D'Addario

(Originally written by marc05400/translated from Audiofanzine FR) I've been using these strings for a few weeks. They are the first flatwound strings I try so I cannot really compare them to others... But their quality somehow refrains me from trying out other brands... They give a jazzy or bluesy sound to my Lg Hmb Godin depending on the pickup and amp settings (Vox AD30VT). They are very comfortable to play with and hardly make any noise when I slide! They are "smooth" enough to easily play 1-tone bends on the 4th fret (if your fingers can take it!). I'm actually considering trying out their big sisters (gauge 12/52)... Right now I cannot say anything about durability... I give them 10/10! I have no reason to award them a lower mark at the moment...

The D'Addario Pro Arté EJ 45 is a set of nylon/classical guitar strings. I would only use these on a guitar that is designated for nylon strings, although I don't know how they would work out on a steel string guitar. I don't own a classical guitar any more, but I used to have one when I was playing classical a bit and used these strings. The guitar that I had was a Takamine C132S and I still have a back up pair of these strings even though I no longer own the guitar. These strings are manufactured in the United States and are a normal tension set of strings. I'm not an expert when it comes to classical or nylon strings, but these are good strings and will definitely get the job done at a low cost. I honestly haven't tried too many other sets of classical strings, and probably none other from D'Addario, but I've certainly used other acoustic and electric strings from D'Addario and of course like many I've been a big fan. The Pro Arté EJ 45 have a very clean overall feel that will make your guitar as easy to play as it will allow. I don't think it's possible to go too wrong with these strings as they are very well made and won't cost you much at all. You might think that classical strings are a bit more expensive than your average electric or steel acoustic strings, but they're in the same ballpark and these are definitely right in there with the rest of classical strings when it comes to price. You can probably get some pretty expensive nylon strings if you're a true professional and need the best of the best, but for those looking for a good pair of classical/nylon strings for cheap, these will do the job.

The EXP16s are the latest strings from D'addario. What sets them apart is a coating to phosphor bronze strings. Don't get all crazy on me, it's a thing coating, so it's not like all the other coating strings. I saw that Fender was putting these on the newest line of their acoustics and well I think the new Fenders are great partly because of these strings. I picked a set up for $10 D'addario always puts out a quality product. I've dealt with the customer service before since a cable I bought had a lifetime warranty, great service from them. The strings were warm and balanced. I was able to get a month of heavy play out of them. I'm talking daily playing. If you're a casual player I'm sure you could go 6 months to a year on these. No weird squeaks like you get from overly coated strings. Nothing I didn't like. The tone does shift a bit as the strings break in naturally, so if you don't like the tone right off the bat, don't worry. D'addario puts out a consistent product. I've only received the best from them. A great, long lasting string from D'addario. See for yourself. I'm still using my first pack. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

These are the latest and greatest strings from D'addario. They are coated nickel plated steel electric guitar strings. The gauges I checked out were the EXP 110 series with is .010 for the high E, .013 for the B, .017 for the G, .026 for the D, .036 for the A and .046 for the low E string. Bought these at my local music shop for $10. Why? because I always love the quality, performance and tone I get from D'addario. How much? These strings for for $10 a pack. They even come with an extra high E string. That is something I have not seen string companies do in years. Thumbs up! They do not feel coated like some coated strings. Nor do they have the ANNOYING screeching that some new coated strings have before breaking them in. Tension felt great and the sound was good to. Also I need to mention the packaging. Daddario always packages their strings in an air tight bag giving you a fresh from the factory feel, eliminating shelf life. $10 for a pack of guitar strings is a bit steep, but hey it is worth the price of admission. These are great strings. Great! They last even longer than the regular Daddario nickel wounds I'm used to playing. Bottom line is these strings are an upgrade. Daddario always puts out a great product and that is why they are at the top of their game in the string business. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Primarily a singer, I've been playing guitar for about 10 years, been in a band (drummer!), and have continued to record and play with other musicians on a non-professional basis. My styles range from folk to hard rock, with heavy power-pop leanings -- Big Star, not Green Day. I first read about this new capo design in the UK magazine Guitar & Bass. The description seemed to fit exactly what I'd been searching for this past year, so I picked it up at Guitar Center for $16. My God...this is one great piece of gear. The concept behind the design is so simple you wonder why nobody else had come up with it before. Two of my guitars -- a Telecaster and a Taylor T5 -- have been giving me problems with capos because most of them clamp down so hard they pull the strings out of tune. On recommendation from a Sam Ash employee, I'd bought a Shubb S series, but it still didn't do the job. This Planet Waves NS Capo (the initials stand for the designer, Ned Steinberger of headless Steinberger guitars fame) did the trick instantly. The action on the dial is smooth, and its boast of "ultra-light aerospace-grade aluminum" is no lie: At first I'd wondered how it would mattered, but the difference was clear once I'd clamped it onto the guitar. Most capos, thanks to extended arms and other mechanisms, make your guitar neck feel more awkward. The NS Capo is so efficient and light that you don't feel it's there. And you can get it to clamp down hard or softly, so the rubber pad would probably last longer. The Guitar & Bass magazine accurately pointed out that, since you can adjust this capo to have a very light touch, it can also fall down if set like this. So you must clamp it with the dial on the bass end of the back of the neck, so the capo clamps down. But other than this barely relevant limitation, there's nothing I don't like. I don't know what this capo's durability is like, and given the aluminium construction, my worry would be heat, and whether this capo might warp under hot stage lights or if put on top of a powerful amp. But time will tell. This may just be the best capo I've tried. As long as it holds up on the durability front, I might just replace my Kyser capos with this unit. Ned Steinberger is indeed a design genius. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I recently picked up the Planet Waves NS Capo CP-02 in black and I will say right off the bat that’s it is now my go to capo for acoustic guitar. I bought it in a small music shop and it barely cost me anything. Previously I had been using the standard Kaiser capos and I had been growing increasingly frustrated with their ability to properly hold down acoustic guitar strings. It worked fine on some guitars but others with thicker strings and wider necks seemed to have a bit of an issue with it. Then I heard about the Planet Waves NS Capo CP-02 and when I came across one in the store I decided to take a chance on it. I have to say that I’m 100 % satisfied with this capo and will recommend it to anyone. The screw down system works extremely well as I haven’t had any problems at all with it holding down the strings on my Guild acoustic, a feat that the Kasier couldn’t always handle. I still use the Kaiser as it works fine for my electric guitar, but I’ll continue to use the Planet Waves on my acoustic indefinitely. I almost had bought a Shubbs capo which shares a similar screw on system and works great as well, but this one was half the price of the Shubbs. I only paid $12 (US) for this and while I think that’s a bit of an anomaly, it shows that it’s definitely cheaper than the rest, the Kasier costing around $20 and the Shubbs Deluxe about $25. While these are all options that will do the job more times than not, I’d still recommend at least checking out the Planet Waves NS Capo CP-02 – Black as although it’s not as popular as the Kaiser or Shubbs, it works the best from what I’ve found!

The Planet Waves Classic Series 10 Foot Instrument Cable is a simple cable that I use at home for my electric guitar rig. I recently picked up a few of these just to have a few extra 1/4" cables around. Planet Waves is a company that I wholeheartedly trust when it comes to cables and the like as they make top quality gear that is guaranteed for life. While this cable isn't on par with their gold plated cables, the Classic Series cables offers up a much more wallet friendly price while still maintaining a high quality cable. They make these both with and without a right angle I believe, and the ones that I have do indeed have the right angle, which is good for what I'm using them for as it makes it easy to plug into a pedal and doesn't take up any unnecessary space, which is especially nice in a pedal board setting. For cables of this price, I really don't think that you could beat these cables. While they might not be as sturdy feeling as Planet Waves top tier cables, the fact that they only cost a fraction of the price and are still of this quality is very impressive. I don't know how Planet Waves lifetime guarantee really works as I've never needed to take them up on the offer. If I did though, it's nice to know that I could. The gold plated cables aren't unreasonably priced for the quality, but something like that isn't always necessary if you're just working from home and/or practicing. So if you need a few 1/4" instrument cables and don't want to spend too much money on gold plated cables, or simply don't need then, the Planet Waves Classic Series 10 Foot Instrument Cable are definitley the best bang for your buck that I was able to find.

I recently discovered these strings when I went about a new approach on my acoustic guitar. The reason I was switching gears from my usual favorites, the Martin Marquis lights, was because I recently decided I was going to take singing more seriously. Since I'm a baritone, I realized that taking most songs down a whole step was probably the best way to go, considering the type of music I play. So when I tried it, I realized I was going to need thicker strings, which brought me to these strings. I realized early on the sheer power that came out of these strings was monstrous compared to my old ones. At this point there's really no way I could play anything else. The tunes just come to life so much more when you have these strings, they are bright and strong and powerful. Sure they were tougher to play, but that goes without saying; heavier strings are always tough to play. I was really impressed with these, and they didn't get too loose when I was tuning it down to open D. In fact, they were still tighter than the old ones were in standard tuning, which was actually better. I feel like a much stronger player nowadays now that I've been doing this. They actually made it far easier for me to sing, I felt as though the backing accompaniment was far more effective, and also that my dynamic range opened up quite a bit, and was more audible even when playing quiet. I hadn't tried this brand before, but I was pretty much blown away. I think that I will stick with these guys for awhile now.

The Planet Waves Pro-Winder is an all in one guitar string winder and cutter. Most winders out there do not contain any sort of cutting device, which is really the main attraction with this model. It is a very compact piece of equipment, and all of what it does is very self explanatory. Having some sort of a string winder around is definitely a good idea for all guitar players out there, as it just makes the process of changing your strings all that much quicker and easier. The Pro-Winder is built well and will definitely last a while as long as you don't lose it or treat it poorly. The cutting portion of the Pro-Winder cuts through your strings easily, making quick work of the ends of your strings that you don't need. Having both of them within a single product is a really good idea, as I often find myself struggling to find a wire cutter on hand after I have changed my strings. Planet Waves is one of the leaders out there when it comes to guitar accessories, so if anyone was going to put out a product like the Pro-Winder, I'm not surprised that it was them. While the Pro-Winder will definitely cost you a few extra bucks when compared to the cheap, plastic, more traditional string winders out there, for me it is worth it to have the cutter on the other end, as it seems the price of this would be just about the same as if you were to buy a string winder and a wire cutter separately. This definitely isn't a necessary accessory for your guitar, but it can definitely make changing your strings that much easier, which is worth it for me as I like to do it as quick as possible. With a cheap price like this, ordering one of these up was really a no brainer, and I have been using it to help me change my strings on all of my guitar ever since...

The Planet Waves Grip Master is a tool designed to keep your fingers, hand, and wrist in shape. I got this because I was having some tendentious in my arm from playing guitar and wanted something that I could stretch out my arm with. While it has been almost two years since I had the tendentious and needed this, I still have this around and occasionally will grip it to keep my hands warmed up. I'm not sure that this is necessary or will cure any sort of aches or anything like that, but it is definitely good for stretching your hand and fingers out easily without having to be playing. It is a good work out for your hand at the very least. I can't say that I would recommend this to everyone, as probably not everyone would need something like this, but for those of us who play an awful lot it might be good to have around to keep warm. I don't know how Planet Waves' version of this would compare to another brands as I haven't used any other ones, but it does make me feel good knowing that this is manufactured by a company who is the musical instruments business and is catered toward guitar players. The price of the Planet Waves Grip Master is right around where you would expect, and isn't expensive in the least. Like I said earlier, I can't say that this is a tool I would necessarily recommend to anyone, but if you feel like you might want something like this, I'd definitely encourage you to check out the Grip Master as it has helped me in the past for sure. I don't know if there is any medical reason to use this instead of some sort of manual hand labor, but for me this makes working out my hands easy and simple.

The D'Addario EXL 165 45-105 bass strings are a regular set of bass guitar strings. I have them stringed up on my Gretsch Junior Jet bass and they do the job quite well. This was the first time that I bought these types of strings as I don't change my bass strings all that often because I don't play bass all that often. I'm primarily a singer and a guitar player and I have a bass guitar to mess around with, so while I don't necessarily know about all the different types of bass strings that are available out there, I do know that the D'Addario EXL 165 45-105 bass strings do the job well and have a good sound to them. They have felt good on the fingers thus far and are overall pretty smooth feeling. I can't say what the lifetime of these strings are as I haven't had them stringed up for all that long, but this really depends more on how often you play with them anyway. D'Addario is known as one of the best and oldest string manufacturers out there and I wholeheartedly trust them when it comes to making strings. I prefer using Martin strings for acoustic guitars, but I love D'Addario strings for electric guitar and I have definitely now been swayed to use them for bass guitar as well. I like this particular gauge of strings since I don't have the biggest fingers, but if you like heavier gauges I would suggest looking into this same set of strings just in a different gauge as I believe they are the same in make up and the other difference is the size of the strings. These aren't an expensive set of strings, so if you are looking for a good set of bass guitar strings, the D-Addario EXL 165 45-105 bass strings are absolutely worth a buy.