Ernie Ball Power Slinky Cobalt and Dunlop System 65 Maintenance Kit

So I just got a delivery of Ernie Ball Power Slinky Cobalt Strings and a Dunlop 6500 System 65 Guitar Maintenance Kit from Sweetwater.

I had the Dunlop system 65 in the past but I ran out a while back and threw the remains away so my guitars haven't been cleaned in a while which is why I got it again, I've used other cleaning products from brands like gibson and fender before but this one to me was the best since it's a full care kit.

I used to clean my guitars everytime i changed strings so that's something I'm going to start doing again.

Now as far as the strings, I had posted on my facebook when I first tried this string that I wasn't expecting much, I figured it's more likely hype that anything else but I was wrong, kinda.

They do have a slightly brighter tone to them and they are easier to bend that the standard Slinky strings, they feel slightly different as well, they feel softer like using a lower gauge, I use .011's and these feel slightly lower in gauge than the standard .011 Slinkys. Out of these 2 points the most noticiable will be the feel of the strings, they feel really good.

To me the main upside of the cobalt strings is their longevity, they last much longer than standard Slinkys, both in that they won't rush as quick and they retain their new sound longer, with the regular slinkys you'll usually get 2 weeks or so before they start to dull out in sound (this is my personal opinion) and within a month they need to be changed. I had a set of cobalts on my les paul for 3 months and while they did loose their high end "new strings" sound, they still feel confortable and they don't have that "old strings" feel yet.

All and all cobalts have become my to go strings now, the only downside is the price tag, at $9.99 for 1 set (compared to $4.99 for standard slinkys) these are the most expensive strings I've used on my guitars, a 12 pack cost me $99.00 from Sweetwater which saved me a few bucks but a 12 pack of standard slinkys from Sweetwater costs $44.99 so I could have gotten 24 sets for less than the price of 12 sets of cobalts, hopefully they price will come down later on.

Both my Les Paul and Mockingbird have standard slinkys right now because that's all I had over the weekend while I was setting them up so I'm going to try recording some samples of the slinkys both standard and cobalt on the same guitar.