Ernie Ball M-Steel Strings
Ok so some of you may or may not have heard of the new sets of strings that Ernie Ball have produced recently. I got my hands on one of these sets and all I can say is they are spectacular!
I managed to break two strings in one Muse song (new personal best for me :D) and I took a quick trip down to Sky Music so I could grab a new set of strings. I wanted to get my hands on the Elixir set but they were out of stock, so I managed to snag a set of the fairly new Ernie Ball M-Steel strings.
These strings are different from the Slinky set in many ways. The M in the name refers to Maraging steel, a superalloy that is widely in the aerospace and defence industries. The plain strings are comprised of a tempered steel alloy for the maximum fatigue resistance. The plain strings also have a patented steel winding around the ball end to reduce slippage and reduce breakage at the ball end and also to stay in tune better than regular strings. The wound strings are made up of a patented Super Cobalt alloy wrapped around a Maraging steel hex core, producing a richer, louder sound that is full of tone and has more powerful low end response.
When I first removed the E string (I play 10-46 gauge), the Cobalt alloy made the string seem somewhat thicker, almost liek a 50 gauge string, yet when measured is still a 46! The added mass makes the whole guitar vibrate, even with very low end parts and normally doesn't vibrate much, I could feel every note play through the whole guitar, which to me is very cool!
These strings are a lot louder than my Slinky set and bring the Strat to life! They look like an old set, but that is the natural colour of the Cobalt alloy. I had to drop the gain on my pedals by 30% to keep the same gain level, which I thought was astonishing.
Unplugged, these strings are very loud compared to the Slinky set. I can hear what I am playing even with headphones on, which makes my music writing process much easier. They hold tune surprisingly well, only requiring a second tuning to keep it dead on tune, instead of spending the whole day adjusting the Slinky set to tune. Dropping to other tunings and the set holds the tension nicely, I can go to Drop G as fast as I can possibly tune and I can trust these strings to keep it that way.
Overall, I absolutely love these strings. They provide maximum tone response, great feel, very powerful low end with a very clear treble response and they have more volume.
At $25, these strings are well priced and they can really take a beating. I recommend these to everyone to at least try them and see the difference.
