Strings!!! Arrrrgh ....

wim

On acoustic guitar sets, sometimes the G is plain steel, just like the B and high E except thicker. Has anyone here tried using wound strings just for the DAE on a gypsy jazz guitar? For sure this would last longer than using a wound G, I wonder how it sounds.

AndrewUlle

For a little over two bucks, you should try it out!
https://www.stringsbymail.com/thomastik-infeld-p20-plain-steel-guitar-3rd-string-g-020-single-5391.html

klaatu

Wim Glenn wrote: »

On acoustic guitar sets, sometimes the G is plain steel, just like the B and high E except thicker. Has anyone here tried using wound strings just for the DAE on a gypsy jazz guitar? For sure this would last longer than using a wound G, I wonder how it sounds.

Other than nylon strings, I've never seen an acoustic set with unwound G. Rock electric strings usually have unwound Gs, Jazz sets do not.

I've never had a problem with Argie G strings, I'm puzzled as to why so many people do.

I've tried others, including Galli and D'Addario, and have gone back to Argies, preferring the sound and feel. The D'Addarios sounded OK but seemed stiff, possibly because they have a hex core as opposed to the round core of Argies.

Chacun à son goût!

Chiefbigeasy

I went through the string dance for a long time too. As Buco said, it kind of depends on the guitar. I also suspect it depends on the setting. Since I don't get a chance to play in public very much, I find myself playing and practicing at home or with just one other person in a small room setting. Maybe that's why I have gravitated towards silk and steel strings.

Of the ones I've tried, the Lenzner Fisoma have been the most durable and best sounding strings of all. I also experimented with using a fatter set of strings in the hope of increasing sound range. Ended back with .10 set; just sounds and feels right (occainsonally will use slighter fatter E and B strings as many do).

jonpowl

I just replaced the G with another fresh Galli wound .23 G and my guitar sounds much better. The Galli 11s have been on about 4 or 5 weeks and the G had some serious wear around the frets. I had noticed the rhythm was not crunchy lately, and now it sounds great again.

Stringswinger

I have tried them all. Argies are my favorite and the G and D do wear way too fast (I buy extra D and G strings). But the truth is that silver plated strings wear out fast compared to other types of strings. (And I would bet that a plain G would be too loud and unbalanced)

Seeing as the silver plated Argies make my Dupont sound her best, I put up with using expensive strings that wear out too fast (now we know the real reason that guys like Michael Horowitz, **** and **** became dealers of Gypsy jazz guitars....so they could buy their strings at wholesale!).

For me, the whole thing is kind of a love-hate relationship that has been going on for years.

crookedpinky

I have decided to try D,addarios and just restrung the guitar yesterday. It'll be interesting to see how they last and sound after a few days. One thing I have found is that different guitars gives different results with different brands.

rgrice

Personally, Argentines are the best I've tried. I never thought I'd admit it, but my breaking them and wearing them out has mostly been my faulty technique. Do they wear pretty quickly? Yes, we all agree they do.
Fact is, I haven't broken one in going on a year and my lead player never breaks strings. When @Jazzaferri told me awhile back (as I was breaking them and using them up) that he never broke strings, I began to think it was me. I changed my grip and angle and my basic approach and it's like magic. I use a set of Argentines for weeks on end, gigging several times a week. I'm playing rhythm almost exclusively on 11s using a 3.5mm Wegen.

Buco

You can always slack your strings and give them a good wipe with vinegar to clean the grime off, they will sound pretty fresh afterwards.

While living in sometimes economically challenged Yugoslavia, changing the strings whenever you feel like it wasn't always a possibility so the common fix was to take them off and give them a quick boil in a water filled pot after which they would sound like brand new. Downside was they would break easier.

Lango-Django

Buco, I didn't know you were from the former Yugoslavia. When I was a teacher I had a bunch of wonderful grade four students who were Croatian Serb refugees and ever since I've been a big fan of former Yugoslavians.

And yeah, back in the sixties I used to do that trick of boiling the strings, too! Works great.