Sep 9, 2012
Everyone has their preferred string brand. Personally, I’ve always used Ernie Ball strings. I don’t actually know why, funnily enough. I used to use D-addarios when I was starting out but at some point I just switched over to EBs and never gave it a second thought.
However, like it or not, strings do have a tangible effect on your tone – new strings are usually crisp and clear, but with time, oxide and grime, they become dull sounding and hard on your fingers and frets. Also, sets of strings which are technically the same gauge but are from different manufacturers can have slightly different dimensions or specifications, which can affect the perceived string tension, and thus in turn affecting the all-important FEEL of a guitar.
That’s why, Guitarstuff New Zealand and Six-String Samurai are teaming up to bring you… The Trials of Stringcules!!
Catchy name, but what are you talking about?
Okay, so this is going to be a long-term test of a few of the main brands on the market to try and compare these factors:
- What each manufacturer’s set of strings sounds like just after a restring.
- What the set of strings sounds like after a few hours of solid play (i.e. how long does the “new string sound” last)
- What the set of strings sounds like after it’s well and truly DEAD (i.e. it’s been played, gigged, and is caked with grime and is pretty much black in colour!)
To try and make it as scientific as possible (so… not really that scientific), here’s what we’ll do:
Take one Fender HRR Strat (which I’ve been meaning to talk about on here since it’s my favourite, and only, Strat):
Put a set of 10-46 gauge strings on it.
Put it through our trusty Line 6 HD500 for consistency – all EQ settings flat.
Record a clip straight after a restring, then after roughly about 5 hours worth of play, then again after they’re well and truly hammered.
????
Profit!!
Well… hopefully YOU guys will be the ones who will profit, because you’ll be able to compare and contrast between the tones of each brand of strings and see which ones might suit you the best.
First up, GHS Boomers.
So, let’s jump right in! The first set that Dave at Guitarstuff kindly provided me with, was the GHS 10-46 Boomers. This afternoon I finally got around to restringing the Strat after not touching it for a few months.
The first thing I thought was, arghghhgg, why did I choose the guitar with the Floyd Rose bridge to do this with? Oh well, too late now.
I’m quite used to Floyds – they don’t daunt me at all, and it usually doesn’t take me long to do a restring, but unfortunately today Lady Luck… was being a bit of a bitch.
A few popped string blocks and re-kinked and re-curled ends later, I finally got it all in tune!
Here’s the “fresh restring” tone, just to kick things off:
I’ll be updating with the “after 5 hours” and “Dead On Arrival” levels of play when I can, so check back regularly!
After the GHS set pays its dues, my faithful Ernie Ball 10s will be the next ones on the line.
That’s all we’ve got today, and once again it’s all thanks to Guitarstuff New Zealand, who are wonderful to deal with for your strings and related accessories.
Samurai out!
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Off topic, but that strat really is pretty hot.
Tis! It’s been lying unused for a few months now but it’s going to start getting more play time now that my covers band is starting up again.
ooo! I’ve been waiting for this review,guess we will see the strat this saturday then?
Hmmmm, might do. The 5-way switch is a little intermittent though so I’m not sure I trust it for a gig at the moment… Yeah, talking about my own guitars has fallen behind a little since I started getting gear from our friendly local retailers to review – I guess that’s the best possible problem to have, though!
Aha, the string experiment has begun,nice! What’s next in line after GHS?
Haha yup! I’ll probably do my standard set of Ernie Ball strings after this, and then we’ll see what Guitarstuff NZ has in store for me!
On any of my guitars that I’m not running Elixirs on, I have GHS strings, both electric and acoustic. I can’t stand D’Addarrios
HAH, changing strings on an acoustic, unheard of!
I’d rather like to try some Elixirs as the last batch of strings I test out, since apparently they last forever.
Just a thought (love the work by the way!), is running them through a flat EQ the best way to compare? This may open up possibilities that some strings sound “better” when in fact a slight eq rejig would make another set sound EVEN “better”. But then again, that would involve subjective choices (on your behalf) to carry out the said eq rejig and get them sounding what you consider “best”.
TLDR/ as you were
Haha don’t worry, I read ALL the comments!
You’re right, they probably could sound better if I tweaked the settings for each set, but as you mentioned, that’s highly subjective.
I think for me the purpose is not so much as a direct correlation of “Hey this string set sounds good/crap” but more of how it sounds relative both to itself at varying stages of use.
I should probably play that guitar so I can get the “5 hours in” clip up sometime!
Would love to stand on the soapbox here a bit, Ed, and shout “YOU ARE BASTARDS ONE AND ALL!” to the music string importers of NZ. Why?? cos over and over I’ve found a string brand I like and then find you cannot get it as ‘demand is so small’ or some similar pinko commie excuse for not importing. So you import it yourself and now find the douchebags of NZ retail are lobbying to get you charged GST on it as ‘unfair competition’ when it’s entirely due to their utterly crappy service (or rather total lack of it).
And another thing – try the major NZ music chains for anything but a six string acoustic or electric guitar string set and you will get blank stares – say a 12 string electric light guage set for a Fender stratocaster XII or a light guage set for a long neck 5 string banjo and the useless wallies don’t have a thing despite a whole wall of D’Angelico ‘fall/rust to bits 5 seconds after you put on’ brand. God knows waht the mandolin players do and don’t even think about autoharp spares!