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I would expect heavier strings to wear frets more slowly, because of the increased surface area contacting the frets, but not my much. I tend to doubt that the difference could be accurately measured. I haven't done any experimentation at all on this, though, so I'm only speculating.
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05-13-2022 10:21 AM
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Originally Posted by sgosnell
The question came up yesterday, when I noticed that there's visible wear to the 2nd-4th or 5th frets on my archtop, under the B string. IIRC it showed hardly any wear when I got it, and if so I did that in just over 5 months The only consolation I can think of is that the action at the nut was way too high at first, and that I've lowered it some more last week (I think to about 0.2mm at the 1st fret with the string held down at the 3rd. Can probably go a bit lower still (like on my jumbo, but that one has a longer scale length).
Completely off-topic, but I bought a dedicated 0.016" nut file for this, and then saw you can use nozzle cleaning files to touch up existing nut slots. A set of those cost half the price of the single nut file, and they do indeed work (with a bit more elbow grease and inconvenience).
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IME thicker strings buzz less, because of less vibration excursion. I have a set of the nozzle cleaners (not exactly files, but that's not important now) and they're somewhere in a drawer. I got some use out of them, but not a lot. I have a lot of files, of various sizes, shapes and uses, but for nuts and saddles all I use these days are these: Access to this page has been denied. Far from cheap, but IMO worth it. They can be removed from the big yellow carrier if necessary, for working in tight spaces, such as touching up a slot without removing the string, just sliding it over a little. I only have 6, and that's enough. It's easy enough to use a smaller file and widen the slot just a little wider if needed. But in the end, whatever gets the job done is good enough.
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Originally Posted by JohanAbrandt
Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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Originally Posted by sgosnell
I have a set of the nozzle cleaners (not exactly files, but that's not important now)
The "official" nut file I got for the B is IIRC a Maxparts model from Thomann; cost me about 19€ without handle. I chose it because it was in stock and had good reviews, including a claim that it has an oval shape (I haven't taken out a magnifier to check that). I wanted a good one for this string because its slot had been redone with the bone dust + superglue method.
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Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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Originally Posted by RJVB
The trebles are not so different acoustically, the main difference is throu amp. They literally sing, with long sustain, no plink plink. The closest analogy is like tube vs solid state, those trebles are on the tube side compared to TI.
A must hear. But a word of warning: if one is a thunk lover, this will not do for him. Also, they are roundwound sets, so if one does not love zing zang on chords, it is also not for him.
I never tried NYXL so I can not compare to those sets.
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I think the electrozinc is just a nice, period-correct way of referring to the fact that the wrap wire is electro-plated with zinc (in that case they could have made a pun on how these leave us galvanisé if the brand were French ). It's of course also possible that the wrap wire is indeed a zinc alloy and that the electro bit refers to the fact these are strings for e-guitar.
Zinc isn't magnetically active, is it?
The fact these are made by d'Addario and the rest of the marketing mumbo probable imply that the core wire (and trebles) are made at the firm's NY plant with the steel they use there, i.e. NY steel.
EDIT: Bethanization - Wikipedia
See the remarks about zinc-iron alloys; brittleness is not something you want in a string.
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Originally Posted by RJVB
If it would be a $ hundreds investement, or trouble to get it, or days to try it, then it would be worth to talk about more, but neither is the case.
I just would like to add a new, less known experience to the topic.
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Yeah, and on the plus side, the zinc plated strings could act as a sacrificial node, so your guitar stays rust free, 2 flys in one swat
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Originally Posted by JohanAbrandt
I'm not about to splurge around 16€ on a set just to get the 2 trebles which are probably going to sound just like any other treble I can buy for a fraction of that price... So no, I didn't over-theorise in my book
I did however order an E,B pair of Optima's gold-plated trebles, we'll see if those stand out. Plus that AC016 flat-wound G that should work as a 17 B ... curious about that!
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Originally Posted by RJVB
D'Addario NYXL High Carbon Steel Single Strings NYS007 NYXL Plain Steel .007
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Thanks! I'm not certain a "softer" acoustic sound is what I'm looking for, TBH, but I'll flag them for a future order (sadly your post came just too late for this morning's order). They're not cheap here though (2.35€); more expensive in fact than those Optima gold-plated strings!
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Yeah, they're a good option, but in the end I prefer the pure sound of the regular xls for plain steel. They got the nyxl plain steels to feel kind of slinky.
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Got my order in, and just had to try that AC016 as a B string. Interestingly it's a 0.0169" so 17 gauge. I cannot really speak for its actual tension, but because of its higher flexibility the force needed to deflect it is a bit less than that for a similar deflection of the 16 gauge plain wire B.
Evidently I it requires a different (less) compensation than the plain wire B; it's just audibly flat at the 12th string. We'll see how it sounds after a few days, time to let it lose its initial brass'hy twangyness.
I also installed the 13 gauge Optima gold-plated high E. Initial impression: definitely a bit mellower.
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I didn't leave that AC016 on very long; ultimately I didn't like the sound any better than a 16" plain wire B string, maybe even less, so there was no point in putting up with the iffy intonation.
The gold (?) plating on the Optima trebles doesn't really last much longer than the brass plating on the GHS and TI trebles I tried, and today I noticed a pronounced twang in the open high E when played a bit louder. Slipping a piece of paper between it and the nut helped with that, so maybe I should just give in and get myself a new nut made because I also have something under the low E in its nut slot to prevent very audible buzz on that open string (a piece of the sealed wrapper of a used covid self-test )
Funny: much as I'm looking forward to trying a saddle with bone insert, I'm now wondering if I shouldn't try an ebony nut. I'd expect this to make the sound of the open strings (a bit) more mellow, no? Anyone try this?
Has anyone played or had a Supro Amulet ?
Today, 04:44 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos