Ernie Ball Super Slinky Paradigm Guitar Strings 9-42 (P03623)

Edit to the below review:
After having these on for a period of time (about 1-2 months) I have to say I’m a bit disappointed in their durability and resistance to corrosion. I found that these strings don’t hold up as well as the NYXL strings do in terms of corrosion resistance. While I still believe that their play, feel, and sound is superior to the higher output NYXL strings, for the price they need to be more durable. Treating the strings with Kyser String Cleaner greatly extended the paradigm string’s life as well as halted the corrosion but the NYXLs simply didn’t need the same attention. Take all of that for what it’s worth when making your decision. If you’re diligent about wiping down your fretboard after playing and applying string cleaner 1-2 times a week, you’ll be all set. As a comparison, I’ve had a set of NYXLs on a guitar I play regularly (daily) and have yet to notice any degradation in the strings sustain-wise or condition-wise.

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Original review:

I’ve played D’Addario XL’s for over a decade now and recently tried out their NYXL strings to get something a bit brighter. Overall they did that job and lasted a long time but were a little higher output than I like and were really stiff on bends. Saw an ad for Ernie Ball’s new Paradigm strings and thought why not give them a shot? Extremely happy I did! These were the strings I was looking for to replace XL’s for years now! Well articulated highs and just the right amount of extra output compared to typical nickel wound strings. Bends on the higher strings with 10 gauges feel like I have 9s on but with enough string tension to keep buzzing down and to drive the pickup hard enough to get good clarity.

8/10 would restring again! Buying a set for all of my guitars!

Excelente. Produto de qualidade. Recomendo.

Good replacement strings

Arrived very fast. Thank you very much.

TL;DR – These strings are awesome for heavy playing: Amazing Tone with Stable Longevity, Staying in Tune, and just Not Breaking for many shows.

I’ve waited years to write this, because on my first two sets, I had almost immediate breakage on at least one string – however, I was able to get a couple sets before they were available to all the public, and my later experience as not the same, but I wanted to be sure before posting a review.

Some background…

I’m a heavy handed Gibson (endorsed) player, playing rock music akin to The Who or QOTSA – I usually wear down a 60mm pick to unusable in a couple sets. I’ve played hundreds of shows in the past five years, and D’addario EXL110 was what I used forever, because that’s what my Luthier always put on after a setup, so I figured they were the best choice. But with the D’addario’s I was almost always out of tune on multiple strings by the end of a song – so tuning between songs was always a mood killer, banter and jokes required to fill the gap in music. Worse, I was breaking 2-3 strings a set – in random fashion, not always the high E or B string – the D string maybe the highest break rate. I always had to have a backup guitar, and someone to change the broken string so it would be ready when I broke the next string. At times, I had to borrow a guitar while multiple strings were being worked on. I constantly wiped down the strings after each time playing and always stored the guitars out of the air asap. I tried many different string treatments, but nothing really mattered.

I tried the new NYXL, but for me they still had short and unpredictable lives, and the tone would change rapidly, I never knew what to expect.

As stated earlier, I was able to get in on the early batch of Paradigm strings (I use the 10-46) and though I did have some almost immediate breakage (within a few hours of playing) on those pre release sets, the replacements and others lasted what was, for me, amazingly long times. Weeks-long, and when I switch over completely to the Paradigms, I ended up actually changing strings (all of them at once) before they broke, something I hadn’t done in years, unless popping on new strings for studio work.

The Paradigms were a life changer for me. Not have strings break mid-set anymore is a pure godsend. I almost never use the backup guitar anymore because of a broken string.

And there is a super bonus for me – THEY STAY IN TUNE for the entire set.

And there there is the TONE.

My experience is that the “brand new” tone takes a few hours to calm down and then the (very excellent) tone stays stable for weeks. For me, tone-wise, these blow away the former D’addario strings. In the studio, I had some extra D’addario sets left over, so I strung up a guitar and it sounded like a toy compared to another with the Paradigms. To be sure, I restrung with Paradigms, and it was full rich tone immediately.

For years, I thought I had bad guitar tuner hardware causing the strings to go out of tune. But apparently it was the strings themselves.

If I had anything bad to say, it would be that I don’t love the “brand new” sound, so I don’t like to play live until I’ve had a chance to work the strings for a few hours. But that new sound is still far better than what I was used to, just not the great sound that happens after broken in.

Also in the maybe bad department is that I am still worried about the strings breaking when new even though it hasn’t been the case in years. Usually when I put on a brand new set of strings, it’s because I have studio or a big show that is being recorded or something, when I least want a string to break. That said, since I have to play until the “brand new” string sound goes away – when I have done that, I am confident that I have gone past that point where a bad string would have broken.

I’ve seen reviews in which the tone was unsatisfactory for the player, and I suspect that it is a matter of how heavy handed a guitarist you are. If you never wear out picks, I think it might not be the right type of string tone for you. For me, I haven’t found other strings that come close to the richness and pureness of these strings.

I realize that everyone is different. I know some lighter touch (usually Fender style) players that are jaw-droppingly good, that have real emotional power to their playing who swear by D’addario’s and won’t break a string in years of playing. But that was clearly not my case.

Do they still break on stage for me? Yes, but it’s very rare and probably I should have changed the strings by then.

To sum up, for my style, Paradigms changed my music life. I just feel super fortunate that these exist. I recommend them constantly to other players – especially when I see them break a string on stage. The Tone and Tuning stability alone would have justified switching over for me, but what I really needed – and didn’t really expect to find – were strings that could taking a regular beating and not break. These do that. Just awesome.

(Note: These were bought as a gift by me – the review is from the person I buy them for)

I like the functionality and the brightness and the tuning stability and I also like the sound quality and the warmth to.