Gypsy strings: User's review

BluesBop Harry

Hi all,
I would like other members of this forum to help by posting here their opinions on the different brands of gypsy strings, so we can start a user review database and as this is a FAQ avoid having tons of posts everywhere about the same topic.

The main categories to rate are:

- Tone (Bright/Warm)
- String life span
- Feel (Stiff/slinky)

Feel free to add other aspects that may interest you.
As a reference it would be good to compare them with the standard which is of course Savarez Argentines.

Thanks.

BluesBop Harry

Other than Argies, I have only tried the following and here are my impressions:

Galli VO27.
They only come in 11-47 and to me they feel as slinky as Savarez 10s. They start bright but loose the new string sound way faster, in a matter of hours, minutes even, of playing time. Once they settle they sound darker and warmer than Argies, with a fat and pleasant tone.
As I said before they feel comfortably loose and bends and vibrato are somewhat easier than the same gauge in Savarez.
My only complaint is that after only a week the D and G strings start to wear out and develop little bumps as they pass over the frets, would absolutely love them if they came with a spare for those... The other strings seem to have more longevity.

Dell Arte.
I tried one set of 10s and was disappointed, they feel great and I liked the thinner B string, but they didn't last long and could never stand up to the tone of Argentines.
I'd like to try the Jorgenson set, which might be better and comes with an extra third string, which is always a good thing.
I also liked the picture of Django on the envelope cover and with a pair of scissors and a little glue I made a cool little sticker for my guitar case!

Galli Gypsy jazz
I can't remember if I tried the ones with the coating or not, but although they were ok in sound they definitely didn't last and to my ears they don't sound nearly as good as the VO27s.

Galli R500.
These are the cheapest strings of this kind I have ever bought and they were pretty good, they lasted a long time and maintained their sound well.
They felt very close to the way Argentines do. Not as good sounding but could make good spares.

BluesBop Harry

Would anyone else like to contribute their opinions???
What about D'addarios, GHS, Gitane, Vintage, Newtone, Pearse???

TenorClef

What a good idea, a string discussion. Sorry i can't really add much to your review. I've tried only the Argentines (red silk thread) and Gali (the ones with the green silk thread?). I preferred the Argentines as they just seem to last longer but the brightness does drop off fairly quickly. That could be down to quite a few factors I guess. I usually buy the 11 gage because they last a bit longer than the 10's. These days i just get the string company to send me a new set every 10 weeks or so and this saves me the hassle of remembering to order new ones.

Incidentally i prefer the hoop style to ball end but thats more a cosmetic thing than sound. I gather D'Addario now make gypsy strings and also Gitane?

djangology

i don't see how its possible to trust another persons review on strings. personally I wouldn't as I have been on these forums for years and everyone disagrees. i truly think that people should come up with their own conclusions on strings. it only costs $50 to buy all 5 major brands and review them yourself...

Maybe Michael should offer a "sampler pack" for beginners who want to figure out what they like? In the pack you could provide a little booklet to help beginners log how their strings performed. After they use all the strings then they would know for certain what works for them.

MichaelHorowitz

djangology wrote:

Maybe Michael should offer a "sampler pack" for beginners who want to figure out what they like? In the pack you could provide a little booklet to help beginners log how their strings performed. After they use all the strings then they would know for certain what works for them.

Interesting idea Jon...however I've found that 90% of people are already sworn life long argie users. The other 10% have decided they will never use Argentines again and mostly use the Galli or D'addario. The other brands are almost entirely ignored...

Although, 90% of the John Pearse strings we sell go to Paris!!???


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djangology

wow, interesting facts. i think I personally fall into the "Argentine" category...

bbwood_98

Argies:
Good, but die quite fast- hours by my standards (I used to put a set on before a night of playing- the D, and G, and sometimes the A would be killed at the end of 3 hours). This applys both to the 10s, and a little less so to the 11s.
D'addario:
10s, my current set, they feel like the argie 11s, and keep a nice bright sound a bit longer then most other strings, plus I can't seem to kill the D, try as I might! they are pretty good strings.

(caveat, I like new string sound for my style of playing rhythm).
B

Dr. Hall

The idea of experimenting with several sets is a good one, and listening to reviews can be misleading. All guitars have their own special needs, so my comments about strings I've used on my DG-320 may not apply to all guitars. That's the problem with reviews is that we're all playing different guitars and are listening for an often elusive sound out of those different guitars. Different picks have a major effect on tone too, so if I'm playing a 2mm soft Dunlop vs. a Wegen, I get different results. The Dunlop is warmer, more archtop sounding, great for amplified playing when you don't need a lot of acoustic volume, while the Wegens are bright and great for acoustic playing.

I prefer 11s to 10s, though I have experimented with 10s from time to time.

D'Addario 10s--ok, not the same brightness as Argentines. I'd be willing to bet the D'Addario 11s are pretty good though.

Argentine 10s--a bit too thin on my guitar, lose brightness and tone within a few days, not a lot of arse on the trebles on my guitar

Argentine 11s--the best I've found for acoustic playing. They're loud and bright with lots of tone and last a while for me--a couple of weeks almost until they lose a bit of their zing.

Galli Gypsy Jazz 10s--I didn't like the coating, the sound seemed a bit dull, plus the 10s were again a bit thin to me

Lenzner 12s--really bright and loud for acoustic playing but a bit stiff, too much tension in my opinion, made the guitar more difficult to play, the high e string broke in a matter of days

GHS Gypsy Jazz strings--cheap option on paper, but you'd probably want to change strings every other day because they sound good for about a day, then they lose all their brightness and the tone suffers

At the moment, I like Galli V27s, the silk and steels, especially for electric gigs. They're still good for acoustic playing for a couple of days. They lose their brightness within a few days, but when playing gigs through an amplifier, the lack of brightness doesn't make much difference to me. The lower tension makes them easy to play making vibrato like Stochelo's more of a possibility. Actually, these strings give me more of a bright archtop sound, and since I have played archtops for years and still play archtops on regular gigs, this appeals to me, might not appeal to others.

There you go.
-Stefan

Elliot

People want that fresh out-of-the-package sound from their Argies, but I'm not so sure that has been the case historically. What is dead to some just may be 'broken in' to others. I'd say this was the case with Django. You never hear that 'sproingy' brightness in his recordings. Personally I think it is annoying and much prefer the sound to settle in somewhat and get some 'smoke' to it.

djangology

Yeah, personally I could care less about the difference between new argies and dead ones. I hear no discernable difference in them that would cause me, as a listener, to prefer one over the other. They both have a different sound but it is "gyspy jazz" either way.