I probably got a bad batch, but in 18 years of playing guitars I never got strings, that were broken from the beginning. As soon as I started to wind the E string on, it just fall apart. While these might not be the most expensive strings on the market, they are certainly not in the budget range, which should provide a better quality control. That is why I am sad to give it one star for quality. Please ignore my sound rating, as I can't assess it.