I just got finished putting a set of Elixir Phosphor Bronze on my acoustic. I can't tell if they are dead or this is how the strings sound, since it's my first time using them. I'll give 'em a chance tomorrow to see how I feel about them.
I've never had a whole set be dead but did have a very dead low E Sadowsky polished roundwound last year. They sent me a new set right away and it had a dead A string. Turns out they got a bad batch from the factory. They made good right away each time. Great customer service at Sadowsky.
I like that ernie ball seals their packages now. It probably doesn't matter much where I live in southern california, but strings could easily tarnish after a month on the shelf in a humid climate when they're just packed in paper.
I just strung my Les Paul with a vacuum packed set of Gibson Historic strings. It's not exactly dead, but far from fresh sounding. A bit anaemic sounding and lacking in feel.
Yep. Strings can sit for a long time in a shop or an online warehouse. That's why I like D'Addario's corrosion resistant packaging. I buy a box and don't worry about them going dead.
I agree that I seldom if ever have had a problem w/D'Addario freshness. I have had a couple of the unwinding high E strings but i dont find it to be a big deal as they have usually unwound as Im stretching a new set out at home. I have many spare strings laying around too. I do like and use EB Regular Slinkies but have had some small issues with them such as the occasional dead low E and D strings that break at post of the tuner.
For some reason I dont like the EBs as much now that they are in a sealed package. Ive had 2 sets of them leave my finger tips black which never happened before and I find the strings to be abit deader, less ringing and less piano-like since the sealed packaging came along. I had a couple of their older traditional packaged sets laying around and found them to be better sounding than the sealed sets.
To their credit I did email EB about these things and they sent me a 6 pack of replacement Ds and a free t-shirt.
Id like to go back to D'Addario 110s but the pricing is better on EBs. You get 12 sets for $3.00 more than a D'Addario 10 pack. EB also throws in the occasional freebie w/a case of strings from time to time.
The particular set I was talking of were a sealed pack (new style packaging) of GHS boomers. I usually buy 10 sets at a time and these has been sitting here about 4 weeks.
The GHS packaging is a direct copy of the EB. I wonder if its the trapped air inside the packaging and the paper sleeves. The D'Addarios dont seem to have any air trapped inside and of course dont have paper sleeves.
On Pyramid strings you have to bend the wound strings to a 90 degree angle before cutting them otherwise you risk the string going dead. My favorite strings.
Yeah, I put a set of DR blues on my partscaster that the low E was dead, dead, dead. No tone, like you put a piece of cloth over it. Then again, that is the ONLY time it's ever happened. Not really a big deal, I keep plenty of spares on hand.
I have had problems with DR's. dead strings, wound 4th rolls when bent, Garbage. I quit using them and went back to D'Addy's..... Don't like to bash, but they suck. Sorry DR.. Yes the truth hurts but only for a little while if you get you sh*t together.
I've had good luck with Dean Markley Blue Steels. I've recently tried DR's and the verdict isn't in on them. I got the coated strings gauged .009-.050.