Dean Markley Blue Steel acoustic guitar strings
Dec 13, 2021 16:36:08 GMT
ocarolan, brianr2, and 3 more like this
Post by Matt Milton on Dec 13, 2021 16:36:08 GMT
Thought I'd give these a go.
The gimmick here is that they are blasted with liquid nitrogen which apparently produces a 'more reactive' string with a 'super brilliant tone'.
Well, 'more reactive' is an understatement. I have never played a more annoyingly responsive set of strings: they will translate every tiniest micro-movement of string pressure into some kind of extraneous noise. They are the squeakiest strings I have ever encountered. Even the most simple , most economic of moves, like playing two neighbouring semitones on the same string produces some kind of click or scrape. Impossible to slide even the shortest of intervals without a loud 'crrrrk' or 'squik' from the fretboard.
Leave the tiniest of fragmentary nanoseconds of space when changing notes and you'll hear the open string of whichever string you're playing peep through. Very frustrating, I'm finding i'm having to spend as much time dampening strings as playing them. Impossible to play without feeling very self-conscious. Hard work.
I do like strings that are sensitive and responsive: I love to hear overtones etc coming off the strings. But oddly, given how reactive these strings are, it doesn't seem as easy to produce harmonics and false harmonics with these (as opposed to the D'addarios, Martins or Kerly Earthtones that I normally use)
They also feel a lot higher gauge than they are: they feel very harsh and 'cheesewire' on the fingers and I have to put undue pressure on them. Since putting them on I've checked the guitar's action several times, worried that my guitar might be bellying or something.
If you can listen past all the squeaks and non-dampened notes they do actually sound quite good, I will give them that. They make the guitar sound really grand, like a steeple full of huge bells; a very big, bold sound.
Being a skinflint and a a waste-not-want-not kinda guy I will normally leave a set of strings on even if I'm not wild about them. But these Blue Steels are the first strings I've ever tried that I have just 100% hated. They have been affronting my guitar since yesterday morning and no amount of playing appears to be taming their plimpsolls-on-a-basketball-court horribleness. They feel like some kind of fiendish punishment sent to torture a guitar player.
I'm going to have a cup of tea and a nice lie down
The gimmick here is that they are blasted with liquid nitrogen which apparently produces a 'more reactive' string with a 'super brilliant tone'.
Well, 'more reactive' is an understatement. I have never played a more annoyingly responsive set of strings: they will translate every tiniest micro-movement of string pressure into some kind of extraneous noise. They are the squeakiest strings I have ever encountered. Even the most simple , most economic of moves, like playing two neighbouring semitones on the same string produces some kind of click or scrape. Impossible to slide even the shortest of intervals without a loud 'crrrrk' or 'squik' from the fretboard.
Leave the tiniest of fragmentary nanoseconds of space when changing notes and you'll hear the open string of whichever string you're playing peep through. Very frustrating, I'm finding i'm having to spend as much time dampening strings as playing them. Impossible to play without feeling very self-conscious. Hard work.
I do like strings that are sensitive and responsive: I love to hear overtones etc coming off the strings. But oddly, given how reactive these strings are, it doesn't seem as easy to produce harmonics and false harmonics with these (as opposed to the D'addarios, Martins or Kerly Earthtones that I normally use)
They also feel a lot higher gauge than they are: they feel very harsh and 'cheesewire' on the fingers and I have to put undue pressure on them. Since putting them on I've checked the guitar's action several times, worried that my guitar might be bellying or something.
If you can listen past all the squeaks and non-dampened notes they do actually sound quite good, I will give them that. They make the guitar sound really grand, like a steeple full of huge bells; a very big, bold sound.
Being a skinflint and a a waste-not-want-not kinda guy I will normally leave a set of strings on even if I'm not wild about them. But these Blue Steels are the first strings I've ever tried that I have just 100% hated. They have been affronting my guitar since yesterday morning and no amount of playing appears to be taming their plimpsolls-on-a-basketball-court horribleness. They feel like some kind of fiendish punishment sent to torture a guitar player.
I'm going to have a cup of tea and a nice lie down