Any regular users of RotoSound strings here that can comment on their general quality?
One of the D’Addario XL’s I had on my Strat finally gave up yesterday after about six months of daily use. (I know, but money is very tight right now.) After ordering replacements I remembered a pack of Roto Yellows I’d never gotten around to using. I put them on and although different, they sound quite good.
However, after just a couple of hours of playing, ping, the high E snapped. Funnily enough, Rotos come with a free extra high E string. Handy that. I put it on but after less than an hour, ping… there goes the high E again.
I should point out that I routinely use strings for months at a time, and in the last four years have broken just three strings in total… the D’Addario yesterday, and the two Rotos. So if it’s not me, and they include an extra high E in every pack, are the strings known to suffer from poor quality? That would be strange given the list of artists that apparently use / have used them, but I’d be interested to hear other people’s experiences.
After I snapped a few in a row I had a closer look at the fret wires (the strings were snapping in the same place) and one had a slight burr on the side. Sorted with wet and dry.
Sorry bud, not used those strings so can’t comment on that.
I don’t think that’s my issue. It was the D string that broke on the D’Addarios, just below the fretboard. Understandable after six months of pounding. The first Roto E string to go broke above the nut, the second one broke around the 20th fret, which I didn’t go near while playing.
Neither string was kinked while putting them on. I’ve had them sitting around a while, but they were still sealed in their foil packet with silica so shouldn’t have deteriorated.
Thanks, I’m always interested in other people’s experiences so I’ll give it a watch.
I actually started out on the Rotos, but when you’re learning your first chords and plucking single strings in Rocksmith it’s hard to determine quality. By the time I was “playing” I’d switched to Ernie Ball Slinkys. I like those and used them for some time, until deciding I wanted to try a wound G. Got the D’Addario XLs for that and have been using them ever since.
Interesting watch. It shows how subjective tone can be given that on at least three occasions I would have chosen the opposite set of strings to him. The Rotos did sound good though, and it was nice to see strings on the cheaper side of the range coming out on top of a side-by-side comparison.
The Rotos are actually still on my guitar, as I found one of the “extra” E strings from a pack I bought at least six years ago! So far so good, and I do like the tone.
It amazes me how many different strings are out there. It is like toothpaste, a different flavor for everyone.
The differences are real, but somewhat nuanced. Like the difference between to well made guitars, the difference isn’t bad or good (usually) so it comes down to personal preference. All you can do is try.
My only issue with comparison videos like the one above is that strings can sound quite different once broken in. The video really only shows out of the package differences. This type of “measurement error” is more pronounced with nylon strings, IMO.
I wonder what, if any difference would be heard if we tested only the three unwound strings, same diameters, of different brands. Those are just thin wires, so over not much.
I must admit that I have no idea what you guys are talking about.
He mentions that they left all the strings out of the packages for a couple of weeks before filming to try and avoid that issue, though he admits he doesn’t know if it actually helped. In conclusion he also wondered if being exposed for a while actually hampered the non-coated strings in the test. I’d test it myself if I could afford a bunch of different strings to play with, but alas I can’t right now.
I changed strings on my electric guitars in late August and put Rotosound “roto yellows” on them as I found a version of 2 sets in one package (no extra individual strings though). I’m satisfied with them, although I can never recall the sound of a previous set of strings and I cannot be arsed about making recordings only for that purpose.
Although the Rotosound strings are cheaper than D’Addario, which I have already used several times, they don’t seem/sound to be of worse quality. Given that in the past few months I used my electric guitars in about 90% of my playing time, a string change looks due sometime in January anyway.
As for strings breaking, I don’t know. I’ve never broken any strings since I first picked up a guitar, though I may be just lucky. People shouldn’t be afraid of / “forget” changing strings. In my opinion, it’s like putting clean clothes on or cleaning your glasses before the lenses get too dirty.
Had the same feeling Jason and the differences were quite obvious at times, even to my old ears. Strange I’d not really paid much attention to this thread and did not twig the tittle before adding a Watch Later tag on the video that Keith shared, so watched it in isolation. But every demo of the RotoSound impressed me and its not a brand I am familiar with. So added to my Thomann Wish List for a future experiment !
That’s why they were the first strings I ever bought. As well as being on the cheaper side, they’ve also been used by some rather well known artists… The Who, Jimmy Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Oasis, to name a few.
