Cheap Guitar Strings And The Best Strings You Can Buy

The right guitar strings - what can be more fundamental to your sound? But what makes the best guitar string for your instrument and your style of music? Can you buy strings safely in bulk? What are the qualities you might look for in a beginner guitarist's strings or those used by a professional? This page will tell you what to look out for and what the pitfalls can be.

Whether you are looking for acoustic guitar strings, electric guitar strings, bass guitar strings or simply wondering what makes all these brands so different, please read on. I have a few trade secrets to tell!

Intro image is my own photo, please do not copy.

What type of guitar do you play?

This might seem like a silly thing to say, but people can and do buy the wrong guitar strings for themselves and for their guitars. The results can be disastrous for fingers and for instruments. So, first of all, what is your guitar like?

If your guitar is a plain wooden guitar with half nylon and half wound strings, you will need classical guitar strings - you must not use steel strings as this will break the instrument over time!

Never Cripple your Classical Guitar with Metal Strings!

I have seen it so many times in my career, advised about it so often, seen this advice ignored by boys (usually) who know best and then blame the instrument when it warps. Classical guitars are built for lightness and resonance, not strength. the woods used give them a naturally warm and full sound that some guys just don't like. They are built for a wide range of sounds, effects, and solo playing. Folk guitars are massively reinforced. For that reason they don't resonate as much but do produce that lovely jangly, tinkly sound that is so good for accompanying songs. They have a very small dynamic range which can be enhanced only with amplification and graphic equalisers. The pull of steel strings will bow the neck and body of a classical guitar quickly and permanently and make it unplayable.

If you want a tinkling acoustic, buy a folk guitar!

Not all nylon strings are the same. They come in different tensions, hard tension producing more volume and a tighter sound, low tension being more gentle on the fingers. Most players have a favorite brand. Mine are Augustines, but ProArte strings are great too.

If you play an acoustic guitar you can choose between phosphor bronze and nickel steel sets. The acoustic "steel strung" guitar usually sounds better with phosphor bronze sets, but electric guitar sets will substitute in a crisis.

Getting a good acoustic sound

Actually, the term acoustic guitar is a pet hate. All musical instruments and guitars are acoustic! However the term usually means folk or country style guitar with metal strings. These are usually referred to as "steel strung" but usually only the two thinnest strings are actually steel. The others will be either copper brass or phosphor bronze wound strings. What determines the sound quality is the string gauge. Heavier gauge strings have more metal mass to vibrate and give a bigger warmer sound but they are much harder to play and more suitable for the experienced guitarist. Many acoustic players compromise by using heavy strings, downtuning and using a capo. This lowers the action and the string tension, but gives the heavier mass for that deeper sound.

Yes, the classical guitar is also acoustic BUT you need nylon strings for it. Phosphor bronze strings give your folk guitar a great round sound, but they will destroy a classical guitar. Here are some good guitar strings you can trust for folk guitars with steel string set ups..

Phosphor bronze strings don't work so well with pickups though, so stick to electric guitar strings for electric guitars!

An individual preference, but some general principles.

The heavier the gauge of your string set, the more tone you are going to get out of your guitar. If you find you bend a lot of notes, a lighter gauge set will be easier. The average gauge E string is a .009 or .010, both are good solid performers and easy to bend. If you have little strength an 008 might be the answer. If you want a big tone, then go for an .011 or .012 E string set but these will punish your fingers more. If your band consistently detunes for numetal, you may want to use heavier strings - maybe even a 013 top.

My personal recommendation? Try Elixir strings - they keep their tone for many, many months even with heavy every day use.

If you have a bass guitar, check whether you need 4, 5 or even 6 strings and whether it is short scale or long scale. The right string length is even more important than choice of gauge or style. (Roundwound, flatwound, black nylon etc) Most beginner basses are set up for 4 strings, but 5 strings are becoming more and more popular and many pros ( like Abe Laboriel) will use 6 string basses.

How many strings in a set? What is the composition of bass strings?

Bass guitar strings come in long and short scale, check before buying whether your bass has a long scale. It is disheartening to find the strings are too short! Is it 4, 5 or even 6 strings. Do you prefer the smooth feel of flatwound strings, the thud of black nylon on acoustic bass guitar or the bright sound of roundwound strings? Remember heavier gauge strings are harder to play and stress the neck more but they do sound louder and fuller in tone.

Again, Nanowebs are my bass string of choice. The initial expense is easily offset by the lasting tone on these.

Is it a risk or a necessity?

Most session players change their strings whenever they have a recording. It keep the sound bright and clean. It used to be that strings would rust in the packet if you kept them too long, but these days most good quality strings are packaged airtight and bulk buying should be fine. Obviously it saves money, but unless you go through a lot of strings it might be wiser just to buy a few spares in case of breakages. I usually keep a few D strings on hand for the classical guitar as they wear quickly. On the electric, I might keep a few spare 009s and 010s, but as I rarely break a string they mostly go to students. If you are breaking a lot of strings it is usually down to poor tuning, poor plectrum grip or poor string cleaning. It is worth checking all of these.

I hope this article about guitar strings will be helpful to you. Thank you for visiting.