Nickel wound vs. bronze phosphor?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mellotron
  • Start date Start date
M

mellotron

New member
I'm currently using D'Addario regular light gauge xl nickel wound strings for my acoustic guitar on my Norman B18, which is cedar and rosewood. Is nickel wound mostly used on electrics guitars? The other brands I've used so far are DR and Martin SP--I think both of them were bronze. What I've found so far is that I like the feel of DR's the best, but the nickel wounds I have right now have pretty good warmth. What's the main difference and what would you recommend for getting warmth, since I think that's my guitar's forte?
 
These days, nickel alloy strings like you've got are usually used on electrics, and variations of bronze strings are usually used on acoustics. That wasn't always the case. It used to be all you could get was pure nickel wrap strings, which I love for electrics, but I much prefer uncoated phosphor bronze strings for my acoustics.

Avoid DR's, they have really bad consistency problems (I hardly ever put them on for anybody, but I still see more bad DR's than all other strings combined, by a factor of at least 10-to-1). People who like them like them a lot, and if that's how you feel go for it, but you're going to have to deal with a lot of bum strings (which still means probably no more than one in every 20 sets or so, but still...)


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Nickel or bronze, could get a debate started. No matter which you prefer, you will probably be better off using strings with a wound 3rd string. Plain 3rd strings just don't sound right on most acoustics.
 
Light, what are you stringing your electrics with? I have used Dadarrio's for years but recently (2 yrs) have had breakage on at least one gtr at a time. Usually the tremolo Ibanez breaks them ( as it gets whammy usage ) but I have had failure on stop tail gtr's as well. What ya reccomend?
 
Thurgood said:
Light, what are you stringing your electrics with? I have used Dadarrio's for years but recently (2 yrs) have had breakage on at least one gtr at a time. Usually the tremolo Ibanez breaks them ( as it gets whammy usage ) but I have had failure on stop tail gtr's as well. What ya reccomend?
Click to expand...


Most of my life I just used D'Addario EXL110's (standard electric lights, .010-.046), but of late I've been using pure nickle wound lights. I've been using either the D'Addario's (EPN110, I believe) or the ones from Ernie Ball (Classic Rock `n Roll Regular Slinkys, set 2251). I'm liking the attack of the pure nickle wraps. They seem to be a little less robust, but as I pay wholesale for my strings and can change them much faster than most people, it doesn't really bother me much.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Yeah...turns out I accidentally put electric strings on an acoustic. The guitar store lady assumed I meant electric guitar strings when I said "guitar strings." Is it bad for my acoustic guitar? This is the second time in a row. The first time I put on D'Addario nickel wound super lights, this time regular lights. I'm surprised they didn't break the first time--I was wondering why the heck the strings required 0.0000001 Newtons to press down and my guitar got out of tune every day. Has my truss rod or something shifted, or is the amount of tension the same, just it's bad for the strings themselves since electric strings aren't designed to take the tension of an acoustic guitar?
 
mellotron said:
Yeah...turns out I accidentally put electric strings on an acoustic. The guitar store lady assumed I meant electric guitar strings when I said "guitar strings." Is it bad for my acoustic guitar? This is the second time in a row. The first time I put on D'Addario nickel wound super lights, this time regular lights. I'm surprised they didn't break the first time--I was wondering why the heck the strings required 0.0000001 Newtons to press down and my guitar got out of tune every day. Has my truss rod or something shifted, or is the amount of tension the same, just it's bad for the strings themselves since electric strings aren't designed to take the tension of an acoustic guitar?
Click to expand...


Your not going to hurt anything, but you won't get much sound out of it either.

Given the same gauge of strings and the same scale length, there is no difference in tension between acoustic and electric guitars.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
http://www.daquisto.com/catalog/catalog.html


D'Aquisto makes a very good nickel wound acoustic guitar string (Artist Series). I use these exclusively on my Martin D-28.

I like a more subdued tone than what I get from Bronze and Phosphor Bronze strings which seem too bright and harsh right out of the pack. By the time they have dulled enough for the tone i like, its time to replace them.

The nickel wounds seem to have a more balance tone - warm without the twang.

The only problem with D'Aquisto is finding them in guitar shops, I usually order them from their website.
 
mellotron said:
Yeah...turns out I accidentally put electric strings on an acoustic. The guitar store lady assumed I meant electric guitar strings when I said "guitar strings." Is it bad for my acoustic guitar? This is the second time in a row. The first time I put on D'Addario nickel wound super lights, this time regular lights. I'm surprised they didn't break the first time--I was wondering why the heck the strings required 0.0000001 Newtons to press down and my guitar got out of tune every day. Has my truss rod or something shifted, or is the amount of tension the same, just it's bad for the strings themselves since electric strings aren't designed to take the tension of an acoustic guitar?
Click to expand...

The only thing I would be concerned about is "light" electric strings are tpically MUCH lighter than "light" acoustic. A typical light guage of electric strings will be either '9s or 10's, whereas I think the light guage Elixer acoustic strings I've been using are 12's. That means that "light" electric strings will put a LOT less tension on the neck than "light" acoustic strings.

As for tone... Bronze strings are really what's considered the "normal" acoustic sound. I've never string up an acoustic with heavy-enough electric strings, so who knows how it'd sound, but as for the two major types of bronze strings, 80/20 bronze is probably the more "normal" acoustic sound, whereas phosphor bronze is a bit twangier in the bass and brighter. It's a sound that reminds me of bluegrass a bit, but that said my ears tell me that Travis Meeks is using phosphor bronze strings on all the Days of the New albums, and that guy gets some of the best acoustic sounds I've ever heard recorded. Needless to say, I'm a phosphor bronze user. :)
 
rstuds-

mellotron said:
Yeah...turns out I accidentally put electric strings on an acoustic. The guitar store lady assumed I meant electric guitar strings when I said "guitar strings." Is it bad for my acoustic guitar? This is the second time in a row. The first time I put on D'Addario nickel wound super lights, this time regular lights. I'm surprised they didn't break the first time--I was wondering why the heck the strings required 0.0000001 Newtons to press down and my guitar got out of tune every day. Has my truss rod or something shifted, or is the amount of tension the same, just it's bad for the strings themselves since electric strings aren't designed to take the tension of an acoustic guitar?
Click to expand...
ANY TIME YOU CHANGE THE GUAGE OF STRINGS IT'S GOING TO DO FUNKY THINGS TO YOUR NECK. PICK A GUAGE AND HAVE A EXPERT SET IT UP THE WAY YOU LIKE IT AND STICK WITH IT!! ALSO FIND A BRAND AND TRY TO STICK WITH IT.I LIKE THE D'ADARRIO 110XL FOR 40 YEARS. THE HEAVIER THE STRING THE BETTER SOUND.THE FARTHER FROM THE NECK THE BETTER THE SOUND.IT'S JUST GIVE AND TAKE,HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO BLEED OR BEND STRINGS,RSTUDS
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top