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Guitarists and Guitar Strings

mdlewis

mdlewis

Supporting Member
Jan 1, 2005
819
1,058
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Boston Metro
#1
Just got to thinking about this today after ordering my first set of Olintos and wondered what other's experience might be. My very long time guitar associate friend is obsessive about body styles, neck shapes, pickups, tuners, amps and pedals but uses the same strings on all his guitars that he has used for probably four decades or more. My experience with bass is that strings matter a lot and so I'm finding his lack of interest in strings interesting. Do they make less of a difference for guitar, or are guitarists generally not as interested in strings as bass players are, or is my case just unique?
 
#5
UntitledProject said:
I think part of why guitarists may not focus as much on strings is the amount of coloration after the string many use. Effects, amps, speakers, etc... where many bassists are in situations where they are effectively sending their instrument straight to a di. The string makes a bigger difference when it's the lone variable.
Click to expand...
I think this might be reason that as tindrum said above, "There are bunch of guitarists who just buy whatever is on sale", or as in this case, buy the same strings over and over again.
 
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#7
In the electric guitar world, many guitarists are more focused on string gauge va string materials/construction. You’ll hear guitarists posting about 9, 10, or 11s, referring to the gauge of the high E string and factors like sustain, tension and ease of bending strings. Many guitarists are somewhat protective of their preferred gauge. Trying to convince someone on 9s to try 10s or vice versa is tantamount to asking to them to give up their first born.

I was a hardcore 10s player but have moved back to 9s in recent years.

Type of guitar, fixed bridge, floating bridge or locked bridge is part of the equation. A Strat player may want to use 10s to improve sustain and reduce tuning challenges on a Strat tremolo bridge.
 
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#9
There’s a steel versus nickel debate(plus cobalt), as well as the coated discussion occasionally(more for acoustic players), and brand loyalty comes into play, all of this in addition to guage preference. I used to use GHS, but have settled on Ernie Ball, as they are more creative with their guage offerings(the hybrid skinny top, heavy bottom, and 9.5 sets). Plus they’re made near me, for whatever that’s worth. As for me on bass strings, I’m the guy digging through the blow-out bin, it’s all good as long as they are notable brands and rounds.
 
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#10
I'm always amazed at how many of my guitarist friends pay almost no attention to style or brand. They care a bit about string gauge. Maybe they care about stainless vs. nickel plated. Maybe. But most of them don't even know what brand they have on their instruments. They tell me they just got whatever is cheapest in their gauge. Mind boggling.

That said, the ones who are like that are all guitar hobbyists. The ones who make a living playing definitely care about what strings they use.
 
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#11
Most guitarists I know are no where near as picky about strings as I am as a bassist. For me, the gauge of guitar strings is more important than the brand or necessarily construction. Probably because I've primarily been playing bass for 30 years, but I simply cannot play a guitar in tune with 9 gauge strings. They are too light. That being said, I do prefer SS strings on a guitar.
 
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#12
As someone who primarily gigs on bass but does a lot of writing on guitar, and currently is about equally likely to grab either when playing at home, I would say that I do think a lot more about bass strings than guitar. Most of the time the only thing I change regarding my guitar strings is the gauge, since I use a bunch of different tunings, and I recently have gotten back into slide guitar so I've made some changes based upon that. I'm currently using Ernie Ball Slinky strings, in part because they are readily available in an absurd number of gauges so it makes grabbing new ones to suit my current wishes on that front incredibly easy.

Part of this is probably the fact that I own more basses than guitars. For my main gigging bass plus backup, I tend to stick with the same tried and true strings I've used since I was literally a teenager, whereas for other basses I like to use different stuff for different tones or just to experiment, including things like I typically always have a bass with flats these days even though I'm not certain ever done a single gig or recording session on flats.
 
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#14
For most players, guitar and bass, we tend to stay with a particular brand, style and gauge of string. Bass players are a bit more adventurous often going with the trends like flats, short scale and active and so forth. When I worked in a music store selling strings and other accessories helped to keep the doors open and the lights on. You got to know the regulars often by the strings they chose. Before the internet & bulk buying those regular visits were a way to keep up with what was "new" gear wise. many visited the store to pickup the monthly Guitar Player or other magazine as well. So it was a point not to overlook those "regular" shoppers.
One of the mistakes that the big box music stores get wrong is putting those items out of the way because they are small ticket. Marketing folks who drive such things are all to often stupid when it comes to the brass tacks as are the CEO and other corporate officers.
The other mistake is making working the accessory counter a curse that sellers despise and all too often are not informed about. Instead of it being a necessary and sales driving profit maker.
I had to know the difference between styles of strings bass, electric and acoustics as well as being able to pull a custom set for a particular steady customer. At Musical Exchange in Austin we carried strings that no one else in town stocked had and that kept a good bit of steady traffic going.
At LMSI I was the accessory buyer and got a % commission on strings and accessories sold and my check was often higher than the other "department' sellers that focused on big ticket items. Eventually that changed and my commission was halved, split with the other half going to the ringer. Then they paid attention.
 
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#17
mdlewis said:
Just got to thinking about this today after ordering my first set of Olintos and wondered what other's experience might be. My very long time guitar associate friend is obsessive about body styles, neck shapes, pickups, tuners, amps and pedals but uses the same strings on all his guitars that he has used for probably four decades or more. My experience with bass is that strings matter a lot and so I'm finding his lack of interest in strings interesting. Do they make less of a difference for guitar, or are guitarists generally not as interested in strings as bass players are, or is my case just unique?
Click to expand...
When I took up acoustic guitar two years ago I blew through something like seven different string sets in about three months. I eventually found something I really liked and don't feel motivated to keep blowing money on trying more, and although they are relatively expensive at $20 a set they do last me at least three months. Next time around I'll probably buy a three pack and be good for a year. On electric guitar I'm like many players: found my brand and gauges a zillion year ago, and only very recently have found a new type from that brand and a thicker gauge set that will bump up longevity and end up costing about the same as the old favorites over their respective lifetimes. For me amps, pedals, and playing style trump string type every time for electric guitar.

But for bass a live FOH feed is common, and I personally rarely use effects these days, and don't care about recording, so at first blush it's a different world. I do have a quirky slide bass habit and never play fretted basses, so all of that together makes for much more specific ongoing string preferences. I only own two basses and strings typically last me for multiple years, but $25-35 once in a while to experiment = cheap thrills, mostly. I just took another stab at roundwounds on one bass, but they probably won't stick around or too long. AFAIK there are really only two brand choices for current production Pressurewounds, both of which work great for me. So one bass with extra lights, one with something a little stiffer...done! Not that different than guitar after all. ;)
 
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#18
The point has already been made about guitar signal processing having possibly more impact than string choice. I have worked quite a lot with a guitarist who plays straight into his amp. He uses EB or Fender 9-46 on an old Tele usually through a Princeton. Cleans his strings after every set, usually replaces them after 3 gigs. He's probably the most fastidious one I know.

I never had much concern when I played guitar except I really liked Martin Silk and Steels (do the still make those?) on acoustic. I have a lot of basses and have not found one string brand or type that I like for all of them.

BBB
 
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