This means the strings can last up to 3x longer - well, that’s the official line, however we have evidence of Elixir strings lasting well over a year! Fender is an incredible company that has been around for over 70 years, and it has given us amazing guitars like the Stratocaster, and Telecaster among others. As such you can be sure that Elixir products are innovative, forward-thinking, advanced, and reliable. Even as an experienced guitarist I still find color-coded strings useful, especially when I’m short on time or if I need to string my guitar before a gig in a badly lit pub. That said, the resurgence in popularity of pure nickel strings suggests that players still value that vintage experience, and in terms of warm tone and smooth playability, they are hard to beat.

Coloured Guitar Strings ideas - Pinterest 39 Coloured Guitar Strings ideas - Pinterest

They feature a hexagonal core wire and a nickelplated steel wrap wire to maintain brightness and feel.However, the grime that builds up between the windings can (over time) creep in between the gaps making their way down to the central core wire. First of all the colored ends make it easier for you to identify each string and change your strings. From gravity-defying bends to aggressive vibrato, these nickel-wrapped steel strings all while retaining their bright and articulate sound.

Guitar Strings - Strings Elixir Nanoweb Electric And Acoustic Guitar Strings - Strings

You only have to take a quick look at most of the marketing around coated sets to see a strong theme where manufacturers are striving to produce a string that feels and sounds like an uncoated string. This can be most noticeable at the nut as the string passes across it (especially if you are changing between tunings frequently) and also the area where the strings are struck with a pick around by the pickups or soundhole. There are no hard and fast rules over when you should change your electric guitar strings, to be honest.A few years back Rotosound for example began to use the color red, white, and blue to reflect the British origin of their electric, acoustic, orchestral, and traditional strings. All strings in the set are coated with a jet-black version of DR’s K3™ ultra-hard coating, delivering longevity, more projection, fewer unwanted overtones, and outstanding clarity and articulation. They feature a hexagonal core wire and a silver-plated nickel-plated steel wrap on the wound strings.

DR Strings [] HI-DEF NEON™ MULTI-COLOR [] MULTI-COLOR

Their argument is that the coating can muffle the sound somewhat hindering it’s natural brightness and resonance. As a company at the forefront of the longer-life coated strings market when it was developed in the '90s, Elixir has continued to refine the technology.

This coating acts like a Marvel-esque shield helping to prevent sweat, dirt and grime from attacking the string which can lead to all the undesirable scenarios we mentioned above. To put it simply, I’m a firm believer that if something can make your life easier as a guitarist, in this case, the colored ends of a string set, then you need to at least give it a try! There's another reason for trying out new strings too, different gauges can totally change the playability of your instrument and open up new playing techniques. The color code system that string companies use is not universal and each brand has its own method of marking its strings. So whilst thicker strings are great if you’re playing in lower tunings, there’s a lot more to it than just string gauge.