After saying that I would fit these strings on Sunday,impatience got the better of me and I fitted them to my Status on Thursday night.
I found that they had a higher tension,as other testers reported,and that they retained tuning fantastically.A quick tune,pull to stretch,then retune is all that was needed.Under the fingers they feel fast and less "grippy" than other roundwounds.
Played acoustically,the strings felt more like an old set that had settled in rather than a fresh set,so I plugged into my practice amp(25W Marlin that was my 1st amp).
With the onboard pre-amp set treble flat and bass at 75%,I was hearing a solid tone with a low mid bias.As others have said ,the top end was polite instead of zingy,and overall there was a pleasing warmth to the tone.
These strings are very sensitive to finger position,as moving my plucking hand just one inch in front of the pickup gave me a much more rounded and vintage tone.
Digging in will give you a growl,but I concede that this could be due as much to the bass pickups as the strings,but I will add that the growl factor was never overpowering,and the fundamental warmth was always there.
Tomorrow I will be recording with them,so I hope to be pleasantly surprised by them.
Would I buy them?Well,price will be a factor.Elite Players,which are my default strings,retail at £19.95.I feel that these strings will be at least £25,but if they last well I could be converted.
Thanks to D'Addario for the chance to test these.