Are coated strings worth the price?

frybaby
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Mon Jan 18, 2010 1:09 pm

Greeting TG team,
Coated vs. Uncoated Much ado about nothing.
Some folks like the squeaking noise uncoated strings, others do not. If the squeak get to you get uncoated.
Me personally sometime I get tired of hearing the squeak so I get coated. Other time I feel the squeak is part of the natural sound of live music and actually like to here so I get some uncoated.
One thing that I noticed is that coated always seem to be a little duller from the get go, and that a traded off I am willing to make for longevity.
But even when string are still sounding good, I sometime change them cause nothing inspires playing better for me that a new set of strings, and when those string are uncoated and sing out crystal clear and bright, I want to play and play and play.
Also once you view a few video on how to change strings its not such a big deal 15-20 minutes a most, plus it give you a chance to clean up the instrument, outside and in give the fret board and frets a good look, and you just feel good about the instruments. Sort of like how your car runs better when you wash it.
So there it is.
Frybaby


wrench
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Mon Jan 18, 2010 1:25 pm

AndyT wrote:
So, based on all the research and such the last couple of days, it comes down to this:

If you play everyday, then likely you will want uncoated strings and change them every two weeks.

If you play occasionally, then you likely want coated strings and change every two or three months.
So we have the observations and opinions of many users, the statements of manufacturers, the science of independent researchers, and even a little science of our own, and I think Andy summed it up best.

For 20 bucks, your strings will sound any way you want them to........


BigBear
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Mon Jan 18, 2010 1:33 pm

wrench wrote:
For 20 bucks, your strings will sound any way you want them to........

Now if we could just get strings that eliminated all the bad sounds....


dennisg
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Mon Jan 18, 2010 3:10 pm

I think there is another aspect or two that come into play.

If you are too lazy to change your strings very often, get coated. (I may resemble that remark)

If you don't clean your hands prior to, or your strings after playing, get coated.

I play uncoated strings. I just like the sound better.


dennisg
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Mon Jan 18, 2010 3:17 pm

I've been following this thread with great interest, hoping for some real insight, and I haven't been disappointed. For me, it comes down to this: when a company like Taylor recommends Elixir Nanowebs, I take it seriously. It's in Taylor's interest, after all, to recommend a set of strings they believe will best enhance the sound of their guitars. To my inexperienced ears, Elixirs sound great, and the fact that they last three months ain't too shabby either.


wrench
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Mon Jan 18, 2010 3:51 pm

dennisg wrote:
I've been following this thread with great interest, hoping for some real insight, and I haven't been disappointed. For me, it comes down to this: when a company like Taylor recommends Elixir Nanowebs, I take it seriously. It's in Taylor's interest, after all, to recommend a set of strings they believe will best enhance the sound of their guitars. To my inexperienced ears, Elixirs sound great, and the fact that they last three months ain't too shabby either.
Dennis, I have to agree that a Taylor recommendation would be founded on very good reasons, and I don't think necessarily business reasons. Therefore, one of my many questions today is for Taylor owners - do Elixirs sound superior to other brands on your Taylor?

Reiver mentioned earlier in the thread that a blind test would be interesting. I have to agree with him on that one, and I would love to see the results, but realistically, how many of us could arrange to get four or five sets of strings on our guitars blindly? And if you could, can you evaluate any criteria other than sound and feel?

Another earlier comment I noticed mentioned strings of poor quality. I have to say that I have looked at Elixir, DR, D'Addario, Ernie Ball, and John Pearse; and I never saw a string I consider poor quality. My string preference is based on solely on sound and feel - both totally subjective. So has anyone experienced strings with burrs, frequent breakage, rapid tarnishing, etc.?

wrench

wrench


wadestar
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Mon Jan 18, 2010 4:01 pm

dennisg wrote:
I've been following this thread with great interest, hoping for some real insight, and I haven't been disappointed. For me, it comes down to this: when a company like Taylor recommends Elixir Nanowebs, I take it seriously. It's in Taylor's interest, after all, to recommend a set of strings they believe will best enhance the sound of their guitars. To my inexperienced ears, Elixirs sound great, and the fact that they last three months ain't too shabby either.
Yes for the past year I have been using Elixer strings, I have a set of Dean Markly on right now, nice sound but they feel gross, I miss my Elixers!


mark
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Wed Jan 20, 2010 4:18 am

tovo wrote:
Reading Bear's excellent thread here I decided to do a bit of research on Elixir strings, which I do have on my Taylor, but what caught my eye was an excellent tutorial on cleaning your guitar and changing strings. I certainly picked up a couple of tips from it, so I thought Bear wouldn't mind me providing the link as it is certainly on the topic of strings and I found it really very useful. There is a 2 part tutorial, I think it's obvious once you are on the page:

http://www.elixirstrings.com/tipsntrick ... ustic.html
I find that video amazing. I really wanted him to pick it up and play it a bit to prove that it was perfectly in tune. The last time I restrung my guitar, I was still having retune after every song, after 4 days.

Also he managed to tune the whole guitar from scratch in about 20 seconds


AndyT
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Wed Jan 20, 2010 4:42 am

Have you ever seen Tommy Emmanuel restring and tune his guitar? Once he's got the strings on it takes him about 60 seconds and its in tune and stays in tune.





Catman
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Wed Jan 20, 2010 5:02 am

I use a restringing I technique that I learned from a guitar maintenance and repair book--Guitar Player Repair Guide: How to Set Up, Maintain and Repair Electrics and Acoustics by Dan Erlewine (for some reason I can't view the Elixir tutorial), and the guitar stays perfectly in tune after the initial tuning.

The technique causes the strings to lock onto the tuner winding post under tension. It is also important to wind the string onto the winding post from top to bottom, and not to allow multiple layers of winding, or crossing of the winds.

I don't bother with a winder (manual or electric).

David


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