D'Addario XS Strings and "Shimmer"

[SRL]

I use XS PB on all my guitars. I wouldn't say they are the most shimmery out there but they have enough of it, and their other tonal qualities and their longevity are superb. I've tried a lot of coated strings and I do think in general coated strings lose some shimmer over their uncoated counterparts

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Ps346

For the record, my wife says that I need a hearing aid. 🙂

My wife says I don't listen to her, .... or something like that ... I wasn't listening.

[Brent Hutto]

On my acoustic guitar I put a set of XS on there and it's one of the few strings I've ever tried that I couldn't even bear to give it 2-3 days to settle in. They just sounded wrong in a way I could not really describe. Just bad.

OTOH, I've got XS electric strings on my Strat now and really liking them. Go figure.

[Glennwillow]

I have found that the D'Addario XS strings in PB that I have been using have a nice shimmer to them. I also like uncoated D'Addario EJ16 (light, PB) strings.

- Glenn

[nitram]

Just saw an item stating that Molly Tuttle is using D'Add XS PB strings.
That's a fairly strong reason for anyone to consider trying them.

[RussL30]

I find the XS PB's have such a great combination of shimmer and richness. Honestly when I've tried John Pearse PB's, I've found them very dull.

[Racerbob]

Had been using EJS 16 on most of my guitars for years. I tried a set of XS 16 on my Froggy H12 and wondered where the great, deep bass went. After a week I replaced them with some EJ 16 and suddenly the bass was back. Completely different guitar with the XS 16 and not in a good way.

[leew3]

Originally Posted by Ps346

For the record, my wife says that I need a hearing aid. 🙂

In all seriousness, this is well worth checking out. Whenever I find myself frustrated with the seeming deadness of any of my guitars, I discover that I've forgotten to put in my hearing aids. It's a hit to the ego perhaps (I started with hearing aids in my early 50s) yet it's been a great and positive game changer.

Back to your original question, I find XS strings to be 'shimmery' enough for me-provided I'm wearing my hearing aids!

[Ps346]

Originally Posted by leew3

In all seriousness, this is well worth checking out. Whenever I find myself frustrated with the seeming deadness of any of my guitars, I discover that I've forgotten to put in my hearing aids. It's a hit to the ego perhaps (I started with hearing aids in my early 50s) yet it's been a great and positive game changer.

Back to your original question, I find XS strings to be 'shimmery' enough for me-provided I'm wearing my hearing aids!

I just read your comment to my wife, and she said, "Thumbs up!"

She listens to the XS strings, and she thinks they have plenty of shimmer.

Recently, I was thinking of getting a custom built guitar from a certain luthier. I was playing a number of his guitars, and one sounded perfectly balanced to me. My wife mentioned that it sounded very bright to her. I expressed my surprise at her comment, and the luthier asked, "Do you have any hearing loss?"

So possibly I need to look into a hearing aid.

My wife just asked if you have a recommendation. 🙂

[SRL]

Honestly I think the varying levels of hearing loss explains a great deal of the different preferences for string types, tonewoods, and builders.

It's kind of like how, as we age, our color perception changes, and with it our color preferences.

[Dan Winheld]

Originally Posted by Ps346

Formerly, I never liked D'Addario strings, but I recently read a thread where many were singing the praises of the XS strings, so I sprung and got a 3-pack from Amazon (phosphor bronze).

I can see that they are very nice strings – and apparently long-lasting – but they seem to highlight the fundamentals with little of what I would call "shimmer."

I had been using John Pearse Strings, and, although they don't last as long as I expect the D'Addarios will, they have much more shimmer for the first week or two or three.

Can anyone comment on this – and possibly give a recommendation for strings that have a nice "shimmer"?



Thanks in advance for any replies.

Late to the party, but I recently put a set of DR Sunbeams (10’s, except I swapped out the high 0.010” 1E for a 0.011”) and I heard something entirely new- that word you’re using, “shimmer” describes it better than anything else.
Owned and played this ax for 22 years, it’s had Thomastiks, SCGC, Newtone, Stringjoy, JP, Rotosound, D’Addario NB, GHS, - all the alloys and variants thereof, but only the DR Sunbeams have this here shimmer that’s causing all the excitement. And fine voice separation, not the golden mush that some Phosphor Bronzes have.

Yes, I recommend the DR Sunbeams- and if the D’Addario XS also shimmer I will check them out.

[Ps346]

Originally Posted by Bowie

I'm big on the shimmer. I buy instruments specifically for that quality. If your guitar has "it", the strings will hardly matter. If not, you can get some of it from the strings until they die down.

SCGC strings have a natural shimmer without bring aggressively bright like Elixirs. This stays with the strings for a very long time. For that reason, they are worth the cost for me and my main string. The tone just doesn't change with these, for months.

Newtone Masterclass have a strong shimmer and overall overtone content. They don't last as long as SCGC, but I do find they last much longer than normal JP, D'AD, etc. About a month, vs 5 days with the standard non-coated brands. They are really a sleeper brand and probably the best sounding steel string tone I've ever heard.

I do think my guitar has shimmer as I've AB'ed it with many high-end guitars – Goodall, Collings, Santa Cruz, Lowden, etc. It's up there with all of them. The only guitar that was clearly better (in my estimation) was a Ryan Nightingale.

As I've mentioned previously, I think my hearing loss is factoring into all of this.

If you happen to check back – can I ask where you purchase your Newtone MasterClass strings?

[Ps346]

Originally Posted by Dan Winheld

Late to the party, but I recently put a set of DR Sunbeams (10’s, except I swapped out the high 0.010” 1E for a 0.011”) and I heard something entirely new- that word you’re using, “shimmer” describes it better than anything else.
Owned and played this ax for 22 years, it’s had Thomastiks, SCGC, Newtone, Stringjoy, JP, Rotosound, D’Addario NB, GHS, - all the alloys and variants thereof, but only the DR Sunbeams have this here shimmer that’s causing all the excitement. And fine voice separation, not the golden mush that some Phosphor Bronzes have.

Yes, I recommend the DR Sunbeams- and if the D’Addario XS also shimmer I will check them out.

Thanks, I'll try them. I know I've put them on my guitar once, but that was many, many years ago – before all of this hearing loss. 🙂