Which guitar strings do I need?
Guitar strings differ in terms of material, gauge and winding. This overview will help you find your way through the string jungle.
You can currently find over 2000 items in the strings section of our shop. If you limit the selection to guitar strings, there are still more than 800 products. Finding the right strings is particularly difficult for beginners.
When do you need to change the strings?
A string change is only really necessary when a string breaks. However, there are good reasons not to wait that long. Fresh strings sound more brilliant. But it's not just the sound of old strings that leaves something to be desired. Rust often sets in. This is visible as dark discolouration and can be felt when playing. Old strings also need to be retuned more often, start to buzz and also break more quickly.
Depending on how much you play, you should change the strings every few weeks to every few months. And then preferably the complete set.
Nylon versus steel
You probably know the most important difference: there are nylon strings for classical guitars and metal strings for acoustic and electric guitars. Under no circumstances should you use steel strings on a classical guitar! Steel strings have a much stronger tension and the guitar must be designed for this. Western and electric guitars have a metal rod in the neck to prevent it from bending or even breaking uncontrollably despite the high tension. The bridge and tuners are also specially designed for metal strings.
On the other hand, nylon strings cannot be mounted on steel-string guitars. Steel strings have a knob at the lower end that holds the string to the bridge. Nylon strings, on the other hand, are fixed with a knot. Classical guitars therefore have a different bridge to steel-string guitars. There are also differences at the top of the nut: as the upper metal strings are thinner than their nylon counterparts, the notch in the nut of acoustic and electric guitars is too narrow for nylon.
Wrapping the strings
The low strings of nylon and steel strings look similar at first glance. In both cases, a metal winding is visible. However, the core is made of either nylon or steel
Wrapped roundwound is the standard. If you prefer a particularly soft, muffled sound, you need flatwound. These strings have a bevelled winding and are often used in jazz. Halfwound strings are also available as an intermediate option.
The winding of most electric guitar strings is made of a nickel alloy. In contrast, bronze is often used for acoustic guitars and silver for classical guitars. Rarely, there are also steel or gold windings. Both last longer, but steel wrapping can affect the service life of the frets as it is very hard.
As a rule, the lowest three strings are wound. Some acoustic guitar sets also have four
The right string gauge
It is important that you choose the right string gauge. Thicker strings require more force to play. This is particularly noticeable on electric guitars when you pull a string to raise the tone. On the other hand, they also go out of tune less if you press (too) hard. Contrary to popular belief, thick strings do not sound «fuller». Rather the opposite.
Attention: If you string thinner or thicker strings, the tension changes. This makes it necessary to adjust the neck curvature on electric guitars. And this in turn can result in an adjustment of the string height at the bridge. In other words: the guitar needs to be readjusted.
You should therefore always know what string gauge you are playing with and only change it if there is a clear reason to do so. As a beginner, it is not advisable to adjust the neck bend yourself. Leave this to the music shop or an experienced person.
String gauges are usually given in inches. The top string of an electric guitar is usually 0.009 or 0.010 inches thick. If you have no idea how thick your current strings are, you should use one of these two sizes. Fender guitars are normally fitted with 9 gauge strings from the factory, while Gibson style guitars tend to have 10 gauge strings. These gauges are often referred to as «light», but this is misleading. They are considered standard.
In a set of 9-strings, the lowest string usually measures 0.042 inches. However, there are also sets that range from 9 to 45. As the tension differs here too, you don't just need to know the gauge of the top string. Memorise a pair of numbers such as «9-42» or «10-46».
Western guitars tend to have thicker strings: 12 to 52 are common here. However, it is perfectly possible to play with lighter strings if this is easier for you. Nylon strings are much thicker unwound, about 0.028 inches for the E string.
David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
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