What Different Types of Guitar Strings Are There?

We all know that stringed instruments like the violin and the guitar owe a large portion of their sound and repertoire to the strings. Yet, there is very little known about them. Most people think that using any kind of strings will produce the same tone and sound. This however, is far from the truth! It’s important to have a basic knowledge about strings used in guitars. Are the strings used in acoustics different from the ones used in electric guitars?

Well, for starters, there are basically six strings used in guitars. Usually three of the six are the same in acoustic and electric. The minor difference in the E and the B string being the gauge of the strings themselves. While the major difference in the G string is that they are wound in acoustics and plain in electric guitars.

Strings

Although the strings might be made of the same material in acoustics and electrics, they need to possess very distinct qualities. Acoustics must have extremely strong resonant sound quality while the electrics need a much more magnetic sound. Almost all the plain strings used in guitars are made of Swedish steel which is a highly durable alloy. It has both the above mentioned qualities. Acoustic guitar strings clearly have the tougher job of the two. They need to look good, sound clear and crisp and more importantly loud. There are two main types of materials used for manufacturing acoustic strings.

• Bronze acoustic guitars strings are made of an alloy called as brass. It is usually a mixture of copper and tin or copper and zinc. An 80/20 bronze string means that it is made of 80% copper and 20% tin. They sound brilliant when they are new. But the crispness in sound begins to fade after some time. If you are a person who loves to change the guitar strings frequently, then you are going to love bronze strings.
• The other one is phosphor bronze. This has minute amounts of phosphorus added in the alloy and this helps them to retain their crispness in sound for a longer period of time as compared to the bronze strings. The sound is warmer than bronze alloy guitar strings.

Electric Guitar strings

Electric guitars do not have to sound as loud as acoustics do. Hence you will find that mostly they are made of totally different materials.

• Pure Nickel is an alloy that was used mostly in the guitars of the early 50’s. The earlier fender models are a prime example. Hence you will get a very vintage 50’s feel to the sound. It is not made of pure nickel though.
• Stainless steel is the most durable string material ever used. It can take wear and tear unlike anything you have ever seen.

Nylon Strings

For acoustic guitars another type of string is the nylon string. This type of string is commonly used for classical guitars. In this case the upper (thicker) three strings are made from 100% pure nylon and the lower (thinner) three strings are mostly made of silver-plated copper wire which are wound on a core of nylon strands.

Bookmark It