How to pick up the strings for the guitar?

Where do you get new guitar strings? Personally, I prefer to buy them in regular music stores, feeling live, and at the same time exchanging jokes with long-familiar salespeople there. However, without any fear you can order guitar strings online.

Wandering through the expanses of online stores, you probably noticed that the types of strings for the guitar offered for sale are quite numerous. Of course, after that the question could not arise, since how to pick up the strings for the guitar, how not to make the wrong choice when buying? These questions need to be addressed in advance.

Varieties of strings by material

There are three main types of strings:

1. Organic veins (Catgut) are traditional strings made from animal wires and wrapped with wire. Despite the short duration of their performance, many guitarists still prefer to install only gut strings on their instrument.
2. Nylon strings are highly respected by classical guitarists. They are soft and supple, and therefore suitable for beginners. Three tenor strings (lower) are made of nylon fishing line, and the three bass strings are nylon threads with a winding in the form of a wire with gold or silver plating.
3. Steel is the most popular type of string. The sound of the instrument on which such strings stand has a bright and resonant timbre. The winding of steel strings is made of very different materials: nickel, phosphor bronze, brass and others.

About different types of string windings

Let's talk in more detail about the winding, or, as it is sometimes called, the braid of the strings. The wire covering the core of the strings can be made in several ways.

1. Round braid is the cheapest to make, which means that the cost of strings for guitars will be lower. The main disadvantages are the creaking of fingers on the strings during the game, rapid wear due to contamination of the sinuses of the braid.
2. Flat braid eliminates unnecessary sounds. Such strings are put on the guitar for the sake of studio recording. The main disadvantage: a less bright sound than the strings with a round winding.
3. Semicircular braid - a hybrid that includes both the pros and cons of the two previous types.

What is string tension?

Before you pick up the strings for the guitar, find out what their tension is: light (light), medium (medium) or heavy (heavy). Several factors affect the tension force: their length, mass, tuning frequency, diameter, material of the winding and the size of the core.

It is believed that the stronger the tension, the louder and brighter the instrument sounds. If it is light, the instrument is quiet and melodious. Another nuance - the string with a heavy tension will not be so easy to press on the frets, and therefore to beginners to facilitate the game, it is recommended to take the strings of the easiest tension.

The most popular manufacturers and cost of guitar strings

Firms D'Addario and LaBella have long been producing a large line of various strings for classical and acoustic guitars. They are considered the most popular manufacturers - all their types of strings for a guitar have excellent characteristics and are not sold at such a high price (about 10 cu).

Separately are the strings of the French manufacturer Savarez. They are made of high-strength materials, have excellent sound data, and therefore they have a high cost (from 20 USD).

The most popular manufacturers of electric guitar and bass strings are Elixir and DR. Prices for them are very democratic: for electric guitars - from 20 USD, for a four-string bass - from 70 USD.

Why can't you put steel strings on a classical guitar?

Mechanics of pegs and stand in a classical guitar are made of lightweight materials. Therefore, only nylon strings can be put on this type of guitar - they are soft and not very tight, which means they are not able to break and spoil the instrument.

Steel strings are put on guitars with a reinforced construction, such as, for example, acoustic six-strings. Well, if you try to put nylon strings on an electric guitar, then make sure that the pickup simply cannot read sound vibrations from them.

Conclusion

So, in choosing the strings, you need to focus on the instrument itself, its strength or, on the contrary, softness, on the level of your technical mastery (tight or light stretch), on the practical purpose of the instrument (training, concert, studio, etc.) and the traditions established in guitar schools (preferences for materials of one type or another).

Of course, one of the most important criteria, and for some of them the main one, is the cost of the strings for the guitar. And still pay attention to the packaging of the strings - it must be applied not only to the characteristics of the product, but also the basic data of the manufacturer. Care will protect you from the purchase of a fake.

Check out other guitar related posts. Perhaps you will be interested in “Answers to questions about the guitar - 1st series” and “Answers to questions about the guitar - 2nd series”. Subscribe to site updates to receive new articles directly to your email inbox - the subscription form is located at the very bottom of this page.