String Essentials
Strings don't last forever. In fact, depending on how much you play and practice and on whether you live in a hot climate or not, you might have to change your strings as often as once a week. In general, however, once every eight to twelve weeks is about average. If a string breaks, it's probably time to change the whole set rather than to just replace the one that broke. Strings lose their stretch and vibrancy over time because of salt from sweaty fingers and rust. You can also find a variety of problems with bridges and nuts, and so forth, which we'll get into later on.
You can extend the life of your strings by cleaning them after each session. To get rid of the grunge under the string, some players “snap” each string by pulling it back slightly, as if the string were on a bow, and then snapping it back to the fingerboard.
Strings come in a variety of gauges, or thicknesses. The thicknesses are described in fractions of an inch. Choosing a gauge of string is very much a personal decision. In general, the lighter the string gauge, the easier it is to bend and hold down the strings for lead playing. The thicker the gauge, the better the volume, the longer the sustain, and the easier it is to keep the guitar in tune. A thicker gauge is also easier for rhythm playing. The common gauges are these:
Ultra-light |
.008 (first string) to .038 (sixth string) |
Extra-light |
.009 (first string) to .046 (sixth string) |
Regular |
.010 (first string) to .050 (sixth string) |
Light |
.011 (first string) to .052 (sixth string) |
Medium |
.013 (first string) to .056 (sixth string) |
Heavy |
.014 (first string) to .060 (sixth string) |
Strings come in three different types: nylon, usually for Spanish or classical-style guitars; bronze, used for acoustic steel-strung instruments because they have little electrical quality; and steel strings, used for electric and acoustic instruments. You should never put steel or bronze strings on guitars that use nylon strings. This will ruin the instrument quickly because of the increased tension these strings put on the neck.
With the exception of the first and second strings (and sometimes also the third), which are plain metal, steel strings are made up of a thread or core of wire around which another piece of wire is tightly wound. There are three types of winding:
• Flatwound: Most commonly used on archtop guitars, these strings consist of a flat ribbon of steel wound around a core of wire. Flat-wound strings don't squeak the way other strings can when you move your fingers along them.
• Roundwound: Most electric steel strings are roundwound, in which a piece of steel is wound around a steel core. They have a brighter tone than flatwound strings, and often last longer
• Groundwound: These are conventional roundwound strings that have been ground down to create a partially flat surface.
