Does anyone have experience with both of these brands? I've bought strings from Kallium a few times but the months long lead time and bad communication has me looking elsewhere.
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Newtone Strings vs Kallium?
- Thread starter Will_White
- Start date
Newtone will actually deliver your strings and isn’t a scumbag, so why waste your money on Kalium?
I haven't had the troubles with Kalium that others have had. Skip has been fine for me and has always delivered, even if not always as quickly as I'd like. This in NO way invalidates anybody else's negative experiences; but it's worth noting that such experiences haven't been universal. So far.
One factor for me has been that nobody else besides Kalium makes the 6-string gauges I like most.
Until recently, that is. Newtone has expanded their offerings of "in-between" gauges, which is kinda where I live, so it's now possible to get a similar set. So I have a few Newtone sets on order and am looking to see if I like them as well or possibly better. I haven't gone off Kaliums yet by any means, but at the very least it's good to have options.
One factor for me has been that nobody else besides Kalium makes the 6-string gauges I like most.
Until recently, that is. Newtone has expanded their offerings of "in-between" gauges, which is kinda where I live, so it's now possible to get a similar set. So I have a few Newtone sets on order and am looking to see if I like them as well or possibly better. I haven't gone off Kaliums yet by any means, but at the very least it's good to have options.
I haven't used them, but I haven't heard anything bad about them. I've had several piss poor experiences with Kalium, though. He doesn't deserve to still be in business with the way he haphazardly handles dealings with customers.
same. i've only purchased once IIRC, but it was a no-hassle, on-time experience = just what i expected. i'd say you're right, the OP's experience isn't "universal."
i haven't tried newtone strings.
If it's of any interest/use to anybody: I just tried a custom 6-string set from Newtone (nickel-plated steel, hex core, Platinum wrap, taper-core B and E) in the gauges I usually use with Kalium (hybrid balanced tension, .031/.041/.057/.076/.102/.136).
The Newtones, though perhaps a hair quieter, really sounded pretty good, and I'd happily play with them ... EXCEPT for the .136 low B string. That string just sounded muddy, with insufficient pitch definition, and it didn't seem to have the output of the rest of the set, either. It didn't work for me.
So that's my experience with one set. If you don't need a .136 low B, you might be quite happy with Newtones. And it's even possible that I just got a bum string, and that others in the same gauge are better. I sort of doubt it, but I can't say for sure.
Because mine was a custom order, it took over a month to arrive in California from the UK--something like 3 weeks to make the strings and assemble the sets, and another couple of weeks in the mail. If you go for a stock set, that time should be noticeably shorter, but in the US, you're still dealing with international mail. Not SBM speed by any means, but not unbearable either. Just something to plan around.
The Newtones, though perhaps a hair quieter, really sounded pretty good, and I'd happily play with them ... EXCEPT for the .136 low B string. That string just sounded muddy, with insufficient pitch definition, and it didn't seem to have the output of the rest of the set, either. It didn't work for me.
So that's my experience with one set. If you don't need a .136 low B, you might be quite happy with Newtones. And it's even possible that I just got a bum string, and that others in the same gauge are better. I sort of doubt it, but I can't say for sure.
Because mine was a custom order, it took over a month to arrive in California from the UK--something like 3 weeks to make the strings and assemble the sets, and another couple of weeks in the mail. If you go for a stock set, that time should be noticeably shorter, but in the US, you're still dealing with international mail. Not SBM speed by any means, but not unbearable either. Just something to plan around.
I just bought a Diamond set with a .180 so I'll report how it sounds when it gets here, Newtone advises that diamond is better for larger strings over .145 so that might be it, they might need to lower that advisement to .130 or .125.
