Super Slinky Cobalt Electric Guitar Strings - 9-42 Gauge

Been playing about 4 years, used all sorts of strings from Elixir coated to EB standards and other premium strings. Coated were my favorite originally until I realised the coat actually does more damage than good as the strings begin to age. I was kind of lost till I ordered these. The only patented cobalt strings so you can't get these under any other brand name. The material genuinely does make a difference in terms of sound and response from the pickups. Playing feels easier, the strings feel a lot nicer, probably more so than any coated strings I have tried, great for slides/bends. They hold their tuning great after very little stretching and they seem to be a lot tougher than usual strings despite seeing the odd review claiming to have snapped the e string but I'm more inclined to believe that is down to being too eager when tuning. Overall amazing strings and worth every penny just for the sound and the playability aspect. I'll never be going back to non cobalt guitar strings after the experience.

I've tried every brand of string, known to man and settled on Ernie Ball Slinkys for years. I tried some Cobalt strings a year ago and haven't used anything else since. They're even better than Slinkys. I prefer the feel of the wound strings. The wound strings sound a bit fuller and whilst marginal, they seem to last a bit longer. The unwound strings are the same as you get in Slinkys. Well worth the extra £2 or so.

The Cobalt strings suits some instruments/styles more than others; there's more crunch & grind than regular nickel, but not quite as much as stainless steel, which are arguably the best choice for bright metal tones. I loved the sound of the Cobalt strings installed on a T-style guitar, using clean tones and especially using mild to moderate crunch sounds. There's a noticeable difference as compared to, let's say, EB Regular Slinky. However, I tried them on a 335-style guitar (which I use for jazzier and more r'n'b styles), and the Cobalts were perhaps a bit too edgy sounding, although of course you could turn down the tone control on the guitar on the fly if desired. Kind of the same using an S-type guitar (with a Zero-Load Tone pot), the edginess was perhaps a little too aggressive sounding, but if edgy aggression is what you want, then Cobalts are ideal. In summary, I use Cobalts on one of my S-type guitars (not used in the accompanying video) which benefits from the extra edginess and the slightly increased output, but I use EB Paradigm on my 335-style guitar and also on my already bright sounding other S-type guitar (which had D'Addario NYXL 9–42 strings installed for the accompanying video demo, but I much prefer 10–46, which is my usual choice, and like I say, EB Paradigm is my preferred choice for that instrument). Cobalts are cool!

i am a faithful elixir user but having changed my les Paul pickups and upgraded them to a Seymour Duncan hotrodded zebra pair, I thought a more responsive set of strings might compliment the pickups.. So I read the blurb about these and ordered them based on the claims of increased output. It works. Tone to me was slightly thicker and less toppy across the strings and sustain seemed more harmonic driven. It figures that the more attractive the string is to the pickups, the more the tone and harmonic characteristics are enhanced or changed. I have only had them on for a day and bent seven shades out of them to stretch them in but they remained quite stable after a good hard session. They are quite easy to bend but what set of 9s wouldn't be? I expect a while out of these and hope they at least last as long as the elixirs. I think I will be going back to my usual brand after these come off.

I've tried many different makes of strings over my 35 years of playing and keep coming back to Ernie Balls. But I still like to try others out just in case I find something better. When these Cobalts appeared on the scene I thought I'd try a set and didn't really expect too much. I hadn't read any reviews on them but had heard how cobalt reacts in a different way to the magnets in the guitar pickups to the usual nickel strings. So I tried them. I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing at first... Were the strings actually thicker than the nickel equivelents? Because I'm sure they sounded bigger! There was more bass and body to the whole guitar and a certain gnarly, chewy top end that really made my strat growl. The guitar just sounded bigger! I dropped the pickups slightly and they're known for being very sensitive to the slightest adjustments (Bareknuckle Irish Tours) and they now sound better than ever to my ears. There's even more sustain as the pups are exerting less pull on the strings since they've been set further from the strings. I conducted an A/B test to check that my ears weren't playing tricks on me by recording the guitar on Garageband with the Cobalts on the exact settings I had previously recorded with the standard Ernie Balls (same guitar of course too). Lo and behold the Cobalts were louder and had more bottom end and a classier, glassy top end. The D string seemed more 'alive' than the standard D strings which can sound a bit weaker on my strat when compared to the G and A either side of it. They also feel smooth under the fingers and very comfortable. They're also easy to bend and somehow feel weightier under your fingers. Weightier but not stiffer or harder to bend though. Could be something to do with the density of the Cobalt? I really really like these... However as with the standard strings the Cobalts do lose a bit of sparkle after a couple of hours of playing. (Could be my hands - though they dont sweat much). If only they could make coated cobalts! Shame they cost so much more than the standard strings. I prefer these to the standard Slinkys but probably won't be able to afford to use them constantly for gigging. I'll get a set for recording and for special occasions. Maybe the price will drop one day. Ah there goes that flying pig. All in all - I love these strings for the way the sound and feel. Quite amazing -full stop.

Best guitar strings ever in my opinion. Worth the extra cost as they outlast any other string I’ve used. Feel good under fingers and stay in tune.

I’ve not tried this particular one before, usually opting for the Ernie ball 9’s ( pink pack) but I wanted to try the 8’s , they are pretty good to be fair , not broken one ( yet , and I do tend to dig in a bit) stay in tune very well, ( after a good stretch) good sound and a decent price, will buy again, not had them long enough to rust yet, but I play every day so that’ll keep it down

1. These strings do what Ernie Ball claim. You get more output and a brighter sound. They are amazing for rock and metal; any level of distortion from a bluesy clip to full chug. They give more bite and bright clarity to a clean sound, think 'modern' clean sounds. 2. They are sufficiently different sounding that - having several guitars - I need to change amp/pedal settings a bit. That may or may not be am issue for you. ...also, I wouldn't personally choose them for warmer, more mellow styles of music, like, for example, jazz. If these sound like (forgive the pun) the vibe you're after, you may well love them. Otherwise, re point 2, they may give something you find a tonal detractor.