MY FAVORITE STRINGS

MY FAVORITE STRINGS

Creem GUIDE TO GUITAR STRINGS

by

Allen Hester

Guitar players, collectors and enthusiasts spend a lot of time talking about the legendary rare models, the fantastic sunburst finishes, the faded colors of days gone by, and soon ad nauseum, and many of them (us) overlook a component of guitars that is crucial to the most important aspect of any instrument: the sound. That often overlooked component is the string itself; after all guitars, banjos, mandolins, violins, ukeleles, cellos, basses, dobros and dulcimers are all in the stringed instrument family, right? Still, a lot of people dont realize how important strings are to the best possible sound of any guitar. Nor do people understand the difference between roundwound, half-round and flatwound strings; or the difference between nickel-plated, stainless steel, brass, bronze, phosphor-bronze, silkand steel , and nylon strings and their particular applications.

If you dont believe me, try putting a set of flatwound strings on a rock n roll guitar and go for your favorite Van Halen solo—you will soon find out that something is drastically wrong with the guitar. On the other hand, if George Benson and Wes Montgomery are your favorites, and you happen to own a hollow-bodied Gibson L-5 or a DAngelico New Yorker, then flatwound strings are entirely appropriate and you would be happy with the sound. The same goes for bass players. Roundwound strings, such as the popular Rotosound brand, are used by a lot of rock players. Jazz players use the flatwound strings more often, and the half-round string is very popular in all kinds of music because it strikes a compromise between two distinct types of strings. The point is that the effectiveness of the string depends on the instrument and the type of music being played on it. Some strings, no matter how good, just.wont work if they are not used on the right guitar.

Another important aspect of strings is their gauging. Electric guitar strings come in a variety of gauges: for example GHS Boomers are available in six different guages: Ultra Light, Extra Light, Light/Ex,tra Light, Light Medium and T.N.T. (that is to say, heavy!). Each of these sets is a mixture of gauges designed to offer something different for the guitarist. In times past, it was simply a matter of whaddya want, pal, light, medium or heavy?". But guitarists are much more demanding than that these days, and so we have such things as the Light/Extra Light set by GHS, which is a cross between Extra Light (.009 thru .042) and Light (.010 thru .046). This particular set of strings even has a low E string that is only .038—the same gauge as used in the Ultra Light set.

Gauges relate to a guitarists style and the tone of the guitar. If the guitarist is one who bends a lot of strings, then he or she might prefer an ultra light gauge set, coupled with low action on the guitar fretboard, for maximum speed and near-effortless string bending. However,,.there is a tradeoff here that some players dont understand. Anytime you use a heavier gauge string, you get a fatter tone and, generally, longer sustain. Likewise, when the action is high on the guitar, sustain and clarity are enhanced. So many guitar players use the heaviest strings they possibly can bend, in order to get a fat tone and a lot of sustain out of the instrument. Some players like a heavy gauge high E, B and G string, coupled with a light gauge D, A, and low E; thus we have such strings as GHS T.N.T. set, or Ernie Balls Light Top/Heavy Bottom" set. The point is that there are any number of ways to set up gauges of a set of rock n roll guitar strings, and they all yield something different in the sound of the guitar. Another thing, it is really not fair to anyone to compare a heavy gauge set of one ' manufacturer to an ultra light set made by someone else. Strings must be evaluated by the player on a gauge-for-gauge, alloy-foralloy basis if any real comparisons are to be made.

Another point that should be clarified is the difference between the names of gauges of electric versus acoustic strings. When we say Light gauge" in electric strings, we mean a set that runs from .010 to .046 (with slight variations from one brand to the next). But when we say Light gauge" in acoustic strings, the actual gauges are slightly higher. For example, Guild makes a set of light gauge Phosphor Bronze strings that are gauged as follows: .012, .016, .025, .032, .042, and .054. These are considered light gauges for an electric rock n roll guitar!

One of the distinguishing features of rock n roll guitar strings is the unwrapped third" of G string. When rock n roll first got started, guitar strings came with a wrapped third string, meaning that the string had a steel core wire wrapped with one of several different outer wrappings. A wrapped third is the standard in acoustic strings, but as electric guitarists began to play with more string bending, an unwrapped third string was introduced, and it has remained popular even though some guitarists contend that an unwrapped third string is harder to keep in tune than a wrapped one.

Just as an example of how misleading or confusing the terminology can be, lets take at the Light Gauge" set made set number E-340L. These partistrings are called Sonomatics" and very popular among jazz and country who prefer a wrapped third string. Sonomatics are gauged like this: lOllpfi .012pl., .019wd., .028wd., .044wd., and .056wd. (pi. * plain and wd.—wound). Imagine what would hapto the player who rushed into a music asking for light gauge Dean Markley strings, only to find that all the store has Gibson E-340L Sonomatics. Without

Gibson E-340L Sonomatics. Without checking the gauges, he buys the strings, and that night on the job he rants and raves against Gibsons good name because the strings arent anything like what he is used to. B.ut it is the players fault for not checking the gauges individually to make sure that he is the All light

strings are not the same! Musicians are a fickle and demanding lot; lets face it, all they (we) expect out of a guitar is the ultimate sound, sustain, perfect tuning—nottoo much to ask, right? When it comes to strings, players want strings that hold their tune, have a bright sound, bend easily, and last a long time. But it is often the ignorance or the neglect of the players themselves that cause strings to perform poorly.

Any number of major string manufacturers will tell you that the thing that keeps a guitar string in tune is its consistency, or as Dave Holcomb of GHS put it: Perfection of manufacture. The string must be the exact gauge from one end to the other." That sounds simple enough, but it requires very close quality control, during the manufacturing process if it is to be reality and not just, a statement. Other manufacturers, such as Dean Markley, Ernie Ball and DAddario all stressed the same thing when asked about their strings: consistency in the gauge of each string. However, guitarists often blame out-of-

tuneness on their strings, when in fact it is, the fault of some other part of their guitar. For example, if the top nut of the guitar is too tight and not lubricated, it can cause a ■ string to bind in the nut when the string is bent. The result: the string returns very sharp, above the proper pitch, and is out of tune. Faulty or poorly-made tuning machines can allow a string to slip and go flat when the is bent. Or the itself is

One simple reason that guitar strings wear out is that they get dirty and absorb moisture from the hands of the player. Both these things cause the inner core of the string to become corroded in spot, and this in turn causes the string to vibrate unevenly, and a tuning problem, as well as a loss of tone, js the result.

There are many approaches to the problem of string consistency. At Ernie Ball Strings in Newport Beach,: California, computers are used to control production machinery. Sterling Ball, spokesman for the company that makes the popular slinky" series electric guitar strings says, We can detect any variation in string gauging with our computer assisted machinery, and we strive for consistency."

Dean Markley uses a Swedish steel core wire which is wrapped very tightly with a nickel-plated steel wrap. According to Chris Campbell, this super-tight winding doesnt separate as easily as other strings, therefore it is harder for moisture to seep into the innercore wire and cause the strings to vibrate unevenly.

When it comes to electric guitar strings, there are several types of cores and wraps, and many manufacturers offer several of these variations in their extensive lines of strings. However, there is a new development that has got the whole electric guitar string industry buzzing, and that is the Stainless Steel string. Many companies are now offering these new strings, and their popularity could be enormous in years to come. Right now, it is a little too early to tell, but the stainless strings offer some good features to players.

Stainless steel strings have a high resistance to corrosion, therefore they last longer than conventional strings. According to Rick Rigsby at Peavey Electronics, this is one reason why their Gliders" strings are stainless steel; The strings were designed by Hartley Peavey himself, who happens to have a high acidity in his hands. Our strings have an ultra-high resistance to corrosion, and at the same time they are very bright sounding." Rigsby revealed that at first, Peavey was having these strings made to their specifications by another manufacturer but as the demand for them increased, Peavey was pulled into the business of string manufacturers to meet the demands of Peavey guitar owners who wanted the same type strings as were on their guitars when they were bought. The large country and western following at Peavey especially liked the enhanced brightness of the stainless steel string.

The notion of designing a string to complement a particular guitar is hardly a new one; in fact, it is the sort of thing that master luthiers of days gone by did as a natural part of balancing the guitar and getting the maximum amount of volume and just the right tone out of each instrument.

The great luthier John DAngelico of New York did this; he selected the right gauges for the guitars that he hand-made in his shop. The strings that he made are considered to be come of the best acoustic strings ever made, and the successors to his business, DMerle Guitars, Inc., offer some 40 different kinds of strings for guitars, basses and other stringed instruments.

More recently, another string has been designed in conjunction with a particular ;guitar. The Kaman Corporation, builders of the Adamas guitar, recently introduced the Adamas phosphor bronze guitar strings that are designed to get the most response out of the new Adamas guitar, a revolutionary guitar that has a graphite top, rather than a wooden one.

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. When it comes to acoustic guitar strings, a lot of players dont understand what kind of strings are best for their guitar. One of the most obvious distinctions that must be made is the one between classical or folk guitars, and steel-string guitars. Classical guitars use nylon strings. In times past, these strings were made of gut, but nylon has replaced gut in modern times because nylon is much easier to maintain consistency over in production. Nylon strings, such as those made by Albert Augustine, Savarez, La Belle (made by E. & O. Mari, Inc.) and Arajuanez are much softer to the touch and exert less string tension on the neck of the guitar than steelstrings. The two types of strings are not interchangeable; in fact, stringing as classical guitar or folk guitar with steel strings will result in disaster: the bridge will separate from the top of the guitar in a matter of a few days because the strings exert too much tension on it, and because the classical bridge is not pinned from underneath and braced heavily like the steel-string bridge. .

There are many different names for acoustic guitar strings, depending on the manufacturer, these range from bronze to brass to bright bronze to phosphor bronze to silk-and-steel and so on. Basically, there is not a lot of difference between all of these different names, if one understands the nature of all these alloys and what these names mean. As a rule of thumb, any alloy of copper and zinc is brass. With respect to guitar strings, 80% copper and 20% zinc is the ratio most often used.

Another rule is that any alloy of copper and tin is called bronze. The most popular kind of bronze used in the manufacture of guitar strings and other strings, has a percentage of phosphor in, usually about 8%. As with brass, the basic ratio ot bronze is 80/20, with various amounts of phosphor. These are not hard and fast ratios that every manufacturer of strings must adhere to) there are some who depart from the norm just a bit in search of a little bit better performance from a string.,

Dean Markley, for example, makes a bronze string that is 85% copper and only 15% tin. The sound of these strings, according to Chris Campbell at Markley, is close to the old DAngelico strings of the 1960s. But because copper tarnishes faster, the more standard ratio of 80% copper to 20% tin usually looks better and brighter to the eye. But, as Campbell points out, the sound is what is most important, and cosmetics cure a secondary consideration.

One of the sad things about all this is that the musician cannot tell by reading the catalogs of string manufacturers what these strings are really made of; whether they are blended 80/20 or 85/15, and what these various alloys mean in terms of sound. Perhaps there should be some kind of industry-wide clarification of string alloys, with a standardized way of informing the consumer what the strings are made of, but this seems unlikely. But all these kinds of strings do have a slightly different sound, and about the only way a player can decide what sounds best on his guitar is to try some of each kind and see what works best for him, both in terms of gauge and alloys..

The important thing to remember about strings is that it is only fair to compare similar strings, not strings of different alloys and gauges, when searching for a brand that suits you. Dont pass judgement on any brand until youve tried them, and dont blame the string manufacturer for problems that may well be the fault of your instrument. Once you have settled on a brand and a gauge that suits you, get used to them, learn how long they last, how bright they sound, how well they hold their tune. Then you can begin to make intelligent comparisons of other kinds of strings based on what you know to be true from your own playing experience.