Thomastik Power-Brights string reveiw

knotty

The world is your lobster.
Ok
so I got a set of heavy bottom 9 - 46 's.
The are on my EVH Wolfgang USA Custom, its a set net mahogany with 24.75 scale. ebony and s/s.

Initial unboxing of the strings shouts quality. Beautifully packaged with Paper sleeves lined with plastic.

Fitting was a bit different ( a lot is with these). You need a decent pair of cutters to trim these, the actual metal seems much harder. Also almost NO stretching in. A quick initial stretch tune and away. After a few minutes they need retune, about half a stop out. After that retune they were stable!!!!

Silver finish to the wound and the unwound are brass coated. Looks very cool.

The tension on this set are slightly higher than d'addario 9-46 's varying from 0.3 lb to 0.7 lb higher.
Under the fingers they feel, play and bend more like tens.

Its difficult to describe the playing experience. The only way I can describe it is they have more inertia than normal strings. They resist deflection by the pick much much more than normal strings. A thicker pick seems to glide across them without causing much deflection. the amount of deflection from the note ringing is comparatively tiny. You can set your action as low as you want with these. They sustain for ever.

Volume across the strings is staggering, its uniform and very high for the force applied. Having said this vibrato and nuances are portrayed fantastically.

The tone is bright but well balanced. Note separation in big chords is terrific. Not ried them through the pedals yet.

I cant see me using any other strings now. Any of the major uncoated strings I would be hard pushed to identify in a blind test. I would pick Power-Brights out every time though.

They are expensive but reports are they last long enough to warrant the cost. For me they do that on feel and tone alone.
These are totally different than any main stream string I have ever played. I love em. My advice is give them a try but beware, you may never go back.
 
I'd love to hear some a/b clips between them and the DAs, if you have the ability to do so.
 
I can't imagine spending $20 for guitar strings. I cringe when I have to spend that much on bass strings and I change them every few years.
 
I've got power Brights on several guitars, Blues Sliders on several and jazz Swing on several more. With the exception of 4 or 5 guitars I use Thomastiks on everything else. I think the 12s, Lucille and one Tele are all that are not T-I.
 
The last thing I want in strings is 9s that play like 10s.

Its difficult to explain. They are definitely stiffer than normal 9,s but that stifness comes from the more resilient metal, not the tension as in 10,s. Its very hard to make a comparison with what I now see as normal strings. Its just different, but better in my view. They fret like 9,s on barre chords for example. Dont let my 10 description put you off. I usually play 9,s and its certainly not an issue for me.
 
I've got power Brights on several guitars, Blues Sliders on several and jazz Swing on several more. With the exception of 4 or 5 guitars I use Thomastiks on everything else. I think the 12s, Lucille and one Tele are all that are not T-I.

I have some blues sliders and acoustic sets on the way!
 
I'd love to hear some a/b clips between them and the DAs, if you have the ability to do so.
I will see what I can do. It will involve a few string changes though, to do a comparison on the same guitar. I will put something together when I next change strings.
 
I might take another look at them. I haven;t used their strings in close to 20 years and then it was the Bebop set.
 
Its difficult to explain. They are definitely stiffer than normal 9,s but that stifness comes from the more resilient metal, not the tension as in 10,s. Its very hard to make a comparison with what I now see as normal strings. Its just different, but better in my view. They fret like 9,s on barre chords for example. Dont let my 10 description put you off. I usually play 9,s and its certainly not an issue for me.
Thanks for clarifying that. I might give them a try.
 
I just ordered a couple of packs from Stringsandbeyond.

The 10-42 ones. I'm going to string my old Carvin DC160 with them and see. I currently have Cleartone 9's on it, and after playing 10's for years I just think the 9's are too loose-feeling.
 
I look forward to hearing how you get on. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
 
Don't always believe what the pkg says in gauges...
If you measure with a Micrometer or calipers, I've had .010 that measured .009 etc...
Thomastik is very accurate... the pkg was actual...
So if you think you have a set of 9s, the 9 may actually in real life be an 8 etc...
I know this because I create my own custom sets and try to get even tension or a gradually increasing tension across the neck and calculate by using string diameter, scale length, freq when tuned to pitch ... etc and for those resulting tensions to be true, the diameter has to be true...
You would be surprised at how far off many sets are...

SO when you compare thomastik's 9 to someone elses 9, the "elses's" 9 may actually be an 8, thus not a good comparison...

Know the facts before making a comparison :wink:
 
Back
Top