Gypsy strings: User's review

marctenor

I've been through 2 sets of Thomastic-Infeld Swing Series flatwound jazz strings (.10s extra light) on my Gitane D-500 and I really love them, really smooth slinky feel with a searing bright tone up top when you paly hard with a somewhat less boomy bass quality than Argentines (I prefer the .11s with the Argies) They sound really beautiful when playing fingerstyle...
they are a bit long and you have to wrap the cloth wound ends a bunch of times around the pegs on the Low E and A or they will break. They seem to be pretty durable too...

klaatu

Michael Horowitz wrote:

... The other 10% have decided they will never use Argentines again and mostly use the Galli or D'addario.

I am close to joining that other 10% group that Michael mentions. I love the sound and feel of the Argies, plus it's cool using the same brand that Django used, but they have serious quality problems. Just yesterday I was restringing for a gig today, and the D string came out of the pack dead. Not slightly dead, not sounding a couple of weeks old, but really, really dead. It just sounded sort of like, k-thunk. Not the first time this has happened (although previously it has been the A strings).

Also, I once received a 5 set pack in which every 1st E string was a .014. They had a little problem at the plant and sent out a bunch like that. Michael replaced them all very quickly, of course - you would expect no less from him - but it was aggravating all the same.

I can buy the D'Addarios locally and have never once had a problem with any D'Addario string of any description. Savarez really needs to work on their quality control. The crap shoot every time you open a pack gets tiresome after a while.

Charlie Ayers

I encounter a lot of dead sounding Argentine A strings, but it's not much of a problem now that I've learned to fix it. The fix works best with the loop-end variety: put the string on the guitar, and, before tightening it to tension, slip the loop end off the tailpiece and twist the string counter-clockwise several times, before re-attaching it.

Charlie

klaatu

Charlie,

Any idea why that works?

I just tried it on my dead D string (loop end) - no go. It did sound better, but still pretty dead.

Charlie Ayers

I think it was John LeVoi who posted that tip on the yahoo Gypsy jazz forum, explaining that the problem is inadequately tight winding, and it works for me everytime.

Did you twist it 4-5 times? You can always try turning it the other way (clockwise, versus counter-clockwise).

Charlie

klaatu

I did twist it about 5 times but didn't try going in the opposite direction. I had to get ready to go to today's gigs and so just threw the old string back on. When I get a little time, I might try that. If it works, it certainly is a good trick to know.

richdaigle

The D'addarios have become my favs...their wraps are consistent, and the hex core makes a set of 10's feel and play like a set of 11's, and they last...the Argies and other round core strings can sort of "roll" under your fingers at times. It would be nice if they offered a loop end... the rainbow speckled tailpiece doesn't do much for me. My next favs are the Pearse 10's and I swap out the first two strings with an 11 and a 15.

Ian Rossiter

I like the D'addario's too. They have already outlasted two Pearse sets. The Nuages sounded great at first but didn't last long before they went completely dead. I don't know if it's a softer metal or what, but the Nuages developed "fret dents" within days. The D'addario's have been on a week with barely any dents.

Ian Rossiter

I should also mention the climate changes/ conditions this set has been exposed to;
-+10c when installed
- Two flights on an airplane, -30c on arrival, (still in tune, btw!!)
-Days of -30c in the am ,-15c in the early pm ,with about 6-10 hrs of playing time per day. Brought back to humidified room in evening with 1-2hrs practice/teaching time at night.
- (1) 1/4 turn ,trussrod adjustment
- 11 days after installation, still holds tuning,intonation good, no wearing off of silver plating,and still sounds pretty good.

I'm working at an Oil plant in Northern Alberta,Canada. I'm the day Medic so I hang out in the clinic, alone, and practice all day till someone needs Medical aid. The money's great and I've got ton's of practice time. I go back to a great camp at night, eat the great food, teach a guitar lessson or two, play a bit and off to bed...repeat for 12 days!!! So needless to say, these strings have taken a beating!!!

Simonius

I like Galli's Silk and Steel. I started out with Argies I feel the Argies kept the 'fresh' sound of new strings longer, but once they've 'settled in' they become too dull fairly quickly. The Galli's tend to lose their freshness quicker, but when they have, they consistently produce a pleasant, kind of dry sound. They're playable a lot longer than the Argies.

Plus, at least here in the Netherlands, the Galli's are half the price of the Argies. I wouldn't care about a few bucks if it gave me a lot more quality, but when I saw a video of Stochelo restringing and it was a pack of Galli's, I figured it would be ok, and it is!
Aside from how long they last and their price, the Argies give you that typical, authentic gipsy jazz sound that Django had, whereas the Galli's have a slightly more subtle, smooth, modern sound.