# Your Favorite Guitar Strings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 27, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414 "2003-03-27T00:12:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/1 "2003-03-27T00:12:00Z")
I’ve been using the oh-so pricey Elixir polywebs lights on my Rainsong acoustic for too long. I’m just wondering what others are using (and where the best place to buy strings online is too!) ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/2 "2003-03-27T00:13:44Z")
I like Fenders on my electric. Tried GHS Boomers but they sounded kind of flat and dull. ---
**Author:** ![hegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hegel)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/3 "2003-03-27T00:16:46Z")
I like A and G. Oh, wait… I use Ernie Ball Regular Slinky strings. They sound great. ---
**Author:** ![Murcielago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Murcielago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murcielago)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/4 "2003-03-27T01:00:58Z")
Lately I’ve been using D’addario EXP .012s on my acoustic and Ernie Ball .011s on my Gibson electric. [This](http://www.juststrings.com/guitar.html) is a decent online shop, you can find good prices if you by several string sets at once. Recently I broke down and bought an automatic [guitar tuner](http://app.infopia.com/Shop/Control/Product/fp/vpid/654845/vpcsid/0/SFV/13339) after resisting for some strange reason. I love that damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![Azael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Azael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azael)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/5 "2003-03-27T01:26:07Z")
Elixer strings are my favorite, I can’t even remember what I have on my guitar now though. ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/6 "2003-03-27T01:42:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hegel \* > \*\*I like A and G. Oh, wait… \*\* Damn, beaten to it! ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/7 "2003-03-27T02:23:55Z")
Yep, I was beaten to it as well. I was even planning to go with A and G, too. ---
**Author:** ![bjohn13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@bjohn13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bjohn13)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/8 "2003-03-27T03:17:07Z")
lol…mine would be B…it’s skinny enough to bend easily, and I can bend it both ways. Seriously, though…I use Ernie Ball Regular Slinkies on my electric where I practice most of my chops and such. On my acoustic (which I play mostly), I use Martin Gold. They cost about $12 a set, but they sound nice and a set will last me a year. I replace my $6 set of Slinkies every couple of months or so. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/9 "2003-03-27T03:45:31Z")
A friend of mine convinced me to start using Ernie Ball Earthwood strings on my acoustic, and I really like them. They have good sound, and they seem to hold up pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/10 "2003-03-27T04:31:17Z")
The truth is that there really isn’t a huge amount of difference from brand to brand. Avoid the really cheap ones, but other than that the difference is negligible (IMO). I like DiAdario or Ernie ball, personally. They’re not too expensive, they sound decent, and they hold up for a while ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/11 "2003-03-27T04:58:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*The truth is that there really isn’t a huge amount of difference from brand to brand. Avoid the really cheap ones, but other than that the difference is negligible (IMO). I like DiAdario or Ernie ball, personally. They’re not too expensive, they sound decent, and they hold up for a while \*\* Once again, I find myself agreeing with **Diognenes** - I find that the brands don’t matter all that much. Buy what you can that is cheap, but whatever you, go for the heaviest gauge you can tolerate. There is tone in the heavier gauges! ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/12 "2003-03-27T05:08:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WordMan \* > \*\*Once again, I find myself agreeing with **Diognenes** - I find that the brands don’t matter all that much. Buy what you can that is cheap, but whatever you, go for the heaviest gauge you can tolerate. There is tone in the heavier gauges! \*\* Ya, I agree with WordMan, my first guitar, a $150 cheapie Samick I load the medium strings on. I love that big beefy sound. My Taylor and Rainsong are pretty fussy (the Rainsong has no rod so I can’t reinforce it) so they’re not going any heavier than medium light. I have noticed that I used to use Dean Markey’s Blue Steel strings and since I’ve switched to Elixirs I don’t have to switch 'em out as often for tonality reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/13 "2003-03-27T06:50:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bjohn13 \* > **lol…mine would be B…it’s skinny enough to bend easily, and I can bend it both ways.** That’s not B, that’s Bi. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/14 "2003-03-27T16:17:24Z")
OK, guitar brag time. I use Blue Steel (.10 to .46) on both my electrics: a Brian Moore Custom and Roland G-303 (guitar synth). I use Blue Steel on my steel-string acoustics as well: Medium guage on the Taylor and the Washburn, Light on the Dan Electro ('cause it’s a really short neck–yes, I do have a Dan Electro steel-string acoustic). I play really hard and they seem to last longer than any others I’ve tried. I don’t worry about the tone so much because they break before they get muddy. On the other hand, I haven’t tried any others (except various nylon brands/types) for years, so maybe I should give those Elixirs a try. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-guitar-strings/164414/15 "2003-03-29T02:00:10Z")
d minor, which everyone knows is the saddest of all…oh, you said strings! well, i used to like ernie ball extra slinkies…do they still make those?