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Let us talk about Electric Guitar Strings – We try a few sets!
Introduction
We all use strings and we all have our favourite brand! However, the folks over at Strings Direct sent across a few sets of guitar strings to try out. They sent over both Electric Guitar Strings and Acoustic (the Acoustic article will be out soon).
They sent over various brands of strings for me to try out. A few packs were sets I wanted to try, so I was keen to get these onto guitars and give them a go. We will be looking at the packaging, the ease of use and also how well they keep tune and any wear that I come across. So let us deep dive into some of the packs of Electric Guitar Strings they sent over.
D’addario XS (10-52)
These are the newest string from D’Addario. Upon first look, the packaging is very nice and clean. The packet they come in is very slim and would be perfect to put into gig bags. In fact, you could fit multiple packets whereas in a standard packet of strings you could only fit one. Very helpful for gigging.
After putting the strings on the Gibson Les Paul I found them very fresh feeling under the finger is very snappy my lovely feel to play with. The D’addario XS strings didn’t take too much stretching to get them to settle. Tuning the guitar the next day they were all only just slightly out, Even that dreaded G string. The tone and sound of these strings is right up my street. They have that cutting metallic sound, The sound you get from new strings, however these stay sounding like that even after a few weeks of playing. Very nice sounding strings, also very nice to play with. They remained “new feeling” for a good few weeks after putting them on.
You will find that the strings are all in the same plastic sleeve so to distinguish them apart they have coloured balls on the end of them. My only complaint is that they could have chosen different colours for these balls as multiple strings have the same colour and you have to go by thickness on which string it is.
Price: £16.99
Labella Guitar Strings (10-52)
This is a brand I haven’t ever really used. They are an American made guitar string, wind in the USA. This is their best selling and most versatile set of guitar strings. The packaging is a nice black cardboard sleeve with the strings in a plastic jacket. The whole pack of strings don’t take up much room and is very thin, so would be good to have in a gig bag in case you need them.
These stings are all in one packet, but unlike the D’Addario’s, each string ball has a different colour. Making it very easy to string up and work out which string goes where. Great for fast changes. Checking on the strings the next day, I can say they all held their tune fairly well, with few adjustments but nothing too major! Over the next few days, I found that the strings kept their freshness and brightness!
These strings were bright at first but lost a tiny amount of that after a few days then settled on a lovely warm tone, Pair this with the amazing under the finger feel and they are a perfect match for a semi hollow guitar! Allowing the warm sound of the strings to be amplified in the body! A great set of strings for the price!
Price: £11.99
Legacy Guitar Strings (10-52)
This next set is the cheaper of the 3 I was sent. These are from a brand called Legacy, a brand I have heard of but never used. They are from the UK and manufacture their strings in the UK. I decided to put these on my new LT Custom Strat.
You can see where the money has been saved because the packaging is a single plastic sleeve and the strings are inside altogether. Again, not a huge issue as the strings all have coloured ball ends. I think these strings represent outstanding value for money! At £5.99, these will be perfect for the bedroom guitarist or someone who has just got into gigging. They will help keep the maintenance eye costs low. They are easy to play with and have a great feel to them! When they are fresh they sound lovely and bright and punchy, however, being on the lower end of the budget this sound does wear off. If you are replacing your strings often this could be the pack to go for. However, if you don’t want to replace your strings to much, the D’addario’s might be a better choice.
A great feature about these strings is you get a few strings extra, You will get an extra B and high E string. So you will be getting 8 strings, meaning for every pack you buy you will be getting two extra strings. With the extra’s being the two strings that are more likely to break.
Price: £5.99
Conclusion
Thanks again to Strings Direct for sending out the Electric Guitar Strings, If you are after any Strings at all please check out their site. They have hundreds of brands and all at very good prices. They also do single strings or full sets so you can do custom sets if needed. Plus with fast delivery, you won’t ever be caught out without any strings again!
What Electric Guitar Strings are you using? Do you use any of the brands featured in this article? If so let us know over on our Instagram here. Make sure to give Strings Direct a follow as well and also check out their site below.
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