Thomastik- Infeld Strings

[Jay Menon]

I've heard very good things about these strings but tell me please - are they head and shoulders above other established manufacturers such as D'Addario and Ernie Ball? And if so, specifically why please?

[Wonks]

Some people I know really rate them above everything else. For them they stay in tune longer and last longer (Max reckons up to three times), whilst feeling smooth to play. I had one set and for me they didn't do anything my D'addarios did.

So it may well come down to your playing technique. They certainly won't feel any worse, but they might feel a lot better. All you can do is try a set and see for yourself.

[Studio Support Gnome]

I won't use anything else…..

head and shoulders above everything else i've ever tried….

last longer, feel smoother to play, great tone, well worth the extra…..

(note…… i'm talking about techno/powerbrite , the std yellow packs of infeld ones are also pretty good, but not the much better than D'addario/DR …. but are similar price to the others as well, cheaper than the ones i prefer….. )

I use 9-46 on all my Eb tuned guitars, 9-42 on std tuning, and 10-50 on Drop C^( Drop D version of Eb)

sadly they don't make a 7 string set…..

yet,.,

[Sam Inglis]

Are their acoustic strings worth the extra? I usually use Martins which are cheap and sound fine to me, but don't last that long.

[Studio Support Gnome]

I sometimes use their "Plectrum" strings , because they're very smooth, not tape wound, but ground wound , much less handling noise , but still decent sounding top end , perhaps a little darker than some, but not dull….

useful for complicated parts where fretting/ handling noise can be an issue….

and THAT is why i use them, "occasionally" , most of the time I'm more of a Rotosound "super Bronze" (formerly country gold) user.

[Sam Spoons]

I may try their "Plectrum" strings on my Emerald X7 then, it's very new and quite bright (I changed the factory fitted D'addrio EXP 0.012s to Elixier 0.011s 'cos I had them is stock and wanted to try the lighter gauge. The Thomastik's may be well suited to to it, carbon fibre guitars are very sensitive to string changes, more so than tonewood guitars so, while it sounds pretty good now it's worth a try.

[BigRedX]

I bought a set of their standard very heavy gauge round wounds as they were the most easily obtainable strings with a wound G that I needed for a Piccolo Bass.

I've also used their Jazz Flats on a 34" scale fretless bass. These are very low tension and will come as a pleasant surprise to anyone whose previous experience of flat wound strings were those Rotosound ones that seem to be more appropriate as fencing wire rather than guitar strings.

[4TrackMadman]

They're quite good but when playing live I need to change strings often anyway so I settled for cheaper alternatives that didn't sound that different in the short run. I used D'Addario and Ernie Ball since I changed on all my guitars almost weekly as we did two shows per week.

Since bass strings are usually not changed as often, I put a Tomastik set that stayed for a long time on one of my recording basses and sounded fantastic.

[IvanSC]

Plectrums on my Martin OOO.
Same gauge as I usually use feels much easier to play - I was told it has to do with the cores they use on the wound strings.

May well be but it is certainly helping my arthritic mitts a lot.
Never tried them on bass. I have a set of D'Addario ground round wounds on my Precision at present and they are nice - just a little more definition than tape/flat wounds but still a smooth "vintage" sound.
Mind you they ARE a lot stiffer than the round wounds they replaced. Same gauge too.

[Studio Support Gnome]

They're quite good but when playing live I need to change strings often anyway so I settled for cheaper alternatives that didn't sound that different in the short run. I used D'Addario and Ernie Ball since I changed on all my guitars almost weekly as we did two shows per week.

Since bass strings are usually not changed as often, I put a Tomastik set that stayed for a long time on one of my recording basses and sounded fantastic.

I gig…. in a metal band… (yes, granddads play metal too ! , in fact, "we/they" (gentlemen now of some years ) more or less invented it….. )

a set of powerbrites did 4-5 months duty on my main guitar. rehearsals every week, several recording sessions, and about 15 gigs….

[Studio Support Gnome]

here's a 6 month old set being abused.

The Wise Man

[oneflightup]

It's interesting to see the comments here about how long strings will last...

I used to want strings that lasted so I didn't have to change them often. But my guitar tech has advised me to change strings often - that way you regularly have bright sounding strings, they're nice to play, but most importantly you're avoiding damaging your guitar (old strings damage your frets and fretboard more).
So I buy sets of strings in 10 packs (D'Addario) online and they end up being only about AUD $5 per set.

I'll have to look out for these Thomastik strings and give them a try....

Cheers,

Nick

[Kwackman]

most importantly you're avoiding damaging your guitar (old strings damage your frets and fretboard more).

A dumb question maybe, but how do old strings damage frets and fretboard more than new strings?

[Sam Spoons]

Just what I was thinking?

[Wonks]

If the strings get to the state where they are rusty, then they are certainly going to be more abrasive than if they are new and smooth.

[Studio Support Gnome]

if you fail to clean your strings before and after playing, then they get encrusted with crap and oxides that are more abrasive than the plain metal , even before they go rusty. (my Thomastiks have never gone rusty….. ) especially on the bottom side against the fingerboard and frets

I use D'addario/Planet waves string cleaner containing acidified isopropanol (used to use D'andrea stuff of similar type using 1.1.1 tricholorethane as i recall , but that's hard to find now )

but frankly, just wiping the strings down using a lint free cloth between thumb and forefinger before and after you play is almost as effective .

doing that avoids that wear issue, and long lasting strings (that , more importantly, feel and sound great to play ) are a very worthwhile thing…

like i said…. when i posted the track above….. that set was six months old….. and in fact is still on the guitar….. several months later, and still working well….. (although now up for replacement….. it is time for new ones….. the intonation is starting to drift. )

if you listen, take note of the pinch harmonics, (lots of them) and tapped harmonics (esp around 2:15-2:19)

I might have the odd bit of shred-head in my playing, but i'm damned if i can do that sort of stuff on "dead" strings….. or strings loaded with crud….

[Studio Support Gnome]

Oh, and gratitude to the Wonkmeister moment…. that guitar is a stock Ibanez S670 he found for me at Andertons a little while ago… it's the only guitar i have and play currently that lives in standard tuning…. it's stock pickups, rather than my normal KA Mbucker arrangement , and it plays like butter…… one of the few that i've not felt the need to do any fret work or other rebuild stuff on when i got it….

glorious thing it is…..

[Richie Royale]

Wonks is an enabler.

[Wonks]

He almost didn't get it. It was one of those guitars that just feels right and when I took it home and plugged it in, it felt even more righterer. But I knew I had to pass it on.

[Studio Support Gnome]

and i'm eternally joyfully grateful….

here it is…..

[GUILBERT]

I've used the Tomastick-enfeld plectrum light gauge strings on my acoustic guitar for a couple of years. I did like them however the last set I put on caused me much grief!
I installed the stings and tuned them up to pitch. I know there is usually a bit of stretching on new strings but the D string and high E string continued to go flat. I increased tension on the stings, the D string broke at the tuning peg. I re-tuned the E string and it broke at the tuning peg!
Went out and bought a D'Addrio D and E string to replace the broken strings (couldn't get a Tomastik-enfeld replacement).
Now I have a problem with the Tomastik G string, it keeps going flat! I put it aside and will try tomorrow but I think it will break like the others. NEVER had this problem in all the years I've played guitar. I am very disappointed and disillusioned with these strings and reluctant to purchase another set.
I had just ordered a set of 6 Tomastiks at $138. When I receive them I will return the and try D'Addario chromes.

[zenguitar]

Welcome to the SOS forums.

It’s always disappointing when we get a problem set of strings. But it is very rare indeed these days. But it is important to understand that this can happen to any string manufacturer and they will want to know if there are problems so they can fix them.

A number of years ago a customer returned to me as the bottom string on a guitar I had set up with new D’Addario strings developed a kink. I replaced the string and the customer was perfectly happy. The I wrote a polite letter to D’Addario explaining the problem, enclosed the string and packaging and said I hoped that would help them identify any manufacturing issues.

A week later I received a letter from James D’Addario thanking me. They also replaced the damaged string and enclosed a free set of strings, even though I hadn’t asked for any recompense.

A bad set of strings doesn’t automatically make a reputable product suddenly a bad product. But it is unreasonable to post a complaint on a public forum if you haven’t raised your complaint with the manufacturer direct and given them the opportunity to put things right.

Andy

[Wonks]

Looks like you've had a problem with one set. So be upset but get in touch with Thomastik. I'm sure they'll happily supply a replacement set. But don't assume it's all the fault of the strings.

Strings breaking at the tuners is normally the sign of sharp edges around the tuner holes. So I suggest you have a look at those and sand them down with some fine grit sandpaper - P240, then P400 then P800, otherwise you'll have the same problems with any new strings you put on.

I'm constantly having problems with plain string D'Addario 0.010"s unwrapping at the ball end (about 50% chance), so I end up soldering them now before fitting. But others have the same issues with Ernie Balls.

Unwrapping at the ball end is the most likely cause of a string going flat if properly fitted, but as the strings will all be made on different machines, unless Thomastik have made a sweeping change to all their strings regarding the number of twists and tension applied, I can't see this being a common issue with all the strings.

Posting a photo of how you're winding the strings on the tuners might help. You'll have to host elsewhere and link to the pics as the forum doesn't allow you to directly download pictures.

[shufflebeat]

Something that hasn't been mentioned - I've been playing Thomastiks on a Crafter d8 for about 6 months now. I loved them to start with but got to really dislike them at gigs. It took me some time to figure out why.

At home they sound nice both a acoustically and via the Fishman Matrix pickup. They record nicely, don't jump out of the mix but have plenty of detail. At gigs (IEMs, btw) they seem to choke easily, sound dead and lacking that detail.

The difference is how hard you play. I mainly play rhythmic backing to trad-dy Irish based tunes. My previous go to was d'Addario ej17s which have a full sound and feel and no matter how hard you hit them they seem to always have something left in reserve. The Thoms, at least on this guitar, like to be treated with some respect. It is taking some time to adjust my style and anger management techniques might be required but I will stick with them for now.

The only other complicating factor is that I trained my Tonedexter with phosphor bronze strings and am still using that map with the Thoms. It's a good combo but since I've updated the firmware and tried to make new maps I find the Thoms much less accommodating of the TD.