One thing is for sure, guitarists are nothing if not incredibly loyal to the brands they like. I’m not talking about endorsing guitarists that change equipment every week (though even they seem to have their go-to gear that they use behind-the-scenes). No, I’m talking about us blue-collar players that live and die by their gear decisions to the point of obstinance.
Take, for example, guitar strings. I have not used any string manufacturer’s strings aside from D’Addario since 1988. That’s a long-ass time, in case you were wondering. I won’t look at another string, I won’t think about another string, and honestly if another string company came along and offered me a string endorsement I would really have to think about it for a while before deciding to switch.
So what is it about loyalty? What drives us as guitarists to be so fiercely adamant about liking what we like, to the point of arrogance?
I remember being in a guitar shop recently, purchasing some new strings. I asked the guy behind the counter if he had D’Addario 9 gauge sets, since that’s obviously what I use. He didn’t, but suggested I try another brand. (I won’t mention its name because I don’t want to imply that I think their brand is bad.) I declined, because I’m a D’Addario guy. He told me that these strings were cheaper than DA’s, and that they were all made in the same factory anyway, so they’re pretty much the same exact string. I thought about it for two seconds and came to the conclusion that I didn’t care; they weren’t D’Addario, so I wasn’t buying ‘em. Didn’t matter if they were cheaper, or perhaps even “better” than my strings. I’m sticking by my boys!
Now bear in mind, D’Addario has never done anything for me personally. I’ve never gotten free strings, a thank-you card from the CEO for being loyal, or a discount on string purchases for using their brand for 20+ years. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. So why not save a few extra bucks – especially in this economy – and try something different? Change is good (or so they keep telling me).
But I’m not budging.
I think it comes down to this: D’Addario has never let me down. Sure, I’ve gotten a few strings here and there that have broken way too soon, but every time I string up my guitar with D’Addarios I know exactly what I’m getting. They feel, play, and sound exactly the same every time. I don’t have to spend endless hours pulling each string to get them to sit right or stay in tune.
Please understand that this isn’t intended to be an advertisement for DA strings. It’s really an analysis of why I (and other guitarists) remain so pigheaded with the gear we like and use. The endless Gibson vs. Fender, solid state vs. tube amp debates come to mind, too. Once you get that perfect combination of things that creates your sound and makes you the unique player you are, you don’t want to mess with it; almost to the point of superstitious fear.
I’m not saying don’t experiment. Certainly, if your gear isn’t doing it for you, try out something else. As manufacturing moves overseas and labor costs are reduced, quality is sure to become an issue without the appropriate oversight. But, so long as I continue to get consistent results from the gear I use, I ain’t gonna change!
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Daddarios all the way, a constant in my rig too
They the best in my opinion, Jonny. Never liked anything else. What else are you loyal to?
The issue is, if you have your guitar setup with a certain gauge/brand of strings, when you change strings if you use the same gauge/brand you won’t have to reintonate. Different brands *even of the same gauge* can use different sized cores for the wound strings, requiring the intonation to be reset.
Whether guitarists know this or not doesn’t matter, I think they instinctively feel it when they do a string change with a different brand and things don’t sound right. They switch back and everything sounds good, and so they end up preferring their original brand.
planet waves cables by daddario (again), never saw a need to move on to more expensive ones.
Never tried one of those, Jonny. I don’t pay particular attention to cables, to be honest. I never really spent time dealing with signal loss or anything like that. I’m very much a plug-n-play guitarist, so I’m probably missing out on a lot of stuff I should be caring about.
Hey SC,
You make an excellent point. I always get a setup when I changes gauges. I messed around with moving up to .010′s for a while, but they just didn’t feel like to my style (brand notwithstanding). I moved back to .009′s, got another setup, and all was good.
I think you’re onto something, at least in good part. So let me ask this question; what would compel you (or anyone else) to change string brands? Would it be something about the production, or perhaps a new technology “breakthrough” that would pique your interest into trying another brand? Or perhaps a friend’s recommendation?
I gotta admit DR strings are my next fave, they feel least “metallic” , probaly because they are hand wound, but they do not last as long as d addarios.
Not a huge fan of DR, but my teacher Scott McGill loves ‘em.
See now let me strike a not (badum tish) of discord.
Electrics, I was an Ernie Ball loyalist for decades flirted with others. I then found Elixir nanowebs. I also am convinced on them for my flat-top acoustic.
For Jazz I use Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Swing flatwounds.
But on my Manouche style guitar I *do* use D’Addario Gypsy Jazz- these keep their brightness and don’t wear out in a couple of hours like Argentines, Gallis and Newtones.
I’ve used and liked D’Addario’s, Ernie Balls, GHS, and WebStrings. I’m currently using GHS on everything since I’ve had my guitars intonated with them.
I can’t say that price would be enough to make me switch. Not so much out of loyalty but out of momentum. They’re not particularly expensive but I buy them in boxes of 10 at a time. Having said that if a set of strings survived a blind taste test at half the price I’d probably switch.
Another reason to switch would be packaging. Those unsealed paper envelopes let your strings deteriorate before you even put them on. I wouldn’t use anything that didn’t come in a sealed six-pack.
I didn’t think companies were still putting strings in individual paper envelopes. I know D’Addario switched to plastic, but they also package them all together so you have to either use them all at the same time or use a plastic baggy or something like that.
Never heard of WebStrings, however. That’s how much I only pay attention to DA’s.
Ernie Ball strings broke on me way too quickly. I couldn’t get past a week without one wonking out on me. I hear a lot of good things about the TI strings, but they are a bit pricey.
Rotosound are the daddy. End of.
You sure are a die-hard loyalist! I played on Ernie Balls for a long time, but now I’ve been using Elixirs. I’m divided and not sure what my favorite strings are anymore…
I like what I like. I just strung one of my Brian Moore’s up with the “bottom heavy” D’Addario set. Very nice! I wish they had a 7-string set with slightly heavier bottom strings. I could always buy singles but I hate doing that.
Just came across your site. Great writings, Josh.
I just started playing a year ago, and I’m still trying to find THE string for me. My acoustic came with DAddario EXP’s. They were alright but I was still trying out diff brands, so I got the Martin Marquis strings which are still wrapped in paper package. Sure enough they lasted about a week before I see discolorations. I also sweat a lot which makes strings die out quicker.
I talked to a guitar store guy about this and he recommended that I try Elixirs. I mentioned to him that my teacher doesn’t think they’re worth the price so they knocked it down to minimize the risk. Haven’t tried them yet since my strings are still pretty good.
Andre,
First of all, congrats for taking up the guitar. You’re in for a lifetime of great memories if you stick with it. As for the strings, I have heard many people with excessive sweating switching to Elixirs. Personally, I have never used them, but it seems like a lot of people who sweat a lot like them. As for the price, think of it this way; you can either spend a little bit more on a pack of Elixirs and change them less frequently, or you can buy more packs of regular strings and have to change them more often. Seems like the Elixirs are at least worth a shot.
I remember when I was first starting out, I had no idea what guitar strings to buy. I’d often just pick a pack that looked like it had pretty colours. I didn’t understand things like string gauges and how they interact with things like intonation and neck relief, so I would even buy strings of any size and just chuck them on. I was using Ernie Ball strings about ten years ago, mostly because they were cheap, and then switched D’addarios for a number of years. I tried Elixir strings back in 2007 and were thrilled with them and still use them. There’s a lot to be said for finding something you like and sticking with it, but blind loyalty isn’t for me.
Johnnie Black recently posted: Black Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar
D’addarios Half Rounds, .010 – .046. Have used them since ’80/’81 on all my guitars. Can’t find them in stores anymore but Stringsbymail.com sells them cheaper than anyone and deliver fast. I hate string noise so I’m loving these strings. Regular wound strings are easier to grip but the finger noise makes me nuts! Only change ‘em when one breaks and they hardly ever break. Some sets have lasted me 2 years. I like broken in strings I suppose.