Anyone used D'Addario Balanced Tension Strings?

[LivesForever]

Have any of you tried D'Addario's Balanced Tension strings? I'm especially interested in the Nickel Bronze sets, because I really loved the NB Bluegrass gauge strings. It looks like the Balanced Tension Mediums have slightly less total tension, and an even feel seems like a good idea.

Also, I really prefer the sound of Mediums, but I've had wrist problems when I use them. How does the BT sound compare with regular mediums?

[Rosewood99]

The only balanced ones I can find are for electric guitars. They have balanced acoustic ones?

[yoni]

No acoustic strings.

[LivesForever]

This looks like a balanced tension set for acoustic guitar:

http://daddario.com/DADProductDetail...edium__13_5_56

Maybe it's new? It sounds cool.

[tomiv9]

A 13.5 e, and 18 b? No thank you.

[mercy]

raising the trebles is not a good idea in my opinion.

[5th Element]

I plan to try the new NB1252BT 12-52 set next time I order strings. I doubt if I'm up to the .0135 high E on the other set, though.

[Treenewt]

Yep. Here's a link to the light set:

http://daddario.com/DADMobileProduct...n_Light__12_52

I might give 'em a try just to see.

[Brucebubs]

Interesting, currently the gauges for D'Addario Nickel Bronze are;

Lights .......... 12 - 16 - 24 - 32 - 42 - 53
Custom Lt ..... 11 - 15 - 22 - 32 - 42 - 52

and now,

'Balanced' ..... 12 - 18 - 22 - 30 - 39 - 52

I have a guitar that just might like the heavier E and B unwound strings in the new D'Addario 'Balanced Tension' range.
I'm trying a set of Martin Titanium 12's on that very guitar at the moment and that 'Balanced Tension' gauge might be exactly what they need too.

[RodB]

They seem to be new. When it comes to PBs I like their EJ24 set - even in standard tuning - designated as being for DADGAD with medium 1st, 2nd and 6th, but light 3rd, 4th and 5th so 56,42,32,24,17,13.

I like the NBs on a couple of my guitars and was hoping they would do something similar with these, but having 13.5 and 18 on the 1st and 2nd or alternatively 52 on the 6th? Maybe a step too far either way... what a pity...

[MichaelD23]

I use them on one of my Strats and they play well. They seem to last quite long, so I haven't replaced them yet. Not entirely sure if I'll go with them again, but they've been fine. And they sure are easy to do bends, especially two-note bends with vibrato.

[rpnfan]

I was just checking the offers from D'Addario for "balanced" acoustic sets.

Their data seems to be plain (pun intended) wrong.

They state that the balanced set 12-52 would have a 18 B-string with a tension exactly the same like the 16 B-string in the 12-53 standard set.

That's for sure wrong -- assuming all plain strings are made out of the same material!

So when the diamters given for the balanced set are correct, the B-string must have a higher tension (and a jump) compared to the standard set... Go figure!

NB1252BT (diameter and then following the tension)
0.0120
23.360
0.0180
23.310
0.0220
25.260
0.0300
26.590
0.0390
24.540
0.0520
24.100


NB1253
0.0120
23.360
0.0160
23.310
0.0240
29.930
0.0320
29.790
0.0420
28.790
0.0530
24.810

and in another set the B-string is given with
0.0180
27.510

which seems reasonable. But then, why would they have a 18-string in the "balanced" set and thus creating a jump in tension from high-e to B, which in the standard set is much closer!?

[jonbee]

I just installed s set of NB BT Light 12-52s on my new Taylor 812 12-fret. The regular NB lights have been my fave strings for a couple of years.
The 812 had Elixir HDs; the NBs are much more pleasing to me, but I can't compare them to the non-BT NB Lights. They sound and play just great on the 812, though.

[Brucebubs]

I tried the NB 12-52 BT's on a loud, very responsive guitar that really loves the NB-11-52's - they felt fine to play but the balance just didn't suit this guitar.

Surprisingly this same guitar also enjoyed 10 months with Martin Titanium strings.

[Crackedtop]

I tried these strings by accident on my Stratocaster (meant to buy regular D'ADDARIO XL's as the package looks almost identical) and my guitar just did not like them!
My Strat ( which has the stock whammy/vibrato bridge, ' floating' slightly off the body) has literally been set up for D'Addario 10-46 XL110's ( don't even like another brand's similar 10-46) and these ' balanced tension' strings felt weird on my fingers and put my bridge (height/feel on vibrato bar use)just feel ' unbalanced' out-of-whack.

They did not last an hour, before they got pulled- I'm a bit manic about strings!