# Elixer Nanoweb vs D'Addario NYXL



## FourT6and2 (May 9, 2016)

Been using Ernie Ball for years. Which of these other two do y'all prefer and why? Gauge will be 10-46. Does it even make a difference (sound-wise)? I know for a setup, it matters because strings vary in tensions slightly from brand to brand, and that might affect action/neck bow/intonation.


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## MattThePenguin (May 9, 2016)

I'd get the Polywebs if you go Elixer. It feels like they last forever. Otherwise I'd go NYXL, because they sound better to me. I've had the Elixer Polywebs 10-46 on my PRS for about 4 months now and they still sound and look fresh, that's the main advantage. 

Honestly, idk why the Nanowebs exist, they just don't last as long.


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## FourT6and2 (May 9, 2016)

I'm not a fan of the Polywebs. The coating is too thick and flakes off after a while.


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## technomancer (May 9, 2016)

MattThePenguin said:


> I'd get the Polywebs if you go Elixer. It feels like they last forever. Otherwise I'd go NYXL, because they sound better to me. I've had the Elixer Polywebs 10-46 on my PRS for about 4 months now and they still sound and look fresh, that's the main advantage.
> 
> Honestly, idk why the Nanowebs exist, they just don't last as long.



You may be the first person I've ever seen that liked the Polywebs...

That said I've been using Nanowebs for years and haven't found anything else I like nearly as much.


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## edsped (May 9, 2016)

MattThePenguin said:


> I'd get the Polywebs if you go Elixer. It feels like they last forever. Otherwise I'd go NYXL, because they sound better to me. I've had the Elixer Polywebs 10-46 on my PRS for about 4 months now and they still sound and look fresh, that's the main advantage.
> 
> Honestly, idk why the Nanowebs exist, they just don't last as long.



Nanowebs last months/years for me.


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## curlyvice (May 9, 2016)

I've been using NYXL's exclusively for the past 6-7 months. I love the way they sound. So much crisper and brighter than any other string.


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## MattThePenguin (May 9, 2016)

technomancer said:


> You may be the first person I've ever seen that liked the Polywebs...
> 
> That said I've been using Nanowebs for years and haven't found anything else I like nearly as much.



... 

Man I'm gonna have to A/B them now lol


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## HeavyMetal4Ever (May 9, 2016)

I use the Nanowebs. Not a fan of the Polywebs, and I've never used the NYXLs.


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## FourT6and2 (May 10, 2016)

Ok well what about NYXL vs the regular EXL? Like EXL110 vs NYXL 10-46.


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## Great Satan (May 10, 2016)

I used to live by the sea, elixirs were the only things that wouldn't oxidize after a week.
Polyweb or Nanoweb, get a set of each and see which you like,
me i don't mind either, sometimes the thicker polyweb is easier on the fingers over long periods but nanowebs feel more like regular uncoated.


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## Alex Kenivel (May 10, 2016)

My Strat loves the NYXLs but my PRS doesn't  I usually use EB


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## domsch1988 (May 10, 2016)

For me, ernie ball wins every time. I have no experience with elixir, since all other coated strings where not my cup of tea. The NYXL sound epic and feel great, but they are more expensive and seem to only last half the time the EB's do. EB has always been the perfect middle ground. Sound great, last long and aren't super expensive... The normal exl's have some kind of sticky feel to them i don't like...


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## Rolanthas (May 10, 2016)

Elixir Nanos for me, no contest. I've been using them for close to a decade now, 10-46 and 10-52's. I change it up with an EB or NYXL every once in a while, and it's horrifying to see other sets lose their broken-in sweet spot in 2-3 weeks while Elixir's can hold that for 3 months or so easily ( in my case with around 4 hours of playing a day, non acidic hands etc ).

I guess I'm also lucky that I don't notice their quirks that are usually mentioned. They never feel sticky ( if anything, they feel too slippery the first 2 days in my experience ), they almost never sound dull unless you keep them in for a year. Never had one break in the first three months and so on. Much respect to anyone else's preference, but imho they are worth a try if you never went hands on yourself.


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## Metropolis (May 10, 2016)

For the best tone NYXL's, for durability and slippery feel Elixir Nanowebs.

Elixir's feel like new for nearly two months, no other strings last that long in my sweaty hands  Only downside is if you want to tune very low with thick string gauges. You may not find them from Elixir.

Also I've noticed that NYXL's tend to wear frets much faster than other strings.


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## Zeriton (May 10, 2016)

FourT6and2 said:


> Ok well what about NYXL vs the regular EXL? Like EXL110 vs NYXL 10-46.



Seconded!

I can inform you when I switch the strings on my guitar soon but they're not even slightly worn yet. Got a set of NYXL 11-56 ready to go to replace the normal EXL117. Just those EXL117s are fairly new and I don't seem to need to change them that often (maybe 3-4 weeks use out of them. I don't sweat much).


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## TheRileyOBrien (May 10, 2016)

The amount of conflicting info in this thread is pretty telling that what you should really do is try for yourself.


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## FrancescoFiligoi (May 10, 2016)

I use Nanowebs on my Floyd guitars cause they sound great and last REALLY long.

But, if I'm recording for official releases, I choose NYXL cause when fresh they do sound "better", crispier, punchier...to me they're the best sounding ones.


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## FourT6and2 (May 10, 2016)

Ha, yeah lots of conflicting info here. 

I'll put Nanowebs on one guitar and NYXL on the other then and see what happens.


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## technomancer (May 10, 2016)

domsch1988 said:


> For me, ernie ball wins every time. I have no experience with elixir, since all other coated strings where not my cup of tea. The NYXL sound epic and feel great, but they are more expensive and seem to only last half the time the EB's do. EB has always been the perfect middle ground. Sound great, last long and aren't super expensive... The normal exl's have some kind of sticky feel to them i don't like...



Interesting. I used EB for a while, I love the way they sound... for about the first 24 hours (on the guitar not play time). Seemed I could never get a set to last longer than a week before they were completely dead.



FourT6and2 said:


> Ha, yeah lots of conflicting info here.
> 
> I'll put Nanowebs on one guitar and NYXL on the other then and see what happens.



This is really your best bet as at the end of the day a lot of it comes down to personal preference...


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## GuitarBizarre (May 10, 2016)

I'm a voice for Nanowebs. I hate the way other strings feel after a week or two - With the Elixirs, even when they're dead they FEEL alright, just lose the treble and bite from the sound - Other brands make me think I'm going to cut my hands open on the plains.


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## bnzboy (May 10, 2016)

NYXL is expensive but oh man it feels amazing and sounds superb


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## Bearitone (May 10, 2016)

I love the polywebs. I only have to change them like twice a year


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## mnemonic (May 10, 2016)

Metropolis said:


> Elixir's feel like new for nearly two months, no other strings last that long in my sweaty hands  Only downside is if you want to tune very low with thick string gauges. You may not find them from Elixir.



For what its worth, their bass strings are wound the same, and sound the same as their guitar strings. Their heavy-gauge selection for guitar is pretty crap (.056 then right up to .068, and nothing heavier), but for bass, they do .060, .065, .070, .075, .080, etc. The only issues are 1.)the ball end is bigger, and 2.)they're expensive.

Worth it for me though. I'm currently using a set of 10's with a bass .065 on my mayones, tuned to Bb.


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## MattThePenguin (May 10, 2016)

mnemonic said:


> For what its worth, their bass strings are wound the same, and sound the same as their guitar strings. Their heavy-gauge selection for guitar is pretty crap (.056 then right up to .068, and nothing heavier), but for bass, they do .060, .065, .070, .075, .080, etc. The only issues are 1.)the ball end is bigger, and 2.)they're expensive.
> 
> Worth it for me though. I'm currently using a set of 10's with a bass .065 on my mayones, tuned to Bb.



That's a good idea...

Still waiting for that perfect pack of strings you can just walk into a guitar store and buy. If there's any one reason why I want to "make it" in the music.. it's to be an advocate for more ERG string selections... so when I quit and get a job that lets me not be homeless I don't have to keep custom ordering strings.


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## Zeriton (May 21, 2016)

Zeriton said:


> Seconded!
> 
> I can inform you when I switch the strings on my guitar soon but they're not even slightly worn yet. Got a set of NYXL 11-56 ready to go to replace the normal EXL117. Just those EXL117s are fairly new and I don't seem to need to change them that often (maybe 3-4 weeks use out of them. I don't sweat much).




Update for those interested:
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/4587258-post17.html


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## CapnForsaggio (May 21, 2016)

Hmmm Plastic coated mediocre strings? 

Or premium material, American-milled-wire strings?

There are certainly some financial/replacement interval considerations here, but if you can't HEAR which of these strings is vastly superior, there are other problems IMHO.

Go do a little research and tell me how many people actually use plastic coated strings (of any brand) for tracking guitars. This should be the only information you need.


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## mnemonic (May 21, 2016)

I bet you play a plastic coated guitar.


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## Zeriton (May 21, 2016)

CapnForsaggio said:


> Go do a little research and tell me how many people actually use plastic coated strings (of any brand) for tracking guitars. This should be the only information you need.



I do somewhat agree with you, but for devil's advocate sake, Sikth use Elixirs to track


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## GuitarBizarre (May 21, 2016)

CapnForsaggio said:


> Hmmm Plastic coated mediocre strings?
> 
> Or premium material, American-milled-wire strings?
> 
> ...



For someone advising someone else to go and do the research, this post is based on so many assumptions and so much bullcrap. 

I'm not going to comment much on whether nanoweb coating changes the sound of a string, but regardless of whether your conclusion is correct or not, your impressions of how, and where, strings are made, are WAY off.

Lets review - 

1 - "Plastic coated mediocre strings"

OK, so what you're saying here is that not only are the strings "plastic coated", but they were mediocre strings to start with. That's absolutely not the truth and any small amount of googling into some search terms like "Who makes Elixir strings" would have told you that the strings under the "plastic" are made by the same very small number of companies that make almost all the strings on the market. Elixir's in particular were actually coated D'addario strings for the longest time. They bought them in huge bulk and coated them. All the other coated strings on the market are made by companies who wind their own in-house, such as D'addario, Ernie Ball, GHS, and Mapes. Elixir may still be D'addario underneath, they may have changed supplier - nobody's quite sure and Elixir don't discuss their suppliers details in public. For that matter, neither does anyone else - even D'addario, who absolutely do draw, wind and wrap their own strings, don't tell anyone where they get their wire to start with (Although we can make a pretty good guess, keep reading and maybe you'll figure out who most people are guessing)

2 - "Premium Material, American made" 

Ok, the first major problem here is that you're acting like coated strings aren't american made - most every manufacturer I can think of, including Ernie Ball, D'addario, GHS, DR, Gibson, and the Mapes String company (Who we'll get to later), all make their strings in the US. Elixir are owned by W.L Gore and Associates, and that company is also American, so you've got American "plastic" on American strings there too.

To my knowledge, the manufacture of Guitar Strings outside of the US is an essentially nonexistent industry, save for a few wild mavericks. 

Not that it matters - being made in the US is not any kind of guarantee of quality, nor is being made elsewhere any kind of indication of failure. I know, I know, its hard to imagine that anything made outside if the US is worth a damn, but believe me, its true! I know some of you US folk like to bang on like you're God's gift to the ....ing universe and all, but, it turns out? Plenty of those fruity foreigners, especially those wacky europeans, have been building strung instruments for several centuries longer than you've been a country, and some of them are pretty good at it too!

Anyway, back to the point that even the "plastic" strings are almost all American made, even Mapes own website points this out - "We&#8217;ve been making strings for over a century. This may be your first visit to *MAPES Strings* but it&#8217;s very likely that our strings or strings made from our wire are on your guitar right now."

Secondly - Even for companies based outside of the US (Like Rotosound, who very proudly display "Made in England" on every single piece of packaging) The metallurgy of the steels involved in string construction doesn't change just because of where the stuff was made. 8Cr14MoV Steel is 8Cr14MoV Steel no matter where it's made. (Guitar Strings probably don't use 8Cr14MoV but same applies)

The only exception to this is if the steel itself was never made to grade - which happens to be a major problem with sourcing steel from China, as it can be an uphill battle getting them to meet the international standards rather than their own wacky, internal versions - but, as we discussed before, all of the major string manufacturers are American (or English) anyway, so this is a non-issue - And it's not as if China can't MAKE steels to grade...you just have to pay through the nose for it as an international business, which many businesses DO.

Not to mention - Nobody is using anything crazy like CPM S35 steel, or any guitar-string equivalent, to make guitar strings. If they were, all strings would cost much more than they presently do, because the difference between a readily-available (although still high quality) commercial steel and a so called "super steel" made at the cutting edge of metallurgical technology, is massive. There's a reason it costs a lot of money to buy a pocket knife made with S35 versus a knife made with 8Cr14MoV and it's because the specific processes and formulas for making the most well regarded steels are closely guarded trade secrets worth millions, if not billions. Guitar strings are simply not worth that kind of investment for what they are and do. 

Finally for point 2, most of the big guitar string companies buy their raw materials from the same places, before drawing and winding it into the requisite gauges in-house. 

One of the largest providers of such raw materials is the Mapes company (Told you we'd get to them!) - who have provided raw materials for *ALL* of the major string companies at some point in time, including D'addario, GHS, and Ernie Ball, and to my knowledge, STILL DO. (They're rather proud about having been able to count Steinway Pianos as a customer for over 100 years, by the way) Those companies factories have massive spools of wire on industrial reels - many or even most of which will be Mapes reels.

3 - "Milled wire"

This might have just been a misuse of terminology, but it bears correcting, because it's still wrong. 

Wire isn't milled. It's drawn through dies and reduced in diameter that way until it meets tolerances for diameter. Even hex-core wire (The kind used in most guitar strings), is made this way - they just use a hexagonal die as they approach final dimensions.

Sometimes working the wire in this way leads to work hardening, so often the finest guitar wires are annealed again during the process in order to restore their ductility. At no point is milling ever involved. No guitar string has ever even SEEN a mill.


If you're going to advise someone to do the research, do try and make sure you've done yours.


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## FourT6and2 (May 22, 2016)

lol awesome


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## marcwormjim (May 22, 2016)

mnemonic said:


> I bet you play a plastic coated guitar.



This and GuitarBizarre's post are some swell slaps on the ass.


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## jeremyb (May 22, 2016)

I've gone back to Elixirs after playing NYXL's for a while, just don't like the way they feel, get a lot of noise from them when sliding up and down them compared to the Elixirs....


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## Mathemagician (May 22, 2016)

I feel like we just found the materials engineer who works in the steel industry of the board. And I like their sass. Lol.


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## GuitarBizarre (May 22, 2016)

Mathemagician said:


> I feel like we just found the materials engineer who works in the steel industry of the board. And I like their sass. Lol.


Nope, just been around long enough to get straight answers from people about this kind of thing.


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