Guitar Questions....

what strings are deemed the best these days, started playing electro acoustic guitar again and realised the strings are 5 years old and feeling awful...

its a 6 string...and i dont want a harsh metalic sound...

cheers..

I use Di`addario (sic?)
They have a nice tone on them without being too bright , I used to use Ernie Ball Super Slinky`s but they broke way too often on even the smallest of string bends , and don`t even get me on Rotosound strings , bloody farm wire if you ask me .

yes, d'addario are excellent.Anything after 5 years will sound super zingy though! Martin strings are my fave recently, the 11's are easy to play but a good round sound too.

I go for 10`s on my Ibanez as I play dropped tunings sometimes , but yes they don`t sound too zingy (what with me playing full on crunch settings) and I like the way they are tonally secure at all times on my guitar ....... I usually replace a set of them quarterly and they get played about 2 hours a day so that`s good going in my book

When I last had a guitar serviced, i was told that D'Addario hold the intonation better across the whole string than Ernie Ball's- so as the strings wear, the pitch stays consistent all the way up the fretboard.

I quite like Elixir strings on acoustics- they're a little pricey, but have a pleasant zingy tone, without being metallic. They also keep tone and last for longer, as they've got a fibre mesh around the wound strings. Some people think they sound a little plasticky, but it's personal taste. I think they'd probably sound better on an all wood guitar, rather than an Ovation style guitar with a carbon back.

Incidentally- try strings direct for them- they are a little cheaper, with discounts when you buy 5 packs, 10 packs etc

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/

I'd go for Ovation, I love the roundback sound, if you get the biggest roundback you can it resonates beautifully. Joey Eppard uses one, I also used one for all these songs on www.myspace.com/sestinamusic. I used it for everything that's slightly acoustic sounding or clean sounding, I only used electric for solos and a distorted guitar track, there is also an acoustic guitar track which is distorted- the ovation 'dirties' up surprisingly well and is fantastic in all situations.