Does Anyone Like D'Addario Gypsy strings?

paulmcevoy75

I bought some to use as setup strings and I never get it...they always feel terrible to me. There's a "sticky" feeling to them. Hard to describe but my fingers feel stuck. They also sound bright and metallic to me.

It seems consistent, every time I've tried them over the years, they feel awful. Does anyone really like them? I'm always shocked at how bad they feel.

I'm still working out some details on this guitar, I'm interested to see how it will feel with Argentines.

flaco

I think Stephane Wrembel was sponsored by D’Addario at some point, but the last time I saw him in concert he was using argies.

Buco

Joscho is a D'Addario player. I bought them a couple of times, I never felt anything sticky. But they were bright sounding for me too. They use a hexagonal core on wound strings which apparently makes a string feel stiffer. That part I liked actually.

voutoreenie

Not a fan, probably my least favorite of all the GJ strings I've tried tbh. Then again, I also haven't tried any strings besides Argies in like 5+ years and my technique's a lot better now so maybe I should revisit.

paulmcevoy75

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/123402#Comment_123402

Try them so that you can agree with me.

Buco

I think it at least 50% about what your guitar chooses. And my guitar is just not getting along with Argies. I used to keep notes and every time I wrote something along the lines how they sound very plain and unexciting.

B25Gib

I like D'Addario 11 gauge strings on my Dell 'Arte Homage as well as my old Gitane D500. They last longer than Argies and sound fine. But the string tension with 11 gauge(not the my shorter scale D500 though) is noticeably higher than 10 gauge on my Holo guitar. I don't feel any sticky slow fingering notes at all. I agree with Buco that a guitar has to find its strings along with the player.

Arcticguitar

Yes. I like them. Never noticed the sticky feeling. They are good, but not great strings, I prefer them because they are consistent. Argies are “great” strings, IF you get a good set, but they are inconsistent. And the argies are too floppy. The D’addario strings feel like they have more tension. I love high tension strings, but my guitar sounds best with 10s, the D’addario 10s have enough tension to feel okay, but they still let the guitar sing. I can kill a set of argies in a few hours, D’addarios will last a week, sometimes a month. Sure they are super bright, I agree that they aren’t ideal sounding, but they are the best strings for me becaue every package is exactly the same, they always sound good enough and they last. Argies may or may not sound great, sometimes a set lasts a few days, or an weekm other times they sound dead and terrible within an hour or two. It is a total crapshoot with the argies. The D’addario are my goto strings because they are super consistent and they are fine, not fantastic, but fine. Also, I’m not sure but I feel like the D’addarios are easier to balance with a mag pickup.

Anyway, while I admit they don’t sound as good as a good set of argintine strings, they are super reliable, they feel great under the hand, they stay in tune and intonate better than the argies, and they are stocked by my local music store. If I have a gig I can throw on the D’addario the day before, or even the day of the gig and I know exactly what they will sound like. With argies you never know what you are going to get. So D’addario is the clear winner for me. Granted Argies have gotten more consistent over the years, maybe they are okay these days, but I went to D’addario years ago and I’ve never been tempted to go back.

voutoreenie

Argies are “great” strings, IF you get a good set, but they are inconsistent. 

Anecdotally speaking, but I've found that the quality control for Argies has become a lot more consistent ever since they switched from plastic sleeve packaging to the cardboard, certainly with the 11s.

JSanta

https://djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/123421#Comment_123421

Same - I don't know that I've had a dud set in the last 5 years. Or even really a dud string.

Buco

When it comes to consistency, D'Addario is probably the undisputed market leader. There's a recent issue of Fretboard Journal where they interviewed Jim D'Addario. Super neat guy. I didn't know he was so close with Mario Maccafferi. Mario was one of his biggest mentors and Jim's dad made strings for the plastic ukes that Mario was making, during the company's early days, with the help of aunts and uncles from the family because the order was way more than what their small shop was able to deliver at the time. But, among other interesting things Jim talked about, he said that a lot of his competition orders raw materials from D'Addario because of how consistent it is.