Elixirs dropped??

[john_the_bass]

Has anybody else heard the rumour that the current UK distributor is no longer supplying Elixirs in the UK? I heard something the other day along the lines of "if you want some, you better get some now because when the current stock in the shops goes, there will be no more until a new supplier takes them on".

To me, this is no massive loss - I put a set of polywebs on my stingray and they sounded great to begin with - the coating shredded off them pretty quickly and maybe 3 months down the line I now have a dead E and A string and a new-as-the-day-they-were-fitted-sounding D and G - so the second bit of the post is - those of you with stingrays, what do you use on your bass - I like a 45-100 or 105 and I would like something that isn't so immediately bright, but doesn't sound like a dead string. Any suggestions?

Edited October 5, 2007 by john_the_bass

[ped]

I haven't heard this - better get a spare set. I use them on all my basses and have had them on my 4 for about a year now - still no shedding of the wrap and they sound excellent still. If they do stop selling them in this f**king country I will gladly go abroad to get them.

[daflewis]

[quote name='ped' post='69873' date='Oct 5 2007, 10:05 AM']better get a spare set..... If they do stop selling them in this f**king country I will gladly go abroad to get them.[/quote]

+1 to that!

if the distibutor that john is thinking of is strings and things then yes they have stopped, but i think westside (the people behind boogie and martin) have taken over. - unless this is old news and they've now stopped as well!!

[Bassassin]

I bought 3 sets from a US Ebay shop a couple of years back - worked out about £12 a set, so the mercenary part of me isn't too bothered about no UK distribution.

Still got 2 sets left anyway!

Jon.

[bass_ferret]

Not got a Ray but I have used halfs for years. Not as bright as rounds, not as dull as flats.

[john_the_bass]

yep - apparently this is new news, couple of weeks old maybe so it must be Westside that are dropping them from their range.

I could be wrong - or at leas the person that told me could be.

[ped]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='69956' date='Oct 5 2007, 12:35 PM']I bought 3 sets from a US Ebay shop a couple of years back - worked out about £12 a set, so the mercenary part of me isn't too bothered about no UK distribution.

Still got 2 sets left anyway!

Jon.[/quote]

Good idea - I always mean to get mine abroad but I can never be bothered as Strings Direct remembers my address details and so on, so it is quite easy. As you say, they only need changing once in a blue moon so we are saving a fair bit of money over the non coated variety - When I used plain nickels I used to try and avoid playing my bass because I didn't want to deaden the strings! I was putting a new set on every couple of weeks at most and it seriously affected my playing time! I really don't sweat at all for some reason so strings tend to last a long time with me but as soon as they lost their initial zing - well, as the Elixir slogan says "When your strings go dead, so does your inspiration to play"

[ped]

Oh and thanks for the heads up John ;0)

[john_the_bass]

No worries Ped

I'm really p*ssed off with mine, they had about and hour and a half before the coating started to split and 3 months later, it's nearly all come off on the E and A - are they really as good as everybody says they are?

[ped]

I know the coating tend to come off if you play with a pick and so on, but I play very lightly and have never experienced this myself. You might like to try the Warwick EMP strings?

Cheers
ped

[john_the_bass]

maybe - i'll have a look into those
the coating is pretty much stripped from the full length of the string

[ped]

Maybe your fingers secrete a substance that disliked the coating? Are you bionic? ;0)

[Waldo]

I had a top G break on a set of elixirs after only a few days, after forking out that much money on a set of strings I was not amused! Tried some again which lasted much longer but the way that the coating peels off got on my nerves.

[ped]

I am so glad mine don't peel, because to me they are absolutely revolutionary! If they did peel on my basses I would be distraught because I would have to spend £££ on strings again!

[nedsbeds]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='69956' date='Oct 5 2007, 12:35 PM']I bought 3 sets from a US Ebay shop a couple of years back - worked out about £12 a set, so the mercenary part of me isn't too bothered about no UK distribution.

Still got 2 sets left anyway!

Jon.[/quote]
I would love to know where from!
Cheapest I can find them is £23 or so.

[6stringbassist]

I used them for a bit, I found them to be all middle, no real low end (no depth of low end anyway, mostly low mids), and they didn't have a great top end either.

I also found the tension to be too much, I use a medium gauge, but I like a string to be quite flexible.

I've gone back to using DRs, they sound so much fuller across all the frequencies, and are really flexible, they just respond to the nuances of your playing more, they let you play .

At the end of the day you either like something or you don't, and with Elixirs there seems to be a pretty even split between people who like them, and those who don't, there are dozens of threads on talkbass about them.

[deksawyer]

Westside only picked up Elixir a few months ago..........I'l try and find out what's happening.

D.

[WalMan]

I certainly hope not as I have used Elixirs for 3 or 4 years now & love them. I use a pick most of the time now (because of this damn RA and picking hand fingers falling over each other) and have never noticed any shedding of the coating. I find that each set stays on until I realise that they are looking a bit skanky (actually thinking about it now perhaps that is the coating shedding) and whilst there may be some small improvement in tone on a change it is not necessarily as great as I might have expected.

I bought a box of 5 sets at the Guitar show 2 1/2 years ago and [i][u]still[/u][/i] have one set left.

Bought a 5er set from Dr Clucks Music Emporium on eBay [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/DrClucks-Music-Emporium"]HERE[/url]. The price was OK and delivery swift, though I would worried that a bigger order might end up getting screwed with input VAT coming through Customs.

[Lfalex v1.1]

Plectrum vs. Elixirs = Fuzzy little strings! The coating won't resist the attack of a pick.

I tried EMPs on my Infinity, thinking;

"Warwick bass... Warwick Strings..."
only to discover they were only slightly less evil than Ernie Ball strings (which die instantly at the sight on my corrosive sweat)

The Infinity loves Elixirs.
I've got DR FatBeams on The Squier (!) and the two Ibanez (SRX700 & EDB600) to good effect.
I'm going to move to using DRs on the Yamaha Attitude (which currently uses Elixirs) as they sound too rubbery or plasticky in the upper frequencies on that bass.

As far as I'm aware, StringsDirect are still stocking them...

[ped]

Hi guys,

I have been talking to Elixir and thought I would post what he told me via e-mail for you all:

----------------------------------

We changed our distributor in May this year from "Strings and Things" to "Westside Distribution".

Westside distribute all our lines ( Bass / Acoustic / Electric / Banjo & Mandolin) throughout the UK and are doing a very nice job.

If any of your readers are having any difficulty in finding our bass strings they can check our website www.elixirstrings.co.uk ( which is about to be updated ) or contact Westside www.westsidedistribution.com These two options should help your players locate a retailer who stocks Elixir® Strings.

There may also be some confusion around our change in the way we sell our bass strings now.

We previously sold 4 string sets, 5 string sets and 6 string sets.

We now offer retailers a more flexible way to offer even more of our bass strings to end users.

We sell 4 string standard sets in the following gauges - All NANOWEB Coating

Super Light -(040 - 095)
Light - (045 - 100)
Medium - (045 - 105)
Medium XL - (045 - 105)
Heavy - (050 - 105)

In addition we now offer as full retail packs

5th Strings to allow standard or customised 5 string sets ( for the same price as our previous 5 string sets)

Super Light -125
Light - 130
Medium - 130tw
Medium XL - 130tw
Heavy - 135

6th String

Medium - 032

Hope this explains it a bit.

Happy to post any updates.
--------------------------------------------------

Also remember that strings like Warwick EMPs are actually very different from Elixirs - they coat the individual parts of the string prior to winding, wheras Elixir coat them afterwards, meaning the crap doesn't get in between the windings. This is completely protected by Elixir and nobody else can copy this method. To me, the Warwick strings are a funny approach - they actually put gunk in between the windings before you have even tried them!!

Hope this helps. Would it be a good idea to change the heading of this message to reflect the change in distributor?

Cheers
ped

[john_the_bass]

Ped, is there any chance you can pm me their contact details as I never had a response back about the set of polywebs that stripped their coating inside a fortnight.
Cheers

[ped]

Should be in your Inbox now John. The Polywebs I think have been stopped now in favour of the more sturdy nanowebs.

ped

[john_the_bass]

thanks Ped, I'm pretty sure they're polywebs - I think I chucked the box in the bin once I'd fitted them.

[G MAjor]

[quote name='ped' post='75040' date='Oct 16 2007, 12:27 PM']Hi guys,

I have been talking to Elixir and thought I would post what he told me via e-mail for you all:

----------------------------------

We changed our distributor in May this year from "Strings and Things" to "Westside Distribution".

Westside distribute all our lines ( Bass / Acoustic / Electric / Banjo & Mandolin) throughout the UK and are doing a very nice job.

If any of your readers are having any difficulty in finding our bass strings they can check our website www.elixirstrings.co.uk ( which is about to be updated ) or contact Westside www.westsidedistribution.com These two options should help your players locate a retailer who stocks Elixir® Strings.

There may also be some confusion around our change in the way we sell our bass strings now.

We previously sold 4 string sets, 5 string sets and 6 string sets.

We now offer retailers a more flexible way to offer even more of our bass strings to end users.

We sell 4 string standard sets in the following gauges - All NANOWEB Coating

Super Light -(040 - 095)
Light - (045 - 100)
Medium - (045 - 105)
Medium XL - (045 - 105)
Heavy - (050 - 105)

In addition we now offer as full retail packs

5th Strings to allow standard or customised 5 string sets ( for the same price as our previous 5 string sets)

Super Light -125
Light - 130
Medium - 130tw
Medium XL - 130tw
Heavy - 135

6th String

Medium - 032

Hope this explains it a bit.

Happy to post any updates.
--------------------------------------------------

Also remember that strings like Warwick EMPs are actually very different from Elixirs - they coat the individual parts of the string prior to winding, wheras Elixir coat them afterwards, meaning the crap doesn't get in between the windings. This is completely protected by Elixir and nobody else can copy this method. To me, the Warwick strings are a funny approach - they actually put gunk in between the windings before you have even tried them!!

Hope this helps. Would it be a good idea to change the heading of this message to reflect the change in distributor?

Cheers
ped[/quote]
well.......... i'm a little miffed on this one'' firstly if anyone can say that there is a string out there that sounds good after a week then let me know!! even if they have not been played atall in that week,, Elixirs sound great for a week even with hours of play and they sound good for 3/4 weeks there after, they are truelly amazing' there coating may shift or varry a little, re peeling etc, i don't know if there electrolitically charged or dipped or what ?? but the coating is nano minisculle micro invisable! the feel to the touch is very soft and there not grippy on your fingertips like st -steel, there more like nickle strings, as for the guages..... Mark King plays 30 -90 's Victor Wooten plays 40 -95 and Marcus plays 45 -105 and when i started playing bass 40 -100 were STD. not light. and these guys do not play there strings for more than 3/4 houres, if you want BASS then keep them on for a year '' if you want some attack and more importantly string to string intonation and harmony then 4 or 5 times £20.00 is more than £40.00 a month. needless to say i think there a really great string, G.