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strings

Posted by john mackay on March 21, 2015 at 10:47am in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

do they really make any difference between cheap or expensive.

the reason why I ask is that my son said after playing with my latest build just imagine what it would sound like with quality strings dad. 

I buy cheap £1 set of 6 strings and they sound ok to me.

I've bought strings off cbjohn but doesn't seem to sound any difference to me.

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Replies

  • john mackay March 24, 2015 at 12:55pm

    thanks

  • john mackay March 23, 2015 at 4:09pm

    of these which is better for the slide cbg.

    round wound.

    flat wound.

    nickel or phoster bronze?

    • the anonymous pick > john mackay March 23, 2015 at 4:29pm

       mostly preference really  ..  some  folks conclude that  flat  may  be easier  for    slide,  and less " noisy " .

        im  not  one  of those  people  .  i  like   wound  . 

      as  per material    ,  well  then     the  guitar type  itself  comes  into  play  ..  in general    ,  mag pickup     guitars  " need  /  should  have"   steel or  nickel  plated  steel  strings     for the  mag to  read  .  

      bronze  wound  will   still  work  ,  but sound  muddy .

      but   bronze wound, " in my opinion" , sound  great   on  acoustic  or  piezo   guits  .  " where  no  steel  is  needed  for a  mag   pup  to  read . "

  • the anonymous pick March 23, 2015 at 12:18pm

    i  have  my own line of strings .

    vid  ..   http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/introducing-swamp-witch-guitar-...

    get  em  here  . http://swampwitchguitars.weebly.com/strings.html

  • Clarky March 23, 2015 at 11:59am

    I've never ever considered buying a cheap set, because brand name strings are so cheap anyway.  I get three sets of either d'Addario, Ernie Ball Slinky or Martin acoustic extra lights for around the £10 mark.  While we're on the subject, what do you lot do with your spare strings, I have tonnes of spare low E, high E and B strings?

  • The Phrygian Kid March 23, 2015 at 6:22am
    The really cheap Chinese ones are crappy, no doubt about it, they're cheaper (bluer, less carbon). They're also often noticeably shorter, they'll do a fender or a les but they struggle to make it across a jazz box from a trapeze... I think most known brands are equally good. I know d'addario strings are repacked into several different brands which you can save a dollar on, (you can spot em from the coloured ball ends). I used to get a really good deal on rickenbacker strings like that. I don't know this for sure, but I've been told that there's only a handful of factories in the world which actually make them, many come from the same place.

    You can get a good deal on d'addario if you buy the ten packs from ebay
  • john mackay March 23, 2015 at 6:08am

    good point john.

    thanks for the input.

  • ChickenboneJohn March 23, 2015 at 4:13am

    I use d'Addario rather than cheap generic brand Chinese stuff for several reasons. I've used cheapo strings in the past and had the following issues with some of them:

    Very weak electomagnetic performance.

    Not long enough (some are cut not quite long enough to use on a trapeze style guitar or thru' neck cigarbox guitar).

    When you take the cheap strings out of the pack, often they don't go totally straight - a sure sign of inferior low carbon steel core. A good string is going to play more consistently, stay in tune  and last longer.

    Loose windings.

    With decent strings  I don't get these problems, and now in my workshop building courses I now exclusively use d'Addario...I think we've had only 4 string breakages out of around 3000 strings being strung up and tuned by first-timers..not bad really. I fit thousands of strings a year, so I can do without any grief from this sort of problem. If you are buying the odd set, it seems hardly worth saving a few pennies -  I spend hundreds of pounds every month buying strings, and for me it really isn't worth economising. For the home builder, the occasional duff string is probably no worry, and if you know your guitar isn't going to be used hard every day by someone earning their living out of it, it's less critical, so horses for courses I suppose.

  • Bad Finger (Eric) March 21, 2015 at 10:52am

    I go for the $7ish packs of Ernie Ball strings with exception of resonators which I've switched to John Pearse G-tuning mediums.  I have tried the more expensive Elixr Nanoweb acoustics and they sound great and last a long time with their coating, but I don't care to pay twice as much.

    I now buy Ernie Ball Power Slinky electric strings 6 at a time for about $5 a pack.  Great price.  Great strings.

    Here's a fresh $5 pack.  Power Slinky are 49-11.

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