The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > General Acoustic Guitar Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #31  
Old 12-06-2017, 06:54 PM
Yrksman's Avatar
Yrksman Yrksman is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Lancashire/Yorkshire border, England.
Posts: 2,589
Default

2015 exchange rate £1 = $1.50
2017 $1.30

That would account for circa 15% of the increase plus 20% VAT.
__________________


Chris Stern



Guitars by:

Bown Wingert Kinscherff Sobell Circa Olson Ryan Fay Kopp McNally Santa Cruz McAlister Beneteau Fairbanks Franklin Collings Tippin Martin Lowden Northworthy Pre-War GC Taylor Fender Höfner

44 in total (no wife)

Around 30 other instruments

Anyone know a good psychiatrist?

www.chrisstern.com
Reply With Quote
  #32  
Old 12-07-2017, 06:20 AM
brianmay brianmay is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: 3,428 miles from Nazareth (USA)
Posts: 1,878
Default

Yesterday I bought 6 packs of Elixir 11052 Light gauge Nanoweb 80/20 Bronze.

Two x bonus pack of 3 sets each @ €70.00 (works out to £54.20, or $76.31 (USD)).

So if you're careful and discerning, even in UK you can buy Elixirs for a VERY competitive price (for Europe).

They normally retail for between £14 to 15.00 a set, so just over £9.00 a set is very good.

Have a nice day
__________________
NOT from Queen - he's much cleverer
I am English, so are all my spellings
Two guitars I'm happy with . . .
Reply With Quote
  #33  
Old 12-07-2017, 07:03 AM
fazool's Avatar
fazool fazool is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Buffalo, NY
Posts: 16,562
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by brianmay View Post
Yesterday I bought 6 packs of Elixir 11052 Light gauge Nanoweb 80/20 Bronze.

Two x bonus pack of 3 sets each @ €70.00 (works out to £54.20, or $76.31 (USD)).....

That's my preferred string, too. We don't get that deal in the USA. Twice now, they offer the PB 11-52's but not the 80/20's

Both times I emailed Gore and asked and they said the specials are what most people want.

__________________
Fazool "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter"

000-15 / GC7 / GA3-12 / SB2-C / SB2-Cp / AVC-11MHx / AC-240
Reply With Quote
  #34  
Old 12-07-2017, 02:41 PM
dr150 dr150 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: California Coast
Posts: 9
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Silly Moustache View Post
Earl49, I have a fair number of good quality guitars and I don't stint on maintenance nor string changes.
I don't care for coated strings in fact I tried a set again a while ago, but they don't last any longer than uncoated for me.

I use Ej17s on four dreads, a jumbo, two archtops and and a Weissenborn, and I change them, plus other types for other instruments.

I don't begrudge changing strings, in fact I enjoy it, but I am simply asking if prices have hiked by 50% in two years elsewhere.

I'm aware of the currency exchange rate changes but this seems radical.
For info I've checked prices in Germany and they have hike similarly there too.
I was going to recommend coated strings since they last long and Elixir has the 2 for 3 packs, that with a coupon at many retailers ends up being an even better deal, maybe even with shipping from the US--though I dunno about that--it's just an assumption.

With that said, my suggestion for you would be to buy bulk packs from certain places. The best game in town would be:
https://www.webstrings.com/

They ship internationally with $10 plus 24% added on top (see the FAQ: https://goo.gl/217m6Y).

Even WITH those extra costs included and included shipping, a pack of 24 would set you at $4.23/pack or 3.14 quid at today's exchange rate (use a credit card that doesn't charge foreign fees). indeed, not bad at all cost-wise for good stuff.

BTW, the Webstrings stuff is really good, and like they say on their webpage, they source their stuff from the same factory as the big name brands--just without the marketing/branding/3rd party fatness tacked on. I personally suspect D'addario supplies them as many users say both tones are very similar, but I nor others have proof aside of anecdotal and biased/ignorant conjecture.

Regardless, this idea could be a very compelling option for you....


EDIT:
To put your mind at ease, here's some opinions on them. You can also Google research them thru the forum chats as well. They're legit.
https://www.guitar-muse.com/webstrin...ou-expect-6705
http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/...la-41/1150965-

EDIT #2:
MusiciansFriend.com (a highly reputed store here in the States) also offer branded strings that get raves and are cheap & comparable to what you use. They ship to UK. Currently on Holiday Sale of $2/pack! Check them out:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/searc...rrencyCode=USD
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pages...onal-customers

.......btw, since you shop on Ebay, be very wary who your supplier is. Even on Amazon, 3rd party suppliers have sold counterfeit strings. D'ads and EB's are some of the knock-offs you'll see by the boatload. The string companies constantly are combating these fakes, so if you get some fakes, contact the string Mfgr. pronto. They're very aggressive in going after these fake sellers.

Last edited by dr150; 12-07-2017 at 03:40 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #35  
Old 12-07-2017, 03:22 PM
Dukesdad Dukesdad is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: NW Oregon
Posts: 23
Default

Somewhat different product but I buy carving tools from Britain over the Internet. Even including shipping I usually save money when buying from the builders web site. Too many finely crafted hand tools come in to the US through "exclusive" distributors who really run up the prices.

It is also fun to communicate with the actual builder. I learn so much more than I would from a web ad on a distributor site.
Reply With Quote
  #36  
Old 12-07-2017, 03:25 PM
brianmay brianmay is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: 3,428 miles from Nazareth (USA)
Posts: 1,878
Default

For the Europeans on this site, the deal is current and it's with Thomann in Germany.

Only certain Elixir strings are offering 2+1 Bonus packs. Look on their website. Postage to UK is €10.00
__________________
NOT from Queen - he's much cleverer
I am English, so are all my spellings
Two guitars I'm happy with . . .
Reply With Quote
  #37  
Old 12-08-2017, 01:13 AM
Paraclete Paraclete is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: NW Washington
Posts: 398
Default

Compared to violin strings, guitar strings are small potatoes. I don’t spend much time thinking about it, as long as it keeps my guitar playable. Kind of like gasoline for my car. Necessary expenses that are small compared to the value of the instruments.
__________________
2010 Larrivee LSV-11e
2002 Jose Ramirez 4e
1998 Seagull S6+folk, Mi-Si LR Baggs acoustic trio
1986 Charvel Model 3A electric

2001 Fender Jazz standard bass
1935 A-00 Gibson mandolin
1815 JG Hamm violin
Kelii soprano ukulele
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > General Acoustic Guitar Discussion

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:04 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=