About a week and a half ago I decided I would take a gamble and spring for a set of strings I've never tried. Every once in a while I like trying something new in hopes of coming across something I really like. After going back and forth between DR Hi-beams (which I really liked but found to be pretty inconsistent in terms of feel and quality), and D'Addario XL's (which I love and have been my go to string for a long while), I was unsure of what to try next. I had never used coated strings before and I was curious about Cleartones. Besides the sky high price I liked the idea of having a super thin coating, keeping the round wound sound, and having them last a long time. Plus I was itching to go back to tapered B strings. So I took the risk and swapped them out for the XL's I was using. At first I wasnt overly impressed. They sounded pretty good and felt very nice but I felt as if they were missing something. The next day I switched back to the XL's and was surprised to find that I really missed the feel and tone of the Cleartones. I strung up the Cleartones again and having been really digging them since. After a few days they sound really nice with a little less overtones and string noise than with the XL's. They feel pretty smooth but are not slippery. What surprised me most with these was the B string. I read some interviews that said the B was pretty lack-luster but this is honestly my favorite B out of any I have ever used. Super solid and very bassy without being muddy. No clackity clack or anything even when hit pretty agressively.
So all in all, I am hooked on these. For now... We'll see if they last long enough to justify the price. FWIW I am using these on my Carvin SB5000.
So all in all, I am hooked on these. For now... We'll see if they last long enough to justify the price. FWIW I am using these on my Carvin SB5000.
