Harley Benton Valuestrings WE 12-53

These Harley Benton strings are as good as it gets for the price. Really cheap but still reliable and they sound pretty good to my ears. I have been using them for some tiime now, acoustic and electric sets - they all seem to keep the tune and take the abuse pretty well Even after few months of heavy gigging with them - 3-5 times a week - they are still useable - and not one string has broken during all that time. A pleasant suprise for a working musician, cheap strings usually have low quality - they break often, or sound out of tune, or they simply do not sound good even when new from the box. These are the real deal, not good as some very expensive strings but they can keep up with any mid priced electric guitar strings. In my opinion wound strings sound a little darker but I actually like that. I would recommend these to anybody who needs quality strings at a great price. If nothing, you can buy a few packs just to have an emergency spare when needed, they will not cost you much and they will certainly deliver for the price you pay.

I use these strings on my dreadnought. They are fantastic when they are new, they sound great for about 10 hours of hard playing time after which they do noticeably start to deteriorate. I bought 10 packs of these and was changing them every week, but when I plugged into my pickup, I found that only the lowest four strings were amplified. I gave a set to a friend and he reported the same problem (He only realised when he was playing a gig and someone in the pub told him they couldn't hear his B and High E strings!) I will continue to buy these strings as they are excellent value for money, however I will only use them on guitars without a pickup now that I know they don't work, they will be fine for my little parlour guitar and just sitting round the house.

I've tried tonnes of different strings over the years: Rotosound, Ernie Ball, Fender Bullets, Dean Markley and many more but my favourite are D'Addarios (10-46 gauge), I've used them for over 10 years for gigs but, while they aren't expensive, I've been looking for a cheaper alternative for rehearsals and playing in the house.
I thought I'd give these Harley Benton ones a try, as they are under 1 GBP a pack I wasn't expecting anything decent but I am pleasantly surprised - nicely packaged, no corrosion on the strings and no loose metal round the ball ends to stick in your hand or damage your guitar (which you often find on cheap strings). They sound good too, not as good as D'Addarios but they're a quarter of the price!
All in all - very impressed!