JIVA10

D'Addario NYXL 10-46 on the Ibanez JIVA10 is Nita Strauss's documented obsession — Strauss is the first female Ibanez signature artist (2018) and has used NYXL across her entire Alice Cooper touring + solo instrumental rock career. As Strauss told the D'Addario artist archive: "I don't know the secret ingredient in the NYXL's, but I am as obsessed with these strings now as I always have been. They're gauge 10-46, and if I don't use them, I hear and feel a noticeable difference." Conventional wisdom: every Ibanez S-series shred guitar ships with .009-.042 (lighter Vai-style) or upgrades to 11-49 for thrash output.

Mismatch logic: NYXL 10-46 sits perfectly between the two — heavier than 9s for the chord-melody phrasings on Strauss's 'Controlled Chaos' instrumental album, lighter than 11s for the bend-articulation she needs across 90-minute Alice Cooper sets where stage choreography requires fast playable strings. NYXL's high-tensile NY-steel core specifically holds tuning across stage-to-stage temperature swings on tour.

Best for JIVA10 owners following Strauss's Alice Cooper-meets-instrumental-rock voice; skip if you prefer Vai's 9-42 lightness or Petrucci's matched-set RPS Slinky discipline.