Fender bullets: do they live up to fender's claims?

[RileyFender]

I've heard many things about fender bullets, like how they increase sustain and have better intonation due to increased contact with the bridge, but I've also heard that they don't do squat unless you're playing an old strat with a tremolo bridge. I have used them before, but I have not done a direct comparison. They seemed the same as my Ernie Ball super slinkies to me. Any opinions? I have a '66 tele with original bridge.

[Ringo]

I haven't tried a set in years, as I recall , I didn't notice any significant tonal difference on my Strat.
I don't see any reason that you would need them for any other type of guitar like a Tele.

[tele salivas]

I use the pure nickel Fender Bullets, .10-whatever the low end of gauge is. Nice wiry feel, and I like the richness of the sound. I don't feel they increase sustain, but that isn't one of the things I go for anyway. Mostly they feel and sound good,which is likely due to the nickel, and I like the way the ends look.

[Pete W]

Super Bullets are a different string than Super Slinky's for sure.
The winding is a touch tighter giving a smoother feel and lower overall fret wear in the long run.
They are slightly higher in tension which again slightly increases sustain and also a bit brighter in tone than the Slinky's. The sustain is very slight and prob wouldn't be noticed at stage levels.

Intonation there is absolutely no difference on a properly setup gtr.

On a strat with a standard vintage style trem there is a benefit to aiding the gtr staying in tune no question.

[RileyFender]

I understand that pure nickel and nickel-plated/nickel-wound strings will have different tonal properties; is it just the more nickel, the warmer the tone, or are there other things that can be affected?

[marktg]

I have both of my telecasters set up with fender super bullet .10 strings, and I love them. They definitely have a better should than the eb slinkies I used to play.

[RileyFender]

I did a little research, and the super bullets are much better for my frets as well. I'll definitely pick some up to try out next chance i get! Thanks for your thoughts!

[jvanhorn]

Save yourself some aggravation and just get a set of GHS Boomes. You won't be disappointed.

[jvanhorn]

Originally Posted by jvanhorn

Save yourself some aggravation and just get a set of GHS Boomes. You won't be disappointed.

Make that Boomers, LOL.

[StratBluesRock]

Gimme back my bullets! Put em back where they belong!

Haha but anyways, anything other than Elixirs for me go dead in 4 hours.

[DonMI6]

I changed to Super Bullets from D'Addario last year. I was really liking them & convinced that they did make a difference. The last set I bought, however, had nasty rough spots on the plain strings, hard to describe because I've never seen anything like it on strings before.
I know D'Addario are supposed to be making Fender strings now, but these were the worst strings I've ever bought.

Actually, Gibson Vintage Reissue strings were the worst, they had black corrosion spots on them while they were still in the packet. They looked like genuine vintage strings!

[AussieAndrew]

I also only use Elixirs as I have bad skin reactions to nickel.
Elixirs sound pretty good to me and IMHO they are a lot easier on the frets (I'm a heavy handed player) as they have that protective coating on them ~ not to mention how much "longer" they last.

[originalritz]

Originally Posted by jvanhorn

Make that Boomers, LOL.

LOVE GHS Boomers.
Used to use them 10-46, then switched the D'Addarios 10-52.
Moved up to 11s a couple years ago, and recently tried Boomers 11-53 and just love them!!!

I tried the super bullets on my strat a few times (back when I still had it) and recall no substantial benefits sustain or tuning-wise. But then again I was never heavy handed on the trem either.

[Cat MacKinnon]

increase sustain? no. the whole idea behind Bullets was that they would sit centered in a Strat trem block instead of sitting crooked like "normal" ball-ends supposedly do. however, decades of guitarists have used regular ball-end strings in Strat trems without ever having problems, and i think Bullets are mostly just a marketing gimmick. i remember once, several years ago, i bought a couple sets of Bullets to see if they made any difference in my Jimmie Vaughn sig Strat trem...they didn't.

i don't remember them being bad strings, but they weren't anything special, either. at the end of the day, i think they're just normal strings with a less-than-normal thing on one end. i'm not sure who's making Fender's strings these days, so maybe their "formula" has changed. most string manufacturers in the US buy their raw wire stock from the same couple of distributors, so there's less difference between string brands than most people think. i think the main differences aren't in the metals, but primarily in the winding and polishing processes.

the nice thing about guitar strings is that most of them are inexpensive, so it's cheap and easy to experiment with different brands/types/gauges to find one that you like best. one thing i do not miss about my couple years as a bass player is the outrageous cost of a new set of strings!

[tele salivas]

One thing, using Bullets on my Teisco Spectrum, they do seem to stay in tune better and not break. I have a problem with that trem on that where other brands will break on the high E pretty quickly. I tried about everything else,but I don't have to worry about that with the Bullets. No string breakage.

[J-man]

Fender Bullets break more frequently than other strings, in my experience and offer no noticeable benefits to outweigh this.

[tele salivas]

J-man, do you remember the alloy used in your experience?

[J-man]

Originally Posted by tele salivas

J-man, do you remember the alloy used in your experience?

Nope, sorry!

I haven't bought a set of Bullets in a few years, but almost every set ended with a broken string within a couple of weeks. I now use Ernie Ball strings and very rarely experience a broken string.

[Johnnyb4894]

Try a few different strings including the bullets, till You find the ones You like. Strings are reasonable. Base Your decision on tone, price and reliability and find the ones that make You happy. For Me the choice is D'Addario 10's.

[transmaniacon]

sheesh, i thought you were talking about a guitar....one of these...

http://gitarrensammler.com/Gitarren-..._usa_1981.html