Choosing Guitar Strings
Here are the factors you must take in consideration when choosing guitar strings:
String Brands
Choosing a guitar string brand comes down to personal taste. Try out some different brands to find out what brand suits you the most. Some of the more popular brands include:
- D’Addario
- Ernie Ball
- Dean Markley
- Elixir
String Composition
Most strings (electric and acoustic guitar strings) are made by winding a “wrap wire” round a metal wire. The material used for the wrap wire determine how the guitar strings sound like. Materials used include:
- Nickel: Most electric guitar strings are nickel plated steel on a round steel core. Nickel plated give a bright and warm sound and they provide enhanced sustain. Ernie Ball Slinkys, D’Addario EXLs, GHS Boomers, Fender 3250 Super Bullets are all examples of nickel plated strings.
- Stainless Steel: provides a brighter tone but the hardness of the alloy can lead to fret wear over time(D’Addario, Ernie Ball, and Fender all make stainless steel strings)
- Phosphor Bronze: provides a warmer tone, used for acoustic guitar strings (for example: D’Addario Phosphor Bronze)
String Gauge
Guitar strings come in sets and most of the time sets are referenced by the diameter of the first string (for example .009) or the first and the last string (for example .009 – .042). String gauge affects tone and playability of your guitar. A heavy gauge strings will produce a higher volume but will require more hand strength to fret the strings. For beginning guitarists it’s better to use a lighter set at first as they are easier to handle and they won’t give you sore fingers.
An important thing to remember is that when you change to a string set with a different gauge, your guitar neck and intonation need to be readjusted. Heavier strings produce more tension and therefore pull more relief into the guitar neck.
Winding Type:
- Round wound: uses a round wire. This type of winding gives brighter sound, but produce more extra noise
- Flat wound: uses a flat ribbon wire. Flat wound strings are commonly used on fretless bass guitars. The smooth surface of a flat wound string is further enhanced by light abrasive polishing.This gives the strings less resistance and less extra noise because they have a smoother surface, but they produce a duller sound.
Tips to Increase String Life
- Wash your hands before your play your guitar and wipe down your strings with a dry cloth after each use. Doing this helps a great deal to preserve string longevity. Also keep your fret board clean and oiled.
- If you break a lot of strings, look for sharp edges on the bridge, saddle or tuning pegs.
- Sometimes your string gets stuck in the nut slot , especially when tuning down. You can solve this by putting a bit of flake graphite in the nut slot (under the strings) to remove friction so the string can slide more freely. You can easily get flake graphite by scratching the lead of a pencil with a knife.
- Change your strings when they lose their brilliance and intonation. The life span of a guitar string depends heavily on how much you play and on how well you take care of them.
- Don’t replace a single string in a used set when you break a string. The sound of the new string will be completely different compared to the other strings.
The Tools
- String-winder
- Bridge-pin puller (for acoustic guitars)
- Wire cutters
- Tuner
The Steps
- Start by removing the strings. Unless there is a floating bridge, I prefer to take off all the strings at once, but many prefer taking them off one at a time.
- Once the strings are all removed, you can clean and polish the fretboard. Lemon oil (not furniture polish !) or Fret Doctor, a toothbrush and a soft rag is all you need. Cleaning and oiling your fretboard should only be done about twice a year.
- Back to stringing. Secure the 6th string to the bridge or tail piece of your guitar. There are different types of bridges and tailpieces, but it should be evident how to secure the string. Align the tuning peg with the nut slot and pull the string through the hole of the tuning peg until there is about two inches between the
string and the fret board (when pulling the string up). This allows for about 3 windings on the tuning peg. - Bend the string to the right and put it underneath itself where it goes in the hole. Give the string a sharp bend upward and keep it that place while you turn the tuner in clockwise direction. Tune the string to the right pitch with a guitar tuner. Make sure the windings go down from the top.
- Now stretch the string by pulling it upward at its midway point. New strings go out of tune easily and this increases the stability.
- Cut the excess string with a wire cutter. Don’t cut them too short or the string will come loose, but don’t leave it too long either, string ends are very sharp and accidentally poking yourself is painful.
- Repeat this process for the other 5 strings.
- Once all strings are on the guitar, continue to stretch and re-tune the guitar until the string doesn’t detune anymore.