Quote:
Originally Posted by mr dave
Maybe tone wise but as far as quality goes I've probably bought 8-10 packs of Ernie Ball strings ever and popped more of those than almost 20 years worth of d'Addarios.
|
Oh yeah, no doubt.
But when brand spanking new, I don't think any set of standard, nickel plated 10-46 strings, can be reasonably identified as different.
Obviously metallurgy, treatment, coating, etc, will all affect the lifespan of a string, and how it weathers abuse and playing, but it generally should be the case that they're very similar otherwise.
And even then, the differences are marginal until the strings are worn out and rusty. I know you like to keep the strings on a long time for that "dead" sound, whereas I use Elixer's precisely to keep the new "zing", so that will factor into it I'm sure. I can count the number of guitar strings I've ever broken on one hand, of any brand.