In Praise of Old School, Pink Labeled Ernie Ball Electric Guitar Stirings!

[Puddleglum]

These are simply my go-to, all-time favorites. Nothing else feels like them under my fingers. There is probably some nostalgia there for me too since I have fond memories of walking into shops way back when and seeing that pink foil-ish packaging standing out. Just a really great set of strings from a great company.

Who else loves Ernie Ball strings?

[Bob Womack]

I grew up with Fender Rock n Roll Extra Lights (.009). They were reformulated (pure nickel to nickel plated and back to pure nickel) rebranded ("Rock n Roll" to "150s") and re-gauge named ("extra light" to "ultra light" to now simply "light"). At one point they almost became extinct, so I went with Ernie Ball Slinky Pinkies. But when I can find them, I go back to the Fender... um.. whatevers, in .009. Pure Nickel for some guitars and nickel plated steel for others. Habits.

Bob

[Spats Davenport]

Yeah, Super Slinkies were the first set of electric strings I bought - a friend told me to get the pack with the eagle on it.

I’ve gone through D’addario XLs, Chromes, TI Sliders and TI flats. I’ve played from 8s to 13s.

My most used electric is an AV56 Strat from 2012. I’ve had it since 2018. I use that guitar for everything from Cream to Eldon Shamblin. As you can imagine, string gauge is a compromise.

I must say, the “pink” strings sound great - the bass strings are very clear. But I pull them out of tune when playing chords.

Now, I use the Turbo Slinky set, I’m not sure what you’d call the colour, but it’s 9.5-12-16-26-36-46 - I replace the 16 with a 15.

Having said all this, I’d happily use a set of Super Slinkies.

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I grew up with Fender Rock n Roll Extra Lights (.009). They were reformulated (pure nickel to nickel plated and back to pure nickel) rebranded ("Rock n Roll" to "150s") and re-gauge named ("extra light" to "ultra light" to now simply "light"). At one point they almost became extinct, so I went with Ernie Ball Slinky Pinkies. But when I can find them, I go back to the Fender... um.. whatevers, in .009. Pure Nickel for some guitars and nickel plated steel for others. Habits.

Bob

Back in the day, Fender had these cool strings with bullets instead of ball-ends. I used those for a time. The little bullets were supposed to help keep the guitar in tune. I’ve not seen them in years.

[ghostnote]

I bought many a pack of Super Slinkies back in the day. I’m not loyal to any one brand of electric strings these days - there are lots of good ones. I still buy a pack of Slinkies on occasion.

[GCWaters]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

Back in the day, Fender had these cool strings with bullets instead of ball-ends. I used those for a time. The little bullets were supposed to help keep the guitar in tune. I’ve not seen them in years.

Fender Super Bullets...bought more than one set of them, too!

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by GCWaters

Fender Super Bullets...bought more than one set of them, too!

They are baaaaaaaack! You can always count on Fender to recycle novelty. I actually was forced to buy a pack when they came out because a dealer mistakenly flushed his regular stock for this wonder.

Bob

[imwjl]

The brand and packaging same as some others are nostalgia I enjoy, but it really does seem that some newer options indeed have better steel tempering or drawing the wire process via the tuning and intonation staying good longer.

That aspect means goofy me can look at lower price, think of my labor, lazy, and buy more of some newer models.

I bet if I used my old tuning fork with ears and hands and not a digital tuner I might not notice it as much.

[abn556]

Back in the 70s Fender Super Bullets were popular. Then people all changed to Dean Markleys for a good while. Then Super Slinkies. By the 90s a bunch of people I know all changed to Blue Steel Cryogenics that we ran until Dean Markley started have quality problems 7-8 years ago. These days I am back to using Pink Super Slinkies for my electrics and I still run the occasional set of Gibson Les Paul strings - the ones with the silk sock around the barrel knot.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Not that I'm fussy, but I usually use Super Slinkys, too.

[Steve DeRosa]

Tried a set when they first came on the market - went right back to wound-G flats and stayed that way ever since...

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by abn556

Back in the 70s Fender Super Bullets were popular. Then people all changed to Dean Markleys for a good while. Then Super Slinkies. By the 90s a bunch of people I know all changed to Blue Steel Cryogenics that we ran until Dean Markley started have quality problems 7-8 years ago. These days I am back to using Pink Super Slinkies for my electrics and I still run the occasional set of Gibson Les Paul strings - the ones with the silk sock around the barrel knot.

This post brings back some memories. I started playing in the early 90s and remember seeing Dean Markley's regular strings and then those "Blue Steel" sets. I still remember the Dean Markely ads with John Lee Hooker in the old guitar mags. Back in those days I'd try a different brand and expect them to be a lot different once I got them on my guitar. For the most part, I couldn't tell the difference and that frustrated me. It took me a lot of years to pick up on all the nuances.

[abn556]

I had a buddy who ran a shop and he ordered cases and cases of Dean Markley electric strings. Everyone I knew used the old brown pack Markleys until the Cryogenics came out. I used the Blue Steels for years until they started having issues with corrosion on brand new strings and having barrels come untied. So its back to the Pink Pack Super Slinky. They are still good strings. I have 10 electrics so I go through a fair amount of electric strings in a year.

[Puddleglum]

When I started playing, and up till the early 2000s, guitar strings were always "two for one" in shops. There was even a small shop here locally that prided itself on always having "three for one" string sales. There is a whole generation of guitar players now that have never heard of something like this. I really don't know what changed. Maybe more string-makers came on the scene and the competition got stiffer. I don't know. But, man, those were the days!

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I grew up with Fender Rock n Roll Extra Lights (.009). They were reformulated (pure nickel to nickel plated and back to pure nickel) rebranded ("Rock n Roll" to "150s") and re-gauge named ("extra light" to "ultra light" to now simply "light"). At one point they almost became extinct, so I went with Ernie Ball Slinky Pinkies. But when I can find them, I go back to the Fender... um.. whatevers, in .009. Pure Nickel for some guitars and nickel plated steel for others. Habits.

Bob

Wow, that pretty much my story on electric strings, with this difference in gauges or memory of the gauges: The Fender 150L set I recall, and used, and if I don't trust my memory I still probably have a pack or two stored in the back of drawer to confirm this, was .010 to .038. This set totally confuses people. The newest sets I have are sold by Fender as "Jimi Hendrix strings." I suspect they are the reason that some report "Hendrix used .008 strings" as the low E is gauged like a modern set that might go that thin. But the 150L sets were common enough in the 70s that you could get them everywhere guitar strings were sold.

Somewhere around the end of the century I switched to using the pink .009 to 042 Pink Ernie Ball Slinkys for most electric guitars most of the time. flats or sets with wound G on a couple of guitars, .010 to .046 on my Jaguar right now. And these nickel wrap on a couple of Telecasters:

current version of the Fender 150L set

But the majority of my electrics are string with the pink EB Slinky set.