Finally tried D'Addario NYXLs

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Blues Twanger

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I found a set of NYXL 10-46 on a Black Friday deal so I decided to give finally them a shot.

I'm not floored, and for twice the price and the rave reviews I was hoping to at least hear something more than the slightly louder and more fundamental sound I experienced compared the the regular XLs that normally live on the test guitar.

If they manage to last twice as long, maybe I'll buy another set.
 

blowtorch

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Yeah back in the pre-armageddon days that I used to take guits to my guy to do work on em, he talked me into trying those.

Not floored, but like you said, if they last as long as they're supposed to, it'll be worth it
 

WilburBufferson

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I personally think they live up to the hype -- I put a set on my #1 earlier this year and they're still solid. The guitar stays in tune forever and the break-in period is shorter. Well worth the splurge.
 

tah1962

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About 6 months ago, I tried a set of these too. They do hold up a bit longer than other strings I’ve used, but I won’t be buying another set.
 

MilwMark

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I love, love, love Ernie Ball Paradigms. Take forever to stretch in. But once they do, last forever. Retain the zing. Don’t get pitted. Don’t break.

Why do I mention? I used to break D‘addario 11s all the time. They got pitted. They got dull.

The NYXLs are kinda in between Paradigms and stock D’addarios for me.

I think the Paradigms might be cheaper than NYXL but honestly they wear so slowly and break so infrequently I can’t recall. But if a shop is out of Paradigms I’m happy enough with NYXL.
 

Willie Johnson

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Got a set for my Bullet Tele--only put on the wound strings of a 10-46 set and left on the stock unwound 9's and up. Ok, zingy, nothing amazing, but do seem to staying tune. I do like the mixed gauges--I can get used to 9's if I've got heavier wound strings.
 

old wrench

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I've used the NYXL's quite a bit. Good strings :).

On my Teles a good stretched-in set of NYXL's will still be right in relative tune even if the guitars been sitting and not played for months.

The pitch might be a little sharp or flat depending on the humidity, but the NYXL strings will still be in tune to each other.

.
 

dannyh

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A buddy of mine was raving about these strings when they first came out. I tried them and kinda came away underwhelmed. Not bad strings at all, but they didn’t really wow me either. I don’t remember them really lasting any longer than XLs, at least not that particular set, but that was a long time ago. I’d choose the NYXLs over some other brands if I couldn’t get XLs, but I’m still happy with XLs.
 

Gevalt

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NYXL are awesome. Great tone and they stretch quick. Easier to bend than some other brands.
I tried about 14 kinds of strings on multiple guitars last year, and NYXL won. They last twice as long and sound better than regular XL's. In fact, the high e is noticably higher quality and doesn't have the "plasticky" thing that XL, EB and GHS have.
Worth it. The only nickel-plated string I will buy.
 

Lake Placid Blue

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I tried a set the dealer tossed in for free when I bought my Squier Thinline years ago. I didn’t notice a difference between the and regular XL’s.
 

Blues Twanger

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After a few days I just don't dig the tone. There's a mid-honk that I've never had from nickel-plated steel sets on this guitar before (G&L USA Legacy) and even if they lasted literally forever I wouldn't keep them on because of the tone.
 

SRHmusic

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I tried a range of nickel (and steel) strings in the spring, 9's and 10's from D'Addario and others. I usually use D'Addario XL 9's or 10's. The NYXL are very good, in tone and feel for me, but the price is a bit much. So I'm using the 'pure nickel' EPN120 XL 9 strings now. (on my Strats, by the way) They make a 9.5 set, as well, EXL120+, that I really liked for a while, but not in pure nickel.
Edit: They did seem to last longer then regular XLs, as well, but they cost 50% more then EPN120 and almost double the EXL120 sets. (at juststrings.com at least)
 
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Blues Twanger

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Well, I'll never know how long they last because I took them off already.

To my ear they were mid-focused, more direct, and the USA Legacy I tried them on is already a middy guitar. It just wasn't enjoyable to play because of the over-emphasized fundamental and mids in this case.
 

2manyteles

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Things like that are never twice as good. They do lots of r&d to get a- subjective- 5% improvement.
Is a custom shop tele 3 times as good as a USA standard tele? No.
Regular D'Addarios for me.
 

gitold

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I liked them but agree with everyone else they cost to being better ratio isn’t there.
 

Tommyd55

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EXL110W's is all I buy nowadays.. I was using strings that cost 3 times what these cost for over a year... I gave it up...
These are good strings and I can change them when ever I want at these prices..
I'm happy and I get my wound G string to boot..
 

Blues Twanger

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About half of my main guitars wear XLs and the other half EB Slinkies and I think it will stay that way since both are reasonably cheap and each guitar is setup and intonated to what they currently have.
 

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