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Newb question: Are there acoustic strings that are better than others?


kwillman

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HEY YOU SUMBICH, I sayed the same durn thang up there before! Ok, you may have better buk larnin' an all, and may have said the durn thing better 'ceat fer all them doller words. Have the 2 forum scolders ever given it any thought that perhaps this person "got" his answer, and that was that. Not everyone longs for the "community" of faceless folk and fake names.

 

Dang Neal, I'm from Arkansas and I had to read this three times before I finally got it... I think it was the "buk larnin'" part an all that throwed me. Now, STFU you lar and let the grown folk post! :D

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Hey guys, as the title asks. I'm looking for advice on what strings to get for novice level play. Are certain ones better than others at this level? Thanks.

 

Well, there are certainly several different sounding strings. Some folks will like one over another and vice versa. Basically, there are (i) string composition (which metals are used), (ii) gauge (thickness of strings), (iii) core design (round or hex) and (iv) coated or non-coated.

 

 

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Which metals used, as well as the alchemy involved in making them, don't forget. As the Sword of Issgard could not have been produced without those elves, and a series of folding, spells, and hammering, most good..and I mean "good" strings produced today contain that special Elven Magick. Take your plain old GHS strings, no elves. But still good for the beginner. When you're ready to give your soul up to Astrogat, God of Iron and Frets, only then will the composition matter. Amirite guys?

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Well by the Bowels of Assinbowls, I believe you speak the truth Neal of Fray. Err, isn't alchemy the notion that any cheap junk material can be turned to gold, or some such archaic presumption? I do believe in it to a point because, well, there's the BeeGees.

 

Cheap strings are another thing the alchemists believed in but it was, in reality, the violins instead.

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Neal, just drop that stupid tablet. I gave up on ANY device that does not have a real button-to-press keyboard and at least the option to add a mouse or a mousepad or any pother real pointing device. Now I have a Lenovo X-Series notebook, an 8" Lenovo Tablet with external Bluetooth mouse and keyboard and an Asus Transformrt TF 100. All of them have at least the option to use a real input device and all of them run a real OS, not some tweaked cellphone gazinga.

 

Oh, and to the OP: Yes, there are better ones, but more importantly, there are worse. The good thing is, nobody can really help you as it is all about the individual perception of tone and the individual chemistry of your sweat. Strings that work for me (D'Addario EXP 16) might not work for you and strings that I loathe (Green-Box/Blue Box Martin Strings) may be your favourites. One man's meat, another man's poison.

Strings are cheap. Go out, play and try as many as you can get. You will find your way.

And yes, your taste WILL change over time, so will your choice of sytrings. Even more: what works on one guitar not necessairly works on another...

So, have fun!

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So, what are we talking about here. Strings was it? I agree with katopp. I think I ran the entire spectrum of cheap to posh strings and all it net me is the ability to say I did it and all for a thinner wallet. So, you're gonna hafta do the same damned thing to answer your questions. I also agree with anyone's negative assessment of Martin Strings, but they may be your go-to strings. See how that works? I could offer you all of them, rate the worst in my opinion, and you end up liking my worst.

 

Dragon Skins. Absolutely the worst I've ever sampled yet people readily quip 'I love'm!"

Any coated string - same thing.

 

Funny thing about those coated strings. People will actually line up and take a number to say they experience them as longer lasting.

 

People, metalurgically speaking, a string of a particular diameter of a particular alloy stretched to a particular tension will lose its elasticity and begin to degrade regardless of a coating - battered, fried, swaddled in crinoline, soaked in machine oil, basted and baked in some kind of elastomer or epoxy matrix, or other imagining - coatings do not extend the life of the sonic qualities of a piece of metal so-exposed. Get it through your heads already. And, that period of time, again regardless of coatings (because it needs to be repeated) is about three weeks under regular play of about 1-2 hours a day and 4 weeks simply static and under tension. The brilliance is gone after a month of non-play in the trebles.

 

What you're "hearing" otherwise about coated strings is bullshit from people who believe in things they don't understand yet take someone elses word for it. Advertising once again trumps the ignorant masses. Gee, when has that ever occurred before???? Don't want to get all human-transcendent here but I think we know what we know and make up what we don't.

 

So, get the cheapest strings that sound good and change every about 3-4 weeks.

 

You're welcome.

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Neal, just drop that stupid tablet.
It's sooo dang convenient though. This is the only place I have issues with, so.. I'll live with it. Plus, and this could go hand in hand with my thoughts on Zager... it's one of those expenses, price of tuition if you will, and still does pretty much what I need it to do. But point taken! On strings.. Metal. Yep. Subtle nuance is not the bailiwick of the un-initiated. Go cheap.
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It's sooo dang convenient though. This is the only place I have issues with, so.. I'll live with it.

 

So is the Lenovo Miix8 (if you are into iPad mini) and the Asus Transformer TF100 if you are in full-fat iPad territory.

I've had a Gen1 iPad 3G/64 and I love it still - as a CONsumer appliance. As a PROsumer - it sucks. Big time. Try to write a long'ish mail and you feel the pain of not having a proper keyboard and mouse. Go editing something and hey - you get mad. Apart from the fact that Flash is out of the equation and that Opera is not really well supported by many sites - I'm done with Apple. I've moved back to proper OS's. Linux where I can and Windoze where I have to. No more souped-up cellphone OS's for me, thanks, but no thanks.

 

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