Coated strings dont cut it

Well , now I have tried two brands and two sets of strings by each manufacturer and my opinion is that coated strings sound dead compared to good old plain non coated strings strings I saw c hat where others have said the same. I tried D Addarios new X strings and EXlixers in two different guages. Itā€™s back to Martins for me.

Paul Davids thought the same but in his blind testing of strings he was surprised to find 3 out of the last 4 in the semi-finals were coated strings (but the non-coated was the winner).

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Interesting review. I have the DAddario X he says was the runner up. I agree with him that they sound ā€œsightly muffled and holding back informationā€ . So as soon as these wear out itā€™s back to the old fashion strings. I play mostly acoustic . I forget wat I put on my strat last time as I dont play it as often as the acoustics.
THANKS for that info

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Iā€™m keen to try those Roto Yellows next.

never heard of some of the strings he played. I have never heard of Roto Yellows. Let me know what you think when you do.

I tried the Roto yellows and they are still on my SG. They sound ok, but nothing special. They seem to be too hard to get, so not in my string buying goals for the lack of being awesome. They seem to wear similarly to something like EB Slinky or DR Pure Blues.

A very personal / subjective topic. Iā€™m happy with my coated strings and clearly quite used to them, tried a different brand recently and didnā€™t like them.

Iā€™ve never tried coated strings.
Probaby wonā€™t either as Iā€™m perfectly satisfied with what I use.
Electrics get Dā€™Addario XL .010-.046.
Acoustic 6 string gets Dā€™Addario phosphor bronze .011-.052.
They work just fine for me. I can get them anytime local. They ainā€™t particularly expensive.

However, should I ever get the itch to try something different. My local music store has a very large selection of many variations to choose from.
Glad others are trying different strings though. Gives me the heads up to anything that might be cool to try, should I be inclined to try something different.

Other than that, I guess the way I feel is that if it ainā€™t broke, donā€™t fix it.
Side note. That last statement donā€™t apply to guitars and amps thoughā€¦ :wink:

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Iā€™m with you. Iā€™m not one to be experimenting around when Iā€™m fine with what Iā€™m using. I use Ernie Ball 9s on my electric, Elixir phosphor bronze 10s on my acoustic.

In fact, when I changed the strings on my acoustic recently, the shop didnā€™t have them, so I got a different Elixir type. I donā€™t like them; Taylor guitars are already on the ā€œbrightā€ side and these strings exaggerated that to the point of sounding harsh. Canā€™t wait to go back to the phosphor bronze (which have the Elixir ā€œnanowebā€ coating.) Much more mellow.

I find it difficult to compare strings. Even a new set which is the same as the old set sounds and feels different. Strings degrade gradually so when fitting a different brand I find it hard to tell if itā€™s the change of brand or the fact that theyā€™re new thatā€™s making the difference.

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Seems like about the right thought to me Gordon. New strings of the same brand always sound better. And ya changed nothing other than old vs new.
At least when ya get a new guitar or amp, ya ā€˜canā€™ tell the difference. :slight_smile:

Iā€™ve been using Roto Yellows on and off for years, as well as EBs.

For me, getting them was easy. Shops and online stores in the UK often seem to have them (unsurprisingly as they are a British brand), and in the store I bought my Revstar at in Singapore, Rotos were about the only option.

I would say they are decent strings, comparable to EBs but, maybe, very slightly more comfortable under the fingers. They sound great.

And they also provide a spare high-E in case of string breakage which is great, except Iā€™ve only ever broken one string, so I now have a bunch of spare high-E strings.

Cheers,

Keith

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Iā€™ve been using Rotosound strings for about a year now and Iā€™m quite satisfied with them. They are cheaper than Dā€™Addario but sound just as good. I have them on my electric guitars and 6-string acoustic. As I change strings every 3-4 months, I donā€™t feel Iā€™m missing out on the coating.

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Iā€™ve just been searching the internet for strings. According to the Dā€™Addario ad Iā€™ll play like a pro if I buy their strings! :smiley:

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I tend to prefer uncoated strings, but I wish they didnā€™t go dead so quickly, even if you keep them clean. I must admit that the way coated strings last has lured me into putting them onto a couple guitars, and I find the trade-off acceptable. The coated strings Iā€™m using are Dā€™Addario XTs (acoustic). I liked the way those felt better than the XS strings.