NZGuitars.com

I was looking on Ali Express and they have (supposedly) Ernie Ball, Elixer, and D'Addario strings on there for about 4 bucks a set. I figured that it was worth a punt at that price even if they're fake since I just play at home (and strings are strings...unless they're not). I tried a few different sellers and brands just to see what's out there.

I suspect they'll be shit knock-offs.

They’ll probably take a year to turn up

They’ll probably take a year to tune up

I bought some cheap strings off there hoping they'd be okay for students/instruments at school.

They were terrible. I bought 10s and they were more like 8s or less.

They weren't marketed as Ernie Ball or anything though, just a random brand.

I bought two sets of ernie ball slinky hybrids off Aliexpress. Yeah they take ages to arrive (usually within 3 months). So if you need them for a gig this weekend, might not be the best bet!

No reason to think they are fake tho. Id have to examine the pack next to another one to be sure.

Bought some Fender ones off a dude on TM that he had bought from Ali Express.

Packaging was full of spelling errors and the ball ends were all one colour even though the packaging showed coloured ends.

The Elixirs that I've seen from Ali are 100% fake too.

Seriously ? Why bother ? A set of strings is like what $10 to $15 and you can buy them in bulk off NZ sellers on TM and get them in 2 to 3 days time. Why would anybody in their right mind even consider risking getting fakes off Ali to save 5 or ten bucks ? Rant over. (sorry I work in retail and its been one of those days...)

vinylguy wrote: ↑Wed Apr 13, 2022 7:22 pm Seriously ? Why bother ? A set of strings is like what $10 to $15 and you can buy them in bulk off NZ sellers on TM and get them in 2 to 3 days time. Why would anybody in their right mind even consider risking getting fakes off Ali to save 5 or ten bucks ? Rant over. (sorry I work in retail and its been one of those days...)

Yeah.... $80 for ten sets from my local is fine by me to be honest.

Its likely there will be some OEM leftovers on there so some legit ones... but apart from packaging fails how else would you tell? best to just buy local, if you don't play much its not like its an expensive thing to replace

Yeah, a 3-pack of Slinkys from Guitarstuff will do me. He's got some like $6 strings if you want to be cheap about it. Probably the same as the fake ones on Aliexpress anyway.

I've only got the one guitar, though. Beloved as it is, it'd be lucky to get a new set of strings once a year.

Yeah I get the point about buying local. The main reason for giving the cheap route a crack was that one of my boys has been getting right into playing (which is awesome) but he seems to sweat battery acid and we've been going through strings like tinfoil at a vaccine protest (which is unawesome).

matman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 13, 2022 9:00 pm Yeah I get the point about buying local. The main reason for giving the cheap route a crack was that one of my boys has been getting right into playing (which is awesome) but he seems to sweat battery acid and we've been going through strings like tinfoil at a vaccine protest (which is unawesome).

Coated strings like elixirs are the way to go, you could also try fast fret

I like the longevity of elixirs, but they feel like they have more tension under the fingers - more resistance, like they're tuned a step up.