D'Addario Strings(ball end unraveling)

[SIXSTRINGSTORM]

Any serious players experiencing trouble with 11 gauge high E coming apart at the ball end when restringing? I use EXL115 Blues/Jazz sets. Been using them forever and only in the last year have I been having troubles with these defective strings. At least ten times this past year.
Before you go FYIing me, let me just tell you that I've been a Professional Lead Guitarist for 25 years and counting, play only high end Gibson Les Pauls and know every inch of my weapons and how they respond to subtle changes.
"This is my rifle, this is my gun...etc" Got some big shows coming up and don't want to be praying to the "string gods" constantly!!!
ANY ONE ELSE FREAKIN' ON THIS or SHOULD I JUST HAVE A BEER AND GET BACK TO ROCKIN'?http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q69/BadBradWarning/sparta.jpg

[Jeremy47]

happened all the time to me on a parker guitar. very frustrating

[nrandall85]

I've had more problems with D'Addarios in the past few years as well. I keep complaining, they keep sending me free strings, the free strings have the same problems, so I swap back and forth between the D'addarios and Ghs Boomers.

I've discovered that I'll take unreliable D'adds over Boomers any day- the wound strings in those sets are a harmonic disaster.

[Evens]

I was having problem with high E's ball end unraveling on my AVRI jazzmaster using EXL115. But i found a solution online. You take a pair of long nose and hold the part near the ball end, and then give the ball end a few turns clockwise (IIRC) to give that part a few more twists and make it more solid. No problems since then. I love my d'addarios.

[78deluxe]

I use/have used XL115s for many years as the only electric strings I buy. Also play Gibsons (LPs and SGs). Never had a problem...not once.

Serious question, at what point in the restringing process is the ball end coming apart?

[Richard P]

I've had problems with D'Addario dobro strings for the last couple of years. The ball end will just come apart while the instrument is at rest. Pretty damn frustrating. Unfortunately, I like the strings, so I keep putting up with it. I'll have to try that trick of tightening up the ball end…

[clothwiring]

I use them on my main gigging guitars. No, I have not had your experience.

[A440]

longtime user and I haven't experienced it either.

how old are these sets? they've had problems with counterfeit/fakes in the past.

see this doc:

http://www.daddario.com/upload/DABR_Counterfeit_Strings_LowRes_12587.pdf

[jmoose]

Lemme guess... looks like this?

This string lasted maybe 2 minutes. Snapped either while tuning or stretching. At one point a couple years ago I bought a box of strings for a session out of state. Broke several plain strings on multiple instruments, all within minutes of being strung... all at this same "twist" point, or the ball would simply pop out.

I've switched to Dean Markley & GHS... DR, Ernie Ball etc. Trying new things.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/Jmoose/dBusted-01b.jpg

[plan-x]

happened all the time to me on a parker guitar. very frustrating Me too using .009's. I have solved the problem by slipping the non-barreled end thru the barrel and pulling it down to a small loop then again, slip the non-barreled end thru the small loop and pull it down to a small, somewhat tight knot. Voila, No more unwinding.

[Jeremy47]

That's good thinking, plan-x

[6Tones]

My eyes my eyes:messedup

[miamimart]

I've been having them go dead prematurely as well. Some sets are great and some are just dogs and I use both the electric and acoustic D'Addario's. Something seems to be wrong over there.

[Crocker]

No problems here at all. I buy bulk boxes of EJ16 and EXL110 plus a variety of other guages for restringing my own guitars and those of customers/students. The only thing I've ever noticed is the ocassional additional string in a package.

[BacchusPlateau]

Wow, I've never broken a D'addario string or experienced anything like this. How long do you go before changing them regularly?

[Improbable Joe]

I used D'Addario strings back when I had an Ibanez S Prestige. I used to grab ahold of the bar and jiggle the whole thing up and down with the bar supporting the weight of the guitar, and nothing ever happened to the tuning, let alone the strings.

On the other hand, I've snapped 4-5 high E strings on Elixir sets within a week of stringing them up. Does that mean Elixir is a crap brand?

[Veritas]

I've had this issue as well. I change strings a lot on tour and I would say this happens about 20% of the time with my high E strings. I like D'Addarios, but this issue kinda' blows.

[nrandall85]

I change strings about once or twice per month. Usually I can tell I'm going to have an issue because the high e string will continue to go down in pitch as I tune it up. You can see the ball end slipping. I wish the guys at D'addario would weigh in on this- the free strings they keep sending are nice, but I'd rather pay for ones that don't slip.

I've been having good luck with G&H Burnished nickels recently, but they're darker.

[tnt365]

I've experienced it once this year in about 15+ packs. I also use Curt Mangan Pure Nickels without any problems so far.

[Strung Up]

You might want to try laying a thin bead of CA glue ('gap-filling', slightly higher viscosity is best) on the wrap and around the ball-end before stringing up.

[nrandall85]

You might want to try laying a thin bead of CA glue ('gap-filling', slightly higher viscosity is best) on the wrap and around the ball-end before stringing up.

How about "tinning" the strings? I've been wanting to try this but haven't for fear of weakening them with the heat of the iron.

[Jess 1971]

Dude comes on here for the first time and in bold red font slams a manufacturer out of the blue. Does no one else recognize this for what it is?

I've played D'Addario strings exclusively for more than 25 years and have never encountered this problem. I don't doubt that some of you have had thus experience, but this just seems a little peculiar. And didn't we already have a thread like this where someone complained about these strings and a rep from D'Addario came in to answer questions about it. I seem to recall that.

D'Addario is a good American company that stands by its products.

[Stratobuc]

I used to use D'Addarios for years - because they were cheap. I switched to Curt Mangans, the difference was immediately apparent. Love them.

[KRosser]

I've used nothing but D'Addario strings since the mid-70's, on acoustic, electric, 6 & 12-string, classical, baritone and lap steel guitars and banjo, I'm a professional player, and I can count the number of bum strings I've had on one hand.

And no, I don't have an endorsement deal

[SIXSTRINGSTORM]

Dude comes on here for the first time and in bold red font slams a manufacturer out of the blue. Does no one else recognize this for what it is?

I've played D'Addario strings exclusively for more than 25 years and have never encountered this problem. I don't doubt that some of you have had thus experience, but this just seems a little peculiar. And didn't we already have a thread like this where someone complained about these strings and a rep from D'Addario came in to answer questions about it. I seem to recall that.

D'Addario is a good American company that stands by its products.
---
"First of all, Lobowski is the Dude. Secondly, yesterday was the first time I've ever posted anything on any sort of wall since I'm usually practicing and performing instead of trying to be argumentative with strangers on the internet, my skills as a nerd are admittedly limited.(I like chics!)
Third, your misinterpretation of my posting is entirely your problem. I happen to love my D'Addario EXL115s and have used them for many years. If you have not encountered the ball end unraveling problem, well good for you!
But apparently it seems that I am not alone and if you would have read my post without conspiracy filled eyes, you might have understood that I was merely looking for confirmation to this ball end problem that does happen...but out of the over 3,650+ professional shows I've played, it has only recently started happening. D'Addarios are great and didn't even consider switching, just wanted know if I was alone in the High E dilemma. But what I've discovered is that, some f*ckers have too much time on their hands!!!"

[Stratobuc]

Wow - its such an honor that a real (not to mention PROFESSIONAL) rock star posts. I'm in awe...... :D

[jb4674]

---
"First of all, Lobowski is the Dude. Secondly, yesterday was the first time I've ever posted anything on any sort of wall since I'm usually practicing and performing instead of trying to be argumentative with strangers on the internet, my skills as a nerd are admittedly limited.(I like chics!)
Third, your misinterpretation of my posting is entirely your problem. I happen to love my D'Addario EXL115s and have used them for many years. If you have not encountered the ball end unraveling problem, well good for you!
But apparently it seems that I am not alone and if you would have read my post without conspiracy filled eyes, you might have understood that I was merely looking for confirmation to this ball end problem that does happen...but out of the over 3,650+ professional shows I've played, it has only recently started happening. D'Addarios are great and didn't even consider switching, just wanted know if I was alone in the High E dilemma. But what I've discovered is that, some f*ckers have too much time on their hands!!!"

I think your position (including your second post) regarding your recent experiences with the strings in question makes you come off a bit prepotent, hence why some folks assume you might be trolling.

While it seems that the problem is well justified, why not address it directly with D'Addario and let them send you free strings? If the problem persists and you're not too fond of the outcome, you can always switch to a different brand of strings.

[nrandall85]

Donnie, please. "Lebowski" is the preferred nomenclature.

And secondly, why is it wrong to talk about a company because their QC is slipping? They're immune simply because "Amurica?" That's insane.

[oneidabow1]

According to the music store I frequent some chinese (there's that name again) has been scamming people with fake D'Addario strings. My store buys direct from D'Addario so they know they are authentic, Are yours?

[ddawson2012]

Greetings all - don from D'Addario here. Myself, along with a few other members run point on tracking QC issues such as those that are being discussed in this thread.

I'm going to be completely frank and say that we have not heard of this breaking issue in such a grand capacity as what is being indicated here. We have seen (and heard) of "fake" strings that have been popping up globally - mostly thru ebay dealers, the far east, Australia, South America and now a bit in Europe and the UK. If you're purchasing from reliable dealers, there's a good chance that this isn't the case and we're by no means making excuses.

What we would like to request is, if you have Plain Steel strings that are snapping, we'd love to see them. We can test them to see if it's a tensile issue or we can examine the breaking points to see if its related to material failure or if a nut or saddle sawed thru the string.

Feedback from players is how we improve our products. Criticism is key to making things better. You can email me directly at don.dawson2@daddario.com if you're interested in sending a popped string back. We'll make it up to you in that regard. Thanks for your comments in this regard.

Further to the fake comment above - you can check your strings with the code from the inside baggie at www.daddario.com/playreal (http://www.daddario.com/playreal)

[Jess 1971]

And secondly, why is it wrong to talk about a company because their QC is slipping? They're immune simply because "Amurica?" That's insane.

Do you suffer from reading comprehension issues?

No one said it was wrong to talk negatively about a company owing to the quality of their products. It just strikes me as odd that someone who has never posted here before comes along and writes this long post in bold red font about how some company's product sucks. Sorry if that seemed like obvious trolling.

But to just come on to a public forum and piss all over a company without even trying to rectify the situation directly with the company first just seems like poor form. Jim D'Addario has been on here to answer this sort of stuff and has always seemed like a pretty decent guy who stands behind his products: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showpost.php?p=7046456&postcount=19

And since the original poster is obviously new to the Internet, allow me to show you this cool feature that a lot of Web sites have called "search." It's pretty amazing what you can find when you use your head. But I guess you're too busy with all the "chics" you're bagging since you're obviously a super awesome rock star who has played 3,650 shows, lol.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=621902

[Dr. Jimmy]

I don't doubt the OP, after all, he's a "Professional Lead Guitarist" and knows every inch of his "weapons". :aok

Seriously, this is not a new problem, I had issues with breakage similar to this about 2-3 years ago and it prompted me to change to GHS Boomers. Best thing that ever happened! I love the Boomers and have not looked back.

Sad to see D'addario still suffering from quality issues like this.....

[kev1n]

why dont you change to ernie ball?

[Jeremy47]

it is sad. it's weird that for me it was a problem only confined to one guitar. i don't think i've had the unravelling on any guitar except my parker nitefly, and then only the high E string. it would consistently unravel every d'addario i put in there, no other brand suffered this problem. i still use d'addarios, but i sold the parker for other reasons.

[arem]

I've used D'addarios on all my guitars since the 80's, can't think of a single time this has happened to me. Any problems I have encountered with D'addario strings have been caused by my crappy playing, not their product.

[djg714]

No problems with my XL's.

[blackba]

I have had it happen twice for me. Once with a set of D'Addario acoustic strings, high E unraveled as I tuned up the guitar. Same thing happened with a D'Addario XL pack. Other than that they have been great. I typically use D'Addario or curt Mangan for my strings.

[ddawson2012]

I contacted the OP directly. I hope he responds and we appreciate your feedback. Not sure if you saw my post on pg 3 - but please feel free to send me your comments directly.

[nrandall85]

Do you suffer from reading comprehension issues?

No one said it was wrong to talk negatively about a company owing to the quality of their products. It just strikes me as odd that someone who has never posted here before comes along and writes this long post in bold red font about how some company's product sucks. Sorry if that seemed like obvious trolling.

But to just come on to a public forum and piss all over a company without even trying to rectify the situation directly with the company first just seems like poor form. Jim D'Addario has been on here to answer this sort of stuff and has always seemed like a pretty decent guy who stands behind his products: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showpost.php?p=7046456&postcount=19

And since the original poster is obviously new to the Internet, allow me to show you this cool feature that a lot of Web sites have called "search." It's pretty amazing what you can find when you use your head. But I guess you're too busy with all the "chics" you're bagging since you're obviously a super awesome rock star who has played 3,650 shows, lol.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=621902

Since you're only here to dispute people's experiences- yes I have a reading comprehension issue. Please make your future posts shorter.

[XmasTree]

ive been playing the exact-same strings since 1998
..never had any trouble with them at all.

...besides the occasional sting break (at the bridge) about once a year.
(always the A or D string)


*Maybe you're buying them all from the same box at the same store - and that batch is bad???

[tinkercity]

I've had a couple of breaks at the same point on the high E string with the last few sets... Seems to happen only with my overbends and more intense behind the bridge picking. But never had an issue before. I change my strings every show, but still happened 2 times in the last month. I never break strings BTW. Blew my mind.

[nrandall85]

I've had a couple of breaks at the same point on the high E string with the last few sets... Seems to happen only with my overbends and more intense behind the bridge picking. But never had an issue before. I change my strings every show, but still happened 2 times in the last month. I never break strings BTW. Blew my mind.

Same here- I had a record going like Jerry Seinfeld and puking.

[SIXSTRINGSTORM]

I contacted the OP directly. I hope he responds and we appreciate your feedback. Not sure if you saw my post on pg 3 - but please feel free to send me your comments directly.


Originally Posted by ddawson2012
S:

Hey don from D'Addario here - saw your post and as I indicated in my post, this isn't something we're hearing in broad terms. So we're definitely concerned and interested in seeing some of these strings in hopes of doing some testing to determine the cause.

If you're interested, please send me an email and we'll see first, about replacing the strings you're having issue with and secondly, if you'd be interested in returning a few to us for inspection.

We appreciate your time and apologize for any frustration or inconvenience. As a gigging musician, its important to me, not only as an employee but as someone who will be putting my beloved EXL115's to the test tonight and tomorrow night on stage - and they haven't let me down yet. Looking forward to hearing from you. Be sure to mention we talked on the Gear page.

Don Dawson
Product marketing specialist
D'Addario / Planet Waves
don.dawson2@daddario.com

Hey Don, great to hear from you, love the D'Addario company!!!
I've been using D'Addario strings exclusively since switching from GHS Boomers over twenty years ago!
As a professional performing musician who takes his craft very seriously, I'm often misunderstood, especially about technical matters. Where some guy might change his strings once every couple weeks or what have you, I change the strings on three Gibson Les Paul Customs for every show.(Which is about two to three every week.)
That means that I go through 6-9 sets every week.
The odds of me stumbling upon a few quality control fugitives are higher than the average Joe.
I'm a very aggressive player and do a lot of extensive lead work.
I may not have to change them so frequently, but it's just my personal preference.
Between shows, those strings get a serious workout during rehearsal time.(They definitely see enough use.)
My intention was not to draw any bad P.R. to your awesome company, some people out there just like to manipulate and twist other's postings in order to create controversy and negative chaos.
(Such is the world today.)
In actuality, I would put D'Addario EXL115's up against anything out there!!!
It's all about personal taste and preference.(tone)
My EXL115's through a DiMarzio 223 PAF in a Gibson Custom and into my Soldano or Mesa is all I need for a good time!!!
*If you want to check on my string supplier:
stringthis.com
They seem to be genuine people and have replaced some of the troublesome Es...but the replacements, which where singles ended up doing the same thing.
I'm a little puzzled by it that's all, nothing more, no conspiracy...just wanted to know if I was missing something.
Bottom line, I love D'Addarios and wouldn't dream of swapping them out...but you're always welcome to give me an endorsement!!!
Take care Don,
If you need me to send you some of the unraveled Es, no problem.
Bad Brad Warning

http://reverbnation.com/badbradwarning
__________________
BAD BRAD WARNING

[SIXSTRINGSTORM]

I've had this issue as well. I change strings a lot on tour and I would say this happens about 20% of the time with my high E strings. I like D'Addarios, but this issue kinda' blows.

We are the misunderstood...
I ain't rippin' on my brand...I just want to know, "what gives"?
The ball end thing has been happening a lot lately.
Gotta show with Skid Row, Hinder, Shinedown, etc coming up, just don't want to be prayin' to the string gods the whole time!

Also, to the dude who feels the need to twist my post into something negative:

People need to know that opinions are like @ssholes...
"We all got 'em and they all stink!!!"

[Stratobuc]

Another candidate for the hall...... brick wall, here we come!

[willc68]

This did happen to me recently with D'Addario strings, I put on a brand new set and the high E broke at the ball end after just a few minutes playing.

It is great to see that D'Addario actually cares enough to have a rep chime in on this.

I am pretty sure that they will correct the problem and I see no need for to hate on them for this issue.

I get my strings from 2 of the big online dealers so I can only hope that they were not fakes.

Good show D'addario.