Customer Reviews

D'Addario EXL110 Nickel Wound Electric Guitar Strings, Regular Light, 10-46

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been playing guitar for a little over 10 years and I really love these strings. I have tried brands such as GHS, Ernie Ball, Dr, and more, but these seem to have one of the best feel. They have a real clarity in tone and are a great match especially for someone starting out playing, it will help their fingers not bleed as much because of the feel. The only brand that I think is a bit better is Dean Markley Blue Steels. They last longer, are brighter, and I am liking the feel a bit better as well. None the less, for the price and over all value, these strings are awesome, and even in my house, you will find a dozen sets ready to string up!

I settled on the D'Addario XLs sometime ago. I use them on a Telecaster (actually 2 of them). Great tone and they bend well with no breaking strings. They sound fantastic when they're first put on, and tend to settle in after about a week of playing. Tone stays nice and consistent until I change them which is every 4 to 6 weeks. I play daily and a total of about 8 to 10 hours a week. Peace.

When I got my first electric guitar. (a stratocaster) I was remisce as to what strings I should buy. I was told that D'addarios were the most popular so I went with them. They seemed good enough.

Now it's a little over a year later and my knowledge of guitars has grown a lot. I now know more about string gauges and materials and stuff like that, so I feel more enclined to review this product accurately.

The first thing I would say about these strings is that the materials are very good quality. Their not too slick but not too rough. If you want to have a more slick metallic feel to your strings I would say go with Ernie Ball. They are about the same quality anyway. D'addarios just feel right to me. They have an overall good feel to their performance and they may seem a little rough or hard to play at first but after a while you start to appreciate them more.

Now about the gauge. Since I was a beginner at electric, I was advised to go with .10 since it's the most common gauge. To tell the truth I didn't even know what gauge was at the time... What I do know is that I play in both standard and in drop D and these strings did the trick.

Later though, I began exploring lower tunings like Drop C and some going half a step down, ect... That's when I realized something was wrong. The strings were buzzing. Little did I know that tuning back and forth like that was not good for my guitar, and the .10 gauge strings were not suitable for this.

eventually, I figured all this stuff out and made the appropriate changes. I now play in Drop D almost all the time and I find that the .11 gauge D'addarios are quite suitable for that. But whenever your going to play in standard tuning, I would say get these.

One thing that is bad about D'addario's. They don't make a gauge big enough to perform in tunings lower than half a step down. Due to this I have two guitars now. One thats in Drop D and fitted with Daddario .11's and another in Drop C that's fitted with Ernie Ball Beefy's.

But once again, I cannot recommend any string for standard tuning more than this one.

One more thing I forgot to mention, the .10's tend to break sometimes. It may be that I just thrash too hard but so far I've been through about 20 packs in a year. About half the time I would break a string and the other half I would just change them because they were getting old.

I've been playing guitar for a fairly long time (13 years) and I used to work at Guitar Center, so I've tried most every type of string on the market. Reps would visit our store, and I'd go home with a new brand of strings on a semi-regular basis. Some of the higher-end strings were nice (DR and Blue Steel, for example.) But D'Addario would always run a very close second. And at 1/2-2/3 the price? It simply didn't make any sense to use anything else. In the end, you get a great sounding, long lasting string for a very reasonable price!

I have used the D'Addario XL line almost exclusively for all my electric guitars for 20 years. XL110's most commonly used gauge. heavier XL115 set also very good. Extremely consistent sound set to set, and no problems with breakage are primary reasons for staying with D'Addarios. No excessive stretch out after install, and will last for quite a while without significant sound degradation. I actually like them better after a few hours of playing time! Available 3/6/10 packs also is convenient and saves $$.

I love the clarity and punch I get with these. They're great with a variety of pickups. Highly recommended!

Always works well. High Quality, Low Price! You can pay more for something else, but you will need to be a Perfectionest. Im spoiled.
Jay

After trying many different brands and types of strings over a few years, I always come back to (and now exclusively use) D'Addarios. They last longer, stay in tune better, and overall are high quality strings. I've used Ernie Ball Slinkys, DR, and other brands, but found myself breaking strings regularly. These strings rarely break, and I change them half as often.

Features that make these stand out:
-The packaging is good. Minimal waste compared to some brands, and the corrosion resistant bags mean I can store extra sets in my guitar case and know they'll be fresh when I need them.
-The color-coded ball ends are a nice touch, making string changes faster.
-Usually available in discounted multi-packs. I've found the best deal can usually be found ordering 10 packs.

Always works well. High Quality, Low Price! You can pay more for something else, but you will need to be a Perfectionest. Im spoiled.

I ended up settling on these as being my favorite strings years ago. Ultimately, they're simply the best for the money. You can get them for less than $3 per pack, if you shop around.