Wound B and E strings?

[TBman]

I've seen them online for classical guitars, but never for steel. I wonder if they would sound warmer than plain steel regardless of gauge.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by TBman

I've seen them online for classical guitars

Link(s) please.

[zombywoof]

I have been told by folks who know about such things that there is one classical guitar string maker which does offer sets with wound treble strings. The calculations that would have to go into producing wound treble strings would make them mind wobble.

[Moocheng]

I would think a wound B and E string would last all of five minutes,
the winding would have to be incredibly small they wouldn't hold up long.
The winding material would also have to have very little mass for a given pitch / tension

[philjs]

Originally Posted by TBman

I've seen them online for classical guitars, but never for steel. I wonder if they would sound warmer than plain steel regardless of gauge.

I'm a DADGAD player and have developed a preference for a wound 2nd string like I'm used to on my baritones. I've recently started using an uncoated D'Addario PB017 in lieu of a standard 017 plain steel string. The wound 2nd is warmer sounding but it's the feel of the wound string that appeals to me. I have to change them about twice as often as my usual EXP set but they work well and the tension of the wound vs the plain steel feels about the same.

I wish that D'Addario made something in their EXP PB line that was smaller than an 020 but such is life. FYI, an 020 at A has less tension than typical light gauges ADG strings but it's still a bit too heavy for me. Wyres makes an 018 in both coated and uncoated (which are very nice) but they're expensive. I've considered contacting Wyres and asking how much custom sets, basically their Pierre Bensusan DADGAD set but with a coated 018 in place of the plain steel 017, would cost but still have a bunch of EXPs to work through.

I don't know of any wound acoustic guitar strings smaller than 017...

Phil

[rmgjsps]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Link(s) please.

Savarez 520P -- treble "e" is not wound, but "b" is Great strings.

Thomastik-Infeld makes an all wound set. Sold as John Pearse Folk Fingerpicking PJ116. I have a set but have not tried them yet because the set I bought had a defective high "e" (it was about 7" too short to use! I have purchased a single replacement, but haven't tried the set yet. They are north of $20./set. I've seen them between $22 and $27 per set. I believe they can be used on either classicals or acoustics. Try Strings by Mail, or Strings and More. Either one will answer your questions pretty quickly by email.

The Savarez are also available on Amazon.

[M Hayden]

Also the Thomastik John Pearse Folk strings, which I use on my 1985 Martin. Wonderful strings, sharper than nylon and softer than steel. Both the E and B are wound.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by Moocheng

I would think a wound B and E string would last all of five minutes,
the winding would have to be incredibly small they wouldn't hold up long.
The winding material would also have to have very little mass for a given pitch / tension

I've long wished I could manipulate the tone of the treble strings with winding, but it doesn't seem practical. Wonder what the tension would have to be to compensate for the increased mass on wound treble strings.

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by M Hayden

Also the Thomastik John Pearse Folk strings, which I use on my 1985 Martin. Wonderful strings, sharper than nylon and softer than steel. Both the E and B are wound.

Yes, all 6 strings are wound and I agree, they are great strings.



Concept by John Pearse when he lived in Europe.
He later moved to the USA to head up Martin strings.
Left Martin and started his own company.
Thomastik-Infeld picked up on his original concept and named them after him. (information courtesy of Wade Hampton)

[XYRN]

I like John Pearse strings, have 'em on 4 guitars.
I didn't know about these, I'll have to order a set!

[JonWint]

I use Thomastik-Infeld KR-116 on my antique (originally gut-strung) guitars. E, A, and d strings are silver-plated copper flat wound over woven steel rope cores. g, b, and e strings are Nylon tape wound over woven steel rope cores. 90.6 lbs tension.

I've got 15 months on them already on 2 guitars. No plans to change them.

(They last longer than 5 minutes.)

[jemartin]

I was checking out Thomastik/ Infeld strings today... ready to order another 12 string set for my Guild F512. (Their Spectrum set of round wound Bronze sound great on it). I noticed while at juststrings.com that they make wound strings down to .014 (http://www.juststrings.com/toi-ac014.html)... which I have considered trying out in the unwound treble B position. I love their 12 string sets with Wound A octave strings in the set..Smaller than .020 anyway. These strings are steel.. not nylon. But I haven’t made up my mind yet whether to order the wound .014 strings for the B treble experiment... but if and when I do they will come from Just Strings... again.

[hammer40]

Originally Posted by rmgjsps

Savarez 520P -- treble "e" is not wound, but "b" is Great strings.

Thomastik-Infeld makes an all wound set. Sold as John Pearse Folk Fingerpicking PJ116. I have a set but have not tried them yet because the set I bought had a defective high "e" (it was about 7" too short to use! I have purchased a single replacement, but haven't tried the set yet. They are north of $20./set. I've seen them between $22 and $27 per set. I believe they can be used on either classicals or acoustics. Try Strings by Mail, or Strings and More. Either one will answer your questions pretty quickly by email.

The Savarez are also available on Amazon.

As mentioned, the 520P set does not have the wound 1st treble string. The Savarez 520P1 does have all wound trebles though, including the 1st treble string. Keep in mind, we are talking about nylon wound over nylon cores.

I have played the Savarez 520P1’s though, while I did like the tone, I felt the trebles lacked a little in sustain. Also, being wound there is quite a bit of string noise, despite being micro wound. The texture takes some getting used to if you play finger style.

[Steve DeRosa]

For those who may be a little light on prewar guitar history other than '1-3/4" neck' wound B strings were commonplace in the days before amplification, particularly among archtop players who needed to be heard above a full-boogie 20-piece horn section in a 2000+ seat theater; during its New York days Epiphone would set up your brand-new Triumph/Broadway/Deluxe/Emperor with your choice of wound or unwound B as an RPO factory option, and wound-B heavy-gauge sets could still be had through the early-70's as NOS (I recall several local mom-&-pop stores blowing out their early/mid-50's stock for 25-50 cents a set at the time). Inasmuch as the sets in question were gauged 15-62/15-64 the B string would come in at .018 - .020, readily available in modern production and IME not especially prone to breakage in its current role as a G string (or A-octave on a 12-string guitar); suffice it to say that such sets should never be used on a flattop guitar in standard tuning, and although Martin indeed marketed a wound B set through at least the early-40's (intended for use on their R-/C-/F-Series archtops) it was their (mis)use on flattop guitars that contributed to the move to heavier, unscalloped bracing by 1944. TMK the concept is catching on among owners of baritone guitars; much like the unwound G that has unfortunately become de rigeur on electric sets many savvy players find the plain second string strident and unbalanced, whereas a wound string provides a more even and complimentary response to the instrument's range - something I'll be checking out for myself next string change...

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by M Hayden

Also the Thomastik John Pearse Folk strings, which I use on my 1985 Martin. Wonderful strings, sharper than nylon and softer than steel. Both the E and B are wound.

"Flatwound nylon on a rope core" like with the Thomastik/ Infeld.

What a "rope" core is I don't know.