• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Elixir strings anyone? Here's what my brother told me...

Thir13teen

Thir13teen

Silence = Deaf
Supporting Member
Feb 12, 2012
1,535
1,434
USA
#1
My brother's been playing six string guitar since 1991. He's pro level. He's tried pretty much everything but has been a D'Adarrio guy forever. The guy that does his setups informed my bro that he uses Elixir's now. My bro gave some push back and was like "Nah....can you just put D'Addario's on?" The guy was like sure - but I'll have to order them special unless you want to get them yourself and bring them to me. But then the guy hands my brother his Dave Mustaine signature guitar with Elixir's on it and says "Here, try this." My brother said he started noodling around and was like "Wow. Pretty impressive." And the guy said "Right? And those strings your playing right now are a little over a year old." That freaked my bro out (in a good way) so he had the guy string his guitar with Elixir's.

Anyway, I trust my brother's opinion and was now wanting to try them on my P/J bass. Anybody else run Elixir's? What are your thoughts? Nickel or steel do you play?

Thanks! :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Garret Graves
#6
Craig4003 said:
Is it only the Polywebs that fray and leave bits of coating hanging off? I have Nanowebs on a couple of basses and a few guitars and I've never seen it.
Click to expand...

Yes the nano coating is so thin I’ve never seen them frey on bass strings.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bassista6, Paulabass and Thir13teen
#7
Paulabass said:
I'll admit it's been a long time. The few few sets I tried frayed, and looked fuzzy, and out of focus. At my age, anything out of focus had better BE out of focus!
I don't know if that's been fixed, but it scared me off.
Click to expand...
How long ago? I think I remember seeing ads for their strings like 25 years ago. I see nowadays they have something called a "nanoweb" coating. The reason we even got on the subject is because I told my bro that my goto string are Ernie Ball Cobalts. I know the Cobalts are coated and then that's when he brought up Elixir's. He said he honestly thought he'd never use anything other then the D'Addario's but, who knows? To each his own. I see they are like $40 a set. $10 more then the Cobalt's.
 
#8
Thir13teen said:
How long ago? I think I remember seeing ads for their strings like 25 years ago. I see nowadays they have something called a "nanoweb" coating. The reason we even got on the subject is because I told my bro that my goto string are Ernie Ball Cobalts. I know the Cobalts are coated and then that's when he brought up Elixir's. He said he honestly thought he'd never use anything other then the D'Addario's but, who knows? To each his own. I see they are like $40 a set. $10 more then the Cobalt's.
Click to expand...

The polyweb version has always been notorious for shedding. Nanos are rock solid against that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Thir13teen
#10
Thir13teen said:
I know the Cobalts are coated and then that's when he brought up Elixir's.
Click to expand...

Cobalt aren't coated...

the coating on the Elixir used to fray only untile 2012, when they changed the nanoweb formula. I use them on the guitar since 2001, and prior to 2012 they used to fray and die earlier.
also, the plain strings were coated.

in 2012 they changed the coating and put an anti-rust treatment on plain strings. in the last 4 years I've had them on my two electric guitars, and they are still shiny and new. a couple of years ago they changed again, making the coating even thinner and long-lasting, and my acoustic guitar that has them is really happy.

on bass I never liked them, too scooped on the mids and poor on the lows... also they are tighter than other strings at the same gauge.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rabidhamster
#12
I bought a bass at GC and because it was new but the stings were dead i schmoozed a new set of strings as part of the deal. They were Elixer strings and after reading up i put them on. They were good enough but nothing to write home about. In less than a couple of weeks the E was dead as a doornail. I called Elixer and they said send them in and they’d replace the set. Had i paid for them i might have done it but i just took it as a cheap lesson learned and stuck with my D'Addario XL’s.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Thir13teen, ScrewDevil and Element Zero
#13
Elixirs are popular in guitar world, some like them, some don't. The coated strings produce less sharp tone (they also have three levels of coating: thick, medium and thin).

My first experience with Elixirs was Polywebs (thick coating) bronze on a 12-string. Did not like them, non-coated bronze strings had much more full and zingy sounding.

The second one was a week ago. I bought an archtop that had nickel Nanowebs (medium coating).
The strings were really nice there, but currently replaced them with Dunlop Super Brights.
Dunlops seem really right when plugged in. When not plugged in, Elixirs were better.
 
#15
P.S. the difference between coated and non-coated strings somewhat reminds me on the difference between flats and rounds. that's not as literally, but coated strings are compressed, have less growl, zing and brightness than new non-coated roundwounds and the same is also true for flats.
HTH
 
#16
not a coating fan ... i use Nomad's String Fuel ... i wipe my strings ( elec gtr, acoustic gtr/bass , elec bass ) after playing ... keep things clean ... my strings last a long time ...

strings die and lose highs because of the dents incurred from the frets ..! those little flat spots mess with the strings harmonic content ...
 
  • Like
Reactions: craigie

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back