Wound or plain G

[Cunamara]

>>> So which one do you use

Wound

>>> and why?

Because I do not need the bend response of a plain G and I use heavy enough strings that the core of a wound G is not silly-fragile.

>>> I just put a new set of TI Bebop 012 and it has a plain G,

Yeah. I wish they would not do that. I buy wound .021 T-I G's to use with that set.

MY recollection is that the T-I "George Benson" GB-112 sets come with a wound G, which might save you a buck or two per set.

[Section Player]

I do not always keep track of what guitar a given poster may have in mind, but if you have a GB-10, then going back to my first post on the thread:

>>> So a plain G needs more compensation at the bridge. It is also FAR more sensitive to mistakes in that compensation.

So a plain G will not be compensated enough with the stock GB-10 bridge. You can try it for sound, but the saddle area near the G will need to go back roughly 3/32" (2.5mm) or slightly more.

In practice, this means a saddle made for a plain G.

No big deal, but something you'll need to take care of if you plan to use a plain G.

Chris

Chris......my GB10 was purchased new by me in 1980, and has never had a wound G string of any gauge or as part of any set of strings on it (and not as delivered either) until about 3 weeks ago. (That's why I was so surprised that a .010 set with plain G are so hard to find, and why the Emperor does not have clothes.)

So, for now I'm going to assume the saddle is set up for a plain G (the ebony saddle is factory original, standard, and has never been modified). It was the wound .018 T.I. G that right away gave me those funny, tinny sounding harmonics. It was the first wound G ever placed on the guitar, to the best of my memory. Never had that before.

I'll put a plain .018 T.I. G on it when they get here and report back.

[Section Player]

>>> Your explanation makes sense.

>>>If I had a 0.10 set with an unwound G, do you think the "singing harmonics" might be less obvious?

Short answer: Yes, and this is a more common configuration for a few reasons.

Cheap and easy to buy a few plain G's and test.

I suggest (not that anyone asked):

- Try a plain G in .018.

- Adjust bridge compensation for the longer distance needed for the plain G.

- If you are happy, then play away. If not let us know and we can walk through why all strings in a set are not usually wound (or unwound), and why we pick the crossover point that we pick, and why these choices have downsides, and what you can sometimes to about the downsides.

- But you may be happy with the plain G. I do not suggest going up to a .020 plain G, the inharmonicity troubles (from string stiffness) get really significant by .020" if you play well up the neck a great deal of the time.

Chris

Chris, just to follow up on your suggestion, yesterday I received some (online ordered) plain T.I. .018 strings in the mail...lightning fast service, actually, from JustStrings (maybe about 2-3 days). Today I took the wound T.I G string off the Ibanez GB10 and put an unwound T.I., same diameter, in its place. I would say the problem is 90-95% solved and that's good enough for me!

Unrelated issue: The G flat on the first string, second fret, is slightly wimpy sounding but I figure that's just some kind of resonance thing with this particular instrument and it doesn't bother me. Or, it's my faulty fingering, a distinct possibility. The other notes on that string seem fine. Otherwise everything sounds really good all over.

I want to thank you for the great advice and help! With much gratitude......

[PTChristopher]

Glad it worked out for you SP.

Really skinny wound strings can sing like crazy, and overly fat plain strings can have some intonation and harmonic mix and sustain problems.

So depending on the set, there is usually a pretty clear way to go on the G.

I really like T-I strings, but they do seem to zig when they might better zag on the G on more sets than just yours.

In my opinion.

Again, glad you are in business.

Chris

[Jazz_175]

Hey Chris, you've been of invaluable help many times
and I also like how you express some concepts, although I'm not sure I completely understand what you mean, as in the following

I really like T-I strings, but they do seem to zig when they might better zag on the G on more sets than just yours.

Chris

By the way have you tried to TI BeBop 13-53. I found that the 12-50 were a bit too of a light gauge when put on the acoustic archtop, and also have the problem of the plain G string.

[PTChristopher]

>>> I'm not sure I completely understand what you mean, [by "T-I seem to zig when they might better zag on the G "]

Yeah, poorly written.

I mean that T-I strings sound and play great in my opinion, but they contain a few odd string choices within some sets.

The BeBop 12-50 is odd at best with the .020 plain G. I use a wound .021 G instead.

Then the Swing 10-46 set (the object of this thread sort of) has a wound .018 G, which is a fashionable mix for a set of flats, but a sonic problem for the OP. In my opinion, the core of a wound .018 is getting toward too fragile, and the flexibility of a wound .018 G makes it a potentially odd mix with a flatwound sound.

>>> By the way have you tried to TI BeBop 13-53. I found that the 12-50 were a bit too of a light gauge when put on the acoustic archtop

Yes, I like the way the BeBop 13-53 sort of feel more like "12 and a halfs".

All in all I like the T-I mix which has a bit heavier treble gauge for a given bass gauge.

In my opinion.

Chris

[Marko47]

I'm an older guy with 53+ years of playing in the rear-view. I started fingerstyle in emulation of John Fahey (when the Resurrection album came out I worked on 'Brenda's Blues') and Geoff Muldaur. Jody Stecher taught me about string-boiling (but I don't).

I own several instruments and string them all differently. I'm discussing my Yamaha Martin Taylor (AEX1500) with hum/piezo:

I always liked the better sound/noise ratio of the heavy-guage strings. Those sets always come with a wound G, which deteriorates pretty damn fast - it would sound dead in a week - and I never could afford to buy new strings that fast. Using Tomastik strings, even more so...

First, I'd order an extra G, but that wasn't always possible (I like to support local stores but most don't carry TIs). Then I'd buy an unwound G string. Also logistically iffy.

But that turned me on to figuring out the "string-pull", effort it takes to fret strings. Guitar String Calculator

Currently, I order single GHS strings as follows:

RM32	Big Core Nickel Rockers Singles
RM42	Big Core Nickel Rockers Singles
RM56	Big Core Nickel Rockers Singles
024	Plain Steel Singles	(an 023 would be better but is nonexistent)
018	Plain Steel Singles
013.5	Plain Steel Singles

I feel they last a month or two, and give me an fairly even 29 lb. resistance across the neck. Really good for bending the G at the second fret...

Not shilling for GHS - they're the only place I could get all the weights above. But that changes all the time. Just Strings has SIT singles but only .13 or .14 plain. Strings & Beyond offers D'Addario's in the above weights.

[hotpepper01]

Plain G string for me. I use flatwounds on all archtops, but only the lowest 3 strings (EAD), I use individual coated Elixer strings for GBE. That works fine for me and the advantage is that I change the higher 3 strings more often than the lower 3 strings.

[EllenGtrGrl]

Wound for me. In almost 38 years of playing, I've never been a big blooze bender, so it's no loss for me that wound G strings are harder to bend than plain ones. I've been using wound Gs for decades, even going so far when I had to switch to Ernie Ball Cobalts on my electric guitars (due to nickel and stainless steel allergies that give me serious dermatitis), that I purchased additional wound strings in the proper gauges, to use with the 11 gauge, and 12 gauge Cobalt string sets I use on my guitars. I think wound Gs last longer sound wise than plain Gs, and I prefer the playing feel of them. I also think they sound better than plain Gs.

[darkwaters]

I've settled on 10's with a wound G (D'Addarrio 110Ws) on my 24 3/4 scale guitars and 9's ( no wound G) on my 25.5 scale guitars. I'd like to string them with 110W's as well, but my left hand just can't take it ( and, yes, I've tried). IMO a wound G sounds and feels better, which is due, I think, to me having been strictly an acoustic player for so many years. Like others, I couldn't care less about full step bends.