The Acoustic Guitar String and Gages, Coatings and Alloys
At first glance, the acoustic guitar string might just look like a simple wire.
But, like nearly everything else, there is more to the picture than meets the eye.
A lot of testing and research and development has gone into this seemingly simple string.
Guitar string gages Gage is basically the diameter of the string.
If you had a micrometer to measure the string, you would discover that the diameter matches the number on the package.
It might be .
058, or .
047, which would be read as fifty-eight thousandths and forty-seven thousandths.
The gage is important for a few reasons.
Different gages give various tones, pitches, volumes and longevity.
Think about it: a very thin string is just not going to have as much volume as a big, heavy gage string.
You need the various diameters to get the total range of pitch from the guitar, you just cannot have one size to fit all purposes! String coatings Companies are constantly experimenting with coatings of all kinds to find the very best one.
These Teflon like coatings make them very slick and easy to play, plus they are quiet.
That scratchy noise you sometimes hear can be quite annoying at times, and the coated string is a good solution for this problem.
Some guitarists just love coated strings, others consider them almost sacrilegious.
Really, it is just a matter of personal preference and you need to try them for yourself.
Alloys The famous flatpicker, Doc Watson, grew up in the mountains of North Carolina and the family was quite poor.
He wanted to play music so badly that he rigged up a wire to run from the barn door to the fence and he could play it by moving the door to get different sounds! These days we have slightly better alloys than fence wire though.
Bronze and it's many alloys make up the majority of guitar strings, though nickel and steel are also used at times.
Generally, bronze is the preferred alloy.
There are two popular bronze alloys: phosphor and 80/20.
The phosphor strings are made of copper and tin, and give a distinctive sound that is quite popular.
The 80/20 strings has a very bright sound, though they do not tend to last as long as the phosphor strings.
For guitarists who change strings frequently, this is just a normal fact of life.
Quality guitar strings are obviously a necessary accessory for successful playing.
Along with the humidifier, capo, tuner, guitar case and instructional courses, the strings complete the list of essentials for good playing.
Guitar accessories might seem unimportant, but you really need the best you can afford.
But, like nearly everything else, there is more to the picture than meets the eye.
A lot of testing and research and development has gone into this seemingly simple string.
Guitar string gages Gage is basically the diameter of the string.
If you had a micrometer to measure the string, you would discover that the diameter matches the number on the package.
It might be .
058, or .
047, which would be read as fifty-eight thousandths and forty-seven thousandths.
The gage is important for a few reasons.
Different gages give various tones, pitches, volumes and longevity.
Think about it: a very thin string is just not going to have as much volume as a big, heavy gage string.
You need the various diameters to get the total range of pitch from the guitar, you just cannot have one size to fit all purposes! String coatings Companies are constantly experimenting with coatings of all kinds to find the very best one.
These Teflon like coatings make them very slick and easy to play, plus they are quiet.
That scratchy noise you sometimes hear can be quite annoying at times, and the coated string is a good solution for this problem.
Some guitarists just love coated strings, others consider them almost sacrilegious.
Really, it is just a matter of personal preference and you need to try them for yourself.
Alloys The famous flatpicker, Doc Watson, grew up in the mountains of North Carolina and the family was quite poor.
He wanted to play music so badly that he rigged up a wire to run from the barn door to the fence and he could play it by moving the door to get different sounds! These days we have slightly better alloys than fence wire though.
Bronze and it's many alloys make up the majority of guitar strings, though nickel and steel are also used at times.
Generally, bronze is the preferred alloy.
There are two popular bronze alloys: phosphor and 80/20.
The phosphor strings are made of copper and tin, and give a distinctive sound that is quite popular.
The 80/20 strings has a very bright sound, though they do not tend to last as long as the phosphor strings.
For guitarists who change strings frequently, this is just a normal fact of life.
Quality guitar strings are obviously a necessary accessory for successful playing.
Along with the humidifier, capo, tuner, guitar case and instructional courses, the strings complete the list of essentials for good playing.
Guitar accessories might seem unimportant, but you really need the best you can afford.
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