I recently found out about a custom string maker here in L.A. - Guadalupe Custom Strings.
and wrote about it in another thread. There was some interest and we decided to make a field trip. Several TBers wanted to come, but only Landau Roof and My guitarist friend Johnny G made it. Too bad - It was very interesting
Guadalupe Custom Strings (GCS Lab) is located in a small shop in a very colorful East LA neighborhood. When I go back I will like to walk around a bit - at least in the daytime!
They started making strings for most of the local mariachis about 20+ years ago, and still do. They make strings for all types of stringed instruments including harps, ukeleles and guitarrons as well as guitars and basses. They wind metal as well as all types of nylon strings.
GCS believes that hex core is far inferior to round core. The hex is usually egg-shaped and the string ends up not being round. The string gets crimped going over the corners and the empty spaces cause bizarre harmonics as well as collecting grease and gunk, shortening the life of the string. They prefer the total 100% contact of winding to a round core.
There are only a couple of makers of all the core and winding materials, and they get them from the same places as the big guys do. We were told that Nickel strings are plated steel, so they don't have just Stainless Steel strings. They do not make flatwounds. Gabriel says that flatwounds are very difficult to make well, and feels that only the German makers do it properly.
This is a small part of their materials inventory -
Gabriel runs the place and he and Jacob wind the strings to the customer's order. Jacob has been winding strings for decades and makes it look easy. The machines are custom made and it takes them only a minute or so to wind a guitar string.
Bass strings are the most work as they may have 3 different windings to build up the mass. It seems that this may be what makes one string different from another in addition to the material, as the sizes of the different windings can be juggled as long as it reached the proper total weight.
Further, Gabriel feels that the size of the string is only a starting point, as it is the sound of the product that is the real goal. It is convenient for the big names to keep everything the same, but in reality, some odd sizes may have the best results. He suggests that people bring in their instrument and have strings custom designed for their needs.
Here Jacob is making some nylon strings.
Then Gabriel ran off a nylon string for us to show how it is done, along with the silk wrapping, that he says is designed to damp harmonics.
They also ran off a custom uke string to complete a set for the multi-talented Landau Roof that also plays uke.
Gabriel was a very gracious host, and took a lot of his time explaining everything to us and answering questions. I will be going back soon with one of my short scale basses to get some good new strings for it. Gabriel recommends Friday afternoons and calling for an appointment first.
Afterwards, we went a few blocks to Ciro's Restaurant for some authentic local cuisine. There were only locals and cops in there - a good indicator.
All in all - a very good day!
and wrote about it in another thread. There was some interest and we decided to make a field trip. Several TBers wanted to come, but only Landau Roof and My guitarist friend Johnny G made it. Too bad - It was very interesting
Guadalupe Custom Strings (GCS Lab) is located in a small shop in a very colorful East LA neighborhood. When I go back I will like to walk around a bit - at least in the daytime!
They started making strings for most of the local mariachis about 20+ years ago, and still do. They make strings for all types of stringed instruments including harps, ukeleles and guitarrons as well as guitars and basses. They wind metal as well as all types of nylon strings.
GCS believes that hex core is far inferior to round core. The hex is usually egg-shaped and the string ends up not being round. The string gets crimped going over the corners and the empty spaces cause bizarre harmonics as well as collecting grease and gunk, shortening the life of the string. They prefer the total 100% contact of winding to a round core.
There are only a couple of makers of all the core and winding materials, and they get them from the same places as the big guys do. We were told that Nickel strings are plated steel, so they don't have just Stainless Steel strings. They do not make flatwounds. Gabriel says that flatwounds are very difficult to make well, and feels that only the German makers do it properly.
This is a small part of their materials inventory -
Gabriel runs the place and he and Jacob wind the strings to the customer's order. Jacob has been winding strings for decades and makes it look easy. The machines are custom made and it takes them only a minute or so to wind a guitar string.
Bass strings are the most work as they may have 3 different windings to build up the mass. It seems that this may be what makes one string different from another in addition to the material, as the sizes of the different windings can be juggled as long as it reached the proper total weight.
Further, Gabriel feels that the size of the string is only a starting point, as it is the sound of the product that is the real goal. It is convenient for the big names to keep everything the same, but in reality, some odd sizes may have the best results. He suggests that people bring in their instrument and have strings custom designed for their needs.
Here Jacob is making some nylon strings.
Then Gabriel ran off a nylon string for us to show how it is done, along with the silk wrapping, that he says is designed to damp harmonics.
They also ran off a custom uke string to complete a set for the multi-talented Landau Roof that also plays uke.
Gabriel was a very gracious host, and took a lot of his time explaining everything to us and answering questions. I will be going back soon with one of my short scale basses to get some good new strings for it. Gabriel recommends Friday afternoons and calling for an appointment first.
Afterwards, we went a few blocks to Ciro's Restaurant for some authentic local cuisine. There were only locals and cops in there - a good indicator.
All in all - a very good day!
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All that I've played are solid, nylon (Martin) and nylon/gut hybrid (Aquila Nygut) strings. I was a bit afraid to get wound strings because the tiny size of the frets won't be able to deal with much wear.
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