D'Addario NB Lights on my 514CE LTD

True, that's a very good point.  Metal being a harder and denser material, one would think it would have an even greater impact.

I used to engrave brass plates that were then nickel coated, and then I'd paint infill them after they got coated.  Even though it wasn't a huge difference, it wasn't that precise either.  The coating was more for looks and protection, but you could actually feel the difference of the plates that had different amounts of coating on them.

Now I'm even more curious and would love to see and hear a test on different batches of nickel coated strings!

terryd,TonyKgull,RobertW, To answer Derick's earlier question which I didn't see until the above quote, the first set had thin areas where I could see the PB showing through and that's the set I liked. This last set is totally covered and I don't like the tone. I put Elixir PBs back on yesterday and everything is good so I think I'll just stick with them and do more playing and less string experimentation.

Derick,Maybe I'll try them again before I just give up on them. I absolutely loved the first set. Opinion went back and forth with them on the 414ce R, but after putting Elixir PBs back on that guitar there is no question what I like on that one. I just received a 316ce and I might try them on that one too. Another thing I noticed after I put the Elixirs back on the 514 is that the tension with that NY steel D'addario uses is higher. It took a lot more stretching to get the Elixirs to stabilize and they feel looser after the D"addario NBs.

terryd, Keep in mind as well, for what it's worth, that as per Taylor themselves, their guitars are actually designed to sound best using Elixers.  They have some sort of deal or partnership with them.

As far as tension and vibration goes, a polyurethane type coating is always going to give, vibrate, stretch, bend, move, etc way better and easier than nickel.  Nickel is a super hard metal.  I used to machine that stuff and it was more trouble than stainless steel.  Bronze, in comparison to nickel is like gum in comparison to glass when it comes to how much they can bend, stretch, move etc.

Sorry... I just checked which guitar I put Nickle Bronze on, and discovered, I haven't.  My last 2 changed were Aluminum Bronze on my Amber Trails and my Martin GPCPA5K.

I had planned to put the NB on my resonator, but senior's moments never end.

Being short on knowledge my opinion is low on the totem pole. Therefore, I humbly submit that a prerequisite for strings is they can not squeak when sliding chords. The figernail on the blackboard syndrome comes to mind. To me how long they last and how good they sound comes second as to whether they screech or not. The polyweb elixirs are on all my guitars for that very reason. Loose a fair amount of volume, etc with that choice but they're slick and quiet.
I know, a little quirky and wierdness abounds.

It's amazing how different we all are.  I actually love the guitar squeek sound.  For some reason, it just makes the playing sound more, I dunno, folksy?  Quaint?  Not sure how to describe it, but I just know I like it.  It's the reason I went to Nanowebs over Polywebs.  I love that Poly webs last a bit longer, but I miss the squawk you can get from the Nanowebs.

Nanowebs are a nice kind of "meet me in the middle" option if you ask me.  They're not silent like Polys, but not as severe as non-coated.  So, a nice balance for me.  But again, I wouldn't mind if they squawked as much as uncoated either.

Yes, there is no such thing as normal, we're all weird!