Even experienced guitarists can have a hard time navigating the guitar string market, and for beginners it is often an overwhelming experience. Not only are there dozens of different manufacturers and brands, but also factors such as material, coating, and winding type to take into account.
Your choice of guitar strings will profoundly affect the sound of the guitar and also how it feels to play. In other words, this is important stuff.
To help you make an informed choice, this article will examine what the differences are and what to expect.
Materials
First of all, the materials that various types of guitar strings are made of is a fundamental factor. This decides whether the strings are at all compatible with your guitar.
There are two main categories of string materials – metals and alloys for electric and acoustic (western) guitars, or nylon for classical guitars.
Even when used on an identical guitar, different variations within these categories will to some extent affect how the guitar sounds and feels.
Steel/Nickel – Electric Guitar
With no resonant chamber or sound hole, the electric guitar must rely entirely on its pickups to project the vibrations generated by the strings.
The strings must be made of metal to best transmit these vibrations to the pickups. Hence, electric guitar strings are usually made of steel, with the bass strings being wound and nickel-plated. In rare cases, other metals or alloys have been used, such as titanium, cobalt or copper, but these are hard to find and the vast majority use steel and nickel.
- Nickel-plated strings are by far the most common for electric guitars, as they are generally bright-sounding and work well in combination with pickups.
- Pure nickel-wound strings – All other things being equal, more nickel equals warmer tone. Consequently, those seeking a warmer, vintage-style tone (e.g. jazz guitarists) may prefer strings wound with pure nickel (to be clear, this only applies to the winding material and not the string cores).
Unless you are specifically seeking that more mellow tone, however, regular steel strings are fine for most situations. Steel and nickel-plated steel offers a bright tone with excellent sustain and crisp high frequencies. They are also last longer as they are more resistant to corrosion.
Brass/Bronze – Acoustic Guitar
Acoustic guitar strings are not as different from electric strings as their names suggest. What differs is primarily the plating, whereas the cores are steel.
The most common and popular options are brass (also known as bronze or 80/20 bronze), or phosphor bronze.
- Brass/bronze, or 80/20 bronze – 80/20 is short for 80% copper and 20% zinc. This string type is likely the most common and offer a clean and bright tone when new. The material is however not very resistant to corrosion and tends to lose its bright sound rather quickly.
- Phosphor bronze – These strings use tin and a small amount of phosphor in the wrapping material to halt oxidation. The price you pay for the longer life span is that the tone is slightly less bright overall. However, phosphor bronze strings are popular as many guitar players consider this trade-off minimal.
- Silk & steel strings – A less common type of acoustic guitar strings, which uses a combination of silk/nylon wound with steel wire. The resulting sound is more warm and mellow compared to all metal strings. Another difference is that the cores can be thinner, meaning that the strings require less tension and improved playability.
Nylon – Classical Guitar
Nylon strings sound very different compared to steel strings and are mainly used on classical guitars. The tone is much more muted in the high ends and there is not as much room for variation as you’ll find for western acoustic and electric guitar strings.
There are a few different varieties though, such as black nylon or fluorocarbon. Typically, the three treble strings are made from plain nylon, while the three bass strings are plated nylon. Classical guitar strings have no ball ends, meaning you have to hand-tie them to the guitar bridge.
Before nylon, which is a modern artificial material, classical guitar strings used to be made of intestines from livestock, mainly sheep. Hence the name “catgut strings” (likely short for ‘cattle gut’, as there are no records of cats’ innards ever being used for making guitar strings).
Note that you should never attempt to string a classical guitar with steel strings. These guitars are not built for high-tension metal strings and could potentially crack from the additional force.
Guitar String Gauge and Tension
Guitar string thickness is one of the most important characteristics, with major effects on tone and playability. Electric and acoustic guitar strings are labeled according to gauges, whereas tension is the corresponding term for classical guitar strings.
Acoustic and electric guitar string gauges are labeled as extra-light, light, or medium (less commonly heavy).
These designations are relative to the guitar type (acoustic/electric), as acoustic strings are typically heavier to compensate for the lack of amplification.
Even two sets of ‘light’ strings for electric/acoustic guitar can have slightly different string diameters depending on brand and variant. Custom gauges are common, but needless to say, every string set also includes detailed information on individual string thickness.
Electric Guitar String Gauges
For playability reasons, light electric guitar string gauges are the most popular. In fact, there are barely any electric guitar strings labeled as ‘heavy’ on the market.
The most common gauges are:
- Ultra Light – (.008/.011/.014/.022/.030/.038)
- Extra Light – (.009/.011/.016/.024/.032/.042)
- Light – (.010/.013/.017/.026/.036/.046)
- Medium – (.011/.014/.021/.028/.038/.049)
There are also countless exceptions to the standard gauges, mainly involving lighter top/treble strings and heavier bottom/bass strings. The main reason for this type of setup is that it lowers tension and improves playability for the treble strings (e.g. for soloing and bending), while preserving tonal response for the bass strings (e.g. for riffs and chords).
More often than not, metal and rock guitarists will prefer lighter strings for their easy playability. Heavier strings are more popular among jazz and blues players. But there are plenty of exceptions here, too! Much will depend on the individual’s playing style.
Acoustic Guitar String Gauges
Acoustic guitar strings are significantly thicker on average, the reasons being that playability in the top end is far less important than volume and projection when playing chords. As a consequence, designations such as light and medium do not mean the same things as for electric guitars.
Common gauges include:
- Extra Light – (.010/.014/.023/.030/.039/.047)
- Custom Light – (.011/.015/.022/.032/.042/.052)
- Light – (.012/.016/.024/.032/.042/.053)
- Medium – (.013/.017/.026/.035/.045/.056)
Just like with electric string sets, these definitions are not set in stone and the actual gauges vary a bit between different manufacturers. It is also just as common – if not more so – to use custom sets with extra heavy bass strings.
In terms of tone and volume, heavier gauges will have a greater effect when playing on acoustic instruments. And since you normally don’t need to bend the strings on an acoustic guitar, the strings can be thicker in general.
Tension (Classical Guitars)
Instead of a range of light to medium gauges, classical guitar strings are labeled according to the amount of tension: low, medium/normal, or high.
This refers to the amount of tension placed on the guitar neck, which is essentially the same thing expressed differently. Low tension means thinner strings and less stiffness, while high-tension strings are louder at the expense of some playability.
As with other guitar strings, there is no industry standard for terms like ‘low’ or ‘high’ tension and it varies between brands.
Winding Type
Thicker guitar strings normally have a solid core with a wire wrapped around it. The way in which they are wound will affect both the sound and feel of the guitar.
String winding is typically done in one of three ways: roundwound, half-round, and flatwound (as pictured above, from left to right).
Roundwound
Roundwound strings are the most common alternative by far. It’s also the cheapest and most versatile option.
As the name implies, the wire wrapped around the string core is round, giving it a textured surface with good grip, which is usually desirable for rock, metal, blues and other styles that require bending. The tone also lends itself well to these styles. Roundwound strings offer lots of sustain and a bright sound.
On the downside, these strings will also add to wear on the frets (and your fingers), and produce some noise as a byproduct.
Fla
twound
Flatwound strings are a common sight on bass guitars. Flatwound electric guitar strings, on the other hand, are mostly used in the jazz genre and on semi-hollow guitars.
The sound is more mellow and warm compared to roundwound strings, and they feel a lot smoother due to the flat surface.
For the same reason, flatwound strings are harder to grip and not suitable for bending.
Half-round
Half-round strings are even less common and occupy a middle ground between roundwound and flatwound. They are harder to play than roundwounds but have a brighter sound than flatwounds.
These strings are expensive and quite hard to find. Unless you’ve experimented extensively with both round and flatwound strings and know you’re looking for something in between the two, you probably don’t need to worry about half-round strings.
String Core - Hex or Round
Beneath their outer winding, the bass strings have a solid core that is either round or hex-shaped.
- Hex core – Although hexagonal string cores arrived on the market much later than round cores, they are now the industry standard. Thanks to the edges of the hexagon shape, the outer wire gets a very good grip at the core. This does not only prevent slippage, but also makes the string cheaper and easier to manufacture. Hex core strings are also stiffer in general and tend to provide a brighter tone with a strong attack.
- Round core – Round core strings have not been entirely replaced by hex-core strings. Far from it, though they are somewhat harder to find and more expensive. They are often still wound by hand and have benefits such as improved sustain, but also a more mellow tone.
String Coating
Coated guitar strings were created with the goal of extending the strings’ life span. There are now a range of different coatings on the market, but they all serve the same purpose – to protect the strings against oxidation and dirt.
A side-effect of the coating, however, is that you lose a bit of brightness, punch and sustain in exchange for the improved life span. More recent generations of coating materials and technologies have reduced this trade-off, but it is not completely eliminated.
If you are no fan of changing strings, coated strings can nevertheless be a great compromise. Although they are invariably more expensive than non-coated strings, their long-lived nature may make up for the costs as you will change them less often.
Summary
Although this article was hopefully an informative starting point, it can’t say which strings will work for you. The only solution is to try out different sets to narrow down what works with your guitar and your playing style.
That said, exploration is the fun part of learning an instrument and finding your personal sound. Good luck!
