Fender 3150R

I gave these strings three stars, and I think I'm being kind. I could chalk it up to plain old bad luck, but I was warned before that there is an inherent fault with the design around the 'bullet'. I pressed on regardless thinking, 'it won't happen to me'.

First of all, I love Fender, love their amps and I have two Fender guitars and I really like their Mustang floor pedal unit. No Fender hate here. However, these strings corroded more quickly than others I have tried. I had a really large drop in output, (okay they are vintagy type strings but even so, I found it surprising that I lost so much sheer volume).

To cap it all off a string broke after just a couple of weeks. That's something that almost never happens to me. And guess which one? The low E! And guess where it broke? Right at the base of the string at the 'bullet'. After 23 years of playing, never has a string on any of my guitars broke at the tail end, and this is the first low E string I have ever broke. I suppose there's always a first time, but then again, it may also depend on the strings!

These strings are also touted as improving sustain. I couldn't detect that at all. Fender do a lot of good stuff, especially their indestructible guitars, but I won't be buying bullets again. I'd rather get the 'unbulleted' Fender strings or some other brand. Not every rating can be a five star affair, I'm afraid to say.

I prefer to play pure nickels strings, preferably round core (like Pyramid Classics Pure Nickels/Fender Classic Cores, these Fender's have hex core), and bullet ends are said to add a little sustain. I don't know, honestly. For sure they look cooler than regular ball ends, however who sees that? I have cross compared them with the regular Fender Pure Nickels 150R, I didn't hear any noticeable differences. But maybe that's just me :) The 150R's are usually sold at a lower price, so i'd opt for these bullet ends only if your ears are better than mine or if you just dig the aesthetics :)