As with all productsthese days, a review on just plain old " Ernie Ball Strings " is very wide and open ! So I will be basing mine on use with the following products only.
Nickel ( not the brighter / treble accenting steel ones !!! ) wound electric guitar strings
"SLINKY TOP HEAVY BOTTOM" ( "10-52" ) 10, 13, 17, 30, 42, 52.
EXPLAINATION TIME : ==================
Right not a lot of that above will mean much to non-guitarists, or beginners so I will now explain :-) ( Thank god I hear you cry! )
The " SLINKY " thing is just part of the product name. For the names such as " 10's " are the guitarists slang for what gauge of string you are using.
This might not seem obvious, but because guitar strings are all strung to different pitches on the guitar. In order to obtain a consistent tension for all the strings when being strung ( i.e. put on the guitar so you can play it ) on a guitar, each string must be a different thickness ( gauge - which is measure in 1000th's of an inch ( an inch being 2.54 cm's approx for non imperial folk out there :-))
It’s so important to have an equal tension over the strings because of ease of playing, if all but on sting are tight, and one is like spaghetti, it's not going to help. Also there are then tuning problems to take into account which is another matter!
The
individual numbers e.g. 10, 13, 17, 30, 42, 52 are the individual strings gauge. So here the highest pitch string on a guitar is the note " E " and so the E string is gauge 10, the next highest is the note " B " and it's gauge is 13, G being a middle string, it's gauge is 17 , and so on and so on through the other strings, to the lowest, and therefore thickest on this example also being another " E " note, and having it's strings gauge at 42.
I hope that has kind of made it a bit clearer for non guitarists. If you can think of a better way of putting it please tell me and ill put it on here. :-) Back to the review....
THE MAIN REVIEW :
==========My review is based on 5 years usage of the " REGULAR SLINKY " and " SUPER SLINKY " also 4 years on the " SLINKY TOP HEAVY BOTTOM " strings.
These strings come with such a reputation that when you start to get into the realm of electric guitar you can’t go far without being told about or seeing them. For most people have a guitar friend will have heard of them, or most likely uses them. So when I first started playing electric guitar I went through a few other brands just trying ones out, like " Dean Markley " and " D'addgio " and others alike, and found that they all did their job, I mean these are strings right ?
However there are differences in the way they sound, of which is the most important! The way they last, and how the sound degenerates over time as the strings age, and get rustier from sweat. So note, if you sweat a lot when playing it's going to oxidise the strings much more quickly and you are going to need more strings than some other people.
So guitarists look for : 1. TONE ( i.e. how they sound when being played ! ) 2. LIFETIME OF STRINGS 3. DEGREDATION OF TONE 4. TUNING STABILITY ( i.e. if the stay in tune or not! )
As the super/regular slinky and the slinky top and heavy bottom strings are generically the same, just a different combination of thicknesses there isn’t going to be much difference between them.
1. SUPER SLINKY : Approx £3.60 is the lowest I have seen but often sold for around £4-5 !!! ================
Coming in a bright pink packet, you can’t miss them! They are each individually packaged with a small envelope of their own. Each envelope with each string inside has the gauge number written on it so you can tell which string goes in which string " hole " ( for guitarists... which string is threaded into which strings, string saddle, on the bridge, and which ridge in the nut, and which machine head they should go into ;-)) In effect this is done so you don’t string up the guitar with the wrong string in the wrong place, as this can cause tuning problems and also put unnecessary tension on the guitar neck in the wrong place.
It’s well known that the thinner the string gauges are then the easier they are to play and bend to higher pitches. But with this added bonus you have fallbacks. These being that the tone / over all sound will be less full and round. Fat is the technical term for that I believe. And there is also an increased risk of them breaking...if they do.
I would recommended these as the starting point for beginners whose finger just wont stand up to strings thicker than 10's ! As they are also the same gauge as those fitted to almost every guitar when first brought. Kinda like the industry standard, especially in those little combo packs where you buy an electric guitar and amp etc.. All in one.
REGULAR SLINKY :Approx £3.60 is the lowest I have seen but often sold for around £4-5 !!! ================
coming in a nice greeny yellow packet, they are probably THE most popular packet in the range... or even the world ;-) for guitar players because this gauge is thicker on each string, giving the overall sound a thicker tone, and being nickel a warmer tone too ( when compared to steel strings ) They are in essence the next step up from the super slinkys, just being thicker in gauge for each string.
SLINKY TOP HEAVY BOTTOM :Approx £4.75 is the lowest I have seen but often sold for around £5-6 !!! A little extra for these :-( =========================
This is a hybrid packet in a lovely red orange colour. By hybrid I mean it is a mix of two standard sets of strings. For the 3 top ( highest pitched strings ) they are the same as from the REGULAR SLINKYS. However for the 3 lower pitched strings, they are from the " POWER SLINKY " set known as "11's " or 11, 14, 18p, 28, 38, 48. For your information. So the SLINKY TOP HEAVY BOTTOMS ARE a cross between two packs acting as welcomed intermediate between middle thickness 10's and rather thick 11's.
The usefulness of this
Pictures of Ernie Ball Guitar strings
SUPER SLINKY
packet is that you still have a decent sound with the top 3 strings being thicker than 9's and so when you solo you can still be confident that your sound wont be all tinny!
And the thicker than normal REGULAR SLINKYS means that the lower, bass sounds will be fatter / fuller and much better for power chord based stuff. I.e. punk / rock. Think Blink 182 / Greenday / Sex Pistols / Black Sabbath kinda things and you get me.
GENERAL NOTES : ===============
The thicker strings, ( i.e. the larger the gauge ) then the fuller the sound, but this also increases the difficulty to bend strings and solo for some people. But then again they can take alot more punishment from those that are more heavy handed, and get a little carried away with strumming out the music!
Also with some modern rock which requires a guitar tuned to a pitch lower than that of standard you will need something relatively thick for the strings, such as the SLINKY TOP HEAVY BOTTOM strings because as you lower the pitch of the strings overall, you also lower the tension of the string changes.
If the strings become too lose then they will buzz as they vibrate against the wood neck ( fret board ). So you need thicker strings which would be normally strung to a higher initial tension, but when tuned down are still relatively taught.
The more you play these strings the less life they will have in them. These strings generally can last a long time, but also how acidic your hand's sweat is will affect this. As your strings get older they will have less vibrant tone in them so it will begin to sound "flat" and unresponsive.
Also when they get older, or over tightened / miss treated they can break. I have only broken 5 strings in the last 7 years. All in my earlier days of playing too, some due to trying to bed them too far, oops, and two others due to them being so old and rusty that they finally gave up the chase.
ADDED: ======================================
I was thinking of how to improve this review when I thought that these strings as harmless as they are, can be quite the opposite! Health and Safety warnings should come on all guitars because when these strings get rusty they develope another layer ontop / dips in the string where some of it has corroded. This creates an uneven surface, of which now leads to the higher potential to slice yourself on the rusty surface! Hence another good reason to change your strings if only for your own health!
Also when disposing of them, i find its best to cut them fairly close to the bridge when you have LOOSENED THEM OFF! This is vital, as if you cut them under tension what do you expect to happen? I dont know about you but i value my eyes and body parts far too much to be careless and not expect the unexpected. I have had little pieces of string fly off when being cut and yes one did end up in my arm like a thin long metal splinter! I was lucky it wasnt rusty!
Anyhow, back to disposal! Take the lengths of string and coil them round as to the fashion when they were first in their new small envelopes, you'll see what i mean when you buy them. Then you can place them in the ordinary household waste.
================================On some guitars, they can become frayed ( like any strings.. this is bad guitar manufacturing not the strings. ) and thus this causes breaking of some strings; Most typically over the bridge saddles on the bridge of the guitar. See the anatomy pic at the bottom ! Although an annoying problem it isn’t that common.
When fitting strings, you MUST fit them correctly. In this review I am not going to do that, it’s too long in words, so get someone that knows what they are doing to show you !!!!!
This information will no doubt mean very little to the non guitaring readers - sorry but I have tried to explain it as best I can.
CONCLUSION ( " about time " I hear you cry ! ) ====================================
These strings are very good and reliable, especially in a very important aspect of holding tuning. In ordinary speak, it means that they don’t go out of tune easily when playing, which can be a nightmare! The sound they produce, WILL vary, as there are so many variables you can add to a guitar to make it sound different. For example, different guitars, pickups, effects for them, even cables used to link everything together, not forgetting the amplifier ! It’s a mine field ! These strings have a good long lifetime, at a nice price...just about! They are still fairly expensive for a length of metal with an attachment on the end !
So pluses from all that = 1. Good sound 2. Long life. 3. Tone degradation is relatively good. 4. Tuning stability is great!
I hope that has helped someone somewhere!!!
James.
ps. I get my strings from www.stringsdirect.co.uk they always give great service and fast delivery.
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Advantages: Cheap and cheerful, surprisingly long lasting Disadvantages: Thin, shrill sounding, other brands offer better intonation and better quality tone
Sep 12th, 2004
(Sep 13th, 2004)
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