Metal strings: types of strings, their purpose, features of choice, installation and tuning on the guitar

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Few people are not attracted by the expressive, velvety sounds of string instruments, with melodic duration. They also include everyone's favorite guitar, and they are named so for a reason. It is the string in this type of musical instrument that is the main source of sound, thanks to the tension of which you can adjust its height. Of course, how the instrument sings depends on the quality of these elements. The guitar is no exception in this case. The material, of course, is of great importance. There are nylon, metal strings, but which ones are better to choose? Read more about it below.

For those who are seriously interested in this, it would be good for yourself to answer a few questions:

1. Which tool is available or planned to be purchased?
2. What kind of music would you like to play?
3. How do you rate a skill - a novice student or an experienced musician?

A little about guitars and theirtypes…

There are several main types of guitars:

1. Classic.
2. Dreadnought.
3. Bass guitar.
4. Jumbo.
5. Electroacoustic.
6. Semi-acoustic.
7. Electric guitar.

• Classical guitar is the base of those who receive basic education, starting from music school. This instrument originated from the Spanish guitar. Ideal for classical music, available for beginners to learn. The sound of the instrument is not loud, soft. They play the "classic" without the use of a mediator.
• Dreadnought, or country, or western. You can call this the most common instrument for performing non-classical music in different ways. The body of this guitar is larger than that of a typical guitar, the sound is correspondingly brighter, louder. The instrument is designed to play with a pick, it is universal and suitable for any music.
• Jumbo. If the dreadnought has a large body, then the jumbo has a huge one, and the sound is very loud. Now this instrument is not so popular and widespread, it is more suitable for accompaniment. It is used in such musical directions as rock, pop, blues, country. They play it with a mediator.
• Electroacoustic can be any of the guitars described above. If a pickup is initially embedded in the instrument, then it can be connected to an amplifier, you can record audio. It's also easy to play it without connecting to equipment, it's completely optional. If the pickup was not on the acoustic guitar initially, you can put it, but still betterthink before that, in such an "operation" there is a risk of damaging the "acoustics". It's better to buy the one where the device has been embedded since its production.

• The electric guitar is a very different instrument from the acoustic ones. It is distinguished by a thin, small one-piece body, with no empty space inside. Although the electric guitar looks smaller than acoustic instruments, it is heavier. Pickups are fixed on it, one or two, as a rule. An amp connection is required for this guitar. The advantages of the instrument include a we alth of various effects, options for changing the timbre, coloring the sound. The electric guitar has gained its distribution in jazz, rock music.
• Semi-acoustic instrument - a hybrid of acoustic and electric guitars. It has a cavity inside and resonator holes, but you still need to connect the instrument to the equipment to perform. Most often used in jazz.
• The bass guitar is a type of electric guitar. It was created as a replacement for a huge and non-transportable double bass, from which it took the system and the number of strings - four, instead of the usual six (Although five-string, six-string and even seven-string types are also found).

A little about strings

Each type of guitar needs its own strings, sometimes the best sound quality of the instrument depends on it, sometimes even its safety. But what are strings?

First of all, a string is a long piece of flexible material,which is under tension. In terms of material, metal and nylon are now the most common for them (previously animal intestines or veins were also used).

According to their structure, the strings can be a solid body, or they can consist of a core and braid. The latter is needed so that the string gives a lower tone, while remaining flexible and playable. Such musical elements are called twisted.

The braid on the strings can be of different types:

• round;
• flat;
• semi-circular polished, pressed;
• hexagonal braid.

Each type of braiding on the strings has its advantages and disadvantages.

Round is the easiest and cheapest option to make. Disadvantages include: a characteristic squeak (unless, of course, you plan to give your performance a share of individuality in this way), a rough surface wears out the frets and fingerboard, if the string is damaged, the braid can rotate, it is not attached to the core.

Flat braid. Strings with this type of braid are smoother, more comfortable to play, they wear out the instrument less, and almost do not creak. Unfortunately, such threads have 2 drawbacks: the sound is less bright, they are more expensive.

Classical guitar strings

Classical guitar is a special instrument. Why is it used for teaching? The answer is simple. This guitar has nylon strings and is easier to play, especially at first. Until professional calluses form on the fingers of the left hand, the game mayeven be painful.

In turn, metal strings on a classical guitar should absolutely not be put! Perhaps this will seem strange. After all, metal strings are better, they sound brighter, and when there are already calluses, what prevents you from putting them on? These questions are logical, but musical instruments are quite fragile. Classical guitars are simply not designed for metal string tension, and the body can be severely damaged.

Acoustic Guitar Strings

Dreadnought and jumbo - guitars with metal strings. Are there strict limits on what can be supplied? There are no special ones, except that nylon on such guitars is meaningless. Metal strings also have their own varieties. This is both the brand and the metal the string is made of, and most importantly for those who are just starting to play, the thickness of the string.

Most often the thickness of the entire "chord" is determined by the first string. The most common sets of strings are 009 and 010, 011. There are even 012 and 013. Which metal acoustic guitar strings are better to choose? The higher the number, the louder the sound will be, the greater the load on the neck, the stiffer the strings themselves will be and it will be harder to play. In terms of the price category, strings around 500 rubles sound more or less good. But it's better to try several options yourself, choosing the sound and feel that will be comfortable.

Electric Guitar Strings

Electric guitar strings also have different thicknesses,from 9 to 12. But more often on this type of instrument there are thinner ones than on acoustics. Since the guitar is plugged into the amp anyway, it's easy to sacrifice the natural volume of the strings.

Bass strings

Choosing bass strings carefully. The options for the thickness of the first string are even more diverse: 35, 40, 45, 50, 65 … Most likely, these are far from all varieties. The rules are the same: thicker means louder, brighter sound and harder to play. You also need to match the number of strings to the guitar you want to put them on.

Setting the strings on the guitar

Setting strings on a classical guitar requires some special skills, as more often nylon strings come without balls at one end and need to be tied.

Metal strings are easier to install. Near the saddle, they are threaded into the holes. The second end is fixed on the peg and stretched.

The only difficulty with setting the strings can be on those guitars that have a tremolo. But for each such tool there is an instruction. More often on these guitars, you need to set the strings a little inside the body.

Interesting facts about strings and guitars

• The brilliant designer of electric guitars Leo Fender did not know how to play it himself and tune the instrument.
• In the Middle Ages, musical instruments had 4 strings.
• Warr's guitar most often has 12 strings.