Electric Guitar Strings
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NEW! 4-String Electric Bass Guitar (Black)
US $69.99
First Act Electric Guitar Strings Extra Light Gauge .009-.042 BRAND NEW
US $9.99
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Electric Guitar Strings – How many types are there and why?
Can anybody explain to me why there are so many types of electric guitars strings? Nickel, Round Round…etc. What does it all mean?
There’s oodles of types of guitar strings and there’s as many types as there are manufacturers and the different ranges of strings they produce. Let’s try to sort out the important characteristics.
1. The basic 6-string set : the 1st three strings (EBG) are plain and usually nickel coated. Being nickel coated improves tone and stops corrosion. Strings can also be bronze coated. The final three strings (DAE) are wound strings. These are single strings that are wound with a 2nd nickel plated string to make them thicker. They can be “round wound” which means the wrapping string is round in profile or tape wound which means the wrapping string is flat like a tape, usually tape wound strings are found on bass guitars but are also found in very heavy gauge 6-string packs.
2. String gauge. There are four basic string gauges or “weights”. Ultra light, Light, Medium and Heavy. There is also a fifth known as Hybrid. A Hybrid pack is three heavy gauge 4,5,6 strings twinned with three 1,2,3 strings of a much lighter gauge. Hybrid packs are favoured by guitarists who use Drop C or Drop C# tuning.
String gauges tend to be referred to by the width in thousandths of an inch (thou) of the 1st string (top E). So ultra lights = 7 thou, Light=9 thou, Medium=10/11 thou, Heavy=12 upwards. A hybrid set will have typically the 4,5,6 strings from a 13 thou set and the 1,2,3 strings from a 9 or 10 thou set.
So where the heck does a newbie start? Well usually a set of medium or light gauge strings is a good starting point so a set of 9 or 10 thou strings, such as Ernie Ball Slinky, will get you going and give you an idea as to what gauge of string suits you. Bear in mind the lighter the gauge the easier it is to do blinding shredding and similar solos and riffs which it’s not possible to do with a set of, say, 13 thou strings. Ultra light should be avoided for the beginner as the 1st E string is very vulnerable (sometimes packs come with two 1st strings) and even accomplished players break them on a more regular basis than the corresponding set in a Light set. After selecting your gauge it really is down to personal preference, recommendation and what suits your guitar. So for example on my Peavey EXP Custom I use Ernie Ball Slinky 9 thou but on my SG I use Gibson Vintage Re-Issue 9 thou. Certain manufacturer’s do strings specifically aimed at certain guitar models so if you had a Gibson (or Epiphone) Les Paul then you would probably try a set of Gibson Les Paul strings.
Electro-acoustics are another thing again with specific strings made for them although strings aimed at solid/semi-solid guitars will work perfectly well and once again it comes down to personal preference. One of my acoustics gets 2nd hand strings (waste not want not,lol) from my electrics and the other electro-acoustic gets Martin electro-acoustic strings because they are nice and “jangly” and sound really good through a chorus pedal.
Hope this was useful.
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