GUITAR STRINGS

Guitar strings play the most vital role on how your music will sound. Whether you are a beginner playing at your home or a street singer or maybe want to have fun at any campfire, choosing the right guitar string is most important to sound beautiful. If you visit any music store, you will find varieties of guitar strings depending on their material and quality and most importantly durability. And the price range of the string set you will find is $10-$100. So, its important to know about guitar strings before you get one for you.

Guitar Type

For better understanding we can differentiate the type of guitar in two categories- Classical guitar and Steel String flattops.  In general classical guitar does not have such neck strength to accommodate  the steel strings, that’s why Nylon Strings are used for classical guitars. On the other hand, the Steel String Flattops guitars are designed to hold much greater tension of the steel strings. Now, lets get to know about these two types of strings.

Steel Strings

Steel strings are most common and easy to get in almost all types of music store, and definitely as a beginner i hope you did not get a classical guitar. So, the starting of learning guitar should start with the steel strings. Due to the material, Steel strings have a much brighter and clear tone which is ideal for rock, pop and country songs. But the interesting fact is that all of them are not made out of steel. There are different materials for different strings that are used for its required tone. Even if you get a set of strings, you will find, all 6 strings are not made of or covered with the same material. In general, following materials are used for steel strings:

Bronze: Gives bright, clear tone but less durability

Phosphor Bronze: It has a longer life than regular bronze strings with a slightly deep and warmer tone.

Silk and Steel: It has a mellow tone with a smooth feel.

Brass: It has a more bright tone, clear and metallic sound.

Polymer-coated: The sound is more warm, less sustain, less finger and has a longer life. 

String Components

To get a little deeper, in general steel strings contain three layers of material. However, the 1st and 2nd string does have only one single material. To have idea about the three layer lets  have some brief ideas:

CORE: The core is generally made of steel. It can be of two shapes: round and hex, the round core helps to produce a more mellow, consistent and bass laden tone, and hex produces more chiming, loud and erratic tone. This core material is only used for 1st and 2nd strings of a guitar.

WINDING: adobe the core section, whole portion is wrapped with another layer of string typically bronze or brass. It is given to produce a more specific tone which is bright yet restrained. Some of the winding methods are flatwound. These are generally quiet, flat and produce a dark tone. They are mostly used by Jass guitarists.

COATING: So, the last layer contains a polymer coating. The coating is given for durability purposes, fighting against corrosion and typically possess double the life of non coated strings. Definitely the coating of strings will affect its pricing also towards being expensive. 

So, I hope you have understood the quality and factors which are making the variation of the same Acoustic Guitar Strings. 

Choosing For Your Guitar

Now, once you plan to get the string the material you are selecting is mostly for the durability and to some extent for variation of sound. Depending on your choice of music genre, you may keep these in mind. Now, once we talk about different types and shapes of guitar, the strings have variation on their thickness which is known as GAUGE. Most beginners overlook the gauges wherelese, the gauges of string have a huge impact on overall sound. In general there are 5 gauges. Let’s discuss them one by one:

10S: This is also known as extra light strings, getting the term ‘EXTRA LIGHT’ might make you worried that the durability will be less. But that’s not the fact. This extra light gauge produces a more bright and punchy tone. In general, they are used on small-sized guitars but may not be recommended for large sized guitars. 

11S: It’s a custom light string, kind of a position between light and extra light. These strings are commonly used on Parlor Guitars and other small styles of guitars. It has a bright and punchy tone and can accompany well with other instruments. These strings are a great option for beginners, as they are easy to push down and bend. So, you can play well with your fingers and the strings.

12S: Also known as Light strings. This string is suitable for all sized guitars. It has a little warmer tone than 10S and 11S and is also strong enough to accommodate the big sized dreadnought guitars. If someone is confused which to buy, maybe a beginner or an intermediate, this is the best option.

13S: This string provides a resonating, bass-laden tone which goes great with big guitars. You can play rhythm, or just play instrumentals, maybe with some other instruments, these strings are a great option.

14S: This is the thickest string you will come across for acoustic guitar. These are heavy strings, mostly designed for large guitars and producing a large bassy sound. Due to greater thickness it produces deep and bassy sound and will loud out the whole single room.

Note that, no matter which strings you are choosing for your guitar, it is always preferred to change the string every after 100 playing hours or 3 months whichever comes first. 

Nylon Guitar Strings

Nylon strings are  made mainly for classical guitars. This sting suits folk, flamenco guitarists. The nylon string has a mellower, warmer tone than strings. In general, playing instrumental and fingerpicking are the popular choices to be played with nylon strings. They have little varieties mostly with their material:

Titanium: This is corrosion resistant, smooth feel with a bright tone

Clear Nylon: It produces rich and clear tone

Black Nylon: Warmer and pure tones

Rectified Nylon: Mostly Mellow, clear sound with round tones

Composite: Bright sound with a smooth transition and good projection

Conclusion

Choosing the string for your guitar is solely your own choice, it’s mostly influenced by your type of guitar, your music taste and playing style. So, without rushing to get one, just have a general idea and overtime you can experiment with different categories of strings to choose the perfect one that fits you.