In my experience, Ernie Ball Slinky 10s are the most affordable and most popular brand of guitar string in use today.  
I think part of the appeal of the strings is the neon green packaging and the 1960’s logo and font aesthetic:  You can travel back in time to when the guitar was the center of a new music revolution.


I started using Ernie Ball Slinkys because that’s what Eric Clapton used and I wanted to try to capture the mechanics of his tone as much as possible.

Ernie Ball Slinkys are a good value.  I found them to be “sharper” than other brands in that the unwound wires more readily cut my fingertips.  I have no idea why Balls cut while Brites don’t. 

The Ernie Balls also had more of a habit of breaking on me than other mainstream brands.

I noticed when I changed strings that the Ernie Ball Slinkys had kinks in them from the frets.  No other brand was as “kinky” in that regard as the Ernie Slinkys.

Ernie Ball Slinkys tend to retain their bright sound for a good long while and that’s important if you’re on a budget and you need a strings pack that can keep sounding strong.

5 Comments

  1. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    Gordon Davidescu says:

    How often do you change strings? Do you keep track of how long each brand lasts? That would be interesting. 🙂

  2. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    I take care of my strings by wiping them down when I’m done and I also wash my hands before I begin. I can stretch a pair of strings to last a month or so with daily playing if I have to, but for me, my preferred max seems to be about two weeks for a guitar I play every day. You still get sound from any string no matter how long they’ve been on the guitar, but its character and personality quickly fades the longer they get plucked. Most professional players change strings after every performance. The use of locking tuners now also make string changes a breeze and much less of a crafty production.

  3. ANNE – I live and teach on the upper West Coast of the United States. My interests are Philosophy, English, and Social Communication.
    anne90210 says:

    Hhaaha now thats an ugly color green and i don’t think i could use them i’m not into neon.

  4. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    Don’t let the color fool you, Anne! There are great sets of strings hiding behind all that neon. Good thing I didn’t put up an image of the 9s. The “Super Slinkys” are in a hot pink package!

  5. Pingback: Sadowsky Jimmy Bruno Signature Polished Roundwound Strings Review | Boles Blues

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