These strings are just the ticket for my Les Paul. I have used Ernie Ball exclusively for the longest of times, but these strings are perfect for my needs. They are a little bit stiffer than the slinky, but that allowed me to use a lower action without the fret buzz. Don't get me wrong...I still love my Ernie Balls and use them on my Ibanez, but the Blue Steel is perfect if you are searching for a durable string that sounds great. They also last quite a while and lend themselves to bending very well.

I've used many different brands of strings and found the Dean Markley Blue Steel's to be the best for me. I use them on my Fender Strat and they hold tune well. I have not broken any yet either. I would recommend anyone to give them a try. Good value too !

Long story short, I found a brand that I liked, Gibson Ace Frehleys (9-46) and they discontinued them. So I heard from a freind to try these, they had my gauge, so I did. I LOVE THEM!! I feel comfortable doing a 2-1/2 step bend on em (5 FRETS)!!! Love them and have fitted all 6 of my Gibsons with them. Thanks Dean Markley - You saved my ___.

I've been using the XL#2550's on all my guitars since the early 90's I got a sratacoustic and wanted heavier top stings well thease babies are sweet, I'm gona try some on my semi hollow body OE30 next. 99.9% of the people I can get to try Blue steel never goes back to what they used before. they just don't break for me and I bend alot plus I've actualy had some on a guitar over a year and they didn't rust and still had sweet tone. I can remember went if you sweat on a string once they would rust, but not with thease.

I play a Rickenbacker 330 and these strings sound great on this instrument. I have been using them for close to 9 years now. I want a lively, crisp tone and they do this wonderfully. However, I'm reluctantly having to change to another brand. The problem has been string breakage in the wrappings down around the ball area. Out of the last 22 boxes of strings I've purchased, I have had 5 boxes where a string broke as I was BEGINNING to tune them up. Each time I was amazed at how little tension I had on the strings when they gave way. I've had another 2 boxes where a string broke while playing. I'm not a real agressive player so it only adds to the mystery. Out of those 5 boxes I have broken 2 E's, 2 B's and 1 G string. With the other 2 boxes its been a 1 B and 1 E string. Each time in the wrappings down by the ball. I could understand this happening on a rare occasion but this is just too frequent. The 22 boxes were purchased a couple of boxes at a time over probably 2.5 years from different stores, so it is not a defect in a particular manufacturing run. Occasionally I've used other brands and have not had this happen with ANY of them. Love the tone, but I've lost patience and confidence in the quality of construction.