dhanners623 Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Anyone out there use Black Diamond strings? I usually use D'Addario EJ-17s on my J-45 and IB'64 Texan, but I saw an ad for BDs and started feeling nostalgic. They were the first guitar strings I ever used (back in the '70s) because that's what the pharmacy (!) in my little hometown carried. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone had tried them lately, had any strong opinions pro or con, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodehopper Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Anyone out there use Black Diamond strings? I usually use D'Addario EJ-17s on my J-45 and IB'64 Texan, but I saw an ad for BDs and started feeling nostalgic. They were the first guitar strings I ever used (back in the '70s) because that's what the pharmacy (!) in my little hometown carried. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone had tried them lately, had any strong opinions pro or con, etc. I have a pack sitting in my string bin just waiting to try, but I can't decide which guitar to try them on. If anyone does have experience...I would be interested too! Mine are the black coated strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAMELEYE Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 My bandmate put 'em on one of his guitars and took 'em right off. Apparently he didn't care for them at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tennroots Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 These two folks like 'em http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og7dMS-nyqA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G McBride Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 You can take a set of Black Diamond Strings and put them on a J45 You hit them chords you get that thump your down right sanctified - Ray Wylie Hubbard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubee Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Anyone out there use Black Diamond strings? I usually use D'Addario EJ-17s on my J-45 and IB'64 Texan, but I saw an ad for BDs and started feeling nostalgic. They were the first guitar strings I ever used (back in the '70s) because that's what the pharmacy (!) in my little hometown carried. I used 'em too back in the early '70s, bought 'em because they were cheap. Been using D'Addario J-17s for many years and my dim memory says: keep using the D'Addarios! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 "I'm so glad that she's my little girl She's so glad she's telling all the world that her baby buys her things you know He buys her Diamond Strings you know she said so She's in love with me and I feel fine, , , " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlarry14 Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I wanted to try some flat wound electric strings on my Epiphone J-160E, and the only set the I could find locally was these: They sound and feel good, but the only thing I have to compare them with are the horrible old rusted strings that were on the J-160E when I bought it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The G Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I can remember when they were one of the only brands you could buy. I've not seen them for years and didn't even know they were still available. PS. Love Guy Clark's song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhanners623 Posted April 2, 2011 Author Share Posted April 2, 2011 Guy Clark and Emmylou Harris could make any strings sound good.... When I was teaching myself to play, in the early '70s, I learned on my brother's old Stella. It didn't have any strings on it, but I remember seeing individual Black Diamond strings up at Millikan Pharmacy on the corner of Main and Central so I went up there to check them out. Fortunately, they came in little sacks with the numbers "1" and "2" etc. on them, so I figured that corresponded to which strings they were. Once I figured out how to tune the thing to the piano, I was on my way.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I've got a set left and one set still on a guitar. They're coated black (something relatively new for them). They sound pretty decent. Kind of flat and muffled tone at first, but they opened-up very nicely. The company was purchased by someone else several years ago, so I don't know how similar they are to what they had been. Still made in the USA, but from what I've heard in interviews of some old pickers, they are not the same as they were back when Guy Clark wrote the song. Anyway, here's a link to their site....http://www.blackdiamondstrings.com/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Marsh Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I used them years ago on my old Martin but found them a bit stiff - tried Martin Silk and Steels and didn't care for them - It might have had something to do with the fact that before my boss reset the neck and restored my old guitar it had an action similar to playing a cheese slicer. I use mostly John Pearse mediums now but might try some of the new Black Diamonds now that she's been set up properly B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringTom Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I'm always amazed by how many of us have stories of starting out on old guitars with bad action and rusted strings--and they were usually black diamonds. Maybe what makes guitar players unique is our stubborn persistence to play on. And now we talk about bridge pins, tuners, and bone saddles. Hah! Of course, in those first days, we only changed a string if one broke, so I suppose BDs got their reputation in part because we left them on so darn long. I remember the wound strings as silver, not bronze or black, colored, so I guess they were nickel wound. If they made different types, I was not aware of it then. They were just guitar strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhanners623 Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 It wasn't until I went over to the music store in Terre Haute -- and saw the rows of strings by different manufacturers -- that I realized there were more types of strings than just Black Diamonds. These days, it is pretty hard for me to veer from my string choices -- EJ-17s on my J-45 and IB'64 Texan, and Red mediums on my kit-built mahogany dread. But the nostalgia bug hit me and I was wondering what Black Diamonds sounded like these days. Then again, the last guitar I had them on, that plywood Stella, would not have sounded good with any type of strings on it. But it got me through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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