Guitar String Construction

Depending on the construction of the instrument on which they are used, strings will usually have either a ball or loop at one end to attach the string to the instrument. Strings for some instruments may be wrapped with silk at their ends to protect the string. The color and pattern of the silk can be used to identify the string.

The simplest ones are the Roundwound strings. They have a round core inside and round-winding wire, wound in a tight spiral around it. Such strings are usually simple to manufacture and thus are usually the least expensive. There are several drawbacks, however:

• Roundwound strings have a surface profile (the "bumps" of the winding) that causes "squeaking" sounds when the player's fingers slide over the strings. Whereas some artists use this sound creatively on purpose, this sound is, in general, unwanted.
• Non-flat surface profile also hastens fingerboard and fret wire wear.

The winding is not secured to the core and can rotate freely around it, especially if the winding is damaged after use. It makes it harder to push down and hold the strings with the fingers, and thus impairs the general playing experience.

Flatwound strings also have a round core, but the winding wire has a rounded square cross-section. When tightly wound, such strings have a much shallower profile (in cross-section), thus making them more comfortable to play, less damaging for frets / fretboard and producing quieter squeak sounds from fingers sliding along the string. However, players frequently cite that the sound of flatwound strings differs considerably from the sound of roundwound, with less brightness

Halfwound strings, ground wound strings or pressure wound strings are a cross between roundwound and flatwound, providing both the tonal characteristics of roundwound and the lack of squeaking and the playing feel of flatwound. Such strings are usually made by winding round wire around a round core first, then polishing, grinding (thus the name, ground wound) or pressing the exterior part of the winding until it is practically flat.

Note that polishing process removes almost half of winding wire mass, thus, to compensate for it, manufacturers have to use heavier gauge winding wire. In its turn, thicker winding wire lowers frequency of slide squeaking. Depending on sound processing, it can be a good thing (as squeaking becomes less accented and it will be masked out by performed music) or a bad thing (high-pitched squeaks are much easier to detect and filter out when recording).

Hexwound strings are composed of regular hexagonal core and a tight (usually round) winding that closely fits a hexagonal shape. It solves the second problem: it secures the winding around the core, so it cannot rotate and slip under the fingers. Sometimes it is cited that hexagonal core improves tones due to closer bond between the core and the windingThe drawback is that relatively sharp hexagonal corners are less comfortable for fingers and wear down the fingerboard and fret wire even faster than roundwound strings. Hexwound strings are more commonly used on bass instruments (such as bass guitars).

Source Wikipedia

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