Strings and Strings and More Strings

Tearing Up My Fingers

For many years I have used DR Pure Blue strings.  I shifted between sets with 10 and 11 for the high E string.  I love the sound of those strings.  The 11's give a little richer sound, but tore my fingers up (I bend the strings a lot).  So, my go to strings where the 10's because they did not tear up my fingers as much. But, the still tore my fingers up a little.

Experimenting With Other Strings

One day a few months ago I decided to try some other strings, just to see what they were like.  

First, I tried Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky strings.  They were easy on the fingers, but the high E 9 was too flimsy.  They also would not stay in tune very well.

Next, I tried Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom strings. They were also easy on the fingers and the high E 10 wasn't so flimsy.  But, I just could not squeeze the tone and sustain out of the plain strings, compared to the DR Pure Blue strings.  Like before, they would not stay in tune well.

After that, I tried Ernie Ball Regular Slinky strings.  The results were about the same as with the Skinny Top Heavy Bottom strings.  The tone and sustain with the plain strings was not there.  And yet again, staying in tune was problematic.

Lesson Learned

One thing I noticed with all of the Ernie Ball Strings is that they did not tear up my fingers like the DR Pure Blue strings did.  I also noticed that the wound strings were much smoother feeling.   I started to think that maybe the reason why DR Pure Blues tore up my fingers had nothing to do with me bending the strings, and was caused by rough edges on the wound strings.

Experiment Number Two

With that idea in mind, I put on another set of DR Pure Blue 10s.  It immediately became obvious how much rougher the wound strings were compared to the Ernie Ball strings.  The tone and sustain was back, but my fingers were torn up.

Experiment Number Three

Finally, I decided to try another brand of strings to see if I could find the happy place, with no torn up fingers, with the tone and sustain I wanted, and with the strings staying in tune.  

So, I picked up a set of D'Addario XL Pure Nickel Regular Light strings, with a high E 10.  The first thing I noticed was the wound strings were fairly smooth feeling, and much smoother feeling than the DR Pure Blue strings.  The tone and sustain I wanted were spot on with the D'Addario XL Pure Nickel Regular Light strings, and the strings stayed in tune. 

The acid test was to play the guitar for over an hour with the D'Addario XL Pure Nickel Regular Light strings.  The results were excellent.  My finger tips were not torn up, the tone and sustain was there, and the strings stayed in tune.

D'Addarrio - My Choice of Strings for All Guitars

I now use D'Addario strings on all of my guitars (except one), with the electric guitar strings being the last ones to be switched to D'Addario strings.

All Electric Guitars:  D'Addario XL Pure Nickel strings (had used DR Pure Blue strings for years before I switched to D'Addario).

All Acoustic Steel String Guitars: Martin Retro (more about that ordeal here)

All Nylon String Guitars:  D'Addario Pro-Arte' Nylon Core Normal Tension

The Happy Place

The D'Addario strings provide the tone and sustain I want, they stay in tune, and they do not tear up my fingers.  You get all of that quality without spending an arm and a leg to get it.