“I felt connected to my Strat in a way I hadn’t in a long time”: I’ve spent years searching for the perfect Stratocaster strings – and after playing John Mayer’s Silver Slinky set for three months, I think I’ve finally found them

Ernie Ball John Mayer Silver Slinky string set.

Earlier this month, John Mayer and Ernie Ball launched the Silver Slinky signature guitar strings, which brought the guitar hero’s previously unreleased custom gauge to the masses after years of development.

With an irregular gauge set of 10.5, 13.5, 17.5, 27, 37 and 47, and some special core-to-wrap ratios, developed on a string-by-string basis, the Silver Slinkys were said to be “perfectly tailored” to Mayer’s style, and allowed him to achieve “an even higher level of expression”.