The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    So yesterday I put a plain .020 g-string on my ES 330 that has a .012 set of Chromes. I was never comfortable with the tone of the flatwound in that position. It makes a big difference so I wonder why it took me so long.
    The .020 is a bit loud (maybe just because it's new?) so I might try an .019 in the future. It's great that such cheap things as strings can make such a big difference.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Agree. I also prefer a plain G. Sounds less plinky to me.

  4. #3

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    Agreed. I use a combination of 12 14 18 plain Elixirs with 30 40 50 Chromes. A secondairy advantage is that I change the plain strings more frequently without having the need to change the flats.

  5. #4

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  6. #5

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    While I (generally) prefer a wound G, Ed Bickert and Jim Hall both used plain Gs and sounded great. There is something akin to the classical guitar tonal differentiation between the trebles and basses with the plain G, which can be nice. String noise is remarkably reduced using the plain G, too.

    The plain G is problematic in terms of tone as you go up the neck, because the string becomes stiffer in it's response as it gets shorter. It will start to lose sustain and sound choked, thus if you play up the neck a lot a lighter G may sound better.

  7. #6

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    I changed my wound third to a plain steel third simply because I wanted to occasionally bend. Made a huge difference and I could not hear a tonal change. Ibanez GB10se D'addario ECG 23 with plain .019 third.

  8. #7

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    I tend to favor a plain G as well. 0.018 - 0.020, depending, for both tonal considerations, and flexibility. The classical 3/3 factor is in play, though my preferred classical strings La Bell Hard Tensions, have one plain string and five wounds strings. Fun!