Fender 150's vs Fender 150's?

[Tom Coyle]

So my guitar tone has changed just recently. It's one of those subtle changes that only the player would notice. I was using Fender 150's with the sunburst Strat on the packaging, that said "Pure Nickel Wound."
Now I have Fender 150's in a light blue box that say "Pure Nickel."
Are these the same strings in different, new packaging? Or are they different strings? I'm hoping they're different so I can get my tone back. Anyone know the scoop on this? Thanks.

Tom

 

[Slipslick]

New strings are ALWAYS brighter. 150s are Fender's pure nickle ball end strings. The 3150s have the Bullet end that they promote for the strat tail piece. I believe that the light blue packaging is new. Did you replace with the same gauge? i.e. R, M, L, XL?

 

[Tom Coyle]

Yeah, same gauge. Both say 150's, but that "Pure Nickel" vs "Pure Nickel Wound" has me wondering if they're the same.

Tom

Edit; Just to clarify, I have lost a little clarity in the E, A, and D strings.
The opposite of what you expect with new strings.

 

[Baaford]

Aren't the pure nickel ones old school strings like they used in the 50's. The nickel wound strings are the modern way of plating steel with nickel? I used some DR pure nickel once and they sounded really bright and vibrant, for about 2 hours. Went back to the slightly duller elixir which last weeks.

 

[gypsyseven]

I use pure nickels and really prefer the sound...as long as you don't play them for years and change them after a week or two they are brilliant.

 

[peteb]

The 250s are fenders nickel plated.

I believe the 150s or the 3150s are pure nickel windings and the way to go.




I went fro the brown to the blue packaging years ago. Either you don't change your strings often, I dont, or you had a good supply of the old brown packs.

 

[fender4life]

Might wanna look at the packages if you still have an older pack. I recall in i think it was the late 90's i was using guild phosphor bronze on my acoustic and one day i went and bought another set, put them on, and the guitar sounds like cr@p. I couldn't figure it out till it hit me to look at the pack and an old pack that i happened to have kept some spare strings in. Turns out the strings were made in USA all along till that last pack which said made in mexico ! Not saying thats it in your case, but it was in mine so it could be something like that. And they hadn't changed the pack at all except the country of manufacture, so it wasn't obvious.

 

[Mark Davis]

Fender changed the strings they are now made by D'Addario so the packaging might say different things.

Pure Nickel and Pure Nickel Wound are ther same thing. Whats different is if it says nickel wrap those are a different string.

If your new string pack says made in the USA its the new ones made by D'Addario for Fender.

 

[Mark Davis]

These are the new ones made by D'Addario for Fender.

image removed

These are probably what your old ones looked like they are made by Fender.

 

[Camplain]

just throwing a guess out there, I think they are the same thing as far as the materials they're constructed from... they may have switched the label from pure nickel wound to pure nickel for marketing... the name would imply the strings are now all nickel with no steel core, but as far as I know all nickel strings have a steel core, some round, most hex core. it also may have been so buyers would be less likey to confuse nickel wound with nickel plated...

D'addario making strings for fender would explain the new packaging, and probably the different sound.... if the new ones don't sound just like the old ones there are still lots of very good nickel wound brands on the market, some very expensive, but others like the DR Pure Blues, and the Dean Markley Jimi Hendrix are more pocket book friendly

 

[Tom Coyle]

These are the new ones made by D'Addario for Fender.

image removed

These are probably what your old ones looked like they are made by Fender.

That explains it. Thank You for confirming my suspicions.
I guess those strings are not very highly thought of, but they work for me on a particular guitar.

Any vendors or players have some of the older strings with the Strat on the packaging that you want to sell? Let me know.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[TxSpecial86]

Check the packaging again. Fender 150's afre the nickel plated steel. they also have the Super 250s. Which are pure nickel wound strings, no steel. The pure nickel strings will sound a little smoother and have more warmth than the 150s, but the packaging looks almost identical. I think there is only one word or 2 that is different but thpose words are crucial lol

 

[Joe M]

This is a 9 year old thread, Tx, start a new one....

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