High-end string recommendation

[voyage]

I’ve used Chromes for years. I want to see if some high end strings will make a difference in the tone. I have found Tomastick Infelds, Optima jazz swings, Italian Galli strings, and Pyramid flats. Does anyone have experience with any of these and could you say what the tone is like?

Thank you.
Jim

[Jazzjourney4Eva]

I’ve used Chromes for years. I want to see if some high end strings will make a difference in the tone. I have found Tomastick Infelds, Optima jazz swings, Italian Galli strings, and Pyramid flats. Does anyone have experience with any of these and could you say what the tone is like?

Thank you.
Jim

I'm sold on TIs. Round wound.

They have Benson's, Bebop, Swing, flat and round wound, and of different gauges. You can get individual strings too, but plan ahead as their stock goes up and down (Juststrings.com - no affiliation)

[Llacrobat]

I did not like the Pyramid flats. They felt rough under the fingers and the tone was boring and lifeless. OTOH I love the Pyramid roundwound nickel strings.

[omphalopsychos]

Lol at the concept of “high end strings”. I like Thomastiks and am willing to pay for quality, but when it comes to strings there isn’t a correlation between price and quality.

Go on any string website and you can sort by price descending. Likely it will be the bensons. Same concept as shopping for Gucci loafers. Like the Gucci loafers the benson strings have a conspicuous blue silk wrap that will overtly signal how much you spent on them. For other brands, you’d have to make sure to let others know verbally.

[Jazzjourney4Eva]

Lol at the concept of “high end strings”. I like Thomastiks and am willing to pay for quality, but when it comes to strings there isn’t a correlation between price and quality.

Go on any string website and you can sort by price descending. Likely it will be the bensons. Same concept as shopping for Gucci loafers. Like the Gucci loafers the benson strings have a conspicuous blue silk wrap that will overtly signal how much you spent on them. For other brands, you’d have to make sure to let others know verbally.

But in most situations there is a correlation between price and grade.

[spencer096]

dogal evolution or expressive flats. best ive ever tried by miles.

[John A.]

But in most situations there is a correlation between price and grade.

Not really with guitar strings. Specifically with Chromes and TI flatwounds, Chromes are cheaper in the US and more expensive in Europe, while TI's are cheaper in Europe and more expensive in the US. Comparing pricing of other brands, a lot has to do with the fact that many of the smaller brands are expensive because they don't have the same economies of scale as the larger ones and/or because they don't actually make strings at all and instead outsource manufacturing to the larger makers (e.g., D'Addario and GHS make a lot of other brands' strings).


I've used both Chromes and Jazz Swings. I find that the Chromes start out brighter and louder, but pretty quickly fade and wind up sounding about the same. Some people say the TI's last longer; but I haven't found that to be the case. IME, the more noticeable differences between the two come from how they feel. This in turn comes from a difference between the feel of hexagonal vs round cores (hex is a little stiffer) and from differences in how they put together sets. If you go to a site such as juststrings.com, you can see the details of each set to see what I mean. For me, I like a 13 on top, a wound G that's light enough to bend a little, and a light-ish low E. The TI 13 set gets me pretty much exactly what I want. With Chromes, the 13 set is too heavy for me, so I get a 12 set and swap the high E (and maybe the G). The modified Chromes are still cheaper, but if I can get the TI's on sale, it's close enough not to bother with swapping strings.

All of that said, I don't think one is better than the other. I think the differences come down to personal preference, not an objective difference in quality between the two.

[rpjazzguitar]

I'm almost embarrassed to say this. I can tell flats from rounds, but, within a type, I don't hear much difference. By which I mean, I don't hear a difference.

I often use D'Addarios and I don't know why.

I recently used some Fender Bullets I found in the back of a drawer, where they'd been for a couple of decades, and they sounded fine.

Yesterday, I put on a set of Fender 9 - 42, tossing the 9 and subbing a 13 in for the B string. Sound fine, like everything else.

I also can't hear any difference from high end cables.

If I could hear a difference from that high end power cable (wall to amp), I'd get a psychiatric evaluation.

[jazzkritter]

I’ve found the Optima Gold singles great for E and B combined with TI flats. Nicer sound (to me))) than the TI E/B. Rounder stronger but not metallic. 2.35 USD ea at stringsbymail. Now I have no idea exactly what “24 Carat Gold” means, I suspect that’s playing, but they sound and play great so whatever.
Highly recommend you give them a try.
jk

[jazzkritter]

Oh… JohnA…yours is the perfect comment:

“All of that said, I don't think one is better than the other. I think the differences come down to personal preference, not an objective difference in quality between the two.”

[omphalopsychos]

Buy strings of various price levels and try them out. Keep the ones you like. You’ll probably find that you like “high end” ones on some guitars and “economical” ones on others. I much prefer Newtone archtops over Thomastik bebop’s for example although they are very similar strings. The only noticeable difference is that the newtones use more traditional string gauges, whereas thomatik uses very thin d and g strings for a given set.

[Jazzjourney4Eva]

Not really with guitar strings. Specifically with Chromes and TI flatwounds, Chromes are cheaper in the US and more expensive in Europe, while TI's are cheaper in Europe and more expensive in the US. Comparing pricing of other brands, a lot has to do with the fact that many of the smaller brands are expensive because they don't have the same economies of scale as the larger ones and/or because they don't actually make strings at all and instead outsource manufacturing to the larger makers (e.g., D'Addario and GHS make a lot of other brands' strings).


I've used both Chromes and Jazz Swings. I find that the Chromes start out brighter and louder, but pretty quickly fade and wind up sounding about the same. Some people say the TI's last longer; but I haven't found that to be the case. IME, the more noticeable differences between the two come from how they feel. This in turn comes from a difference between the feel of hexagonal vs round cores (hex is a little stiffer) and from differences in how they put together sets. If you go to a site such as juststrings.com, you can see the details of each set to see what I mean. For me, I like a 13 on top, a wound G that's light enough to bend a little, and a light-ish low E. The TI 13 set gets me pretty much exactly what I want. With Chromes, the 13 set is too heavy for me, so I get a 12 set and swap the high E (and maybe the G). The modified Chromes are still cheaper, but if I can get the TI's on sale, it's close enough not to bother with swapping strings.

All of that said, I don't think one is better than the other. I think the differences come down to personal preference, not an objective difference in quality between the two.

Those are considerations, not absolutes. Otherwise we'd go with Ernie Balls.

[nyc chaz]

Buy strings of various price levels and try them out. Keep the ones you like. You’ll probably find that you like “high end” ones on some guitars and “economical” ones on others. I much prefer Newtone archtops over Thomastik bebop’s for example although they are very similar strings. The only noticeable difference is that the newtones use more traditional string gauges, whereas thomatik uses very thin d and g strings for a given set.

This is the best advice anyone can give.What works on one guitar will not sound as good on another.When playing acoustcally also try different picks,they can make a huge difference to the sound you are trying to achieve.

[John A.]

Those are considerations, not absolutes. Otherwise we'd go with Ernie Balls.

OK, and?

[339 in june]

Agreed with the buy and try concept
Strings are not that expensive that you have to find the one that suits you, your playing, the sound you're after and tour guitar at once.
And this applies not only to the brand or model of strings, but RW ? FW ? gauge ?
Depends also on the use you make of your strings (how many hours a week you play on how many guitars ...)
You'll see that some sound good (to one's ears) at the beginning of their life, but don't last long
You'll see that some need some time to break in and last nearly for ever
String choice is very personal depending on your playing, the sound you want, the guitar you put them on ....
Buy some and try them until you find the right ones for your, until your taste changes .....

[Jazzjourney4Eva]

OK, and?

In post 4 omphalopsychos established "when it comes to strings there isn’t a correlation between price and quality", and in post #7 you established that also holds true for "grade", while mentioning that TIs cost more in the USA.

So... you live in the USA and pay the price for TIs. If you don't believe that you're getting higher quality or higher grade for the higher price, why do you buy them?

(the question is rhetorical)

[jim777]

I have 15 guitars but only 2 have flats, and both have Benson 12's which were what my jazz teacher recommended. They are pricey but sound great to me, are easy to play and last so much longer than the round wounds on my solid bodies it's almost funny to me I did have Chromes on my 175 copy for years (Ibanez FA-100) but prefer the Bensons.

[st.bede]

When it come to strings, I always thought that it was the sound, how long they last, and reliability.

For example, I have used a lot of roundwound Ennie Ball 9s when I started (super slinky?). Maybe 4 years. I then moved on to other strings. About 5 years ago. I started using them again. They sounded good, but the high E string would break after awhile. I never break strings. Well except for EB 9s. I have to think they are engineered to last for only so long. If I want a bright set of strings I use D’Addario.

Pay a little less, pay a little more… just use the ones you like, and work best for you.

I do not believe with strings there is a price/quality issue. Maybe a price and marketing issue. I do believe
that if you buy strings shipped from Europe they cost more because of that. That makes sense.

when it comes down to it, guitar strings are inexpensive compared to a number of other instruments. How much do violin strings cost? How long do those last?

My experience is that a set of flats last long, compared to round… in the end, they are not the expensive.

[John A.]

In post 4 omphalopsychos established "when it comes to strings there isn’t a correlation between price and quality", and in post #7 you established that also holds true for "grade", while mentioning that TIs cost more in the USA.

So... you live in the USA and pay the price for TIs. If you don't believe that you're getting higher quality or higher grade for the higher price, why do you buy them?

(the question is rhetorical)

Guitar strings are mass-produced manufactured products for which there are objective metrics of quality (e.g, consistency from set to set, durability, whether the windings hold together, how well they stay in tune, etc.). By those sorts of metrics, IME, Chromes and TI Jazz Swings are indistinguishable (others I've tried have been objectively worse strings). That's why I said I think the differences between them are matters of preference not of quality. I go back and forth as to which I prefer (and explained my preference in my post).

[deacon Mark]

I have used them all and really you just get them try them out. I find over time things vary in my taste. I had a bad experience with a set of D'Addario half-rounds with flaws. Then got another set of them and now I find I really like them. They don't have the finger noise and still retain good acoustic output. For pure acoustic out put I like round wound pure nickle strings by DR or Daddario. I also find Tomasticks expensive and swore them off never to spend. Then my friend Big Mike gave me a set of the TI swings roundwound and I am hooked. They are really nice feeling and took the edge of brightness on my Heritage DA New Yorker off. Much nice sound which tells me guitars can be specific. I use flats on the S400ces and really most of them are good and similar.

In the end the choice of strings has to do with the specific guitar and the sound you are trying to get out of it. Sometimes I put roundwounds on and sometimes semi-flats.

[Jazzjourney4Eva]

TIs continue to get a lot of lovin' from jazzers.

[Jazzjourney4Eva]

Guitar strings are mass-produced manufactured products for which there are objective metrics of quality (e.g, consistency from set to set, durability, whether the windings hold together, how well they stay in tune, etc.). By those sorts of metrics, IME, Chromes and TI Jazz Swings are indistinguishable (others I've tried have been objectively worse strings). That's why I said I think the differences between them are matters of preference not of quality. I go back and forth as to which I prefer (and explained my preference in my post).

Do you consider sound and feel to be quality characteristics when we're talking about strings for a musical instrument that is played by the fingers, and when "touch" is a critical aspect of how the instrument is played? I do.

Do you consider Nickel to be a characteristic of grade, where guitar strings are concerned. I do.

[AllanAllen]

Those are considerations, not absolutes. Otherwise we'd go with Ernie Balls.

I like Ernie Balls. You can always find them.

[jads57]

I think each guitar needs to find the strings that work best for it and your personal taste.
I’ve found different brands work best for certain instruments and not so much on others. Mainly has to do with tension and what gages they offer.

Some examples:

I like Ernie Ball as a default but prefer Pyramid Nickel standard on my Kiesel Holdsworth headless guitar.
But on my Kiesel Zeus 7 string I like Ernie Ball Mondo Slinky with a 66 low B Ernie Ball

For my Benedetto Bambino I like Curt Mangan .11 to .52 Rounds

For my Martin OM 21 Special I like John Pearce Bronze 80/20

For my Carved Archtop Elferink I like Thomastik George Benson Rounds but way too expensive in USA! I just use D’Addairo XL 12 to 53 Round Wounds or similar gage from others like La Bella etc.

Its fun to experiment Ad some times your taste will change as well. Try Strings and Beyond for really good prices, especially when they have various sales!

[Bob65C]

I have la bella on 1 of my guitars. I like them