Guitar Strings

One of the cheaper and easier way to change your guitar tone is change the strings. But which strings we should use to get the sound we want? Guitar strings are bits metal or plastic that you strum away at to make sound. There are many different types of string which is made of different materials for different purposes.

Guitar strings made from solid threads of material (metal, plastic, silk, gut) and some rounded with wire wound tightly to get the required thickness.

Strings for acoustic and electric guitar have their own characteristic and should not change vice versa. Because of electric guitar use magnetic pick up, so acoustic strings made from nylon can not use for electric guitar. But electric guitar strings can be used for acoustic guitar and produce thinnest sound than acoustic strings.

Acoustic Guitar Strings
Strings for acoustic guitar usually come in two kinds

Bronze Wound Acoustic Guitar Strings
Bronze is alloy which is actually a mixture of copper and tin or copper and zinc. An 80/20 bronze string is made of an alloy comprised of 80% copper and 20% tin or 20% zinc. These alloys are sometimes called brass.
Bronze strings produce a very brilliant, crisp sound when new but begin to lose their new sound after only a few hours of playing. So we should change the strings each time we want to perform or recording the sound.
Example Martin MSP3200 Studio/Performance 80/20 Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings

Phosphor Bronze Wound Acoustic Guitar Strings
Phosphor bronze (P/B) is second in popularity to the 80/20 bronze strings for acoustic guitar. They produce a bright, but slightly warmer and darker sound than bronze strings. The small amount of phosphorous in the alloy helps them retain their new sound longer than bronze.
Example D'Addario Set Acous Exp Phos Brz Med

Electric Guitar Strings
Electric guitar strings use two kinds of string i.e. plain and wound. Plain made from steel as the basic, meanwhile wound made from steel for the core and rounded by another material to add the weight and diameter to get the lower sound. The bigger the diameter and weight the lower sound will produce. So the plain strings usually used for strings 1,2, and 3 and wound string for string 4,5, and 6.

Electric guitar strings can be divided by material used

Pure Nickel Wound Strings
Inner steel were wound with an alloy called Pure Nickel. This kind of strings popular at 50’s. Tone characteristic is bright, warm, and vintage tone.
Example Original 1550's - Pure Nickel Wound 11-49 Gauge

Nickel Plated Steel
Nickel plated steel is the alloy most widely used in string making today. The nickel plating enhances the feel and reduces finger noise and fret wear. They are hotter and provide greater sustain and a brighter sound than pure nickel.
Example DR Strings MT-10 Tite-Fit Nickel Plated Electric Guitar Strings

Stainless Steel
Stainless steel strings are hotter, brighter, and provide more sustain than either pure nickel or Nickel Plated Steel. They are more resistant to oils, acids, and sweat and are, hands down, the longest lasting strings.
Example Ernie Ball 2246 Stainless Steel Regular Slinky Electric Guitar Strings