I've been using Ernie Ball strings for as long as I can remember. When I bought the Steinberger 6 string electric guitar I was limited to the double ball end strings of which there is not much choice. I have been pleasantly surprised by the S946 strings. Good even volume, durable, stay in tune, bright sound. Very good. I was going to buy the string conversion to be able to use any brand of string but I don't need to. Happy with these strings. Clean then after every play and they'll last a lot longer! (I'm using dAndrea String Cleaner at the moment.)