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Product Review: Kerly Kues Guitar Strings
by Chris Florio
We recently received a review packet of a few
sets of Kerly Kues guitar strings. The impressive
aluminum “rust-inhibiting” packaging
for these strings boasts a number of impressive
claims for the strings including a “crisp
full sound,” “reduced friction and
wear,” and “easy tuning,” as
well as a better overall sound a durability. These
nickel wound strings use a special “Cyclecoat
process which combines a unique type of cryogenic
freezing with anti-friction, anti-wear coatings.
There's only one way to find out if they live
up to these claims. So I put a set of 11 gauge
Kerly Kues
on my Yamaha Pacifica electric/MIDI guitar and
got to work.
My first impression was they do indeed sound
bright. The Roland MIDI pickup that I use definitely
tracks better with some strings than others and
performed very well with these strings. The true
issue for me, however, had to do with Kerly Kues'
durability claims. I am a serious string breaker
when I play electric guitar and a string that
will hold up through an entire gig for me is very
good news.
The most dangerous gig I do as far as my strings
are concerned is with Dennis Warren¹s Full
Metal Revolution Jazz Ensemble (www.fmrje.com).
As the name implies, this free jazz ensemble plays
full out, full time, and I rarely get through
more than one session without breaking a string.
I can report as of this writing that it has been
three weeks, four sessions and one live gig with
FMRJE as well as a number of studio recordings
and gigs with other groups and I still have all
six of the original set of Kerly Kues on my guitar
and they still sound pretty darn good. This is
unprecedented and strongly supports the claim
made by the manufacturers.
At $7.95 a set they are not significantly more
than any other set of guitar strings and significantly
less expensive than many of the specialty strings
that have been released in the last few years.
If I continue to experience longevity from these
strings they this first set has provided than
Kerly Kues have gained at least one new customer.
Kerly Kues are available at http://www.kerlymusic.com |
