Anyone else remember Black Diamond strings?

[teleamp]

I mean the old sixties brand, most were rusty out of the package... I remember the first time I saw someone slide their finger up the little E, I thought they were crazy, Black Diamond was all that was available to me.

[dneal]

Guy Clark and Emmylou Harris sing "Black Diamond Strings"

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by dneal

Guy Clark and Emmylou Harris sing "Black Diamond Strings"

LMAO!!! Exactly what I was thinking. You beat me to it.

[bozz_2006]

Lord I wish I had some guitar strings Old Black Diamond brand
I'd string up this old Martin box and go and join some band
But I guess I'll just stay right here just pick and sing a while
Try to make me a little change and give them folks a smile.
Get myself a rockin' chair
To see if I can lose
Them thin dime hard times
Hell on Church Street blues.

[Opa John]

Oh yeah......I remember Black Diamond strings. When I was 15 (in '58) I didn't know there was any other brand on the market. The Black Diamonds were sold at just about every corner drug store back then. You could buy a single string or a whole set. I think the whole set of six strings was something like a buck-fifty, but I never bought a complete set of 'em. I always just replaced whatever string I'd just broken!

I was probably close to high school graduation before I ever bought a whole complete new set of strings.

[Wally]

Absolutely - the only brand you could buy in my hometown. Available at the local Drug Store.

[BEADGCF]

Black Diamond strings were all I could afford as a kid.

I changed them every year whether they needed changing or not!

They seemed to get rusty and rough after a while. I would rub a cloth up and down to clean them.

Callous builders.

[Tony Burns]

Those and Harmony guitars -- kinda crappy strings as they went - dont miss them !

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Tony Burns

Those and Harmony guitars -- kinda crappy strings as they went - dont miss them !

I certainly remember using Black Diamond strings on my old Harmony guitar back in about 1966. The world of guitar strings has changed quite dramatically over the last 45-50 years.

- Glenn

[YamaYairi]

When I was a kid I used the Black Diamond strings because they were the cheapest in the shop and I had no money. When the high E would break near the end I would twist it back together and solder it. When I got a job I discovered Martin strings.

[DCannon]

Most definitely. I remember my first gig after graduating college was with John Prine in 1970 at the 5th Peg Pub in Chicago (it was his first gig as well). He was playing the same D-28 he's playing today and one night when we were talking guitars, I asked him what strings he was using. I'll never forget his reply... "Black Diamond heavy gauge". I don't even remember what strings I was using back then but don't recall ever using Black Diamond. Seems to me I was using D'Angelico at the time. For some reason, just never got on the Black Diamond bus.

DC

[ljguitar]

Hi folks...

Not only do I remember them, you can still buy them!

I'm not going to risk money on a set. People could buy them at the music store, grocery store, or the Rexall Drug Store when I was a kid.

[geordie]

oh yeah, thel string 'problems' we seem to have today

Originally Posted by geordie

Cathedral Strings and Black Diamond Strings
Bailing Wire, if ya weren't 'mad for it' these strings were enough to put you off.

[williejohnson]

They were the only strings around when I first started to play. I think I still have a couple of individual strings left somewhere.

[Rodger Knox]

They were the only brand that was available as single strings when I was a kid, I only used them when I broke a string on a relatively new set.