Biggest string disappointment ever - whats yours?

[MattyH]

anything and everything GHS. What a sack of turds.

I think GHS makes Lakland strings, which I reeeeaaalllyyyy like. The Nickels in particular. But a standard set of GHS boomers did not impress me at all. I don't know how different the Lakland specs are, but even if it's a small change its doing something different to my ears. The Flea signature set was also a big let down.

 

[David Jayne]

Any half round, ground wound or other weird stuff. Yuck. Any unreasonably inexpensive string offer, where a set costs two dollars. They suck. And I hate to say it but I don't care for my Sadowsky flats at all(but I do like flats generally).

 

[john_g]

At first I didnt like any of the flats I tried...Chromes, GHS, Fender, Rotos. I still dont like the stiff tension, but man, in the live mix of my band, they sound awesome. It is not "my sound", but with my current band with two loud, bass heavy guitarists, they really work well.

 

[Dan Bass]

Flat wounds, too dead dull and stiff.Also GHS BASS BOOMERS, sound alright new then couple hours later already going dead and they have a mixture of alloy in them, when you take them off the bottoms of the strings that were against the frets are big time dented, alloy too soft for string use IMO...

 

[Hopkins]

Any set of flats I have ever tried, though the webstrings.com flats get points for not having silks.

As far as rounds go I was pretty disappointed with Circle K strings. For the price I paid, I thought they would sound better, personally I found them kind of sterile and they didn't last very long.

 

[Floridabwoy]

Rotosound 66.. meh.

 

[Celtic59]

According to this post, EVERYTHING SUCKS!!! I tried Rotosound Swing Bass around 1976-77, and they worked, so I stuck with them. I recently bought a used bass with flats, and as much as they feel great to play with, I can't use that tone for my sound. I think you just have to find a brand and style you like, and just stick with it.

 

[monsterthompson]

Roptosound 77 Monel Flats. Dead as a door nail.

Terrible.

 

[fretlessguy]

I put TI's on my Sting P and they are a perfect match I'll probably try Chromes again because in my opinion so much depends on the bass being used.

I have TIs on my Sting P and its a good combination.

 

[orange joe]

Dean Markley Blue steels nickle plated 40-95.Dead out of the box.

 

[oysteivi]

Any nickel roundwound. I can play RS66 or flats no problem, but nickels just feel horrible. Like playing a lubricated cheese grater.

 

[Batmensch]

The worst strings For me were Dean Markley Blue Steel. Cryogenically activated (what is that)? They were deader than dead sounding right out of the box.

Indeed, that is odd. I would definitely not classify tem as dead sounding IME. The long lasting bright tone is the main reason they're my fave RW at the moment. Hell, I like the tone once they deaden up, for that matter.

 

[Buzz E]

Chromes. Way too stiff. I heard my truss rod yelling "Take 'em off! Take 'em off!"

 

[akane3]

I thought DR sunbeams kind of sucked. I love DR, but the sunbeams were harsh and terrible.

 

[bobbybass85]

Sadly it was Rotosound Swing 66 Steels. Went dead instantly, and the low E wore a lot fasted than the other strings. I was really bummed with all the live they get around here. I thought they'd blow my usual dunlop steels away, but I guess not.

 

[Hopkins]

If we go beyond bass, the biggest disappointment in any strings was with a set of DR Sunbeams for my acoustic 6 string. I was looking forward to them as I wanted a little lower tension set, which the round core strings did deliver. The fact that they were on back order and I had to wait a few weeks to get them made it worse. The strings were nice to play, and the tension was great, but they sucked all of the volume and low end out of my Breedlove, and made it sound like a $50 beginner guitar.

 

[DavC]

Chromes

DR Sunbeams

any 'ground' half flat

 

[BobaFret]

Trying the new Dunlop SuperBright strings.

I love them so much that I'm super disappointed they didn't start making them years earlier. Can't tell you how much time I've wasted on strings.

 

[Stranger Danger]

EB Cobalts

Razor wire feel with cat screech tone. Awful.

 

[Buzz E]

Trying the new Dunlop SuperBright strings.

I love them so much that I'm super disappointed they didn't start making them years earlier. Can't tell you how much time I've wasted on strings.

I'm digging them as well...!