Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

rickenbrother wrote:Been my experience that Ernie Ball Slinkys loose their brightness quickly.

Yeah... those go downhill a little too fast for me.

DR nickel Sunbeams are great strings and last a long time, although they are low in tension - perhaps a little too low for me. I liked them for finger style but the low tension gave me too much fret buzz when playing with pick due to my preference for a lowish action. Very strong in harmonic overtones though. I think DR nickel lo-riders will have more tension if that is an issue although I haven't tried them. I really like Rickenbacker strings (45, 55, 75, 105). They are nice and bright with a solid fundamental and are stiffer than the DR sunbeams. I've currently got D'Addario XL on and they are very good strings too. Perhaps not quite as nice as the Ric strings (very subjective personal view of course) but cheaper (in the UK at least) and they seem to last a while. I bought them as singles (45, 60, 80, 105) as I liked the lighter D and A of the Ric strings and find that this gives me a higher tension E (to avoid fret buzz on that string when playing with pick) without the overall tension being too much for my thin '75 4001 neck.

Welcome from one newbie to another. I'm hearing amazing things about the new Dunlop nickel rounds. Don't be suspicious of their low price.

antonius wrote:I bought them as singles (45, 60, 80, 105) as I liked the lighter D and A of the Ric strings and find that this gives me a higher tension E (to avoid fret buzz on that string when playing with pick)

My favorite gauges! Generally a set like that is going to be very well-balanced tensionally.

Just purchased some GHS Boomers. Had the Ric strings prior. Love the GHS. 45 - 105. Sweet!