D’addario- horrible for offsets? Just me?

[JVG]

You went from 8s to 9s ?

[BlixaFan]

You went from 8s to 9s ?

9s to 10s in fact! hahah
generally play 10s, liked 9s on the charvel. have 11s and 12s on a few guitars. ended up putting tape on the back of my headstocks with gauges for that specific guitar after this little mess up.

[Tehz_]

So generally I use either D’Addario or Ernie Ball Slinky 10’s, never have had many problems with them but this thread made me self-conscious, so I decided today to restring my Jazzmaster with DR Tite Fit 10’s - didn’t even have it tuned up yet, broke the high E! I hope this thread didn’t give me the opposite of the D’Addario curse...

[Velouria]

Perhaps I shouldn't post here just in case I get the "curse", however I have been a D'addario user for years with no problems. My AV65 Jag is strung with 11s and has never had an unwinding issue and I do tend to use the trem a lot...

[Debaser]

I've only read half the responses here, but count me in as a D'addario hater. The high E (0.010") unravels constantly, it's a joke. It wasn't always this way (like when I thought I needed 11s for a JM). Happens more on my AV trems. I went to Fender bullets but it's pain because I prefer nickel wound so I have to use them with another brand of wound strings.

[mcbrandt]

Add me to the ranks of people cursed by this thread. I never had a problem with D'Addario's on my jazzmasters, but a little over a week ago i strung up some flatwound 10s and today the high E unraveled. I put my 11 high E back on for now. Guess I'll start looking at other flatwound 10 options out there.

[MyJMisdrivingmenuts]

I thought it was me. Had the same problem: top E (10) unravelled. Restrung the JM with 11s as many people suggest and the top E still unravelled. Changed brands to Dunlop and the same thing. Ernie Ball seems OK, so far. D'Addarios normally OK for other guitars I have (strat, SG). Must be something to do with the way the strings are wound. Anyone got any other brand recommendations?

[JSutter]

I like D'addario strings. I recently tried heavy core Dunlop which were dull for my taste.

[mcbrandt]

My .11 E D'addario replacement just died yesterday. WTF. Never happened to me before and i used d'addario's for years with no problems. I just put on on some thomastick-infeld flatwound 11s so i guess we'll see how that goes.

[BobL]

Due to issues I ran into with d'Addarios and wanting heavier strings but needing to bend on the country licks, I found and started using these Ernie Ball Ultra Slinkys, which are the bottom half of a set of .011s, and the top half of a set of .010s...

So far, so good!

[marqueemoon]

I guess I have joined the club now. Took my lipstick JM in for some tweaking about a week and a half ago and the tech ended up replacing the (fresh out the box) low E because it wouldn't intonate properly. Then during an overdub session tonight the high E decided to unwind at the wrapping. Boo.

[Maggieo]

I've only read half the responses here, but count me in as a D'addario hater. The high E (0.010") unravels constantly, it's a joke. It wasn't always this way (like when I thought I needed 11s for a JM). Happens more on my AV trems. I went to Fender bullets but it's pain because I prefer nickel wound so I have to use them with another brand of wound strings.

I've got nickel Bullets on my Mustang, FWIW.


1965 Fender Mustang, September 12, 2017 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

Oh, and you could string up with a mix of standard ball ends on the bass side and bullets on the high E.

[cestlamort]

After never ever breaking strings, I brought my jaguar over to a friend who was considering getting one... I opened the case in the living room, explaining “no need to worry about the tremolo, it works great, have fun with it” snap! the high e (11) breaks at the ball end, as if on cue.

[jorri]

I always use daddario now.
I used to have issues with E string comin unwound when i used them, but the tone was superior in a lot of ways and i at least liked the other 5 strings on there.. I seem to remember the ball end being horizontal helped a bit.
But I just got the soldered singles they sold in bulk and would add one to each set.
But now i use NYXL and i have a feeling those are reinforced, or simply use a different kind of knot.
They last about 3x longer in terms of tone, sound better to me (but hotter which might not be for everyone), and i don't recall ever breaking a string-makes up for the extra cost...

[Wall-O-Sound]

D'addario's regular XL break like mad on my offsets and pretty frequently on my other guitars. Usually within a week, one snaps. No, it isn't from burrs or rubbing on the trem screws. Sometimes, on my Jag, the ball end would untwist before snapping, and on locking tuners, it's a gamble tuning up, especially if you change tunings occasionally. I've had a 9.5 break while tuning up after a restring on an Ibanez S.
Ernie ball strings usually last me months, and I have yet to break Pyramid strings (and I really tried to). I did have an EB 11 high E break quickly on my JM, but that was during a setup, so it was slackened and retuned a few times....
I'm sure D'addario's upper range strings, like the NYXL, are better, but when comparing string companies, their most popular, cheapest, found in every guitar shop strings are the ones that are usually compared.