GHS Strings GBXL Guitar Boomers, Nickel-Plated Electric Guitar Strings, Extra...

You will always hear from a multitude of musicians about their personal preference in guitars, amps, stomp boxes, pickups, effects, and even picks. Well, that goes for strings as well. The one relatively inexpensive thing you can do for yourself is to try different sizes and types of strings. Listen, who cares what Jimi or Jimmy used. Seek out and develop your own tone. Strings can help you do that. When it comes to the vintage sound there is pure nickel. Companies, in the 50s, experimented with different metals but pure nickel was found to be the most pleasing, balanced tone, and easy on the frets too. In those early years electric players wanted less distortion also. Pure nickel produced less distortion as well. Well, things shifted from Nickel to steel strings. Two ideas were that either economics was the reason nickel was no longer wanted or the tonal shifts of the 1960s. A compromise was brought about and nickel plated steel strings were born. These GHS Boomers are most likely going to give you some warmth from the nickel plating along with a clean tone. If that is what you want. They can also be hotter dependent upon their blend of nickel to steel. These Boomers don't bend as easily as pure nickel but that is what you would expect with a steel center. Also, nickel plated steel strings appear to not sustain as well as pure nickel. I have tried both pure nickel and nickel plated. Indeed the pure nickel (all things being equal) are more mellow, easier to bend and tend to give you a "vintage" tone. The Boomers tend to provide more of an edge. They will sound hotter and brighter on your electric. That can be fun, so much fun, especially with a nice pair of P-90s on your guitar. If you use, or plan on using, a lot of tone-sucking effects pedals, going with the brighter, hotter, string like these GHS Boomers would be a good choice. Again, if that is what you are looking for in a sound. Search any guitar forum and up will rise from the thread-graveyard a ton of threads on strings and how they can affect tone. Or not. Lots of opinionated musicians on guitar forums. This is why some people buy multiple guitars. A guitar for every season, so to speak, with nickel plated steel on one and pure nickel on another. I have used these strings on a solid body Gibson Les Paul guitar and on a semi-hollowbody Fender Telecaster guitar. Slightly different sounds. Again, think about the wood, or lack of it, on the guitar. That is where some of the resonance comes from, along with the type of pickup, height of those pickups and, of course, your playing style. Most serious musicians know that Jimi's, Jimmy's, and even Eddie or Slashes tone is in their fingers. I like these strings and give them 5 stars because they are well made, sound good. I also like the in between gauge. They don't bend as well as pure nickel of the same gauge, but I knew that going in, so no stars off for that. GHS is a good company and stand by their product. The Boomers come in 8s (Ultra Light) all the way to 13s (Heavy). So take your pick, try some of these strings and make some hot music tonight.

Great strings, I've used them for years. Great sound and quality.

great price and quality

I use GHS Boomers on all my electrics... including bass guitars. There are other good brands for sure, but these suit my style best. They ring nicely when fresh and properly maintained, and will remain true to their original (new) sound for many weeks. Boomers are durable as well: I have broken very few strings over the many decades I've been playing... and those were always hardware/component issues. Buying them in a bulk pack sweetens the deal. Hard to find any electric guitar strings much less expensive than this and the low cost options are scary/bad (I only use cheapos as throw away's on brand new builds to get my initial alignments, otherwise they should never be used... not ever!). See attached pictures of a couple custom builds with Boomers slapped on!

Boomers saw me through my late 70s Cali rock , 80s hair metal, blues, 90s new wave eras. Both on Les Pauls and Telecasters. I'm not real picky about brands. Just feel and sound. I user their 0.10s on LPs. 9.5s on Telecasters. Ernie Ball is OK and I've subbed other reputable brands on occasion, but invariably this is the brand I stock and reorder. I'm in my country band era now and Boomers are still just right. They give me that crisp, toothy grip I like to feel and hear while the other frequencies are punchy and present. I haven't broken a string onstage for 30 years. I change strings at 3-4 weeks. 95 % of the time I'm using Boomers. I've tried coated, copper splattered, zero oxygen, silver infused, dream catcher breakthrough strings, and while most live up to durability claims, the consistency and feel of Boomers are still my choice for the price. I don't mind changing strings more often. No matter what the package says, I can't trust strings over 4 weeks old.

Good strings

Best strings ever! I have been using these for many years, and they have never let me down!! I tried some of the expensive ones but came back!

Clean clear brights and amazing mid tones with these strings.