What type of strings do you prefer?

[sysop]

Many people new to the guitar world always wonder what brand of strings to get, or which tension is 'best'.
Many guitarists with years of experience also tend to get locked into just one brand or tension as they stop experimenting with other options.
This discussion will be helpful to all if you share your thoughts and preferences on the various strings for both classical and flamenco guitar.

[Les Kismartoni]

I really like the Savarez Alliance medium tension sets for my classical. But, I find that the basses, while very sweet, wear out quickly.
Lately, I have been using Hannabach Carbon trebles and Hannabach medium tension regular basses (I forget the #). They seem to last longer than the Savarez.
I like the thinner diameter of the carbon strings quite a bit more than the older nylon strings. Plus, the lighter tensions still sound rather loud.
I like thinner carbons on my flamenco as well, they last long and feel good for rasgueado. For those basses, a light set (not as much tension) seems to give just the right kinda feel and slight buzz for rhythm.

Les

[DEEPAK MENEZES]

When i bought my first guitar from a Luthier in Spain , he recommended
La bella normal tension for 1-2-3 and Daddrio high tension for 4-5-6.

[Ian Hodges]

The high tension Corum Alliance strings from Savarez are beautiful on
my Paulino Bernabe "Imperial" guitar, but are wasted on a student
guitar. On the Bernabe they offer a deep, rich tone, with wonderful
focus and clarity. The thinness in diameter of the trebles takes some
getting used to, and the clarity of these strings makes any inconsistencies in one's attack obvious to the listener. Your nails have to be perfect to use these strings! I find other srings more forgiving, but less rewarding in terms of colour and clarity on this guitar. The intonation of the top string was notoriously unreliable for many years (I once went through 10 before I found a good one, the day before an important recording session), possibly due to the thinness of the carbon fibre string, but this seems to have improved in the last year or two.

They are fairly expensive compared to D'Addario Pro Arte, which are
the best buy for my students. The D'Addarios are reliable, consistent, and tune well. Winnipeg luthier Daryl Perry uses D'Addario strings on his guitars for these reasons.

Augustine Regals also sound great on both student and concert guitars, with a little more character than the D'Addarios. They are not always available in local stores in Winnipeg. The regular Augustine black and red label sets have intonation problems that do not seem to occur in the more expensive Regal line.

[J. K. Jones]

I have been playing for about a year and I have tried many types of strings. For my first guitar(Fender CG-100), I found that D'Addarios worked very well, I really liked the composit G. I now have a Takamine 132SC. I am not sure if I should use the D'Addarios on this guitar. My teacher (Martha Masters) is not sure if she likes the sound of the G on my guitar.

Any thoughts, sugestions on what would work well on my Takamine?

[malcom haskin]

In the past year or so I have tried a variety of strings. In the end, I have come back to where I started. I use D'Addario hard tension (ej46?). I find that they work well for most guitars. When I want to splurge on something nice I either get the D'Addario lightly polished strings or Hannabach 815 strings (hard tension). Classic guitar Center has a good article about string selection on their "Ask Jeff Page." If it's not still there, then you can call them up. They know what they're talking about and have helped me out alot.

[Ryan Hood]

I have studied the guitar now for a little over 3 years now and am currently a student of Richard Savino at CSUS Sacramento. I've always played D'addarios until my former teacher, David Chapman, switched me to Savarez 500 AR. The difference has been astonishing. They last so much longer and the sound that comes out of my Traphagen guitar is mind blowing. On a scale of 1 to 10 I give these strings an 11.

[Ryan Nitz]

I have been studying the guitar for about three years with Dr. Joseph Baldassarre at Boise State University and have been playing on Aranjuez Concert Silver strings for about a year and a half. My guitar has a spruce soundboard and the Aranjuez strings have a unique brilliance and character, especially the basses. They are also extremely high-tension, which is my personal preferance.

[Raul K. Suarez]

I have a classical guitar with spruce top and solid Indian back and sides. I have tried complete sets of the following strings, and all have their disadvantages on my guitar.

DDario medium
DDario medium composite
La Bella medium
Savarez 520R
Hannabach medium

The main problem is "tubbiness" of the G string. DDario composite basses somehow do not sound good also, and the 6th E string wrecks the gears on the tuner. However, I have discovered that the guitar sounds great with the following string combination:

TREBLES from normal tension D'Dario composite (as you know, only the 3rd string is actually composite) with BASSES from Savarez high tension 520R

Because mixing strings from different sets of basses and trebles is expensive and wasteful, I am still looking for a ONE SET of 6 that will sound good.

Would anyone know of a set that has the characteristics of the combination above?

Thanks,

Raul

[Jon Harrier]

I have been playing guitar for almost 5 years now and just finished experimenting with all the different strings...So far the best strings are D'adarrio Pro artes medium or high tension. They last for about four or five months (playing daily for at least an hour) and have a very nice tone....Johnny 2 Strings

[Ron Murray]

Jazz/Classical/Flamenco Guitarist

I have found that Luthier Strings meet all of the requirements for great tone, intonation and long life. While there have been problems with the 4th strings breaking at the bridge on some sets, this has been solved. Set #20 is ideal for concertizing, set #40 for practicing...also, D'Addarios are great on a price/performance scale, especially for practicing...I found it hard to get used to the thinness of Savarez Alliance trebles, although they sound good...the Luthier trebles have an amazing consistency, I have yet to reject one for intonation problems!

[Bruce Taylor]

I agree with your comments on Savarez with the Traphagen. He had built a spruce top for me back in the winter of 97 and had advised me that he uses these exclusively (Hard tension Corum Alliance). But like the other threads, they don't hold their own on my 95 cedar top Ramirez where I prefer Luthier 30's. Amazing what differences there are and the subtleties of matching strings with instruments.

[kevin l. gallopin]

I have experienced in my 30+ years of playing various classicals a predominance of breakage problems with the d string. Specifically, with my current guitar, a 1996 Ramirez 1e, after about a year of play, I have recently suffered the trauma of that particular string breaking seven times during one week! 3 times at the nut; 3 times in the vicinity of the bridge; and once right over the sound hole. Except for the latter, which remains unexplainable (and, hopefully, a fluke), I believe that I have solved the problems: The d string nut slot was misshapen toward the lower end--I smoothed it out. The saddle had developed a slight indentation under the d string--which I again smoothed. The d string bridge hole appeared to be misshapen toward its lower end--I smoothed out both ends, just in case, as well as the interior, just in case. I would be curious to know if anyone else has experienced similar trauma and what, if anything, they learned and might want to pass on. Thank you.

[A. Montesione]

I have been experimenting with guitar strings since 1964. I play flamenco and have play for dancers and in nightclubs. Finding the right strings has always been my passion when I get a new guitar. Well, I bought a new flamenco guitar last month. I went through 7 different sets of strings. I was about reading to get rid of the guitar when I tried La Bella 2001 Medium Hard Classical strings. They were fantastic. I got the sweetest, loudest sound from the trebles. They rang like a bell. The tension was perfect. I am really pleased with them.

[seandersson]

I'm new to the classic guitar but love everything about it. Perhaps it's the "fervor of the novices" that has me! Regardless, I've tried Augustine, Aranjuez, D'Addario, Luthier, Savarez and Thomastic-Infeld so far. The Thomastic-Infeld strings are my favorites at this point in time and it figures that these would have to be the most expensive ones that I've played to date. Man, these things stay in tune with such distinct basses and vivid trebles, but for Pete's sake, almost $19.00 a set? Has anyone tried Elixirs?

[Ron Huneycutt]

thomastik strings are austrian so think germany, dry. they're probably the weakest strings i've tried except for elixirs! those were the worst. the bass strings, steel acoustic... damn incredible. i don't use anything else. the classical strings, not for classical use. maybe for strumming around but not for real playing. my personal favorites are savarez corum/alliance. nice bold sound. if you like nylon better than composite (thomastik and alliance are composite trebles) then try savarez corum/crystal (super clear nylon trebles). nice and sweet sounding.i would say that it depends on your guitar and it's sound and setup.

[blur]

I am playing hannabach super high tension and the tone is beautiful. Another very interesting thing might be that the g string is very thick. So it does not sound that good but for a lot if people the g string is a problem when using a baree chord. ( example: 133111 ). If the string is much more massive now u will find it easier to baree .

[Jinsei]

I know there is no final answer on choosing strings.
Does anyone then answer my simle question?
Which string set has longest sustein?
Which string set has sweetest treble?

[Chaz]

I have been using Augustine Red's for a while. They have very nice tone. Their sustain is fair, i might try the blue ones next. Just for your information: Red's are medium tension and Blue's are Hard tension. I am not sure about black's.

[jim mcauley]

Has anyone else noticed that the D string in the Augustine blue card is frequently too short, to the point of slipping off the peg if not carefully "anchored"?

[todd kreuzburg]

What is it you do not like about the daddario comp basses?

I ask because i really like them. I also like the Hannanbach 728's

[Edwin Lebish]

String tension and brand depend on what you like and what the guitar needs. If your guitar lacks good strong bass, then get a set of strings that have higher tension on the 4, 5 and 6 strings. If the guitar lacks good highs, get a set that has higher tension on the 1, 2 and 3 strings. Augustine makes strings that give you whatever combination your guitar needs. You should try to get a good balance of volume from all strings. I use Augustine Imperial gold, which have medium tension on all strings, on my grand concert "Negra" flamenco guitar. You should use the lowest tension that give the required volume overall. Ed Lebish, Leslie, Missouri.

[Theresa]

I have been using the following for years now and with great success.

I. Rozas Cedar top Concert - Luthier Gold #40's
I. Rozas Spruce top Concert - La Bella 10PH

Each guitar exhibits different characteristics and nuance. They react very differently to different strings and compounds. It is a moot point to ellicit opinions of strings used unless these two elements are brought together and played. There are no hard and fast rules unfortunately when it comes to string selection. :cry:

[kozmo]

Although I prefer Savarez - I've recently met some people who use 3 types of strings on their guitar for different reasons. they'll use one brand for the E,A,D - another brand for the G string, then B, high E will be from another.
they may like the low's from the Hannabaugh (SP?) then use Savarez for the G, and some other brand for the top strings - I guess it can get that personal depending on what sound you're going for.

I'm gonna plug this cruise again cause I want everyone to go with me.

www.classicalguitarcruise.com
- David Tanenbaum, Ben Verderey, Adam Holzman, Martha Masters and others...guitar makers, master classes, workshops for beginners, guitar giveaway ( kenny hill ) and a whole bunch of other stuff. Hope you make it..

K