My "coated" PB string journey (or: a dubious first impression of D'addario XT PB)

[erhino41]

Originally Posted by curbucci

I emailed Daddario in April through their site in product questions about them discontinuing the EXP's.

Here's the email:

Brand:



"Guitar+



Message:



Hi, are you still planning to phase out your EXP acoustic strings?



and their reply was:



Hello,



Thank you for your e-mail.



Yes but what set in particular do you use?"





Terry



Consumer/Customer Service Product Specialist

That's the worst news I've heard in awhile[emoji20].
Aside from the real travesties plaguing is at the moment.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Looks like a bunch of us are going to clear out their EXP stock...and then have to go looking for an alternative.

I will say this: so far (and this is only day 2, hour 2) I do like the tone and feel of the XTs. As of now my only concern is that within 30 minutes the top two strings lost their sheen (per my first pic above) in a way that the EXPs never did (nor my 2+ week old Elixirs, second pic above).

If it turns out I get 2-3 months out of these and the only downside is cosmetic (so good tone throughout) I'll be willing to give the XTs a fair shot. But if this early loss of luster is the canary in the coalmine, and these string go south in less than a month, then just like the SCGC LTs and Martin 540Ts they'll be relegated to the side as I search for the EXP replacement.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Originally Posted by brencat

Funny to hear your reaction as I believe Santa Cruz guitars used to come with Elixir Nanoweb PBs standard, when sold new many years ago. Now all new guitars ship to dealers with either their Low Tension or Mid Tension strings, depending on body size. If you only got 3 weeks out of the Low Tensions, that's obviously not going to be a cost effective option at $18 per set.

I've owned a D/PW for years and more recently the 1934D as you know, and my favorite strings for both are DR Sunbeam PBs in 12 - 54 gauge. D'Addario EJ16s also sound great but lack the vibrancy of the Sunbeams.

Agree with you about the EXPs -- I've always liked those strings. A step up from the EJ16s with a little more slinky feel and a lot more vibrancy. Strings and Beyond ran a BOGO sale recently and I bought 4 sets. Will be trying those on my Santa Cruzes shortly.

Hope you find a viable alternative to the Elixirs (I hate them, too slippery!)

Good luck with the EXP experiment on your SCGC!

I assume SCGC used Elixirs stock for the same reason many others do: you never know how long your guitar will sit on a showroom floor, and how conscientious a dealer will be in putting new strings on it when the original ones age out.

I know in the past my opinion of Martins and even some Collings was colored due to having strings on them that should have been changed by the dealer if they really wanted to move their stock. Admittedly this was quite a few years ago when I was in a different income bracket, so since I knew at the time I wouldn't be able to spring for a $4K+ guitar I didn't have the nerve to ask if the dealer would restring it. But I remember the dull sound and thinking "yeah this sound isn't a selling point".

But if you put Elixirs on it, then they'll sound great (for Elixirs) for many months, maybe even a year or more given how infrequently high-end model guitars are auditioned at a shop.

[whvick]

I have been happy with EXPs so I bought 7 sets on the bogo. Should have bought 8...wasn’t thinking.. just trying to get free shipping.
But I recently put Santa Cruz parabolic lights on my Taylor and they are great. It says coated on the package and so far they are lasting good and sounding GREAT.
I am a cheapskate so I will use the EXPs first, but probably buying Santa Cruz in the future.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Brief update. Put a couple more hours of play into the XTs on my H&D...still sound good. The oxidation hasn't gotten worse, so I'm hopeful that it won't worsen too much. Still wiping down after every play.

I just pulled off my zingy Elixirs from my SCGC. This is to my knowledge the first time I have ever pulled off fresh strings out of unhappiness, versus the strings being old enough to require changing.

I put on DR Dragon Skins. They sound good out of the box, and are a little bright (as expected for new strings) and I suspect they'll settle down. They definitely do not have that Elixir 3rd and 4th string zing, so that's good. Also some of the brightness my be due to me switching out the ebony bridge pins with some bone pins I bought from Maurys. It's not overly bright by any means.

If I can get a good lifespan out of the DR Dragon Skins, and if they keep a similar tone to what I'm hearing now (mellow out a little bit with age, and then hold that tone for a while) then I would be a happy camper, but only time will tell.

[curbucci]

Ha! I just noticed on the Daddario players reward site that the EXP16's are now at 44,000 points vs 1,600 which was what they were. XTs are 1,600 points to redeem. Looks like 1 pack of EXP16's are worth 27 packs of XT's.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Couple more anecdotes, one related to XT vs EXP, the other just a general overall comment on my own stubbornness.

Before I got into a better financial situation at work, and then the pandemic freed me to spend some of my hard-earned dollars towards high-end guitars, I was downright miserly with my string budget. I knew my finger oils ate through uncoated strings, and even some coated ones dulled and faded within a couple of months. Elixirs were the only ones I could routinely get six months (sometimes more) on. So those were it, for the first 14 years I only owned one acoustic. Even when I got a little extra money and got my (now traded in) Taylors, they came with Elixirs and so I saw no reason to stray.

It wasn't until I got the SCGC and H&D that I realized 1) what small builder's guitars sounds like in comparison to my Taylor, and 2) how great they both sounded with D'addario (and SCGC and Martin Lifespan 2, even though neither lasted more than a month before oxidizing badly) and how much I disliked the sound of my OM with Elixirs.

Which led me to this current experiment, and this post. Only now into Day 2 of Dragon Skin on the OM, and the brightness has already been tamed a tiny bit and if it keeps this general tone for a while, I will consider this a viable alternative to EXP16s. The tone is very similar, and there is a slightly more tactile feel to the DRs that I like. Of course, there is no substitute for time, so I'll continue to update this when they finally require replacing. Hopefully in 3 month or more

But getting back to my stubbornness. I decided to install some EXP16s on my M32. Now this isn't the first time I've not installed Elixirs on it (after all, how would I have learned my fingers eat through uncoated strings?), but the last time was probably many years ago, in the mid-2000s when I wanted to save some cash from Elixirs. I think I just bought the standard Martin strings at the time and saw them age out and dull within 2 weeks, and reverted back to Elixirs. At the time I was very early in my playing career and wasn't really attuned to tonal differences at all.

To my (not so great) surprise: the EXPs have really brought out a better sound from M32 than the relatively fresh Elixirs I just pulled off of them (they were probably 2 months old but I'd only played that guitar a handful of times due to the OM and TD-R). Now I can say my M32 provides a viable alternative to my other two, considerably more expensive guitars. It sits somewhere in the middle, providing a little bit more low end boom than the OM, but less than the dreadnought. The sitka has aged well, and while perhaps not as articulate as the adi top on the OM, it's got that sitka "punch and volume" to it, though part of that I'm sure is owing to it's larger GA size as well as the tonewood difference. I can't believe how being stuck in the "Elixir rut" has kept me from hearing the tone I'm getting now with EXPs.

It's made me order a few other brands of coated strings (I'm still not willing to change every 1-2 weeks, it's not a money thing, it's a laziness thing) to see what else is out there. I see Gibson has a coated option they just released. And I'm going to order some Curt Mangan coated strings. Are there others I should try (already done SCGC LT, Martin MA540T Lifespan 2.0, DR Dragon Skin, and a set of Ernie Ball Everlast ready to go after the Dragons die)? I think years ago I tried Cleartone and it didn't last as long as Elixirs so I switched right back, but I don't remember how long they lasted, nor their tonal quality so I might try them again.

Before I forget, I realize this is not proof that XTs aren't just re-branded and re-priced EXPs. But the first picture is of my EXP16s on my M32 after about an hour of play. Note how there is no sign of dulling on the unwound strings, whereas in my first post, with half the amount of play the unwounds on the XTs already had dull spots exactly where I fret them.

The second pic, just for comparison's sake, is of my DR Dragon Skins on my OM after 2 days and about 3 hours of play. Again, no visible dulling of the unwound strings. But I will reiterate, the XTs still sound good, just was a little bummed to see the discoloring happen so quickly, and am worried it's a sign of a shorter lifespan, but again, only time will tell.

[Ed66]

While I'm not a great fan of coated strings in general, I have become a convert of sorts on the EXP's. While I don't like them, tonally, quite as much as the EJ's, in certain situations I'm very happy with them. Also I find the feel a little off-putting being used to non-coated strings. Initially I had high hopes that the XT's would be the perfect blend, combining the tone and feel of one and the durability of the other. Hopefully they'll get there someday, but it's a miss for me so far. I really don't think XT's are repackaged EXP's they just feel very different to me.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Originally Posted by Ed66

While I'm not a great fan of coated strings in general, I have become a convert of sorts on the EXP's. While I don't like them, tonally, quite as much as the EJ's, in certain situations I'm very happy with them. Also I find the feel a little off-putting being used to non-coated strings. Initially I had high hopes that the XT's would be the perfect blend, combining the tone and feel of one and the durability of the other. Hopefully they'll get there someday, but it's a miss for me so far. I really don't think XT's are repackaged EXP's they just feel very different to me.

Have you tried the DR Dragon Skins? IMHO those come close to the feel of uncoated. But as I said, my own personal jury is still out as to how long they'll last, they've only been on there a day. I'm using the 12-54 gauge.

And at some point in the future, I may decide to use uncoated on my OM just to try and get "max quality sound" out of it, even if I do have to change strings more frequently. Maybe as long as the M32 and TD-R aren't being changed so frequently, I will be more amenable to changing the OM every 2-3 weeks.

At that point I'll probably start an "uncoated/untreated string journey" thread.

[Ed66]

I haven't tried the Dragon Skins but based on the name alone I'm going to pick up a set to check them out.

[Oldguy64]

I am pretty much a D’addario “fanboy”.
I tend to baseline each of my guitars with EJ16’s or EJ26’s.
I try to rotate thru guitars so I play them all some kind of regularly.
As much as I like EJ16/26 I’ve found myself playing Nickel Bronze lately.
They seem to last quite a long while for me.
I find myself putting them or Curt Mangan Monels on a lot of guitars lately.
Because I like the way they sound.
I like the way they feel.
And for me, I like the way they seem to last.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by Oldguy64

I am pretty much a D’addario “fanboy”.
I tend to baseline each of my guitars with EJ16’s or EJ26’s.
I try to rotate thru guitars so I play them all some kind of regularly.
As much as I like EJ16/26 I’ve found myself playing Nickel Bronze lately.
They seem to last quite a long while for me.
I find myself putting them or Curt Mangan Monels on a lot of guitars lately.
Because I like the way they sound.
I like the way they feel.
And for me, I like the way they seem to last.

Throw some XT PB on your OF660. Best sound I've found yet in my opinion, in both lights and custom lights . I liked EXPs, I like the XTs even better. It isn't hyperbole that they have incredible tuning stability either. They settle very quickly and stay put

[jklotz]

I'm one of those guys who can tarnish uncoated strings in a matter of hours. By day 3, they feel like leather and sound like rubber bands. I've got no choice, as much as I play, I have to use coated strings. Fortunately I like Elixir nanowebs and I tend to get a month or so out of them. I am aware, however, there are some of my guitars that I know would sound better with other non coated strings.

I went through an experiment a while back where I bought every set of coated strings I could get my hands on and tried them on the guitars that didn't like Elixir's. I came to the conclusion that there was really no "best", just different, so I just buy Elixir's now. So much easier to just stock one.

One standout for coated that you may want to try is Cleartone. They sound different than Elixirs, but still sounded good to my ears, and seemed to last as long as the Elixir's did. They may do what you are looking for without the "zingy" thing you mentioned.

[Oldguy64]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Throw some XT PB on your OF660. Best sound I've found yet in my opinion, in both lights and custom lights . I liked EXPs, I like the XTs even better. It isn't hyperbole that they have incredible tuning stability either. They settle very quickly and stay put

Tried them on my Takamine P3DC.
I wasn’t disappointed.
But I wasn’t wowed either.
The best I’ve used on the OF660 have been Ernie Ball Aluminum Bronze, and DR Dragonskins.
Honorable mention to the Nickel Bronze as well.
Fortunately, unlike the OP, I don’t have acid hands and a set of strings tend to last six to 12 weeks on a guitar I’m playing daily. And I’m a fingerstyle player.
I’d probably get longer life if I wiped my strings more often after I was done playing.

[loco gringo]

I haven't tried the DR Dragon Skins, but I did just get some of their Veritas in. I haven't put them on a guitar yet. I think the Veritas might be treated and the Dragon Skins are coated? I'm not positive on that, and I'm too lazy to go to the website and look. I'm interested to hear what you thing of the Dragon's over time.

I have had an on off thing with DR strings for years. I tried them a number of times right after they came out and then some years later with mixed results. It seems like they had some quality issues at times. I still have some Sunbeams and Rares in my drawer, and I am not really sure how old they are. I guess I'll put them on something in the near future.

I am mainly a D'Addario guy and have been since the 70's. I don't use only their strings, but they are my go to. I do branch out and try other things. I just ordered an assortment from an online vendor to try some different strings.