“I’ve always said that I don’t play the guitar, I play the strings”: Ernie Ball and John Mayer team up for signature Silver Slinky guitar strings in a unique gauge that could be the Goldilocks option between heavy and light

Ernie Ball has unveiled its latest signature electric guitar string set, and has been developed with and for the blues-pop superstar John Mayer that is a first for the brand, arriving in a custom gauge it describes as “unique’.

Now, there comes a time in every guitar player’s life where they begin to question whether their strings are the right gauge or not.

Some players get help from a higher power, such as Billy Gibbons, who was asked by a baffled BB King why he was working so hard. Gibbons duly sized down and worked his Texas sizzle on a set of 7s.

Others try what their heroes have used, such as the Stevie Ray Vaughan acolytes who swear by the super-heavy gauges reportedly used by the late blues guitar icon.

But most of the time it is trial and error and we muddle through trying to find the right balance between a string that is thick enough to have a bit of weight to it and thin enough that we can bend it.

We did not have it on our guitar accessories bingo card that Mayer would have the answer, with a set of strings that might have you seeing your electric guitar in a… new light. Strings that would make you want to stop this train you’re on and head to the guitar store without delay, even if it was, uhh, the last train home.

Okay, you get the picture. The point is that these Silver Slinkys – named after Mayer’s Ernie Ball Music Man signature guitar – run from 10.5 to 47, splitting the difference between heavy and light, with Mayer’s preferred core-to-wrap ratio to give them that primo feel. We’ll have to try them to attest to the core-to-wrap business but the prospect of a set running 10.5, 13.5, 17.5, 27, 37, 47, with reinforced plain strings to stand up to string bends, is definitely worth checking out.

Mayer, of course, is delighted by all this, who leaves no question as to how important the strings are to this whole operation.

“I’ve always said that I don’t play the guitar, I play the strings,” he says. “Having a feeling of fluidity is so important in my playing, and Ernie Ball strings have always given me that ability. With the creation of the Silver Slinky set, I have found an even higher level of expression, and I’m excited to share it with guitar players everywhere.”

You can get the John Mayer Silver Slinkys in a collectible three-pack tin (£44.99/$29), a six-pack (£84.99/$54.99) or as individual sets (£14.99/$9.99). We might try the latter first on for size before committing to a six-pack. For more details, head over to Ernie Ball.