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Strings that won't die so quickly
- Thread starter chargerbandit
- Start date
To the OP. I had the same problem for years. I've tried Just about every brand of string out there. The only ones that lasted for me, and felt and sounded good, were Elixir's. I play about 8-12 gigs month and I was replacing strings on two 5 string basses (one standard Stingray, one Eb Ray35) about every month. Got expensive quick. Tried DR Neons. Couldn't stand the feel or sound. Tried the dragon skins and liked the sound but still couldn't get over the feel. Went back to ernie balls for a while and finally tried Elixirs. It was like a light shined down from the heavens. I've had them strung up for about 6 weeks now and they still sound great. That's after playing outside gigs and sweating all over them. Most the time during summer gig season, stings only last me 1-2 weeks. The huge plus is how slick and smooth these feel. I vote you should try them.
I use Elixirs on most of my instruments. I have them on my Stingray Classic, and they sound and play great!
As for their durability, I've had the same set of Elixirs on my mandolin for three years now, and they still sound great. They even got rained on at three different music festivals, and the only tarnish is on the E and A strings, where the pick wore through the finish. I may replace them this year, but then again, it may rain again this year... Maybe next year!
Maybe I'm just a bit OCD about being clean. But seriously wash up before picking up any instrument. Wash your hands thoroughly. Clean the instrument before you put it away. If that doesn't do it, wash every few songs. Fretboards shouldn't look like that and strings shouldn't die right away.
Haha that's funny about the mandolin! 3 years is impressive. I've had mine on my acoustic guitar since I bought it. I finally bought some for my Stingray 5 and Ray35 then I got them for my acoustic bass, my P bass, and my electric guitar. Now EVERYTHING I own has elixirs. Lol
There's no harm in taking a 5 minute break every 45 minutes or so. That's plenty of time to wash hands, wipe strings, and tune up.
We do 3-45 min sets most nights. But after 45 mins, me and my bass are usually soaked. I can kill strings in a week or so at home practicing even if I don't sweat. Even when I was my hands and use sanitizer. Elixirs were the only answer for me really.
Well, lookie here. Another Elixir user! And you can take the extra 5 min per set and stick it in your nether region.Real men play 3-50 min sets a night
Hi Moe!
Hi, Mikey!
I am an Elixir evangelist. My current set on my main bass has been on for over a year and they still sound great.
They were super-bright and zingy for at least 10 to 11 months and though they have mellowed slightly from that they still have that "piano-like" sound today. And I used to kill a standard set of Daddarios in under a month. Right now, after well over a year (15 months i think) my bass sounds like 1 week old Daddario steel rounds.
I also play with a thumbpick and fingernails. Absolutely no fraying of the coating like some people report. I assume they are using the older coating, I'm using their newest... on steels. The coating is excellent to the touch in my opinion, slick, but not too slick.
Don't believe the hype, the hype says 3 to 5 times as long as normal strings, Thats wayy conservative in my experience.
They were super-bright and zingy for at least 10 to 11 months and though they have mellowed slightly from that they still have that "piano-like" sound today. And I used to kill a standard set of Daddarios in under a month. Right now, after well over a year (15 months i think) my bass sounds like 1 week old Daddario steel rounds.
I also play with a thumbpick and fingernails. Absolutely no fraying of the coating like some people report. I assume they are using the older coating, I'm using their newest... on steels. The coating is excellent to the touch in my opinion, slick, but not too slick.
Don't believe the hype, the hype says 3 to 5 times as long as normal strings, Thats wayy conservative in my experience.
Thanks guys for the comments...about wiping and washing my hands, here is the thing, my hands start sweating the minute I pick up the guitar even if my hands are dry as a desert before. I will give the Coated Boomers a try, otherwise I will also take a look at the Elixirs...but in my country they cost almost 70 dollars per set. What about lets say stainless steel strings? Would those rust less?
Charger, you're in the neighborhood - you might want to try ordering from Maruszczyk basses in Germany. I have one of his coated sets and those things are durable and long-lasting. Delivery time is about a week and a half, maybe even shorter since you're about 200 km closer to Maruszczyk than I am. 
with stainless steel you get a brighter and "clancky" sound, but if you sweat a lot, they won't last very long.
if it's a matter of money, you can buy from Thomann, for 5€ per set, the Harley Benton strings.
on my guitars (less than 1€ per set) they lasted long, much more than D'Addario, Ernie Ball, Fender and GHS nickels, even on the unwound strings. not as much as Elixir. I still have something like fine or six sets of .010 and ten/twelve sets of .009! I bought more than 20 set per gauge, I use them to setup the guitars of my friends, and to mix sets, to get for example .009-.046 set (and not 9-42).
on my basses I've used them during 2011 and 2012, in 40-95 gauge, and they are still my first choice when I need light gauge nickels. (for 45-105 or bigger gauges I prefer stainless steel strings).
you can change them often, without regrets!
(I think that 42€ for Elixirs are not that much... here in Italy they cost more than 50€ in shops, and I bought them from Saiten Markt for 42€. considering that a set of normal strings costs 20€, spending 42€ (two sets of normal strings) is not that much, if then they last an entire year or more. )
if it's a matter of money, you can buy from Thomann, for 5€ per set, the Harley Benton strings.
on my guitars (less than 1€ per set) they lasted long, much more than D'Addario, Ernie Ball, Fender and GHS nickels, even on the unwound strings. not as much as Elixir. I still have something like fine or six sets of .010 and ten/twelve sets of .009! I bought more than 20 set per gauge, I use them to setup the guitars of my friends, and to mix sets, to get for example .009-.046 set (and not 9-42).
on my basses I've used them during 2011 and 2012, in 40-95 gauge, and they are still my first choice when I need light gauge nickels. (for 45-105 or bigger gauges I prefer stainless steel strings).
you can change them often, without regrets!
(I think that 42€ for Elixirs are not that much... here in Italy they cost more than 50€ in shops, and I bought them from Saiten Markt for 42€. considering that a set of normal strings costs 20€, spending 42€ (two sets of normal strings) is not that much, if then they last an entire year or more. )
I use a metal pick on the mandolin, and it still took a long time to wear through the finish, and it only wore through on the un-wound strings. I've never damaged the nanoweb coating on the electric guitars, acoustic's or the bass. Right now every instrument has elixirs or tapes with a couple of small exceptions.
Yeah, I figured if these coated strings don't work out either, I should just buy plenty of cheap strings and change them once every 2 months. I think I should also boil some of these sets that I have...theres like 5 sets of 2 month old strings that just have thick layers of crap on them.
I boiled strings once. It may work for you. For me, they sounded pretty good a couple days after, then went deader than before.
When it comes to price vs. longevity Elixirs are the cheapest thing out there. By a long shot.
