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[Llohr]

I hope this is coherent, I've come down with the pig flu, but I've been lying in bed for so long that I had to get up and write something, even if I have to do it with one hand because one of the fingers on my right hand is currently turning funny shades of greenish yellowish white.

So, I am very poor, but the strings on my new acoustic guitar have begun to blacken at a few of the common frets, so I'm thinking that I should probably get a new set.

The guitar is a Martin DSR (which I feel I must add sounds amazing, I searched and researched and tested for a long time before I settled on this one, after finding that its sound was as good as the D-16 I'd been looking at, but it had nearly twice the volume) and of course Martin recommends Martin strings. I've been told that Martin strings don't last long and aren't that great to begin with, and have been using D'Addario medium gauge phosphor bronze strings, which sound great after the initial few days of so-bright-it's-muddy sound. I play a lot, and I suppose that four months isn't too terribly short a time for my strings to begin to corrode, but I've never had it happen so soon before.

So, does anyone have a favorite brand of strings they'd like to recommend, or string care secrets they'd like to share? I'd like to buy a set that will last me a very long time. I'm told that strings should be "matched" to the tone woods of an acoustic, so if anyone thinks that matters, the guitar has a solid sitka top; solid rosewood back, sides, and fretboard; and a mahogany neck.

Also, I still think that the strings sound good despite the corrosion, and I'm normally pretty sensitive to dead strings--I think a lot of it may be the guitar itself--so is there any reason why I shouldn't continue to use them until I don't like the way they sound? I almost never break strings. Should I attempt to rub off the corrosion and just keep going?

As much guitar playing as I do, I tend not to experiment much with acoustic strings, though I've run the gamut of electric strings over the years, so I am very interested in hearing others' opinions about these things.

To start this off, I guess I'll offer a couple of opinions about electric guitar strings:

I used fender super-bullet strings once, and found that while the bullet ends seemed like a great idea--they were not at all prone to shifting about, there was really only one way they could seat themselves--the sound they produced was uninspiring: they lacked crispness, and seemed best suited to playing without distortion (which seemed ironic in that they are designed for use with heavy tremolo). However, the sound of these strings seemed to be consistent over long periods of time.

Dean Markley's "Cryogenic Activated Blue Steel" electric guitar strings had a beautiful crisp sound which I loved, but I found myself replacing them frequently in attempt to maintain that sound--they seemed to lose it rather quickly.

Ernie Ball strings seemed a pretty good balance between the two, not quite as sharp a sound as the blue steels, but not flat like the bullets; I would say that over the period of a month (probably less), they'd have a much better average sound than would the "cryogenic" strings. Also, there is a large variety of them to choose from.

So in summary, I would--if I still played my poor electric more than once in a blue moon--use ernie ball strings most of the time, but if I were going to perform publicly, I would at least consider throwing on some of those blue steel strings a couple of days beforehand.

[kicsiviz]

A few brands have coated strings, which supposedly greatly delay corrosion.  I've never tried them on a real acoustic but I have a set (phosphor bronze) on one of those solidbody guitars with piezo pickup so they sound kinda like an acoustic, and they seem plenty bright - I was worried that the coating would make them sound dull.

I started using stainless steel electric strings a while back.  I can't remember when I've had to change a set of electric strings for corrosion.

[laterali]

Elixir strings are one of the popular coated strings, Kicsiviz.  I used to use them on my Ibanez-Soundgear SR500 bass .  They're very comfy, very smooth so there was minimal "talk" when sliding up and down the fretboard.  They also did last a bit longer but you'll notice the strings start shedding wisps of plastic if you play with a pick, I think that's just an aesthetic issue.  Problem is they're probably the most expensive strings and they have a bit of that dead tone that you'd get with flatwound strings.  Also, lots of bass players like to boil their strings to get rid of all the oil.  Can't do that with these.

Most people I know swear by Boomers, they're inexpensive and they do the trick.  You can buy a bulk-pack and it'd last you a year or two.

Thanks for the advice on the Electric strings Llohr, I just got my new electric guitar (I've owned several but now I'm down to one) and I'm gonna see which strings work best with it.  The stock ones are just fine.

[Sanchez]

Ernie Ball bronze-wound Earthwood 12s.

[luke]

A set of d'addario's are well priced and last a good amount of time. 4 months is quite awhile to have them on.

[whorehammer]

I would highly recommend DR Zebra coated strings for long-term sparring use acoustic strings.

I'm a large fan of DR strings coated and non-coated in general. If you intend to use them frequently (playing for more than 60 minutes at a time more than 1 time per week), I would suggest to stay away from coated strings though (they tend to break faster in my experience).

Elixir are also very good strings.

[mikeyhorror]

if you are playing a martin the ONLY strings that should be on there are elixirs. not only for the long life but for the sound. i found that with the acoustic over anything else, you get what you pay for and they do the trick time and time again.

and while i'm at it have you ever heard of fast fret? it helps keep strings clean and last longer while improving speed on the neck and brightening sound. plus you can all around shine and clean the gunk off of your gear.

any bass players out there ever played on the earnie ball hybrid slinky stainless set? i tend to buy these online packs at a time and i love them for the punch(read- jesus lizard twang and grit) but i was browsing my local shop the other day and DR makes the same gauge string in a series that i would think is quite similar to the earnie ball...... difference being a drastic price difference. if any of you guys have played on both and have an opinion let me know.

[Cowtppr]

I've never played the hybrids, but I have played Slinkies and I did not like them.  They admittedly had good tone, but they lost it after about a week.  I usually change my D'Addarios about once a month.  In my opinion, they're the best strings you can get for a bass.

[Maw]

Elixir strings are pretty cool.

I don't recommend Ernie Ball unless you like changing your strings once a week. Maybe I got a defective set or something but the ones I used died in no time at all.

[Sanchez]

I quite like Slinkies for an electric, if they're reasonably heavy. The light ones are horrible, no tone and they break a lot.

[Llohr]

On the subject of elixirs: while I was searching for an acoustic guitar to buy, I had occasion to play a lot of Taylors, and while they were very easy to fret and seemed well constructed, I found that almost universally they seemed to lack bass; actually, it would be more accurate I think to say that they were "all treble". They were very bright sounding, which I guess some people really like, but I like low tones, so I leaned more toward the Breedloves and the Martin I eventually found.

Anyway, I mentioned this to the salesman who was busy selling me the Martin, and he replied "That's just because Taylors always ship with Elixirs, and they always sound tinny like that. Put a set of D'Addarios on one of those and you'll like the sound a lot better."

Had he been trying to sell me a Taylor I would have put little stock in it, but as it was sort of an unrelated aside--I had decided what to buy at this point--I more or less took his word for it.

Any comments from Elixir users?

[MonitorDown]

For acoustics, I've always stuck with Martin Marquis, in the red package. They're relatively cheap, and they've lasted a long time in my experience. The sound they have when they're new is light and shiny (I usually get 10s or 11s, so that might affect things), and even after they go dull (about 3-4 weeks) they still sound good enough that it's not too noticeable.

On the other hand, Ernie Balls are the swine flu of guitar strings, so those might be more appropriate.

[mikeyhorror]

Any comments from Elixir users?

while i can't deny anything you posted i cant say that its really a BAD thing. alot of players prefer brightness on acoustics.
 i know where you are coming from with liking the bass i own two different acoustics both with elixirs, but one sounds bright and twangy while the other has more balls and bass(as far as an acoustic can go) but it is more to  with the makes and body.

the shipping of the taylors with the elixirs i know about but im not sure what gauge and grade it is. i imagine they did is as "if your going to buy a quality product, we will give you quality down to the strings"  but i have played on elixirs that didnt sound good, basically you like the gauge you like and others seem to sound off.

and as for the ernie ball strings, the thing ive noticed about the stainless set is that they last longer than regular and have alot more of a dean markley blue steel feel. i do change the shit out of my strings with using ernie balls though... i think a change might be in order

[sandwiches]

I like Elixirs. I really like Ernie Balls, too. They won't last as long as the Elixirs, but no string does. Also, two to three weeks is enough time to wear out any run-of-the mill string. That's why they're like, six bucks. Try them all.

[Schroeder]

Any comments from Elixir users?

Elixirs sound tinny on Taylors because Taylors are largely slimmer guitars that are meant to be played acoustic-electric, especially the T5 and similar models. They just don't have the necessary depth to produce a nice warm tone when played straight acoustic. I play light Elixirs on my mahogany Alvarez and consequently have to deal with almost too much bass.

What I'm saying is that salesman didn't know shit from shinola.

[Strange Brew]

I started using GHS boomers in high school and never really looked back. They are reasonably price, last a reasonable amount of time but the best thing about them is they maintained that bright sound for much longer than similar priced D'addario's.

[DBB]

I don't know about their guitar strings, but I've gotten near-surgically attached to Ken Smith bass strings.  I was a huge fan of the Blue Steels, but had the same issue the OP mentioned - namely, they sound great, but that badass tone goes flat quick.

The Smiths don't have as sharp a tone, but they sound great and they keep their tone for a lot longer.  I've been using Smiths on all my basses for years now. 

I'm not personally a big fan of Boomers, but their bass strings left a lot to be desired in my opinion.  Again, their guitar strings may be a different story.  At the level they're priced, it would be worth at least checking them out to see if you like them.

[Schroeder]

I used to play on Boomers waaaay back in my early high school nu-metal days, when my hair was nine inches tall and my guitar hung to my knees. At Mars music they had a section where you could buy individual strings by gauge and the GHS were the heaviest at like .56 low E. Other than the selection, I don't remember them being very great. I switched to D'Addario XLs not long after.

[MonitorDown]

Off topic here, but did Schroeder just use the ol' "shit from shinola?" Damn, been a while since I heard that one....

[Schroeder]

I prefer my guitar salesmen to have a firm grasp on the concept of shinola.