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Forums > Electric Guitar > enough picks... what STRINGS do you use?

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Original message:790 days 1 hours 37 minutes ago

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Member: SATAN

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everyone loves their picks... but what are you slamming on with them? my choice is Dean Markley blue steel 10 guages on my blues guitars, and 9 guages on my standard tuning rock guitars. 11 guage blue steels go on my guitars i have tuned down 1 to 1 1/2 steps. and i use a .046 low E on anything i use in drop D... i love the way the strings wear in after about 2 days... they start out sounding VERY bright, then mellow out perfectly for me. oh yea, and on my acoustics i use martin phospher bronze... i think..... 10 guage if i am not mistaken...... youu can see how ofter i play my acoustics..... sheesh....

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Run for thine therapy transition meeting!!!!

Reply:790 days 45 minutes ago
Member: goodbyeboy

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i use fender super bullet...they seem to be very stable on my strat and it feels good to play them

Where words fail, music speaks.

Reply:789 days 21 hours 22 minutes ago
Member: G_Barber

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I'm with you on the bullets.

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Reply:789 days 14 hours 17 minutes ago
Member: Grensley

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yeah!!!!!

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Reply:789 days 19 hours 39 minutes ago
Member: humstrat1

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Snake Oil Brand Rock Formula 9-42 gauge on my 25.5" scale guitars, and Snake Oil Brand Rock Formula 10-46 on my 24.75" scale Hohner archtop.

I was once told on another forum that the plain strings in pure nickel string sets were the same as plain strings in nickel plated steel string sets and stainless steel string sets, and they all wore your frets down at the same rate. I shot an email to Dean Farley at Snake Oil Brand strings asking him if that was true, and this is what he wrote back,

"We don't use stainless steel for our plain string's base metal
WHATSOEVER....I absolutely HATE the feel and SOUND of stainless steel
on electric guitar strings. We use metals that are more easier on your
frets also....this is part of why our strings are so different from any
others.

Best,
Dean Farley/SOB"

So I'm a devoted Snake Oil brand guitar string user, because they sound great (and I can't afford stainless steel frets).

Reply:789 days 18 hours 35 minutes ago
Member: RuiOlasBrandon 's

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Ernie Ball Skinny top, Heavy bottom. Great.

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Hey, I'm stupid!

Reply:789 days 18 hours 19 minutes ago
Member: Kevin

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D'Darrios (I think that's how you spell it). I use the heavy 7 string ones.

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Reply:789 days 16 hours 1 minutes ago
Member: Johnny

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i use ernie ball reg slinky .10 - .46 on electric and fender or dean markley light guage on acoustic. i too tried the elixr and did not like them.

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SUPPORT SOUTHERN ROCK

Reply:789 days 14 hours 28 minutes ago
Member: ibzRG

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For the whammy electric: DR coated .010. I used red last time. I haven't decided on what color I'll get next. .009 feels too flimsy suddenly...
For the 12string acoustic : D'Addario Phosphor Bronze .009. I don't want to strain it with heavier strings and not all companies offer acoustic .009.
For the 6string acoustic : I think it has D'Addario EXP Phospor Bronze .012. But DR Rare Bronze work too. Depends on which store I end up.
For the bass : I don't have a freakin clue! 3.5 years after I bought it they are still stock, so probably made by ibanez. When I decide they need to change I think I'll try DR coated black heavy gauge, unless they cost insanely more than the others.

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Reply:788 days 6 hours 30 minutes ago
Member: bachmirage

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DR is also my string of choice. they just seem to last a lont longer and ssem more durable than other brands i have tried over the years. haven't gone to the color ones yet. i know the black coated ones kinda chip away quickly so i have steered away from them. but i'm sure i'll try a set sooner or later. i change 'em all out about every 6 weeks or so.(5 guitars). except for the floyd guits. i usually replace them as they break. or every 3 or 4 months.

nice pic is that the GHOUL???? i haven't seen him around in years. i think the son of GHOUL is still on air...

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Reply:785 days 20 hours 51 minutes ago
Member: ibzRG

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If it's MY pic you're refering to it's a drawing I did myself. Besically a caveman holding a stone guitar ...

*Chip* away? I cannot confirm that. The color more like fades away where my steel pick hits them. No chipping. The coat also breaks right over the frets where I bend, which may or may not annoy you.

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Reply:786 days 18 hours 14 minutes ago
Member: Zanary

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Dean Markely Blue Steel 11s on all my electric guitars...I use their bass strings and acoustic strings as well, though the acoustic strings are the phosphor bronze.

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Reply:786 days 16 hours ago
Member: Captain Fantastic

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D'Addario Extra Hard Tension Pro Arte and D'Addario 10's for my eclectic guitars.

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I enjoy skinny skiing, heckling figure skaters, flamenco guitar, the blue stuff you put your combs in, good drummers, focaccia bread and coffee out of a french press

Reply:786 days 10 hours 20 minutes ago
Member: dianna

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I've been kinda lazy about getting some strings for my guitar! (gasp!) I must admit, I play my bass more often...Several months ago I put flat wound D'Addario's on my bass...don't remember the gauge. I guess I should pay more attention to that sort of thing when posting crap on this site. (ha ha)
So for my guitar, does anyone have any suggestions? It is a semi-hollow body Dot Studio Epiphone...I can't even say for certain what type of sound I'm going for at this point, because everything I've done lately have been pretty experimental. I know I like a lighter gauge, but I do bends. My re-stringing is quite overdue! The strings on there now are getting nasty!

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The only cure for the suck is practice, practice, and more practice!!

Reply:785 days 5 hours 45 minutes ago
Member: humstrat1

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Snake Oil Brand Rock Formula 9's, you can get them here http://sobstrings.net/

They'll be nice and light and they'll sound good with the humbuckers on your Epi Dot Studio.

Reply:785 days 5 hours 7 minutes ago
Member: dianna

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Thanks humstrat1! I'll check 'em out!

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The only cure for the suck is practice, practice, and more practice!!

Reply:785 days 5 hours 2 minutes ago
Member: Tallmexicanstud

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For my Strat I use Super slinkys and for my Les Paul, i use Regular or Hybrid Slinkys. Don't use anything else (I don't, that wasn't a command, lol.)

Reply:785 days 2 hours 28 minutes ago
Member: Nick Brooks

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Ernie Ball Classic rock & roll regular slinkys .10 to .46 on my electric, On the Acoustic Martin Clapton's Choice phosphor Bronze .10 to .46

Reply:784 days 16 hours 27 minutes ago
Member: Joe Michael

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elixer nanoweb 9-42

soooooooo smooth ^_^

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Reply:784 days 5 hours 11 minutes ago
Member: SATAN

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wow, im surprised by the lack of people with steel strings...

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Run for thine therapy transition meeting!!!!

Reply:783 days 9 hours 44 minutes ago
Member: humstrat1

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Nobody wants to wear their frets down prematurely.

Reply:783 days 8 hours 22 minutes ago
Member: Zombre

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Ernie Ball or D'addarios 9-42

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http://www.myspace.com/scottkerrguitar

Reply:783 days 7 hours 36 minutes ago
Member: SATAN

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i know they aparently do that, but i have had them on my strat for many years now and have no fret issues at all... which would tell me that if in fact they DO wear your frets down faster, its not by much, and im not exactly gentle with my playing either. hell, if i can get a tone i like better out of my guitar but have to have it refretted every 5 years, im still gonna use em. its actually not that big of a deal (as long as you know a very good luthier that you trust and know does great work) i had to have new frets put on a 1981 les paul i bought. the guy i brought it to not only replaced the frets but made the guitar play like it was brand new, quite impressive really. the only thing is, i suppose it can be cost prohibitive if you dont have much money, it cost me $300 ish to have it done, but like i said, it is worth it.

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Run for thine therapy transition meeting!!!!

Reply:783 days 1 hours 33 minutes ago
Member: ibzRG

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Any possibility your fret wire is also steel ?

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Reply:782 days 19 hours 19 minutes ago
Member: humstrat1

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^That's what I was thinking also.

Reply:782 days 5 hours 14 minutes ago
Member: SATAN

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well, i never checked, but it is the stock strat fretwire. so im not to sure. my main guitar is a 50th anniversary american fat strat floyd rose, and i use steels on that one, and no wear either. do any of the strats come with steel wire? hmmm... im going to do some research and find out, i will take a look, but irecall seeing some nickel or something in the middle of the fretwire when looking at the cut edge of it... you guys know any good ways to tell if it is steel?

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Run for thine therapy transition meeting!!!!

Reply:782 days 2 hours 24 minutes ago
Member: humstrat1

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No, I don't. I don't think SS fretwire comes stock on any Fender Strats. On other forums I've heard reports that SS strings don't wear nickel/silver frets anymore than pure nickel strings. But I'll take my chances with nickel strings, anyway. :)

Reply:782 days 4 hours 31 minutes ago
Member: Kenny Baccus

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Power slinky by ernieball.

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