As guitarists and bass players, we need our strings to be reliable, they need to sound great and they need to stay in tune. Three very simple requests that mean so much to us as musicians and something that the team at D’Addario think about every day when they’re crafting their NYXL strings. The D'Addario NYXL strings have been designed to work harder, bend farther and stay in tune longer than any other regular string you’ve played, and they deliver on that promise!

Your guitar needs the best strings to bring out the best sound and you, as the player, need to feel like you can rely on them so you can feel comfortable whether you’re walking out on stage, jamming with friends or laying down tracks for your next album. This is why your guitar needs a set of D’Addario NYXL strings.

The sheer amount of work and development that goes in to creating and testing these strings is quite frankly amazing and is one of the reasons why NYXL strings have become an industry standard in such a short time. From the colour coded ball ends, to the corrosion-inhibiting sealed plastic envelope they come packaged in, there’s not a lot the team at D’Addario haven’t thought of.

There’s some major benefits to playing NYXL strings, so we’re going to give you 5 reasons why you should be playing NYXL Strings..

One of the major benefits of using NYXL strings is the simple fact that they last a hell of a lot longer than regular strings. The team at D’Addario in New York have engineered a new break-resistant, high-carbon steel core and plain steel alloy that provides more strength and the confidence you need on stage. The aggressive players out there will definitely appreciate the fact that the NYXL strings have been designed to withstand those huge power chords and lead riffs with ease. In fact, based on their tests the NYXL strings can take pretty much anything you throw at them. The D’Addario strength tests have shown that NYXLs are 20-40% stronger than any regular string you’ve ever played. This means they’re up to 40% less likely to break on you in the middle of a gig or recording! 

As guitarists, we want the freedom to be able to bend notes without worrying about a string snapping. If we’re in the middle of a solo and we want to bend to notes and hit those higher registers, we should feel confident that the string can take it. Fortunately, the NYXL’s are ready and waiting to take the toughest bends.

As you can see in the image above, the D’Addario NYXL strings are designed to take anything you care to throw at them and withstand the most aggressive string bends. Even at two whole steps higher, NYXL strings are still at less than 75% of their breaking point. Whereas in the same setting, standard strings are at 90% of their full capacity. In fact, the team at D’Addario actually torture their NYXL strings to see how well they do under extreme circumstances.

D’Addario NYXL strings also offer improved tuning stability compared to regular nickel wound strings, which is ideal for musicians who really don’t want to have to tune up after every song. In fact, each set of NYXL strings actually provide players with up to 131% greater tuning stability. D’Addario achieve this by utilizing a completely reinvented wire drawing process coupled with a revolutionary “fusion twist” process for the plain steels.

This also means that you can tune up quicker, they break in quicker after restringing and you can start playing sooner! Check out the pitch stability test below and try not to cringe when those strings bend. I know you’re thinking “Oh my god it’s going to snap and go in my eye!”. But rest assured NYXLs can take it the pressure.

Where some brands create coated strings that extend the life of their strings, they can feel a little weird to play as the protective coating covers the string entirely on the outside. This process does nothing to strengthen the string on the inside. The NYXL strings, however, do things a little differently. These NYXL strings don’t have an outer coating, but use a stronger core and benefit from completely reengineered construction.

The partnering of high-carbon steel core and plain steel alloy combined with the reformulated nickel-plated string windings means that your strings feel how strings are supposed to feel! This means that you get all the strength of the NYXLs with the regular “feel” of a guitar string on your fingers.

We actually caught up with Adam from D’Addario to give the NYXL Strings a review. Check it out below:

The D’Addario engineers have reformulated the nickel-plated steel wire into NYXL strings to ensure greater magnetic permeability. In short, this means that the string interacts more dynamically and responsively with your pickups, without changing the fundamental sound of your guitar and pickups – it sounds how it should do!

In addition, this design actually helps give your tone a small, but extremely useful frequency bump. As most recording engineers will boost the frequencies in the 1 kHz to 3.5 kHz range to get your guitar to cut through the mix, D’Addario NYXL’s have been built with this frequency bump built-in! This means your guitar will be heard and cut through without turning up the frequencies manually. Insert frequency bump image

The NYXL strings take an already rich history of string craftmanship and apply new metallurgy with advancements in string construction that revolutionises the guitar string. D’Addario have basically reinvented the guitar string as we know it and set a new precedent in quality, reliability and tonality. Whether you’re a professional musician or at-home hobby player, the D’Addario NYXL strings should be at the top of your list when it comes to choosing guitar strings.

Whether you want to play through a few sets on tour and feel comfortable that the strings are going to last, or you want to play at home and not have to change your strings every few weeks - these will keep up with you whatever you demand of them.

D’Addario has also set up the amazing D’Addario Players Circle rewards program, which is the first customer rewards program in the world of musical instruments. This online rewards scheme gives you the opportunity to get loads of free gear including strings, t-shirts and other D’Addario branded products. All you have to do is go to http://playerscircle.daddario.com/, sign up online and enter the serial numbers found inside D’Addario packaging.

You’ll then be awarded with redeemable points that you can use to redeem on accessories and a whole range of electric, acoustic, classical and bass guitar D’Addario strings. The cool thing about this point system is that it doesn’t take ages to accrue points redeemable against new strings and merch. Upon sign up you receive points and each pack of strings you register goes a long way towards a new completely free set!

View a full range of D’Addario strings today at PMT Online or call into your local PMT store for help on picking the best strings for your needs.