Strings are, of course, a relevant topic for all of us, yet it seems like its one of those things a lot of players don’t seem to pay enough attention to. Sure, there are more important components of your signal chain which influence your sound, but the type, gauges and material of strings DOES have an influence on the sound and playability, and it’s well worth the effort of trying different types of strings to find the best ones for you.
Let’s start with materials. The main categories are steel, nickel-plated and pure nickel.
Steel has a quite bright sound, and is resistant to the effects of humidity and perspiration, so they last quite some time.
Compared to that, pure nickel strings aren’t quite as durable, and volume-wise, they don’t have quite as much output as nickel-plated and steel, and they do sound a bit darker and fuller. I know a lot of players who prefer pure nickel over nickel-plated or steel for their vintage (or vintage-style, as in reissue) instruments. For my vintage-style Strat, I have recently switched to pure nickel, rollerwound strings. They feel and sound quite a bit different from the pure steel strings I used on that guitar before, but seem to fit the basic characteristic of the guitar a bit better.
Of course, all that is just a generalization, but it seems as if for metal-type guitars and sounds, steel strings and nickel-plated seem to be a favorite (steel or gold-plated strings being a good alternative for those of us with a nickel-allergy), while pure nickel is more preferred for vintage instruments and more classic sound. Flatwounds, of course, are quite popular among jazz-players, while only few rock-players use those, usually only as an experiment or for a slightly different sound. They do help eliminate unwanted noises like the squeaky sound you get sliding along the string, but a) flatwounds do sound and feel different, so its a question whether you like using them just to eliminate those noises, b) modern strings with Gore-Tex (or any kind of similar material) has pretty much the same effect, so there’s an alternative c) its questionable to me whether you really WANT to get rid of those noises, as they are a typical characteristic of the guitar… thats a matter of opinion and taste though.
The nickel strings I use on the Strat were roller-wound, by the way…
Regarding gauges, its really up to you what you like regarding playability. A lot of people stick to the good ol’ “Fat strings= fat sound”, which is not quite as easy… it also depends on the other components of your guitar and rig, and also, even though bigger strings have more mass, thinner strings compensate for that a bit because they move more, vibrate more, swing wider, as they have less mass, which can bring their output and “fatness” to a similar level.
I usually prefer .009-.042s for most guitars, because I like their playability (I have experimented with hybrid sets, too… bigger bass strings), but on the Strat, I use a set of .010-.050. It might be just me, but I feel that with a .010-gauge, I have a bit more control when it comes to fast picking. So I stick to those two gauges mainly. I have used different gauges before, though, even a set of .008-.038 (Paul Gilbert and Brian May for example use thin strings like that too, and as far as I know, so does or did Allan Holdsworth).
There are even more factors involved, like for example the diameter of the string core… a bigger core might give you more sustain, higher volume and higher durability. However, the prize you pay is that they’re a bit harder on the fingers, as strings with bigger cores are “stiffer”. Also, the scale of your instrument is another factor. A set of .011-052 might feel great on, say, a Les Paul with the shorter Gibson-scale, while it might really be hard on your fingers when it comes to a guitar with the longer Fender-type scale.
A lot of people stick to their brand and type of strings, and I support that, because I think that at some point, you should stop changing stuff around all the time and focus on the playing (otherwise, you’ll spend way too much time adjusting to those little or big changes), but I think everyone should take some time and experiment with different types and gauges of strings to find the one that he or she likes most, sound-wise and playability-wise.
Maybe this post will give you something to start with… believe me, it DOES make quite a difference, and I am not even talking yet about even “smaller details” like picks etc. So maybe its a good idea to try a different kind of string? =)
