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Question About Strings


Bad Penny 43

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Hey Everybody! I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I have a question of vital importance. Does anyone know the brand of strings Epiphone puts on their guitars at the factory? I just got an Epi LP Plain top standard for Christmas and I love the feel of the strings. I would really like to replace them with the same brand. I usually use Ernie Balls .010-.046 and this is the same gauge that is on this guitar but they feel different. They stretch so much easier like the tension is somehow less. The guy at my local Guitar Center said they were D'Addario XL's. Can anyone help me, Please? Thanks in advance.:-s

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All the Epiphones I've seen taken out of the box have come with cheap, crappy strings

which are meant for display and shipping purposes only.

 

IMO the strings sound like fishing line and feel like they've been oiled with motor oil.

Horrible.

 

Ernie Balls and D'Addario are both good choices but try different brands, hope you'll find the strings you like.

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From what I have seen and heard the strings that come on Epi's are the cheapest they can find. The ones on mine were terrible and switching to EB Slinkys, it was like night and day on how it played and sounded. Maybe try Gibson bright wire or vintage strings..but I am pretty sure that isn't what came on the Epi you got.

Maybe need a set up on your guitar? that would make it feel and play alot better.

Capt

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I have a slight problem with all this talk about cheap strings on Brand Name Factory new guitars. If you really think they would put on cheap strings I think you may be wrong. Why would they make a quality instrument and put cheap strings on it. Why would a factory cripple the tone of a new instrument.

 

Gibson uses brite wires, Fender used super bullets, and Epi has there own brand also. I think it may be more a matter of play time in the store, or how long the strings have been on the guitar sitting in storage, during shipping, etc. Manufacturers do have a certain pride in what they produce.

 

Kind of like buying a new car with 4 little spare tires on it from the factory. Would you buy it like that?

 

I am all for changing strings on new guitars myself, but to give a blanket statement - they use cheap strings - is not the correct answer.

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I play GHS boomer 10's on all my solidbodies. The tension they generate fits my fingers very well. I also believe they hold their tone longer and I don't seem to break them as often.

 

Of course, on my acoustics and 12 string, I go with much heavier strings.

 

Thank you,

Don

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You are correct as to the gauge; factory Epiphones come with 10-46 strings installed. As to the brand, well, it varies. Guitars made at the Unsung plant ("U" serial number) do indeed come with D'Addario XLs factory installed. As to the rest, it's anybody's guess. As far as quality goes, well, for me it's a moot point since I prefer a LTHB (10-52) set and therefore the factory strings usually last about half an hour tops when I buy a new guitar.

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I have no idea what Epiphone uses, but I'll go with what half the other posts said and relay that changing my strings to a DR Tite-Fit MT-10 set made a world of difference.

 

If no one knows, you could e-mail Gibson; however, the wiring diagrams they sent me for my Special II were incorrect (circuit was mostly similar but... the cap was not where the diagram said), and their explanation of the electronics was more incorrect (i.e. Gibson said the pots were 250k vol 500k tone, while showing me a diagram with 300k vol 500k tone, and I open the thing and both pots are 500k).

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I agree with Spud and after his recommendation on the 10-52's I've been using them on most of my guitars. The only guitar that I’ve ever purchased and enjoyed the stock strings was on my Gibson Custom shop R6. In fact I have still yet to change them even though they are lighter than what I am accustomed to.

SVet

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Not sure what strings my Epi LP Standard came with, but they were OK. I bought it at a pawn shop (A local music store went out of business and their stock was scattered to various pawn shops in the area).

 

I used them for a few days and then went with Ernie Balls. 10 - 46.

I've always used EB strings and they haven't failed me yet. Other than the occasional break.

 

How different can strings from different manufacturers really be?

Anyone care to elaborate?

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How different can strings from different manufacturers really be?

 

Very.

 

For example, the wound strings have usually of a steel core with

an overwinding of other materials to add mass so the string sounds the desired pitch

 

Besides the shape of the core, the winding material varies greatly. Different metals give a different sound.

Instead of a single fixed frequency, a string vibrates in a complex harmonic pattern and any change in the

materials and workmanship will definitely affect the tone and feel.

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How different can strings from different manufacturers really be?

Anyone care to elaborate?

 

Hex core vs round core; anti-corrosive coatings/treatments; high-carbide steel versus regular steel; hardening process, or extra-tight wrapping; some strings are even silver-wrapped high-carbide steel instead of nickle-wrapped.

 

The DR Tite-Fit series likes to claim that they take enough metal to make a normal i.e. 0.044 width string and then twist the winding just a tiny bit harder to make 0.043. This makes the string extra hard (more metal, compressed harder), which improves its sonic properties (soft things absorb sound as they deform, hard things transmit and reflect the energy) to give brighter tone and better sustain. (Note: DR also claims round core improves sonic properties and lifespan over hex core).

 

Another type of string (I forget whose) uses a hex core instead of a round core (which they say improves sonic properties and lifespan); high carbide steel for the core; and silver wrapping (denser than nickle). Again, high carbide steel and silver are harder than regular steel and nickle; this improves brightness and sustain. The hex core will give different acoustic properties but I don't quite understand how.

 

Various manufacturers (including the one with the hex-core silver strings) coat their strings with anti-corrosion coatings to prevent them from weakening due to surface oxydization or moisture in the air, both of which change the acoustic properties of the string (metals hold themselves together with a surface electrical charge and moisture can cause interesting things to happen to this; and of course oxydization puts a less-dense, ceramic-like layer over the strings, albeit a very thin one). This one particularly I'll tell you I don't exactly expect to matter within the life span of a string; sure, nickle and steel will tarnish (corrosion, rust, etc), but they last for like a month anyway....

 

Different strings from different manufacturers produce different sounds. The body of your guitar-- its shape and material-- will produce different sounds. What sound do you want? Pick up some Fender lights, pick up some DR Tite-Fit mediums, pick up some Ernie Balls, whatever. A stratocaster isn't better than a Les Paul if you want the Les Paul sound; D'addarios aren't any better than Gibson's own brand if you want the sound the Gibson strings make. Try a bunch and see what you get.

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My personal favorites are Thomastik-Infeld. Expensive compared to some, but silky smooth tone and a great feel. I use the flatwound TI Jazz Swing in 10-46 for guitars used mostly for jazz, and the TI Blues Sliders 10-46 for rock/blues. I also like the Daddario Chromes in 13-56 for BIG, bright jazz sounds, and D'addario XL 10-46's when I can't get the TI strings. I use Martin Silk and Steel for a light, woody acoustic jazz tone and the Martin Cryogenics for a brighter acoustic tone which fits a Dreadnaught acoustic perfectly.

 

I have a set of EB skinny/heavies on one guitar and they are very nice, but I haven't yet become completely used to the feel of the fatter bass strings on barre chords. I get some fret buzz from the 3rd string because I sometimes don't press hard enough in the middle of the neck to get BOTH of the 3rd and 4th strings tight against the fret.

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And then there are the cryogenic stainless strings by Dean Markley. The cryogenic heat/freezing process is supposed to increase the density of the steel and increase its magnetic properties so that your pickup receives a hotter induced signal. Sounds good in theory. I used them for a while on my Strat and a guitar player in the audience came up to the stage and asked me what kind of strings I had on the Strat. He said he had never heard a Strat sound so bold and bright.

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