The Steel Guitar Forum

Are you OK Kenny? You look a little yellow and swelled up, And I see more than one of you! But at least you seem very happy!


Los Stringster,

Bobbe, everything is OK. Was Santa Clause good to ya' this Christmas?

Thanks for all the posts. Just a reminder. I'm interested in reading opinions in the differences between the two brands, particularly in the tone produced. There is no doubt they are both great products, designed for us picky steel guitarists.

Lee

i used to like emmons strings...they seemed strong..especially at the wrap by the ball end.
are there any like that available?

Lee, for what it's worth, I put a set of Geo L Nashville stainless on Tony's Sho Bud a few months ago. Before I put the set on, he saw the 3rd was an .11 and said he can't put those on because they break. I said just give them a try, if it breaks it breaks. I talked to him today, he has not yet broken a string, says he's "freaked out" and can't believe it. And you know he's put a ton of hours on it since then. I know it's not one of the brands for which you are asking comparisons, but I sure do like them.

wow, i wish i had someone to put my strings on for me!

Well, I just put a set of Cobra Coil strings on my Mullen U-12 and thought I would resurrect this old thread.

I've been using Jagwire strings (Stainless) for quite some time now. I started off with Nickle and then settled on the Stainless. I wanted a little extra "crispiness" on the wound strings and the Stainless did that. After replacing the 12-1 pickup with a BL-712 I noticed that the wound strings were a bit too "crispy" sounding, so I decided to go back to Nickle; however, my favorite Jagwire dealer is out of U-12 Jagwire strings right now. So, I ordered some Cobra Coils from Bobbe.

So far, I'm lovin' what I'm hearing. The wound strings sound huge, a bit brighter than Nickle, but not as bright as Stainless. I didn't change the gauge on any of the strings; however, I had to do some tweaking on the pulls on some of the wound strings. That tells me that, perhaps, the core sizes are a bit different than the Jagwires.

Anybody got anything to add, as far as comparing Jagwires to Cobra Coils?

Lee, from South Texas

Lee, I don't have anything to add regarding your question, but I will say that Tony came over a couple of weeks ago and said he still has the same set of strings on his Sho Bud and still has not broken one! Amazing, he'll be closing in on 2 years.

Jagwires most definate for me as they outlast anything I've ever bought since the mid fifties with all the different makes out there to choose from.
I've found them to give the brightest tone and the longest life of any string. In fact on one of the other string threads, I'd mentioned that my third string was kept on my D10 Z.B. for 14 months with gigging three times every weekend with an odd mid week thrown in.

All Z.B.est.

Bob Mainwaring.

Tried both before. Definitely Cobra Coils for me. I'm currently using nothing but Frenchy's Steel Mill strings. Hadn't broke one in three years. .012 for high G# also. CC's are fine strings though. They come from Bobbe's, so you know they've got to be top of the line.

After trying several different brands it's the cobra's that do the trick! I put alot of hours on my steel and as far as lasting and tone the cobra coils have been a great investment. Bobbester won't steer you wrong!
shannon

I put a set of Cobra Coils on my guitar in late March of this year. They're still on there and still sound just as good as they did back then. I really like them.

Now, if we could just get ol' Bobbe to let b0b sell them here on the Forum....

Lee, from South Texas

The Cobra Coils seem to have slightly tighter tension compared with the same gauge on other manufacturer's strings. Might be my imagination.

I think the Cobra's are excellent - they are consistent and corrode far less than the Jag's. I asked Bobbe how the Cobra's came into being, and it was an interesting story.

I used Cobra Coils before I tried Jagwire, and was happy with them. The biggest thing I've noticed about the Jagswire, the T. White set anyway, is the life I get from the .0115 3rd string. I have yet to have one actually break. I've changed it out before a gig just for safety sake. I'm going to stay with the one I currently have on the guitar just to see how long it will last. I really don't remember if I picked up on a difference in tone when I first installed them, and both sets seemed to wind on about the same. John

I have settled with the SIT Sho-E9th set on all my guitars,they stay bright,and haven't found a bad set yet.




Ray

The Jagwire 3rd strings I've been using also last forever. Only thing is the .018's don't. Anyone else find this to be the case?

I was told by a "reputable source" that Jagwires were made by SIT. (Not that it matters...)I'm sure someone out there knows if that is true.

Ward Skinner wrote:Lee, for what it's worth, I put a set of Geo L Nashville stainless on Tony's Sho Bud a few months ago. Before I put the set on, he saw the 3rd was an .11 and said he can't put those on because they break. I said just give them a try, if it breaks it breaks. I talked to him today, he has not yet broken a string, says he's "freaked out" and can't believe it. And you know he's put a ton of hours on it since then. I know it's not one of the brands for which you are asking comparisons, but I sure do like them.

These strings were put on around Sept of '07. Played a benefit Monday afternoon. Jealous Heart, Tony's band, played after us. Took a look at Tony's steel, his Sho-Bud has turned back into a Sho-Crud due to heavy accumulation of dust, but damn if the same strings are still on there. He thought maybe this was a new Guinness world record?

Jay:
I had a 018 break on my 68 P/P. I wasn't even playing it. I was walking by the guitar in my music room and pow ! she broke. Go figure. I been using Jagwire for ever. They never seem to lose their tone and I rarely break one.

i put new sets of cobra coils on my zum...i almost never change or break strings. before i did a gig the 11 on my 3rd string broke. so i put a 12 on it. still haven't gigged with it. i rarely change whole sets but a friend gave me these. i use 10's normally and they don't break. actually, i've noticed 11's break more than any size. am looking forward to hearing what the cobra coils sound like at performance level with my old emmons pickup zum. usually sounds great anyway!

i've been trying to bond with my old emmons with the whatever old strings on it lately. sounded great the other night! i've always just grabbed whatever single strings i can find at a music store and never really had a problem except for an occassional crappy batch that all break...then i go back at yell at the pimply-faced music store salesman until they give me something else free!

Well I feel like an alien here with d'Addario's on my GFI (as no other mentioned them here before). But I change 'em only after every six months or so, 'cause they were trusty and I have no tone comparsion with others.

tonu...d'addarios are what most stores here sell as individual strings and they sound great to me. i really can't imagine any string making nearly the difference to my sound that couldn't be overcome with practice and musical ability. ...much more important than brand of string!

David Pinkston wrote:I was told by a "reputable source" that Jagwires were made by SIT. (Not that it matters...)I'm sure someone out there knows if that is true.

Wrong! So much for reputable sources.

chris ivey wrote:tonu...d'addarios are what most stores here sell as individual strings and they sound great to me. i really can't imagine any string making nearly the difference to my sound that couldn't be overcome with practice and musical ability. ...much more important than brand of string!

Chris, Contact Danny and try a set of Jagwires. You will be impressed. I have been using them for about five years and have broken three strings in that time and all were because of something I did and not the string's fault. Jag's also hold their tone longer so you don't have to change as often.