[danpintos]

No matter how well I wash my hands before I play, no matter how much I wipe the guitar down, my strings are just dead after a week or two.

Coated strings mitigate the corrosion a little bit but we all know how they affect feel and tone. Here comes D'Addario (my favorite string brand) with another 'breakthrough' set that supposedly lasts longer while retaining your tone.

I think these claims are dubious at best considering that the chart they offer on their website shows statistics with phosphor bronze strings - which are not going on my electric.

Anyone have a chance to play with these yet? There aren't a lot of quality videos on youtube, eg, using the same guitar between takes, playing the same riffs. Are they worth double the price of a regular pack?

 

[Keefermadness]

I've been using the EXP phosphor bronze strings for the last five years, they're everything they are supposed to be, bright, balanced and long lasting. The new XTs are NYXL strings (carbon-steel hex cores) with the EXP anti-corrosion finish, they're awesome and well worth the money. They stay in tune better, bend easier and last forever. They are easily the best strings on the market by far.

 

[BigBazz]

I've been using the EXP phosphor bronze strings for the last five years, they're everything they are supposed to be, bright, balanced and long lasting. The new XTs are NYXL strings (carbon-steel hex cores) with the EXP anti-corrosion finish, they're awesome and well worth the money. They stay in tune better, bend easier and last forever. They are easily the best strings on the market by far.

They only last forever if you don't break one, and live I usually break a string after between 3-4 weeks on average with a locking trem guitar, sometimes within 2 weeks. A little longer with a hardtail, but still hard to justify paying a lot of money for coated strings when they tend to sound worse than a new set of uncoated strings and you're gonna need to replace them every couple of weeks anyway if you play live. The XT strings cost what I pay for 3 sets of standard XL strings.

 

[danpintos]

They only last forever if you don't break one, and live I usually break a string after between 3-4 weeks on average with a locking trem guitar, sometimes within 2 weeks. A little longer with a hardtail, but still hard to justify paying a lot of money for coated strings when they tend to sound worse than a new set of uncoated strings and you're gonna need to replace them every couple of weeks anyway if you play live. The XT strings cost what I pay for 3 sets of standard XL strings.

That's what I'm saying. I play and sweat so much that for a pack of strings to be double/triple what I pay, they need to last significantly longer. I don't tend to go too crazy with my Edge, but it's still a locking trem and changing the strings/stretching them takes time. If I could even get an extra week out of them, it would be worth it just for the time saved.

That being said, I went ahead and ordered a set for my RG. I'll report back when I get them on and test them out - I feel like it's just a marketing gimmick, but maybe they are just a little bit better.

 

[BigBazz]

That's what I'm saying. I play and sweat so much that for a pack of strings to be double/triple what I pay, they need to last significantly longer. I don't tend to go too crazy with my Edge, but it's still a locking trem and changing the strings/stretching them takes time. If I could even get an extra week out of them, it would be worth it just for the time saved.

That being said, I went ahead and ordered a set for my RG. I'll report back when I get them on and test them out - I feel like it's just a marketing gimmick, but maybe they are just a little bit better.

I'm super sceptical with strings, I did a lot of experimentation years ago and ended up just settled on the bog-standard D'addario strings because they are the best bang for buck. Maybe I would consider Elixirs or something similar for a guitar that stays at home and isn't played a massive amount (since Elixir wounds never really lose their brightness), but even then I haven't bought anything other than D'addario XL for years. I think the coated strings sound worse than new uncoateds, and the NYXL may be tougher but if they cost 3x as much there isn't any point.

I can change a set of strings reasonably quickly and if you do it one at a time there are no tuning/stability headaches. So for me at least I struggle to imagine how I could be convinced, short of them reducing the price to be say only 10% more.

 

[danpintos]

I'm super sceptical with strings, I did a lot of experimentation years ago and ended up just settled on the bog-standard D'addario strings because they are the best bang for buck. Maybe I would consider Elixirs or something similar for a guitar that stays at home and isn't played a massive amount (since Elixir wounds never really lose their brightness), but even then I haven't bought anything other than D'addario XL for years. I think the coated strings sound worse than new uncoateds, and the NYXL may be tougher but if they cost 3x as much there isn't any point.

I can change a set of strings reasonably quickly and if you do it one at a time there are no tuning/stability headaches. So for me at least I struggle to imagine how I could be convinced, short of them reducing the price to be say only 10% more.

I pretty much came to the same conclusion myself, been playing XLs for years. I just got the XTs on my swamp ash RG652 and they are noticeably less bright than XLs but they don't have the coated string feeling. Nothing like an Elixir, and I haven't tried D'addario EXPs to know how they feel. I play through a Pod HD500x into a Headrush 112, and cranking the treble on my presets gets me a similar tone to what I'm used to, but I haven't had it at band practice volumes yet. It may be that when I turn up the volume, my cranked treble will make the sound too harsh, but for now, they're acceptable. We'll see how that goes, and also if they rust extremely quickly.

 

[JemSLO]

I'm going to echo many of the same comments.....I've been using D'Addario XL 120s for decades, since my teens, and I'm just so content and happy I don't find myself bothering with anything else. I buy them bulk when they go on sale, usually 10 packs. I do change my strings for a gig, but then continue to use those strings afterwards for rehearsals and practice,and I rarely if ever break string. I broke one at a practice this summer and it was the first string I broke in years, but these strings had been gigged and then played for months afterwards.

 

[00_Jagermeistro_00]

Just ordered a set of the XT 10's. I'll let you know....