Review by Rudi L. on 14 Jan 2025 review stating Refinement There’s more to these Optima gold strings than I initially thought. They were brand new and the windings weren’t even stretched out. I don’t know why I felt that I had to write a review instantly. But now that I’ve spent a couple weeks with them, I’ve come to appreciate them. I put a set of . 012s on my Gibson Hummingbird and . 009s on my Fender Tele, pretty standard rock and blues gauges.
I was impressed to open the package and see that the strings were indeed gold. And no tarnish at all after two weeks. Gold can be cheesy if it’s done wrong and some things, like bathroom fixtures, should not be gold plated. It’s tasteless. The plating on these strings is beautifully done and it just works. Pure gold is insanely malleable; a gram of pure gold may be hammered thin enough to cover 4 sq feet of area.
The main concerns with upgrading guitar parts, including this string upgrade are: 1) aesthetics/form; 2) function and physical/tactile feel; 3) tone; 4) longevity; and 5) cost. I tried a few different coated strings, e. g. Elixir, and didn’t like the feel (plastic) or the tone (dull), making longevity moot, as I went back to Ernie Ball Slinky 009s for electric and Ball’’s Earthwood 012s for acoustic long before the coated strings wore out.
Both my Tele and Hummingbird are quality professional instruments. Just after I got the Hummingbird in 2007, I upgraded the tuners from Grovers to gold plated Waverly tuners, not because the Grovers were inadequate, but because my Hummingbird was my dream guitar for decades, and I simply wanted the best hardware available. This is a fabulous guitar, a gift from Lois, the love of my life, and I want to treat it respectfully; cherish it and play it, play it, play it. I get a rush and a high every single time I pick up this Gibson… along with a big hand of gratitude for this guitar and the sustained sobriety that has allowed me to truly appreciate it.
I felt the same about my Tele; I wanted the best for both of these; my go-to guitars. I want them to be the best they can at all times. I replaced the neck single coil with a P-90 from Fetish, replaced the three-barrel saddles with individual adjustable brass saddles and replaced the pickguard with a little blingier model, cut to fit the P90 (The growly P90 is the electric guitar tone I’ve been after all my life). Finally, I lined all the body cavities and underside of the pickguard with copper foil and grounded it all together, creating a Faraday cage around the electronics and eliminating almost all hum and noise. Quietest Telecaster I’ve ever heard.
After this little bit of upgrade to these guitars, I had them exactly where I wanted them. Even if money were no object, there is nothing else I would change on either of those guitars, and it feels good to be able to honestly make that statement. The only improvement I could see making was trying the Gold strings, so I did. And here we are.
I strung the tele with 009s and the Hummingbird with 012. I noticed that the strings felt extremely smooth as I was putting them on and that was one of the first things I noticed playing both of these guitars: they both felt smoother; the strings felt as smooth as glass, but not hard. Springy. It’s really hard to describe sounds and sensations but they have a very slight soft touch to them compared to phosphor bronze and steel. At the very beginning of the envelope, when your finger or pick first touches the string… I think that very initial attack is very slightly attenuated or limited. In a really good way. Really early, like a millisecond or two in. Pure gold is actually quite soft, so it would seem possible for them to feel “softer” and maybe slower to react. I am no metallurgist and these are just guesses on my part based on the tiny bit that I know about sound and compression.
They just glided through my fingers and across the frets in a very pleasant way. Some of this was probably psychological, wishful thinking, and a bit of a placebo effect. If you want something to feel good and expect it to feel good, it will probably feel good. If you have low expectations, you probably won’t be surprised, either.
The mind is very powerful and works in combination with the physiological, just as stomach bacteria is now known to actually affect and change thinking. Thinking alone has now been proven to affect genetic actuation. To actually change your physical body.
As I’m sitting there playing, I am digging it and smiling and that’s making me play better and more enthusiastically which makes the strings feel even better… Self-actualizing away. Manifesting my musical destiny. I don’t really give a hoot if this is an actual physical thing that I’m hearing or if it’s all wishful thinking and placebo on my part. It doesn’t matter at all. I just saw a great Interview with Rick Rubin and that was his repeated comment on recording music: the only important thing is the way the music sounds when it comes out of the speaker at the end.
Aesthetics and form, then: noticeably superior to steel/nickel/bronze. I looked at them with a 30 power magnifier as I was taking them out of their envelopes and they smoothly popped open from their coil. The close-up look revealed flawless construction and windings. Beautiful German craftsmanship. They look like solid gold strings, which of course they are not, and which probably wouldn’t sound very good. But they have the look. This change to my guitars was subtle but classy and graceful. A fitting last refinement to an already high-end instrument. There’s your ad copy: “Optima Gold: The last word in refinement for your fine stringed instrument. ”
Function and action/feel: both guitars strung up smoothly and beautifully, the glittering gold strings sitting perfectly in the nuts and at the bridges. The strings did seem to need more stretching to tighten up the loops on the machines, and seemed to have an interesting springy, almost rubbery, resilient feel…but not rubber; more like spring steel, but forgiving as well. Gold is some interesting stuff.
I took the time to do a complete set up with intonation on the telecaster and then I tore into it, playing with a vengeance. Once I got the stretch out of the post loops, it held tune just fine. Now, two weeks later, they’re holding tune steady as a rock, even overnight. On both guitars the gold strings feel incredibly smooth, like a highly polished surface. Not slick or slippery…just smooth and steady as Anita Baker’s voice. I’m running out of adjectives for these things
Tone? Stunning. Top shelf. Perhaps a little softer than steel strings on the attack, they seem to bring out the natural compression in the hummingbird very nicely and I also feel like they have a very slight compressing or limiting effect on the telecaster as well. Again, it’s very subtle and I want it to be so, which is probably helping. Very clear, bell like tones, with fantastic separation between strings and a beautiful gently decaying sustain.
Longevity remains to be seen. I suspect they will last a little longer than steel strings but I’m totally sold on the strings and longevity or not, I’m not gonna defile and insult my Tele or my hummingbird by applying peasant grade strings to their long, slim necks. And I plan to try at least one set on my ESP acoustic electric that I use for busking and performance.
Price is steep, no doubt about it. At $25-30 they are about three or four times the cost of steel strings and double that of elixirs. I just already know that I can’t go backwards on this trip and going back to Ernie ball steel strings would be a downgrade. The more I played these two guitars over the past weeks with these gold strings on them, the more I like them. As with premium cables and microphones, I believe they are always worth the premium.
Thanks for the great strings, guys. If you insist on comping me a set to try on my ESP T6 busking thinline guitar, she likes acoustic 011s. But that’s not why I wrote this (second) review. I’m impressed with the action, playability and tone, much more so than I anticipated.
Thanks
Rudi Lebowitz
