Rick - I'm surprised to hear that about John Pearse strings. As you say, by reputation they're the best, and I've had nothing but good experiences with them. What about the persistent story, though, that all strings are made by the same company, and are just labelled differently? Do you have any info as to the truth of that rumor?

BTW, I've been playing the same set of D'Addario EXPs for 3 months (i.e. 5 rehearsals and 7 gigs), and they STILL SOUND GREAT!

Cheers,
Michael