I also want to mention that while D’Addario’s color-coded strings are meant to make the process of stringing a guitar more straightforward and easy, it’s also part of their sustainability campaign, to reduce waste. Fender String Colored Ball End Strings But, it’s not only the abuse through playing that gets hurled at them. Other conditions also play a part in premature damage to our strings; humidity, atmospheric nasties, smoke, beer… you name it, they can all have a detrimental effect to some extent.

Neon Multi-Color | Coated Electric | DR Strings

Being environmentally conscious is another reason some companies use colored ends. Some string brands put each string in an envelope that is labeled with the string it contains so you can know which one is which. There are other considerations, however, like tuning stability and durability. No string is fully break-proof, but you should be looking for those with high tensile strength. Of course, this simply isn’t the case and this is where things start to get interesting (if you’re string super nerds like us!). The differences really come to the fore when you consider the coating itself and how it’s applied to the string. Both elements being the secret sauce of each brand if you will. Granted, adding a coating to strings does add an extra stage (or more) to the manufacturing process and as a result, coated strings do cost more than standard uncoated strings. However, if you look at the bigger picture, coated strings often work out more economical in the long term….You’d certainly be forgiven for thinking that by slapping a coating on the outer surface of a string, they’d all pretty much be the same as one another, right!? While the coating does give them a different feel I think colored strings can be a great option for guitarists that are trying to learn to play scales. Since each string has a different color it allows you to be more aware of which strings you are on. There are no hard and fast rules over when you should change your electric guitar strings, to be honest. Most casual guitarists do it once every two or three months, but if you’re a more serious player who’s putting in a few hours of practice every day and gigging regularly, you’ll probably need to change them more often. Like many shepherds in that area at that time, the D’Addario family made strings for various musical instruments primarily from sheep and hog intestines.

Strings HI-DEF NEON™ - MULTI-colour coloured Bass Strings DR Strings HI-DEF NEON™ - MULTI-colour coloured Bass Strings

Above - Image Courtesy of D'Addario. For D'Addario's latest XS Acoustic string range they've taken the decision to coat the outer surface of the string after it's been wound which is a first for any of their coated string ranges.The purpose of colored or multicolored strings, where each string is coated with one or different colors is to basically make your strings look cool. There are a few brands that do this and the most well-known company is the DR with their DR Neon Multi-Color strings. While D’Addario and Fender are the most well-known brands that produce color-coded strings, you can find other companies that do the same or something similar, like Cleartone, Rotosound, LaBella, and Dunlop. If you’re a beginner, you’ll want to start off with a lighter gauge of electric guitar strings. The lighter the gauge of string, the less tension it produces - and that makes it much easier to play. We’d recommend a set of .009 to .042 gauge strings - as we feel that this is a great middle-ground to start on. You can go lighter, but the tone will be compromised - or you can go heavier, but playability will suffer. Most of the time these ball ends are the same color as the rest of the string, silver or copper, depending on the type of strings you’re using, but some brands produce strings with colored ball ends. Just like D’Addario, Fender is also known for producing electric guitar strings that have colored ball ends using color names that were previously used on their guitars.

DR Strings | Official Site

Finally, we have a very affordable string company, Clearone and their color code for their strings are: When it comes to D’addario nylon strings, most of them don’t have ball ends, but when they do the colored ball ends are marked completely differently like so: As you can imagine D’Addario is still an innovative brand so it doesn’t come as a surprise that they are the most famous company that produces color-coded strings for acoustic, electric, classical, and bass guitars. Each color code marks a different string, and it’s unique to the company. Making playing easy is all about how the strings feel. Now, 'ease' of playing often comes down to the gauge of string - something which is entirely subjective - but we want to make sure that the strings feel smooth, and are without imperfections. If the strings are coated, we don't necessarily want to feel the coating - but if we can see and feel the result of the anti-corrosion technology? That's ideal. Speaking of corrosion, we'll test to see how long it takes for the strings to go dull, too. Color-coded strings as they are also called are not that common, and there are two reasons why they are being manufactured. First of all the colored ends make it easier for you to identify each string and change your strings.If you’ve ever strung your own guitar or watched your teacher do it for you then you’ve probably noticed that one end of the strings ends with a ball, the purpose of a ball end is to anchor the string to the bridge of the guitar. Strings with colored ends are not common among manufacturers, but there are some big names in the industry that do produce color-coded strings.