Can anyone suggest a good guitar string to use?
Over the Holidays I decided to change my strings again. Am getting better at it bit... Can anyone suggest a good guitar string to use?
I tried Aquila Alabastro (These were a gift) only to keep the triple strings and the D string. The E and A strings snapped at almost-tuned. I do notice the difference in playing ability. I usually Augustine Regal or D'Addario.
Many thanks in advance.
Ricardo
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It really depends on your guitar's and nails' sounds. I recently fell in love with Knobloch Actives (double silver carbon): best strings I've ever used. I suggest you to give them a try. Hope it helps.
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Pro Arte strings are predictably good and come in a variety of tensions.
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Hello, I am attaching a good video that gives you an overview about guitar strings. Good luck, Stephen Holland
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Stephen Holland Well this sure did muddy up the water. However, it did help a lot. Many thanks.
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Ricardo:
There are so many strings in the market that it can be confusing to select one. I think if you want to simplify you can select D'Addario Pro'Arte EJ45 - Normal Tension, good strings very well made. I also use Aguila Umbra 80, these strings are made to simulate the gut strings of a bygone era, and I like their sound. I have also broken strings during re-stringing. I think you just have to be careful you do not go over the intended open note tension for the string in question. One mistake I have made is tightening the wrong string, that is an easy way to over-tighten a string. So make sure you are on the right string. I use a telephone app., and in the beginning over tighten by going to the sharp pitch of the open string note, to expedite a little the process. People with more experience go higher, but what I am recommending is safe. Good luck, José
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Jose José, You have some great points. I have tuned the wrong string before. It's embarrassing to me. I just shake my head in disbelief. You gave me a starting point.
Many thanks
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Ricardo:
Just wanted to add a note, there are some carbide string in the market that are so strong that you can physically damage your guitar if you over tighten too much. In other words, something on the guitar will fail, before the string fails.
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Jose That's what I was worried about.
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This is a bit difficult to answer .... Each set of strings will sound somewhat different depending
upon the guitar ... some augment brightness in the trebles or a bass that is a bit undefined
.... and you will need to experiment a bit to find what may be a good match ... I found what I consider a great match for me .... and the way I play ... by the recommendation of a couple of players who had very similar guitars to mine ... one recommendation was adequate the other was great. So for my guitar Savarez Cantiga Hi Tension Basses and D'Addario Pro-Arte Hard Tension Titanium trebles .... very tight well defined bass and sparkling upper register that does not seem brittle. And they last a long time .....
As to breaking strings .... a couple of things could be at issue ... depending upon where the break occurs .... a nut with a too sharp break towards the peg ... or a rough area .... similar situation at the
bridge ... and you may benefit from the addition of bridge beads to change the break angle and the tension where the string wraps around the bridge .... essentially you change a 6-hole to a 12 or 18-hole bridge .... less acute angle and perhaps(?) better sound ... also protects the face of the bridge from marring.
When you tune up .... stop a couple of tones below the desired note .... check position of the string at both the nut, bridge and peg ... let the string adjust to the new tension .... work on another string and then gradually increase the tension to the desired tone. You may also need to lubricate the nut and the peg to allow the string to glide a bit better .... a luthier may be able
to adjust the angle if it stays problematic. Tight pegs or tuners tend to jump rather than smoothly turn to tension.
Find a site ... classical guitar ... that may have a thread on your guitar make or model and you can ask what stings the owners prefer .... may not be what you end up liking but may be a start.
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docmoore Thank you so much for the info and directions.
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These are all very good suggestions! Strings By Mail has a database full of customer-submitted recommendations for many different guitars. Plug in your make and model and see the comments.
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Heidi I didn't know one could do that. I've bought strings from them many times before.
I used your guidance and the results surprised me. They are expensive. Well I guess it goes to say if you have a good guitar, it's gonna be expensive to replace strings.
Many thanks
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I would agree with Francesco, Knobloch Actives (double silvercarbon) really good strings.
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Personally I don't like hard tension strings so much as I always have this morbid fear that it may one day break my guitar or the string snap into my face.
I feel the best overall - carbon trebles and normal basses - would be
savarez 510AR normal tension doesn't hurt your hand and sounds fantastic.
Knobloch Actives CX Carbon trebles sounds really great too but I didn't really like the basses. I find them too stiff to play.
For nylon, I'm always partial to Hannabach Silver Special 815MT. Hope this helps.
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As mentioned above, the string choice really depends on your instrument and your playing. After all, we're dealing with psycho-acoustics here!
Please also note that the following is not an endorsement for a particular brand: you are likely to find that the offer from another brand (or a combo of brands) is more to your liking given your guitars, your playing, and the sound that you are after. At any rate, we are truly spoiled with the string choices we have these days.
On my guitars I've settled on Knobloch:
. I really like the Knobloch carbon trebles, which, to me, are the "mellowest" carbons that I came across (but this, after a search that was clearly non-exhaustive, as I am just an amateur player and don't have the patience to try new strings every other week). By which I mean that they come closest to the sweet-spot (of brilliance without being strident) that I am looking for, and this for my particularly-built guitars and my amateur-level playing (i.e., right-hand not being as strong as a pro in its strokes).
.. Knobloch trebles, which are shared across the Actives (mentioned above) and the Erithacus series, can be one of the five nylon types or carbon. So plenty of choice to find the most suitable trebles for your guitar (but this is true for any brand, nowadays, I just took the plunge with Knobloch): I went through Knobloch's QZ Nylon, AT Nylon and Bio Nylon series before settling on their CX Carbon.
.. They have medium-, medium-high, high- and high+, and super-high strength options for the CX carbon trebles, but also medium-low or even low strength for some of their nylons. Medium strength CX carbon trebles (lowest strength carbon) does it for me.
. The Erithacus basses are more to my liking (on two of my guitars from the same luthier) than the Actives (that many people swear by) on my guitars (which have a strong bass tendency by construction). Erithacus basses sound more "open" to me and this is what I am looking for on the particular guitars that I have (again, psycho-acoustics definitely at play here - what works for me might not for you).
.. I really like Knobloch offering mid-range strength options for the basses: i.e., not just High, Medium, Low for the basses, but also Medium-High and Medium-Low.
. Sticking with the same company also allows me to be done with one order:
.. On one of my guitars I combine the medium-low Erithacus bass set with medium-high CX carbon treble set (next I'll try, low-bass & medium CX carbon treble on that guitar and settle on one the two combos); on another it's medium Erithacus full-pack fits very nicely; and on another guitar yet, I go with the medium-high Erithacus full set.
At the end of the day, it's really different strings for different folks who (literally) play with different strokes on their differently- if not very differently-built guitars!
For me, the discovery is definitely part of the fun: just when you thought that you need to switch to another guitar for that elusive sound that you are after (and this, while you hope your spouse is not being attentive), you simply change your strings (brand, type, strength, what have you), and you have a very different sounding instrument in your hands at much, much lower transaction costs!
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