Meet Brian Ball from Ernie Ball Strings!

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Permalink Reply by Jerry on May 28, 2009 at 11:35am

My bride gave me a new, smaller Martin for Christmas. Beautiful instrument. It has light guage strings. I play fingerstyle blues and would like to get a heavier "bass" sound. I'm pretty sure heavier strings alone won't give me a dreadnought-like sound, but I would like to get more of that "thump" in my sound. What strings do you recommend?

Jerry

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Permalink Reply by Brian Ball on May 29, 2009 at 11:22am

Hi jerry

I would first move up a gauge to see the result....If you use .11-52 go to 12-54 if you use 12-54 you can try 13-56. The Martin guitars are quality and should be fine with the tension....Another Idea is to build your own gauge combination.....get singles and try a lighter top with maybe some thicker strings for the E and A.

11-52 can be a 11-56 if you play around with the combinations.....

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Permalink Reply by Don Alder on May 28, 2009 at 11:36am

how do we get to the chat area

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Permalink Reply by Dan Gabel, Editor & Group Publisher on May 28, 2009 at 11:40am

Hey Don, Good to have you here. Looks like you found the chat area, but just in case. Just scroll to the bottom of your screen and click on the bar that says "Acoustic Guitar Community/48 Online." The chat screen will pop up. Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Thomas W. Jackson on May 28, 2009 at 11:36am

Brian:

The new Ernie Ball Coated Titanium Accoustic strings look like a great product. What key features make The Ernie Ball strings better than competitor's coated accoustic strings and why would one buy the coated strings over standard strings? Will the tone quality of coated strings be less than standard strings? I play as a hobby and don't have issues with string breakage.

Thank you;
Th.J.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Ball on June 1, 2009 at 6:11pm

Hey Thomas,

Thanks for the kind words on the look of our new strings. Our Key features are that all 6 strings are coated instead of just the wound strings, also we have a patented reinforcement of titanium wire on the plain strings of our coated strings. One big benefit we've found is that the reinforcement provides great tuning stability. We engineered and tested the tonal qualities in our acoustics lab. You should get equal tonal characteristics from Ernie Ball Coateds to Uncoated sets. Really it is personal preference whether to go coated or uncoated. Personally if you are a hobbyist, I would recommend the coated sets as they should last longer in a case or on a wall.

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Permalink Reply by John Huggins on May 28, 2009 at 11:54am

I have noticed that coated acoustic strings made by other manufacturers feel very slippery when played, which is sometimes a bit agravating. Also, I noticed that the coating somewhat negatively affects the sound. How are Ernie Ball coated acoustic strings better than other similarly coated strings?

Semper Fi,
John

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Permalink Reply by Brian Ball on June 1, 2009 at 6:12pm

Hey John,

One of our major goals was to ensure that the strings felt exactly like our uncoated Earthwood or Phosphor Slinky Acoustic line. I personally feel that our coated line feel slightly softer on the fingertips, but they aren't slippery at all. That was something we definitely wanted to ensure didn't happen.

Thanks,

Brian

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Permalink Reply by Steve on May 28, 2009 at 1:17pm

Hi Brian, i have been experimenting with several strings for my guitars

On my Taylor I use Elixirs which the manufacturer recommends and on my Epiphone I have used Diddario Ej16, EXP, Elixirs

How do your strings differ with regard to

playability,
tone
life

How do your new strings compare to elixir and diddario?

What I am interested in getting the best sound from my guitar in particular my Taylor

I purchased a set of the new Ball coated slinky's but noticed the light gauge is different from the elixir gauge strings I currently use and am reluctant to switch them out.

Thanks

Steve

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Permalink Reply by Brian Ball on June 1, 2009 at 6:15pm

Hey Steve,

I cant really say that Elixir and D'addario make a poor string. They are quality manufacturers and companies we view as great competition. I can however say that we did test our coated sets against the competition and prefer our combination of durability, tone, and feel to what is available on the market. Pick up a set and let me know your feedback. I'd love to hear your thoughts - brian@ernieball.com

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Permalink Reply by John Uncapher on May 28, 2009 at 8:03pm

Brian I use Earthwoods on all my Martins but , I use black beauties on my Strats..How do the new titanium coated Slinkys compare? Thanks Unkdaddy
P.S. I don't like the way the coating chips off the black beauties!

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Permalink Reply by Brian Ball on June 1, 2009 at 6:18pm

John,

Thanks for your support of Earthwoods, they are my personal favorite for my Collings acoustic. The new Titanium Coated Electric sets have been a hot selling line of EB. Slash, Brad Paisley and a handful of other artists have converted to using them. In my opinion they feel a little softer on the fingertips than uncoated electrics. They also should fight against rust and corrosion due to our hermetically sealed packs, and coated plain wire. I think they sound slightly warmer, but equally vibrant as well.

Thanks,

Brian

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