Before we begin, please be informed that a figure of 46 in the poll above is arguably not representative of the real guitarist/ bassist population out there who took time to participate. On that note, I thank those who took time to participate, much appreciated! This is a climate survey of sorts. Moving on...
Here's the beef- quite recently, someone talked to me about coated guitar strings being the way to go for the future. In terms of cost savings, less frequent string changes mean less expenditure set aside for expendables. Also, it does wonders for the environment as less frequent string change equals less metal being extracted to fulfil a certain need. Initially, the figures showed that there is a sizeable pool guitar/ bass players who embrace coated strings. However, towards the end of the poll period, the figures took a turn & that's the closing figures right there. We could agree that a difference of 2 is not as influential as we want it to be in terms of compelling statistics.
Let me share a personal observation when it comes to coated/ treated technology of guitar strings. Of course, some senior readers here might have come across more offerings along the way. If you could spare the time to share what came & went, I'd appreciate that very much. Please forgive the arrangement above, it's not chronological.
My first exposure to 'better' strings (in terms of durability) is GHS' Sub-Zero. At that point in time, the basis of comparison was a set of D'Addario which, in my opinion, is the epitome of immediate disintegration. So the Sub Zero was great indeed. Then someone recommended the DM Blue Steels which I thought wasn't that for off from the Sub Zero in terms of performance standards. They didn't last that significantly longer for me to totally ditch the Sub Zeros.
Years later, a good friend of mine asked me to check out the Black Diamonds (he used to be in this band called Stomping Ground). These feature coated technology instead of cryogenic treatments. I thought this made more sense because the coating wasn't part of the string material so the rate of preservation should be longer. The idea was good but the manifestation of intention was poor; the coating proved to be insular & stood very little chance against aggressive players who embrace stubborn, thick picks. The string coating over at the fret end did its job somewhat but we get bald patches at the picking end. Damn! Shortly thereafter, DR improved on this take & they proved to be popular for a while but the issue in hand wasn't put to rest, insular string protection is simply too feeble against stiff picks.
The situation today
String preservation technology is currently in a fusion state. What Elixir & Cleartone (among others) are doing proved to be the combination of chemical & insular approaches. As it is, it's proving to be effective & convincing. Effective because strings do last longer compared to the non-treated ones. Convincing because players are buying the technology more than giving them up after the initial embrace.
Yay or nay?
So is the current string preservation technology a thumbs up/ down contribution to the industry? The technology works & it's not pretentious so players are investing good money to buy treated strings every time re-stringing is due. I know people who swear by Elixirs for example, they claim the strings last much longer & it's in terms of weeks. In the long run, we can say that if the situation holds, we would have less trash in the bin as guitar dweebs the world over buy lesser strings because theirs last longer. The main set back is of course price. You'd argue that the higher prices of treated strings would cancel out the need to buy more untreated strings but is chemical treatment the only factor that keeps your strings going? Are we really plain lazy when it comes to string cleaning considering there are products out there that help preserve string life? Ditto winding technology- are you aware that if the wound strings were done a little differently, it would trap less dirt/ moisture & affect string longevity (eg: Dean Markley Helix)?
There is also a case of tonal integrity. We have people out there telling us that while treated strings last, tone doesn't. I hear this coming from the Elixir camp not that Elixir is a failed product in this aspect (nothing personal against Elixir), people are coming forth to share their experiences & manufacturers should listen, especially from the acoustic camp where bona fide good tones coming directly from strings really matter.
Treated strings are not ready to drive their non-treated counterparts into extinction. Not yet. People are still buying non-treated strings because there's something about them that appease the tone mongers. This might be a purist take on the situation but strings started out without treatment to begin with & they worked, they still do. However, treatment technology is quickly establishing some standards in terms of performance delivery which should be of interest in today's world of limited resources.
