Strings

[ironeddie]

Hello everyone,
I just spent the last couple of hours putting together a blog about the differences between strings.  I got all my information from experience working in music stores as well as research into string companies. I also read a few good articles in guitar magazines (probably the most helpful being the Oct 2008 issue of guitar world).  This is a summery of my findings. 
http://guitardedwebtrickery.blogspot.com/2011/06/guitar-strings.html
Let me know what you think eh?

 

[mayfly]

wow, I was all set to read this, but I gotta tell ya - I can't read your site.  That waveform graphic makes my eyes hurt.

 

[elfro89]

wow, I was all set to read this, but I gotta tell ya - I can't read your site.  That waveform graphic makes my eyes hurt.

+1

 

[Mor Paul]

If you can alter the site's CSS, I'd add a 60% opacity black background for that content area.

That's some decent string info you got there  :icon_thumright:

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Honestly, I was expecting a research paper and got an essay.  I'm interested in your actual thoughts on string differences.  What is the hype?  How many of them are the same ones branded in another package?

 

[ironeddie]

Sorry about the website graphics!  I fixed them so that they are easier to read!

Honestly, I was expecting a research paper and got an essay.  I'm interested in your actual thoughts on string differences.  What is the hype?  How many of them are the same ones branded in another package?

Ha ha!  Sorry to disappoint!  University is out for the summer so I probably wont be doing any more research papers until the fall!  Plus I didn't think that anyone would be interested in a blog any longer than the one I posted today. 
This is what I know.  I used to think that they were all the same, however recently I was informed that I was incorrect.  Each string company has its own string winding facilities, their own secret way of winding them, their own suppliers for raw materials, and their own secret way to package them (each better than the other one at fighting off corrosion).  DR is the only company that hand winds their strings that I'm aware of. 

Here is my opinion:
Phosphor Bronze for acoustics - Especially if the guitar is Cedar top with Rosewood back and sides.  This makes the guitar nice and dark but not really mellow.  It has a nice edge but is quite big sounding.  I usually go DR Rares for those
Sometimes when I don't feel like changing strings for a while on my acoustic, I will use elixir Polyweb strings.  The coating sounds good to me and they last for a long time

For my electric guitars, I will probably play the Dime DR strings until I die.  I'm usually not into signature stuff of anyone, but these are the BEST!  They are hard to kill.  I can kill Daddarios or Ernie Ball strings in a month.  The Dime ones last 5 months-ish.  I don't know what it is about those... they are infused with Magic! (and a liquid polymer coating on the wrap wire before it is wrapped).  They are EXCELLENT and I haven't been able to break one yet!

Now having said that, they D'addarios are less expensive and are incredibly consistant from set to set.  When I was working in a guitar shop, thats what we would use because they were cheap and good.

Now for my seven string, my options are a little more limited.  My favourite strings aren't made in a seven string set.  I don't usually like to put a six string set with an extra .056 for the low B because I'm weird like that... so I'm usually stuck with a set of EB's or D'adds.  I'm going to try some titefits from DR and see what I think.

For cleaning products and things that make you slide faster over the strings, I haven't found that they make my strings last longer at all.  In fact I have found that most of them cut the life of my strings considerably.  If I clean my strings, its with a dry cloth right after I play.  I don't know if that helps for real, but in my mind it does and that's good enough for me...

So thats the hype!
:guitarplayer2:

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Now that's good stuff. 

Guitar, and bass for that matter, I change them when they're dead or dirty or I'm bored.  I've never wiped them down with anything just because, like you, I didn't think it helped.  Running a rag over them, fibers would dirty them up as much as skin cells, IMO.  For bass, I tried several.  I found D'Addarios, several varieties, to be too hard on the fingers for long shows.  Rotosounds just living on their reputation and actually very inconsistent package to package - some dead right out of the package.  Dunlops to be the best all around string, for me anyway.  They feel good, are bright sounding for quite a while, and $20 a pack, if they last a 3rd as long and cost a 3rd the price, it's a wash and I always have new string feel and sound.

 

[ironeddie]

Now that's good stuff. 

Guitar, and bass for that matter, I change them when they're dead or dirty or I'm bored.  I've never wiped them down with anything just because, like you, I didn't think it helped.  Running a rag over them, fibers would dirty them up as much as skin cells, IMO.  For bass, I tried several.  I found D'Addarios, several varieties, to be too hard on the fingers for long shows.  Rotosounds just living on their reputation and actually very inconsistent package to package - some dead right out of the package.  Dunlops to be the best all around string, for me anyway.  They feel good, are bright sounding for quite a while, and $20 a pack, if they last a 3rd as long and cost a 3rd the price, it's a wash and I always have new string feel and sound.

:icon_thumright:
You're probably right about the cloth.  I've heard about boiling bass strings to make them like new again but that sounds to me like more work than running down to the music store and grabbing a new set of strings and throwing them on.  There are some places that sell them for 2 for $25, and for that price, might as well eh?

 

[AutoBat]

I used to play heavy strings of whatever was the cheapest. Carlos Santana strings got me to the 9-42s 'cause that's all that was in stock on new-string-day.
Eventually I found my way to 9-42 Elixir nanowebs.  I'll try other strings from time to time, but always go back.
I play my strings until they break, which is usually ~6 months. Twice I've landed over a year.  I play a couple hours most days, with frequent wang-bar acrobatics (especially if I'm on Van Halen kicks)

I'm fine with strings that plenty of other people say kill the tone, as I've got pickups that plenty of people already say are sterile.  They sound great to me, so I'll keep doing it my way

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

:icon_thumright:
You're probably right about the cloth.  I've heard about boiling bass strings to make them like new again but that sounds to me like more work than running down to the music store and grabbing a new set of strings and throwing them on.  There are some places that sell them for 2 for $25, and for that price, might as well eh?

Denatured alcohol is the best solution I've heard.  There's guys that go all out with it, building vertical PVC tubes with caps so they can hang them and reuse the alcohol.

 

[Steve_Karl]

Boiling bass strings.
It works. Much easier and cheaper than new strings and with better results in my experience.
I had 3 sets of rotosounds that lasted 10+ years and sounded better than new for 99.9% of that decade.
I'd rotate them, as in when one set needed boiled an other gets put on etc. That's when I was playing bass a lot.

Right out of the package and before putting a new set on, I usually, rub off the harsh windings with high grit emery paper.
They're good when they're fresh, but fade quickly and don't really start sounding good until after the first boiling.

I can't testify to this working with any brand other than rotosound.
Actually, 2 of those old sets are still good to go but I just put a new set on a few months ago so ...

I don't play bass much any more. Probably a few hours a year.