Electic String Variables

[Pualee]

I joined the GC string club, and plan to take full advantage of it. Today is my 2nd time getting discount strings, but I want to use this to try lots of strings over the next year.

I play a MIM Standard Telecaster. The songs I play are generally praise and worship, but it also includes some elements of southern rock, blues, and funk. I am really intrigued by jazz as well, and I prefer big warm clean tones, barely on the edge of distortion. I use a Mustang III, so I have a lot of variability in my tone options there (please don't mock my comment about distortion above).

I don't do a lot of big bends (not good at them), but I like small 1/4 tone bends and vibrato. I prefer a lot of sliding rather than bending.

What kind of strings should I try out? So I try multiple diameters? Nickel vs steel? Flats vs round? What are the big variables tone wise and technique wise for experimenting with strings?

[Bob Womack]

Well, the basics are contained in a few contrasts:

nickel plated steel vs. nickel steel
round wound vs. flat wound
heavier vs lighter strings

Try them all, changing one thing at a time. I started out during the transition from nickel steel to nickel plated and for years my experience was limited to the plated strings. Then I read an article about the difference, tried nickel steel, and went to them for everything, liking the little "snark" they added to the tone. Then I got a guitar that I really loved the sound of that came with plated strings and realized I preferred them on that and a couple of other guitars for their bright, glassy sound. Now I've experimented to develop my own preferences for strings for each guitar.

Since you like to slide and like jazz, it makes sense to try flat wounds. They are quite different - they can sound thunky. See if you like them.

And gauge. Now the macho, macho men will swear you need thick telephone poles to get any tone, but the dirty little secret is that different people get great tones from different gauges. You'll find that heavier gauges hold tune really easily but demand more muscular playing. Lighter strings allow really subtle nuance in bending and intra-chordal pitch articulation but you have to have a light touch on high frets or they'll bend sharp from pressure.

Have fun with it!

Bob

[MuddyDitch]

In my completely biased opinion pure nickel strings are my favorites. DR Pure Blues .12s. I use them on all my electric guitars (CV Strat, Baja Tele, Hagstrom Viking).

Erik

[Davis Webb]

They ship with 9s and that is how they sound best. I used 10s and lost most of the twang. And the bends were a tad harder.

As for type, Ernie Ball Super Slinkys work quite well.

[moon]

Since it's an electric guitar with magnetic pickups I go by the philosophy that more iron must be better so Fender 350r (stainless steel) work for me.

I haven't done any proper testing but I sort of expect to get a little extra clarity with steel. My single-ended Tweed Champ can be an articulate little amp and maybe that helps to get the most out of it.

[clintj]

I generally run nickel steel round wounds on my guitars. My Tele gets 10 gage, and for that guitar it works well for my style. Not so light that I pull notes sharp unintentionally, but not too hard to get a full tone or greater bend when playing blues. The only guitar I run heavy strings on is my semi-hollow, but it has a lot of natural resonance to offer up with them. My 2 cents would be to find a gauge of string you like the feel of, then experiment with winding, alloy, etc.