WORST Strings you've tried?

[pirate71]

I've always used D'addarios. But I felt a bit adventurous the other day and bought some Ernie's for my next string change. Kinda looking forward to see what the difference is.

[thieery]

I hate Dean Markley Blue Steels strings.

I use Gibson strings
Vintage Reissue and
Brite Wires

[Jkater]

Infeld. the first string broke on two set in a row while installing them. (and I know how to install strings properly...). They were also two bright, so they're history for me.

[Facejackets]

GHS Boomers are by far the WORST strings I have ever used.

[Piñata Tsunami]

I see a lot of hate for Ernie Ball, but they are my favs. I think they sound awesome, feel great, and last long enough.

 

The worst I've tried must be Elixir. Man, did those suck. I had to buy an extra set just to get 6 strings on my guitar, because some of them decided to spontaneously break after just twenty minutes of playing. The ones that didn't break felt like I was playing a giant ham.

[Piñata Tsunami]

Originally posted by Spacetrucker Worst by far - Fender Bullets, absoloutely horrible.

 

Oh, I completely forgot about these. I got a free pack of Bullets with one of my guitars. Man, did they take sucking to a whole new level.

[One-armed Alec]

Ernie Ball Slinkies.

The three plain strings had black rust marks along them after thirty minutes of playing.

Never again.

I use D'Addario electroplated plain strings now. In the winter they can last me up to two weeks, around four days in summer. That's pretty good going for me, the acidic sweat monkey that I am.

[deva_da_man]

Originally posted by gopher666 I see a lot of hate for Ernie Ball, but they are my favs. I think they sound awesome, feel great, and last long enough. The worst I've tried must be Elixir. Man, did those suck. I had to buy an extra set just to get 6 strings on my guitar, because some of them decided to spontaneously break after just twenty minutes of playing. The ones that didn't break felt like I was playing a giant ham.

 

 

This is my only concern with the elixir's too. bought a set for my acoustic to see what they were like, and within a week, broke a wound string.

 

is it just me or do other people only break wound strings? i never seem to break the e's, b's and g's, only d's a's and E's, mainly a strings.... why?

[dparr]

When I was young there weren't many brands of strings to choose from. I remember
"Black Diamond's" as being the worst of them all. I don't think they make them any more!
There were no light gage strings in those days. I would buy a set of strings, get rid of the
lowest one and use a thin banjo string for the high E. Then you could do the bending.

[No Soul]

Originally posted by dparr When I was young there weren't many brands of strings to choose from. I remember "Black Diamond's" as being the worst of them all. I don't think they make them any more! There were no light gage strings in those days. I would buy a set of strings, get rid of the lowest one and use a thin banjo string for the high E. Then you could do the bending.

 

 

black diamonds still exist

 

and thats the same story ernie ball told..

[DarknessFury]

D'Addarios are the worst strings I've ever tried...lifeless waste of metal...

[dparr]

Originally posted by No Soul black diamonds still exist and thats the same story ernie ball told..

 

Ernie Ball actually revolutionized the guitar string industry. They use to be the only good electric guitar strings you could buy!

Here's a bit of there history!

 

"I called my Fender sales rep, Tom Walker, and asked him to tell Leo Fender about the problem. Tom reported back that Leo wouldn't allow lighter gauge strings on his guitars because they caused string buzz, and he wasn't about to re-engineer his neck tension rods. I thought, "OK, Leo; If you won't do it, then I will! I talked a string manufacturer into making me some custom medium gauge sets with a 24 third string instead of a 29."

 

In the early 60s rock and roll guitar was exploding. More and more people came in to buy a set of guitar strings, throwing away the sixth string, and then buying a banjo first string. This caused every string in the set to be much thinner. Ern thought there should be a rock & roll string set packaged with these lighter gauges. "Again, I called Tom Walker to explain my idea; and again, he reported back that Leo Fender wouldn't discuss it. Then I contacted the people at the Gibson guitar company and tried to talk them into making Rock & Roll strings, but they thought it was a lousy idea. OK; if you guys won't do it, then I really will! And that's how I came up with the first set of Slinky strings (Regular 10 - 46). At first they were only sold locally in my retail shop."

 

"It occurred to me that a guitarist might want a set of strings in any combination of gauges of his choosing, so I called the string maker again and asked for more strings, but this time I ordered plain strings, all gauges 8 through 24, and all even-numbered wound strings 18 through 58. I built a storage rack out of plywood and pieces of electrical conduit. This fit conveniently next to the workbench behind the counter. When I was busy with customers I would invite a string buyer to use the workbench behind the counter and experiment on his own. Soon scores of guitar players were tinkering around with the Custom Gauge string rack. They loved it!"

[ChrisGansz]

the worst Brand of strings were Darco. The high E string kept breaking at the ball end!

[ChrisGansz]

Originally posted by cromulent I was visiting my nephew, Crambo, one summer and brought my guitar. String broke and managed to snag a cat whisker from a tom cat. Played pretty good until it broke again. This happened over and over again until I left. Then I had a tv gig and another string broke! Worst strings ever! (Some say I reached across the tv and grabbed the last cat whisker but that's not true.)

Watching a few too many adventures of Tom and Jerry are we?

[One-armed Alec]

Originally posted by Jkater They were also two bright, so they're history for me.

How were the other four?

[tmoori]

ghs sucked by far...best i have tired are d'addrio...they last for ages! and sound sweet! quite like the 9.5's but mainly use the 10s

[Fade2Grey]

i'd have to say I hate ghs strings... break on me... and even broke one of my friend's nut!

I used to really love ernie balls. Had beautiful tone.... when it was in tune and not rusted! wouldn't stay in tune and started rusting right after I put the set in...

I'm using D'addarios right now... not perfect but great for the price... plus they stay in tune very well... On my acoustic, I love the silk & steel Adamas strings... but they're damn expensive...

[OldFenderGuy]

The only strings I use anymore are the hermetically sealed Vinci's.

[Knox in Box]

worst strings I ever tried were EB'S. Period

I now strung my guits with Boomers out of curiosity. Don't like them too much, They feel too loose although they're supposed to be the same guage that I always use 11 - 50.

[Speed_Racer71]

i voted these the worst ONLY because of the gauge..i bought some d'addario xl's in a really super light gauge ..8-38 or 8.5-38.5 something like that..put them on a edwards les paul and they were horrible..no sound at all..they made 9-42s sound huge in comparison..which 9-42 is what i usually play...you could bend those other strings like you were playing with dental floss..i think i kept them on maybe 30mins tops before i tossed them in the trash

[IKE]

How are the Electro Harmonix strings?

[Coach]

EBs don't stay in tune.

Ironically though I've had good luck with and use boomers.

[sultan417]

Ernie Balls, friggin horrible.


Ill stick with my GHS Boomer 10-52 sets.

[radioclash]

Ernie Ball. I busted a few sets of em until I discovered the majesty of D'Addario.

[K3Fallout]

Not sure.. I think I hated EB 9-42 because I think they rusted way to fast, but I think my current d'addario do the same too. I think the GHS boomers I bought lasted a good while.