Whick nickel strings have you tried? Thomastik? Pyramid? Kendrick? Others?

[dorfmeister]

I'd like to hear some comparisons.

I've used the Dr Pure Blues

I've tried the Snake Oil Nickels.

I have just ordered a set of Thomastik Infeld Nickel Flatwounds.

I'd also like to try the Kendricks and the Pyramids.

As for the Dr's and the Snake Oils I thought they were both very good though the Snake Oils for me had a superior feel (looser feeling) and better tone (more balanced, smoother, more responsive).

I have decided to leave the Snake Oils behind and I am most curious about the Thomastik and Pyramid flatwounds.

Which ones have you tried and what have you liked?

I know there has been a great deal of discussion about the SOBS but relatively little about Kendrick, Pyramid, and Thomastik Infeld.

 

[dorfmeister]

Here is an interesting discussion mentioning the Pyramid and Thomastik Nickel Flatwounds.

http://www.ggjaguar.com/quest2.htm

 

[shally]

I'd like to hear some comparisons.

I've used the Dr Pure Blues

I've tried the Snake Oil Nickels.

I have just ordered a set of Thomastik Infeld Nickel Flatwounds.

I'd also like to try the Kendricks and the Pyramids.

As for the Dr's and the Snake Oils I thought they were both very good though the Snake Oils for me had a superior feel (looser feeling) and better tone (more balanced, smoother, more responsive).

I have decided to leave the Snake Oils behind and I am most curious about the Thomastik and Pyramid flatwounds.

Which ones have you tried and what have you liked?

I know there has been a great deal of discussion about the SOBS but relatively little about Kendrick, Pyramid, and Thomastik Infeld.

for years and years i have used exclusively thomastiks on my archtops.. mostly flatwounds, but sometimes their roundwounds.. i always considered them the gold standard

for my electircs i bought a bunch of pyramids through tonequest when they had a special and used them on my best guitars, or for special gigs.

both were superb, but very pricey, even with discount

however, i managed to score some d'addario chrome flat wounds recently at adeeply discounted price, and for the short term, they are everything i could ask for.. how well they hold up is open to question because the thomastiks simply wear and wear.. but at the price i paid, i can afford to change my strings 2 -3 times, so i think i will come out ahead.. i would urge you to make your own comparison.

the pyramids are great, but i cannot say they are hands down better than any pure nickel competitor.. i have even used slinkys or dr ducks and been pleasantly surprised

what i will tell you is that your sweat has a lot to do with string degradation. i have always been very lucky that my sweat does not seem to corrode strings quickly.. we had a guy in one of the bands i used to play in that i never let use my guitars because he could destroy strings
in no time flat.. if you are one of those unfortunate cats, you will simply have to change them out frequently.. you might as well go for cheap in bulk, because there is little reason to pay a premium price.. better to simply put fresh strings on more often..

i have no experience with the Snake Oils

oh, by the way, i was given a couple of sets of kendricks by mr W himself, when they first came out. they were okay, but not up there with the pyramids, IMHO

 

[Member 995]

I've tried DR, Gibson, GHS, Snake Oils, D'Addario, and probably some others. I like the GHS Burnished Nickels a lot. Cheap and they last a long time.

 

[Gar B]

Been using the Kendricks for 2-3 years. I'm pretty sure that GHS actually makes Kendrick's strings for them.

gb

 

[rhythmrocker]

I have been using tomastik blues sliders for years. i recently tried the snake olis - each of their varieties - b/c i am obsessive about finding "Better" anything.

The tomastiks rule - I bend like crazy and have not broken strings in over 5 years. btw - they sound musical, more so than the snake oils - on my guild bluesbird and G&L S-500.

 

[JeffOlson]

I, too, have been using Thomastik-Infeld Blues Sliders for years on both my Strat and my Brian Moore M/C1. They do indeed RULE!

On my acoustics, I use Thomastik-Infeld Plectrum strings. They, too rule.

Yeah, TIs are expensive, but so what? They sounds so great I don't care what they cost.

 

[GoofyDawg]

I really like the warmth of DR's. Been using them for quite awhile, though I definitely want to try out some of the one mentioned here.

 

[JeffOlson]

Not too long ago, I tried a couple sets of DR Pure Blues. To my tin ear, they really sounded dull. So I went back to my usual Blues Sliders.

 

[dorfmeister]

Just got two sets of Thomastik Nickel Flats for my guitar and a Set of Pyramid Gold Flatwounds for my bass.

 

[Radspin]

I like the Gibson Vintage Re-Issue strings. I've been playing for more than 40 years and these are my favorites.

 

[cugel]

i am a convert from sob to ghs ej nickels
i cant tel the diff between the two and tha latter are cheaper

 

[mrmax]

I use Thomastik Blues Sliders on all of my guitars ; Teles , Pauls , Strats, ,ES 347 & 137 & BluesHawk, G&L, & Musicman ,everything except my Steinberger. To me they are the best sounding and longest lasting strings. :AOK:AOK:AOK

 

[Power Freak]

I use Thomastik Blues Sliders on all of my guitars ; Teles , Pauls , Strats, ,ES 347 & 137 & BluesHawk, G&L, & Musicman ,everything except my Steinberger. To me they are the best sounding and longest lasting strings. :AOK:AOK:AOK

I love those too...

I really like these "newtone pure nickel" things I found knocking around here. Dunno much about them but I think they were fairly cheap. They're on a round core but they don't have them on their site: www.newtonestrings.com so I don't know if they've discontinued them... Their masterclass acoustic strings are my go-to acoustic string too fwiw... They make nice steinberger strings too but they're hard to find (they're pure nickel as well.)

For one of my guitars I've found GHS nickel rockers work the best; I've tried DR, thomastik etc. but to me the GHS work much better (it's an Ibanez AH10 Holdsworth model.)

For my gibson I like Thomastik Bebop but they don't last long enough to be a wise investment for me (it's my main guitar) so I usually go DR pure blues..

I really need to try pyramids soon..

 

[marsos52]

hummmmm, hope i can remember most of what i had used. sob's, thomastik, gibson vintage issues, dr blues, cleartones, and dean markley pure nickel (jimi hendrix) and pyramids

the thomastiks were great strings, the lasted and lasted a bit pricey, sounded good
at the time they were hard to find. the pyramids i thought were as good as sob's,
also pricey, they held up real good and far to get. dr blues and cleartones i hated.
the gibson reissues i liked alot, thought they were good all round. all the stores stopped selling them. the sob's are the best but i am afraid to order them, we know all about that.

lately i have been using the dean markley (jimi hendrix) pure nickel
they are priced right kinda easy to get and i am getting good play time. they are sort of a cross to me, not modern and not totally vintage. so for now they are my goto's

 

[dorfmeister]

I've got the Thomastik Infelds on my Warmoth Stratocaster now. Had a full set-up on Saturday. Changed from 10 Snake Oils to a set of 11 Jazz Swings.

My take on the flatwounds at this point. Is there much of a break in period?

I love the smoothness of the flatwound strings. I do alot of sliding around and these are perfect for that.

The tension is greater than with the SOBS but I did go up a gauge, too. The wound g string is a bit tougher to bend.

There is definitely less sustain on the wound strings. I don't think this will be a problem but it is noticeable.

I am noticing at this point that these seem a bit less dynamic than the SOBS.

Another thing I am really noticing with these is that the bass is very tight and plentiful in a good way. I am liking the way these respond to fuzz.

More on these as I play them more.


I am surprised that more people aren't into nickel flatwounds.


Also have the Pyramid Gold Flatwounds on my Warwick Corvette Standard Bass. Impressive strings.

 

[AnthonyL]

Snake Oil
Kendrick
Curt Mangan

All are very good strings. The Kendricks, to me, seem to be almost identical to the Snake Oils. Kendrick and Mangan will get delivered promptly...

 

[bbarnard]

I've used SOBs for a long time now and really like them. I just ordered 8 sets of Curt Mangans. I'd tried one set and they seemed pretty good so I'm giving a bigger order a try.

 

[rhythmrocker]

Dorfmeister - don't get discouraged with the Tomastiks - try a set of 10's - the Blues sliders. to me they are the best balance of sound plus ease of playability. I tried the jazz, the 11's too = less ease which affects everything.

 

[SLBlues]

DR Pure Blues
GHS Burnished Nickel
D'add Pure Nickel
Fender Original Bullet Pure Nickel w/bullet ends (surprisingly good IMO)(the bullet ends stick out of a Callaham block too much to use the back cover)

Out of these I prefer the DR and Fenders Note: I had some SOBs and gave them to my instructor so I would not get to liking them and have to deal with the drama of getting more.