John Mayer x Ernie Ball Silver Slinkys - Do These Strings Change Everything? | First Look & Test

[@davesnowball82]

Nebula Silver Sky.... stunner, awesome playing, nailed the tone. 🤟

[@stephenfoley1261]

I migrated the missus's guitars over to 9.5 to 44 Primo Slinkys. EB has perfected the marketing and eye catching packaging game.

[@Hrithik23]

While it does impact tone, I think string gauges is mostly down to the feel of the guitar. You will hear a difference between 8s and 13s, but probably not so much with 10s and 11s. People who have played know 9s are stupidly easy to bend, 11s offer some resistance, 10s are the sweet spot. Will definitely try these to see if there's significant difference in the feel.

[@marksanders2784]

Great video! I agree with the analogy of golf/wine etc, when you're John Mayer this stuff makes a difference, for the average bedroom player not so much. I'd have loved it if this had been a set of 8's or 9's and watch everyone lose their shit and start spouting the virtues of lighter strings lol. Reminds me to re-watch Rick Beato's video of the difference in sound with lighter strings, very interesting.

[@simon_s.guitar]

my thoughts, too. I remember watching Beatos video and I thought, if you are playing melodies espacially in a jazzy way, thicker strings would be better and have more tone. But Beato is also right! If you are Playing Chords an a lot of strumming in a rythm way the lighter strings sound mor transparent and also more matching with each other! Years ago I played like Tremonti 10s to 48s befor I was going back to normal 10s or 11s depending on the style and the guitar. TBut after beatos video I was thinking about doing the exact opposite. 11s for the higher strings and 10s or even 9s or 8s for the lower ones.

[@gouthamakumar6591]

@@simon_s.guitar Ya know, I keep finding myself switching between 9's 10's and 11's simply because there is a real difference in sound quality. Honestly, the real answer to string gauge is to have multiple guitars set up with the right string gauge for the type of music you want to play and sound you want.

[@mattpearce79]

Hair is literally glowing 😂

[@jdeery1990]

Regardless of the sound difference, the I’m very interested to try purely for the feel under the fingers. That’s much more important IMO. 10s have always felt a little light and 11s too heavy for me, so interested to try these. I doubt this will divide the community for those who have played for years and experimented with different strings

[@thatguy7850]

You can definitely hear a difference… I like the Mayer set better, but is that just because it comes closer to replicating what I’m used to that piece of music sounding like? Does that translate to other pieces? Who knows… just have to buy a set and find out I guess… 🤷‍♂️

[@mariodeluna4899]

I was wondering the exact same thing

[@CraigularjJoeWoodworks]

Why do they sound so much better

[@dannyllerenatv8635]

RPS Slinkys are my favorite string line, so I will give props there. 10.5-47 honestly looks like a fantastic Eb gauge. The 11-48 and 11-52 sets can get tiring after a while, but 10s in Eb are simply too wobbly for me. Love 9s and 10s on my "shredder" guitars, but not on my S-type guitars where I'm going for a specific sound I've always found that slightly heavier gauges work best for me with fingerstyle and hybrid-picking stuff.

[@GoldSnipes]

Totally gonna get a set

[@guitarjero552]

Is it me, or is the silver sky set out of tune?

[@jayplaysthestrings]

RIGHT i was just gonna comment this!

[@Carmenscommune]

You totally can tell the difference John mayers custom strings sound jazzier more flavour for sure thanks !

[@eb7912]

Nice nebula silver sly ❤

[@jcsk8]

I love 10.5 gauge. Perfect for me.

[@Newbomb_Turks_Punch]

Ernie Balls blow! StringJoy all the way!! Best strings ever made.

[@pedrohgromero1]

it must be great for eb tuning

[@garyjohnstonemusic]

First time viewer. Subbed within 30s for production quality alone. Well done sir 👍

[@olivierlanglet1932]

Twice the Regular Slinky price, for a tiny difference which I probably won’t ever notice. And yes, I’m gonna buy it 😭

[@RadRumblings]

"this is spectacular give me 14 right now" yes i did the same thing you did lol

[@XYz-vy7tr]

You'll notice the difference in tension. It's great that these missing intermediate sizes are being released.

[@geeksquadproduqtionz]

Can you do a lesson on that listening test you did around the 2:00 ? That was funky

[@urmiyanTargaryen2179]

It's "Good love is on the way" by John Mayer

[@Wileylikethehawk]

Similar gauges to the Gilmour GhS 10.5 set - which I’ve been using for years now. 10.5 is great.

[@monochromedout]

That silver sky is god tier.

[@andrewbecker3700]

This is an inevitable result of having Slinkys feel more like 9.5's. These are gonna fill that little void between all the different scale lengths and tunings. 10.5's should theoretically feel more like 10's from other string manufacturers. I'm not sure these would be the best for 25.5" scale guitars in E standard tuning. Drop tuners delight though.

[@edwardjons8684]

It’s just a set of Ernie Ball packaged with JM’s name - nothing you couldn’t already put together yourself. I use a similar set of D’Addario NYXL 10.5 to 48 that I put together from individual strings, they just feel good to me - I prefer an 11-52 but they can be harder work. Nothing special going on here and they certainly aren’t going to get you closer to sounding like JM given all the other factors in play. Great guitar.

[@frantisca]

A little more meat in the bass strings, a bit more snap in the plain ones. I use 10-48 GHS Gilmour set on my Strats. Very stable, slinky as it needs on the G string (.16) and resonant on the wound strings (.28 .38 .48) After experimenting so many sets/makes, I don't feel like changing... Cheers

[@TheSupart91]

Now all the forums can collapse john Mayer has his signature strings

[@southernpanda33]

Boy, he sure went through years and years of struggle just to get a set of strings.

[@brianfarley9947]

For some reason the 10-46 sounded better to me. Better separation and less muddy. That being said, my OCD ass has been going back and forth between 10s and 11s for 15 years. So maybe I'll try these put and see how they feel.

[@noysdn4001]

Which one is on sale? There are so little different

[@daviddalziel884]

Heard a difference in the first demo but nothing beyond that . Must be like going from 9s to 10s on any guitar , I’ve just put 9s instead of 10s on my Les Paul and it feels totally different and will affect the way I play especially with bends . Usually always 9s on any S type including my Silver Sky SE , changing to the JM Signature strings might need a set -up to get the best effect ( if any )

[@bighes100]

Is that really where it's going? Strings with guitarists names on then for double the price?

[@brandonbryson3317]

I be like the 9.5 - 46 or the 10 - 48. This is fine, but doesn’t change much for me.

[@simont4435]

What about the mega slinky?

[@urmiyanTargaryen2179]

I was thinking the same...they're basically the same gauge-wise. And they're a lot cheaper too.

[@DirkSchneiderCH]

Well, that‘s gonna make the difference! - Well, probably not in my case… 😜

[@XYz-vy7tr]

More gauge --> darker toan. The main point here is to optimize tension for his preferences.

[@monkeybrains]

Taylor swift approved

[@joshualessore7652]

She's writing songs like "I was just a small town girl, standing by his amps, he was just the older boy, Bending the silver strings in my heart the silver strings in my heart, the silver strings in my heart" lol

[@triplescale]

😂😂 so good

[@triplescale]

I use 009-042 and switch the 011 for a 012. Let‘s call Ernie Ball

[@autk]

I've played 11-52, 12s to even heavier after years of playing professionally with 10-46, after 40 years ive gone to hybrid slinky 9-11-16 top 26-36-46 Bottom Sounds great in every genre and im tired of fighting guitars Its in the action and string tension for me, but whatever makes the player confident go with that, its a subjective thing.

[@Squall6575]

Ive always found comfort more important than tonal qualities. Yes heavier strings have more power in the bottom end, yes I know STV used gauge 12-13, but if Im hurting while bending during a show, Im not having fun.

[@waynegram8907]

What is different about these John Mayer strings? More wrap nickel wire or what?

[@ctown6592]

It’s a 10.5 thickness. Those strings didn’t exist until now. That’s what’s different about them

[@waynegram8907]

@@ctown6592 the strings are supposed to be reinforced which I have no idea what reinforced strings means?

[@elischannel9702]

@@waynegram8907 the plain strings have extra windings on them to prevent breakage at the ball end

[@waynegram8907]

@@elischannel9702 That doesn't make sense because Plain strings don't have any windings on them ever because they are just Plain Core wire.

[@Charlieboy2680]

I hate prs headstocks !

[@sarahmitchell9247]

I hear a difference…like the silver very much

[@Starch1b2c3d4a]

Dont forget a competent tuner bro 😂

[@thecappy]

Aren’t they basically just the Mega slinkies.

[@pads-zr9ln]

I don't think it makes a difference to the sound on its own, I play 11s on a Les Paul but started playing 8s on a strat, I'm not buying them for John mayer but more options os always good

[@neildenman1776]

Bro was looking like Jesus with that lighting behind him !

[@elvismemphisgs]

Too Bright For Me

[@xairvian]

Imagine paying double the price for a string set that already exists in the standard line

[@NickGranville]

A better comparison might have been to use the same guitar with both sets of strings. The differences we are hearing might have more to do with the guitars than the strings.

[@PeachGuitars]

We made sure to use the same model, the only difference is the colour

[@jhardindrums]

@@PeachGuitars Don't you know color changes the sound!

[@CentaurusRelax314]

@@PeachGuitarsI think he’s suggesting there is still variation within different samples of the same model.

[@NickGranville]

@@PeachGuitars sure, but no two tree’s grow the same. And there would be differences in the guitars themselves, even in the same model. As I said, a better comparison would be to use the same guitar and just swap the strings - that way the guitar is taken out of the equation.

[@abstractvisions]

Even better you should’ve done the test without telling the guitarist what strings were on which guitar. I kind of felt like he played the John Mayer strings more like “John Mayer” than he did with the guitar that was strung with regular strings.

[@stevedgolfer]

Sam Beverage 😂

[@SammyPWang]

I was curious and took off my daddario 10s to try these out. I actually really dislike the tension. Completely changed my guitar in a negative way. Sorry John. I really wanted to like them, but I don’t.

[@christopher-miles]

if you need to buy this for some reason... buy the same gage with stringjoy. you can thank me later.

[@louisxue3292]

To most causal players, this set might just be more bending struggle haha

[@CosmicNed]

I was tempted until i saw the price ha ha! 😂

[@southernpanda33]

They’re $10 a pack. I just ordered a 3 pack for my PRS.

[@CosmicNed]

Here in the UK they’re £15 a set… about $20!!!

[@southernpanda33]

@@CosmicNed I pay about that per set of D’Addario strings. The XL chromes I usually use on my Epiphone run about $25 a set.

[@urmiyanTargaryen2179]

The mega slinkies are half the price and have almost the same gauge strings. I've been wondering how different these sound from the mega slinkies.

[@jmdyt3626]

Atm in a sale you can buy a tin of 3 packs for £30 that’s only £2-£3 more for a pack than you’d be paying for normal Ernie balls

[@southernpanda33]

I keep seeing “They’re so expensive” -_- they’re $10 not $100. I’ve spent more on D’Addario strings.

[@jamesoliphant4378]

lol 😂 another great marketing tactic by EB. Gauges are individual

[@xfighter1117]

Too much treble for Mayer tone. Burley slinky’s are where it’s at for me. Anything lighter I just over bend.

[@martydibergi5228]

john mayer who?

[@ianhollandsguitar1]

Just another marketing ploy and to charge more per set with dear john getting his cut ill stick to their normal sets

[@henryb50]

10-46's sound better , stop paying upcharge for john's go fund me

[@jmdyt3626]

Think people just want to try them out, I’m having my guitar set up with them because I’m curious

[@SpeedNAngels431]

Too many options. Keep it simple and learn to use your hands and pots properly

[@caro_lam]

I don't think these strings will change everything, no. It's hard to see how these strings will have any effect on something like the global rise in antibiotic resistance, deforestation and/or loss of biodiversity, fossil fuel dependency, etc etc

[@paulparker8298]

No difference 🥱