Our Big Baby Guitars (by Taylor) came with Elixer strings. They are great. The life of them is longer than other phosphor bronze strings we have used and now that we have had to buy new ones, we see why. The US list price is above $25.

Has anyone else tried them? How do you like them? And what price do YOU have to pay for them?

Glenda and Bob

D#Addario make a string similar to Elixir, which Martin Simpson was using last time I saw him. He swears by them. Can't remember what they are called, but I remember they cost more than I would have paid.

Murray

I tried Elixir's as a result, and I like them. I like them a lot. But my guitar is very bright. Not everyone does.

The new D'Addario is i think filled with teflon over the core but inside the winding whereas Elixir's ahve the teflon on the top.

Maybe I'll try them again, now that I've fixed that problem, but it's gonna have to be really impressive to get me away from good old Martin Light Gauge...

Coated strings seem to work best for those whose hands sweat profusely or whose acidity is high. In addition, pickers who play several hours a day say they last longer than uncoated strings.

I've tried Elixirs twice and I absolutely do not like them. My personal preference for strings is Martin SP Phosphor Bronze. A flatpicker friend equates Elixirs to strings with a condom.

On my other guitar which I use mainly for rhythm playing and jazz, the Elixirs just do not sound right and I stick with D'Addario phosphor bronze on this.

There have been acouple of threads on this topic. Here is one and here is another.

Regards

mooman

- LH

For mine, they're well worth the money.

CHeers

Bugsy

I have read every comment and enjoyed them.

Sorry, Catspaw, looks like I might have done the same thing others do at times, and started a thread without doing my research.

But I can learn and am glad to find out when I err. So... next time I will remember to do the research.

I sure am glad the 'Catters are a forgiving lot.

Glenda

I'm trying a set next string change myself, just hadn't got around to trying them and I'm in a string rut since I've been using the same thing for years.

Spaw

I agree they don't start as bright as other strings but how long does that "brand new strings" sound last anyway? For me not even a whole gig.... jmho.....

Frank

Murray

I did a CD earlier this year which featured Celtic fingerstyle monster El McMeen. He uses Elixer strings exclusively. I thought his guitar (a Tippen) sounded magnificent to this whistle player's tin ear. Then, last week, El released a new CD called The Lea Rig. I am personally convinced that the Elixer strings, combined with the masterful playing of this great guy, resulted in a CD which I still have yet to remove from both my home and car CD players.

If the strings had anything to do with this (I have definitely got a "tin" ear; maybe from playing too much tin whistle..??) then I'm going to get him at truckload of these.

Just my $0.02. Have a wonderful week, one and all.

Bob Pegritz

I've had two problems with the Elixirs. First is their quality control -- I have gotten more than one set where the coating on one or more strings was applied too heavily, totally killing the tone. Also, I have broken my share of these, partly because I use a lot of altered tunings, but I think they're a little more prone to breakage than my usual strings. Again, at $15 a set, these kind of problems are unacceptable. I don't use them any more, although I'll occasionally pick up a set for recording (reduced finger noise).

marty

Ed

I tried one set of EXPs and found them to be very good strings overall - just not enough better than plain-vanilla D'addario PBs to justify 2 1/2 times the price.

I haven't tried the Nanowebs, but I hear a lot of talk about excessive breakage.

I suspect I'll go on buying the regular D'Addario PBs as cheap as I can, and change them when they seem to need it.

Just my take.

Peter.

P-Joe

Mike Strobel

That will be the problem some people have alluded to already, i.e. some of us are more prone to acidic sweat from our hands and fingers. This can react with the copper and other metals in bronze producing the corrosion products of the colours you describe which are then transferred to your fingers and sometimes hands, e.g. I get more of this type of staining on the heel of my rings hand when resting it just behind the bridge when playing mandolin or mandola. The same corrosion reaction can also dramatically reduce string life.

I like the Elixirs on two of my main instruments both for these reasons and because they sound excellent as well. As I mentioned above, for me the higher price is more than offset by the length of time they last.

Best regards

mooman

PS I used to use Gibson Bronze (ultra)light on my old guitar, a cheap dreadnought, but they always broke. One set lasted less that 24 hours. I switched to medium J-200s but with the high action could barely finger an F.

PPS Like djh, the J-200s used to turn my fingertips green, which has yet to happen with the Elixirs.