The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #100967 Message #2033401
Posted By: JedMarum
23-Apr-07 - 09:48 AM
Thread Name: Guitar Strings: Elixir rant - THEY STINK!
Subject: RE: Elixir rant - THEY STINK!
I'm NOT an Elixer fan. I've used 'em, and probably will again in the hest of the sumemr. Nano-webs are OK sounding, but I hate the feel. I am not string breaker, ordinarliy - but occasionally. I do break more Elixers then others, and always at the bridge ... maybe they casue me to pick differently, maybe its the design of the string - I don't know.
I only used Elixers because I can destriy a set of ordinary strings in the first songs - during the hot weather. It must be my chemistry or somethig, but I am a string destroyer! I'd be changing my strings every night, and playing with dead strings half the time if I didn't use Elixers ... until I found Newtone (mentioned above by a few).
I was dubious when Rick Fielding turned me on to them a few years ago ... but I tried 'em for a while and he was right. They go on sounding great and they last! They feel like normal strings - not small, not slippery like the coated strings. I have become a true believer. Since they are not imported to the US in great numbers they tend to be hard to find and expensive - so I buy them on-line in bulk (a good deal anyway). I use 10 to 12 sets a year and sometimes put on Elixers, as I said during the worst of summer weather or when I'm waiting for a bulk shipment.
I've used Newtones for 5 or so years now. I broke my first this weekend at an outdoor festival in North Carolina. It was perfect string breaking conditions, old strings, hot humid weather, many twists up and down to accommodate various tunings ...
I would probably be playing Elixers if I hadn't discovered Newtones. I got used to their shortcomings - and if you shop wisely and buy in bulk you get a good price for them too. But I am glad I found Newtone (I use the Masterclass, medium guage).
Elixers have a dull sound. They are not bad, sounding, but not great. The Nanos sound better then the originals ... but that OK sound lasts for weeks - you get used to feel and if you can suffer the occasional string break, they are not a bad compromise.