever really used Fender branded strings, I've used them when I've had to, but after they released those bullet monstrosities, I made it a point to make sure that I'd never be in a position where I had no other option that to use Fender strings.  I don't think there is anything ''wrong'' with the vast majority of their strings, just that their bullet ones where so bad, I didn't want to risk ending up with them again even by accident - as in wanting the white pack and accidentally grabbing the bullets by mistake so it's easier for me just to avoid all their strings all together.

ICBM

CavemanGrogg said:

Fender really put me off of their strings when they released their bullet things, not that I have ever really used Fender branded strings, I've used them when I've had to, but after they released those bullet monstrosities, I made it a point to make sure that I'd never be in a position where I had no other option that to use Fender strings.  I don't think there is anything ''wrong'' with the vast majority of their strings, just that their bullet ones where so bad, I didn't want to risk ending up with them again even by accident - as in wanting the white pack and accidentally grabbing the bullets by mistake so it's easier for me just to avoid all their strings all together.

I used Bullets when I played in a 50s-style rock'n'roll band with a Strat - the rolled-wound ones, so they were sort-of halfway to flatwounds, which unfortunately I don't think they do any more - they felt great, and stayed in tune really well. I'm not convinced by the claims for 'sonic coupling' to the bridge block or whatever it was, but they certainly sounded good as well.

elstoof

I stick with the Gibson branded ones as they’re the only ones with a short enough back wrap around the ball for satisfactory fit in wraptail bridges. Everything else I’ve tried sticks out too far and leaves a sharp corner on the string

CavemanGrogg

ICBM said:

CavemanGrogg said:

Fender really put me off of their strings when they released their bullet things, not that I have ever really used Fender branded strings, I've used them when I've had to, but after they released those bullet monstrosities, I made it a point to make sure that I'd never be in a position where I had no other option that to use Fender strings.  I don't think there is anything ''wrong'' with the vast majority of their strings, just that their bullet ones where so bad, I didn't want to risk ending up with them again even by accident - as in wanting the white pack and accidentally grabbing the bullets by mistake so it's easier for me just to avoid all their strings all together.

I used Bullets when I played in a 50s-style rock'n'roll band with a Strat - the rolled-wound ones, so they were sort-of halfway to flatwounds, which unfortunately I don't think they do any more - they felt great, and stayed in tune really well. I'm not convinced by the claims for 'sonic coupling' to the bridge block or whatever it was, but they certainly sounded good as well.

I really hated the Bullet strings, I found that due to the shape of the bullets on the ends of the strings, that even on the Fender that I had at the time - can't remember the exact model as the paperwork is not in front of me but it's a 93 MIJ Fender Stratocaster with the Fender logo in Silver in red/candy apple red with black white black 3 ply pickguard and black pickups, that the strings came out of the bridge block at what I - somebody who has no interest in servicing or setting up their own guitars, would call a strange angle, and because of the angle that the strings come up through the bridge block at, they where constantly breaking behind the bridge saddles, in the same place on every string, even the 5th and 6th strings.  Literally one or two bends and the string would snap behind the saddle.

StefB

I did a demanding rock gig on Friday night with a fresh set of white Fender 11s on a MIJ Elemental Tele tuned to E flat. 

First time I’d used them and they were great. Kept their tuning well and sounded good. 

I bought four packs from GAK for a good price just before this thread was started and will definitely be using them lots in future. 

Yorkie

StefB said:

I did a demanding rock gig on Friday night with a fresh set of white Fender 11s on a MIJ Elemental Tele tuned to E flat. 

First time I’d used them and they were great. Kept their tuning well and sounded good. 

I bought four packs from GAK for a good price just before this thread was started and will definitely be using them lots in future. 

That sounds great. 

I did three hours of recording with the Fender 10s yesterday. Some detail-heavy music, connecting straight into the amp with a little bit of hair. 

I thought they sounded a bit bright, but then I discovered this other knob… [runs for cover]

ICBM

CavemanGrogg said:

I really hated the Bullet strings, I found that due to the shape of the bullets on the ends of the strings, that even on the Fender that I had at the time - can't remember the exact model as the paperwork is not in front of me but it's a 93 MIJ Fender Stratocaster with the Fender logo in Silver in red/candy apple red with black white black 3 ply pickguard and black pickups, that the strings came out of the bridge block at what I - somebody who has no interest in servicing or setting up their own guitars, would call a strange angle, and because of the angle that the strings come up through the bridge block at, they where constantly breaking behind the bridge saddles, in the same place on every string, even the 5th and 6th strings.  Literally one or two bends and the string would snap behind the saddle. 

Yes, I could see that being an issue - if I remember rightly the MIJ blocks have deeper-drilled holes than the USA ones, and that will probably cause trouble if the bullet is then too close to the plate. I also seem to remember they can jam in some far-east-made alloy blocks, and require a small Allen key poked down the hole from the top to drive them out... not exactly very handy if you break a string at a gig.

I was using them on USA Standard Strats.

Sassafras

Yorkie said:

There, right below the big numbers: 

“Made in the USA”

Yes, the packets are made in USA but the strings are made in Somalia.