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Ibanez strings, how bad can they be?

Swerve

Swerve

Nov 22, 2002
2,459
5,849
Portland, OR
#1
I was looking for single strings on Amazon when I came across this 4-pack of Ibanez strings for $7.90. They are coated NPS. Made in China with US steel. Most of the reviews are coming out of Europe and Asia but they seem positive enough.

Could this be a poor man's Elixir? I know all the mid tier and up Ibanez basses are strung with Elixirs. Are the lower priced ones strung with these? From the rumors I've read Elixir's are D'Addarios that are coated by Elixir in China.

Well for $7 I ordered a pack just for fun. They are 6x cheaper than Elixir's. I will string them on a Schecter Omen Extreme 4, which has the same style tuners that you typically see on Soundgears.

Anyone else have experience with these?

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#2
I've tried the 6 strings set years ago, worst strings I've ever had.

the gauges are kind of "random", not precise at all, they halved the output from the pickups, and the intonation was nearly impossible.

never again, they are so cheap that the Harley Benton 5€ strings are way better.
 
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#4
Pier_ said:
I've tried the 6 strings set years ago, worst strings I've ever had.

the gauges are kind of "random", not precise at all, they halved the output from the pickups, and the intonation was nearly impossible.

never again, they are so cheap that the Harley Benton 5€ strings are way better.
Click to expand...

Oof yeah that sounds terrible. Well worst case I'm out $7. Maybe I'll get lucky. I've paid much more for crappy strings. lol
 
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#5
Well I'm happy to report not only are these strings not crappy, they're actually quite nice!

Nice feel. Not stiff or floppy. Fat and warm NPS sound with a bit of top end zing but no brittleness. They intonate fine, I only had to adjust the D string a little.

It's been years since I played Elixir's but I would really like to compare the two. I seem to remember the coating was more obvious with Elixir's whereas with these Ibanez its more subtle.

We'll see how they age, but honestly these are a perfectly fine set of neutral sounding NPS's for the price of a set of guitar strings.

I think anyone that likes XL's or Slinky's would sit fine with these. Maybe even just to have in your case as a backup. But so far I actually prefer them.

Of course I also could have just gotten a good set. But I'm going to order a few more,

As an aside the ball ends are the same gunmetal gray color you typically see on Ibanez bridges and tuners.
 
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#9
TomB said:
I’m pretty certain the strings that came on my Ibanez short-scale 5 were not coated so are not the same strings as above.
Click to expand...

These don't really feel coated either, they are fairly smooth, but I don't think I would detect any coating if it didn't say so on the package. Whereas with strings like Black Beauties and Elixir's I could tell.
 
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#10
coatings, except for Elixir, aren't visible, because are not around the entire string.

Elixirs coats the "finished" string, other brands have a coating on the winding wire, so you won't notice it because it doesn't cover the gaps in the winding.

Swerve said:
But I'm going to order a few more,
Click to expand...

let us know. maybe they changed something during these years. I tried them probably 5 or 6 years ago, and the only gave me problems :D
 
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#11
Pier_ said:
coatings, except for Elixir, aren't visible, because are not around the entire string.

Elixirs coats the "finished" string, other brands have a coating on the winding wire, so you won't notice it because it doesn't cover the gaps in the winding.
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks for that, I had assumed all "coated" strings meant they were coated after the string was finished.

Pier_ said:
let us know. maybe they changed something during these years. I tried them probably 5 or 6 years ago, and the only gave me problems :D
Click to expand...

Maybe so. I'm actually surprised how much I like these strings, and not just because they were $7. They have a legit feel and sound that I like. Well as much as I can like NPS, which I've usually not used much. Always preferred SS or Flats. But for comparison, I bought a $30 pack of Stringjoy NPS and it took a month of playing them before I liked them. Wanted to toss them immediately but they eventually settled into a good sound.

But I do have a fondness for cheap basses and cheap pizza, maybe my cheap tastes extend to strings too. :wacky:
 
#12
Swerve said:
Ah, thanks for that, I had assumed all "coated" strings meant they were coated after the string was finished.
Click to expand...

no, Elixir is the only one that uses the coating outside, and they sponsor it as much as they can :D

also, in the last years the fashion is coating with "treatment" and not with a real coating; back in the days, Dean Markley had the "sub zero" or how they use to call them, that were kind of "cryogenically treated" to last longer.

now many brand (like D'Addario, Fender ecc) use some treatment that are meant to avoid rusting, but for what concerns the dirt inside the gaps, the only functional coating is the "condom" used by Elixir.

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#13
Pier_ said:
no, Elixir is the only one that uses the coating outside, and they sponsor it as much as they can :D

also, in the last years the fashion is coating with "treatment" and not with a real coating; back in the days, Dean Markley had the "sub zero" or how they use to call them, that were kind of "cryogenically treated" to last longer.

now many brand (like D'Addario, Fender ecc) use some treatment that are meant to avoid rusting, but for what concerns the dirt inside the gaps, the only functional coating is the "condom" used by Elixir.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

Interesting stuff. The only negative with these Ibanez strings so far for me is there is small amount of black residue on my fingers after playing. Which I haven't experienced since playing a lot of acoustic guitar. I wonder if that is part of the coating or just some factory residue. lol
 
#14
Pier_ said:
no, Elixir is the only one that uses the coating outside, and they sponsor it as much as they can :D

also, in the last years the fashion is coating with "treatment" and not with a real coating; back in the days, Dean Markley had the "sub zero" or how they use to call them, that were kind of "cryogenically treated" to last longer.

now many brand (like D'Addario, Fender ecc) use some treatment that are meant to avoid rusting, but for what concerns the dirt inside the gaps, the only functional coating is the "condom" used by Elixir.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...
D'Addario XS strings, which are also coated on the outside, are not available for bass, only guitar (electric and acoustic) and mandolin.

The new X-Carbon coating of Ibanez acoustic bass strings might be of this type as well:
bassist4dalord said:
IMG_7256.png IMG_7255.png
Click to expand...
The way the black fades toward the string end makes me think of multiple coats; it would be nice to have a clearer pic of these.
 
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#15
HaphAsSard said:
D'Addario XS strings
Click to expand...

interesting, I'm reading this, in fact:


on the other side, the XT have the "treatment".

D'Addario is always copying or buying other products, like they did with Aquila for ukulele strings and their Nylgut. they developed the "Nyltech" (together with Aquila) and put on the market a string made exactly like the most popular ukulele string :D

with the XS they are doing the Elixir's coating; I'd be curious to try it to check how long it lasts before starting to fray. Elixir changed the formula in 2012 making the coating stronger and longer lasting, so hopefully D'Addario is using a similar formula, and not the old one from Elixir, which used to fray after a few weeks :D
 
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