Best strings for telecaster?

Wazmeister

Strat54 said:

@Wazmeister @Matt_McG Do you guys buy direct? What's the shipping costs like? I bought a stash of them from James Home of Tone when he was stocking them but he's stopped now and my supplies are dwindling. Cheers.

Im in the same situation mate - I have ordered from Home Of Tone before, but also need a supplier

Strat54

Matt_McG said:

@Strat54 ;

I buy direct. Shipping is a flat rate of $16 USD. In fact, I just placed an order a few days ago as I wanted some lap steel strings, too. Delivery times are a bit variable. 

Looking at my order history in my emails, the last set I ordered, it took about 4-5 weeks for them to be dispatched after I placed the order, and the two orders before that it was about 3 weeks each from when I placed the order to them shipping.

Luckily, the strings last forever with the amount I play—and I'm not hard on strings anyway—so I place an order for 3 or 4 sets once a year, and I'm good.

Hey thanks, that's not a bad price for shipping. I'm okay waiting too. Nothing last quite like these strings and there's no rust from keeping them stored either. I just binned a set of Mangan's that came at the same time as these GT's cos there was rust on the wound strings despite being dry stored in a sealed box with a silica pouch. 
The only other strings I've used in recent years was a gifted set of Elixir Optiwebs that I stuck on my Tom Anderson Tele, they're fine I guess....just wanted a little extra fight from the hex core cos the Anderson has such a flat radius. They seemed to do the trick.
People scoffed when I told them at the time how much the Tenorio's cost but in reality they last twice as long for me as other strings like the DR round cores and the Mangan round cores so works out the same price. Even comparing them to a set of Slinky's at £7....I was changing them every three or four months so again no more expensive. Need to get some a UK dealers on board, everyone seems to be stocking Stringjoy at the moment. 

Matt_McG

@Strat54 @Wazmeister ;

They do a player pack of 5 sets of strings which works out at about 18 quid a set (current exchange rate), and the individual pack are about 21 quid a set. Although you might get dinged with duty if you buy a lot.

Roland

Kurtis said:

Do all brands make different types of strings? 

Inevitably some companies make their own, and some buy them in.

Over the years I’ve used EBs and D’Ads. 10-52s on everything, long or short scale. 10s suit my my playing. There’s enough looseness for two semitone bends on all strings. Currently I use Newtone round core, changing them when I can feel wear on the D string. They seem to last longer than other makes, and ordering from the man who makes then reassures me that they aren’t fakes.

jellybelly

Absolutely puzzled by the lack of enthusiasm for Rotosounds. I use 11s (reds) on everything - offsets, Teles, anything. Fairly bright and don't seem to dull as quick as others such as EB in particular. Not too fond of the D'addarrios either. To date, I haven't broken a Rotosound string. Ever. 

If some think they're 'dull' maybe that sort of works best with the bright offsets I tend to play most? Tone and peoples opinions about it are weird. 

British manufacturer, the foil packs are hard to counterfeit, readily available, don't break. What's not to like. 

1Strat2many

Another thumbs up for Curt Mangan. These seem to suit any Guitar I put them on and sound and feel great. Ive currently got them on a 335, two Strats, a Tele Thinline and a Musicman ALHH. No complaints whatsoever.

Fingers657

Kurtis said:

I've not changed strings for years and they still sound fine.

I think all this changing strings every couple of weeks is a fairly modern phenomenon. People used to change strings when they broke.

I remember asking my dad what strings he used on his guitar when he was younger. He said he didn't know they were on it when he got it 

Brilliant 
I can equate to that when I got my first guitar in the early 1960s .
My father always bought things he thought I would grow into.
It took me ages to get my arm over that hollow body electric guitar to reach the strings.
Reading Bert’s play in a day booklet was added stress 
I think that’s why I became a drummer 

beed84

I can't say whether you'll like them on a Tele, but I've recently switched from Ernie Ball 10s to Curt Mangan 9.5s and they're great. They sound and feel fab, and they last ages too. On a side note, I'd also suggest ordering from Strings By Mail. If you buy a few packs at a time, everything works out cheaper, even with international shipping applied. Takes about a week to arrive    

mani

This chart might be useful to some if you're making a hybrid roto set.

https://www.rotosound.com/tension-comparison-chart/

tonystone82

snowblind said:

mani said:

Rotosound 11-48 nickel ‘reds’ on my custom Tele with r/w board. Prefer 11’s on Telecasters suits me just fine.

Interesting how things vary. I tried some rotosound yellows once, based on a recommendation. They were off the guitar in under 5 minutes. Abso-ferkin-lootely awful. 

I know I have a lot of iron in my bloodstream but these were like I suddenly developed magnetic fingers. Nasty.

These days it's GHS boomers on everything. 10-48s on the strat/tele. 10.5-50 on the Les/Epi dot.   

Yeah the problem I’m having is that they just do not stay in tune, the rotosound yellows are just awful IMO, they last about 10 mins as well, and then the brightness, snappiness just turns to mud and then they sound as dull as dishwater. I don’t wanna beat down on rotosound but that’s my honest experience with them of late, sorry to say. 

jellybelly

I don't think anyone has to be sorry about anything @tonystone82 after all experiences and opinions are what this forum is all about.

But, for balance, people should check out the artists who use these products professionally day in day out. Can't imagine there are many string manufacturers who wouldn't advertise far and wide about endorsees and professional users of their products. 

Between Rotosound and Ernie Ball, that's quite a roster of players and famous records! It might not be as big a deal as we're making it out to be, or they look for something else in their strings eg. Not breaking Vs some unquantifiable 'betterness'?

(Edited for spelling!)

tonystone82

jellybelly said:

I don't think anyone has to be sorry about anything @tonystone82 after all experiences and opinions are what this forum is all about.

But, for balance, people should check out the artists who use these products professionally day in day out. Can't imagine there are many string manufacturers who wouldn't advertise far and wide about endorsees and professional users of their products. 

Between Rotosound and Ernie Ball, that's quite a roster of players and famous records! It might not be as big a deal as we're making it out to be, or they look for something else in their strings eg. Not breaking Vs some unquantifiable 'betterness'?

(Edited for spelling!)

I think that’s a very good point as that’s what drew me to Ernie Ball in the first place all those years ago. The fact that my favourite guitar heroes played with them was enough for me to start using them. And they just work with a maple neck Strat, I don’t think I would change from EB’s on my custom shop Clapton Strat tbh, they just feel right and last a while despite playing them everyday. On a tele on the other hand, with a rosewood board, it’s a different story. 

Strat54

jellybelly said:

I don't think anyone has to be sorry about anything @tonystone82 after all experiences and opinions are what this forum is all about.

But, for balance, people should check out the artists who use these products professionally day in day out. Can't imagine there are many string manufacturers who wouldn't advertise far and wide about endorsees and professional users of their products. 

Between Rotosound and Ernie Ball, that's quite a roster of players and famous records! It might not be as big a deal as we're making it out to be, or they look for something else in their strings eg. Not breaking Vs some unquantifiable 'betterness'?

(Edited for spelling!)

Pro's use EB's because they only do one gig with them and get them for free or as part of an endorsement deal. They are fine for 60 mins. 

strtdv

I like Ernie Ball strings when they're new, they do go dull quite quickly though. 
I hate coated strings on electric guitar.

Back when I was playing in a wedding band I'd just put a new set on a few days before the wedding (to make sure they'd bedded in and the tuning was stable), and they'd sound nice and bright when I needed them to, then change them for the next wedding we played.

mfin

GHS Boomers just work. I can't stand strings like Ernie Ball which sound super metallic when brand new then have to settle down to sounding better. Boomers don't do that, only a bit brighter when fresh on and they sound pretty consistent as they age as long as you keep them clean with a Swipe or similar.

tonystone82

strtdv said:

I like Ernie Ball strings when they're new, they do go dull quite quickly though. 
I hate coated strings on electric guitar.

Back when I was playing in a wedding band I'd just put a new set on a few days before the wedding (to make sure they'd bedded in and the tuning was stable), and they'd sound nice and bright when I needed them to, then change them for the next wedding we played.

I did the same thing when I was in a function band. In fact I still do this when I’m recording in the studio too as I want the strings to be as fresh and well tuned as possible before laying down the guitar parts. It’s best to do this on acoustic guitar as well. Elixirs all day long on acoustic guitar. 

tonystone82

Update:
So I’ve tried many of the recommended strings from ppl who were kind enough to give me their opinions on this thread. I think I’ve found the best strings for me for my custom built telecaster. 

They are the Elixir “Optiweb” (10-46). They are extremely consistent and stay in tune better than any other, bend nicely and feel silky smooth for fast jazz, blues and country licks. They sound bright, have lots of depth, lots of sustain, brilliant for many different genres including heavier distorted sounds. Sound awesome through my tweed 57 twin RI amp too, especially upon break up! Thanks to all for their advice and comments.