Affordable semi-custom strings from mapes

[Avery Roberts]

Screenshot taken May 05 2024

Hexacore Electric Guitar Strings – Mapes Strings

HEXACORE BLUES SET
The screen shot pretty much says it all. You get 9 strings in a package and the nice thing about that is that you get flexibility! If you like a heavy high E string, say an 013, you got it. Prefer a wound G? You got that too. Those are just two examples. There are other combinations you can come up with, and without the cost of buying extra single strings. The price (as of May 5 2024) is US$3.30 for the stainless steel set and US$4.40 for the nickel plated set.

ORDERING
When ordering be sure to specify "Blues Set". The other sets only have 6 strings per package. Also you have to order these online directly from Mapes. These are not sold in any other store, physical or online.

WHO IS MAPES?
Mapes is primarily a wire manufacturer that supplies wire to manufacturers. Very few (if any) string manufacturers make their own wire. Instead they buy it and then cut and/or wind the wire to make their finished product. But Mapes also has a sideline in that they manufacture completed strings for other labels and also for direct purchase by individuals from their factory.

Cheers and hope this helps or is at least interesting,
Avery Roberts

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated, financially or otherwise, with MAPES in any way. I'm making this post as a "hey look at this" service to the forum membership.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I’m a bit confused. Once you pick the 6 you prefer, you’re buying 3 strings you’ll never use.

[Avery Roberts]

you’re buying 3 strings you’ll never use

The price is so low (below any 6 string set on the market) it doesn't matter. What to do with the left-over strings? I suggest putting them in a bag for used strings. Then the left-overs will be recycled along with the used strings.

Another angle: this is basically an 11 - 48 set with 3 free added options. The options being you can bump up the high e string to 012 or 013 and you can replace the plain G with a wound version.

Cheers
Avery Roberts

[Avery Roberts]

For the novice player who doesn't have much experience with various string gauges, this Blues Set is a great educational tool. I recommend the following procedure:

Step 1: determine whether you like the wound G or the plain G.
(1) String up your guitar like this: 011, 015, 018p, 028w, 038w, 048w and play it for a week.
(2) Replace the 018p with the 020w, and play it for another week.
(3) At this point you should have a pretty good idea of which you like better, the plain or the wound.

Step 2: determine whether you would like a harder high e string.
(1) Replace the 011 with the 012 and play it for a week.
(2) Replace the 012 with the 013 and play it for a week.
(3) At this point you should have a pretty good idea of which you like better, the 011, the 012, or the 013.

Edit 1: Alternatively if doing all that testing seems too onerous then I suggest picking the following options: 012 for the high E and 018p for the G, and stainless steel for the D,A, and low E. The 012 will most likely balance better with the 015 B than the 011 or 013. The 018p for the G will give three plain strings for the trebles which will result in a more consistent tone for soloing. The stainless steel will give more clarity and definition in the bass strings as well as a better tonal and volume match to the trebles.

Edit 2: Very important. Most commercially made guitars (Gibson, Epiphone, Ibanez etc.) these days come from the factory with 10-46 strings. Hence it is necessary to have a luthier re-cut the nut to allow the heavier strings to sit in the grooves properly. Also the truss rod should be adjusted for the higher tension. On the other hand if the guitar has already been strung with 11-48 strings prior, then the surplus tolerance will most likely be sufficient allowance for the 012, and no re-cutting of the nut should be necessary.

Cheers and hope this helps,
Avery Roberts

[RJVB]

FWIW, Pyramid also let you compose your own sets through their website, and will do "specialty" string orders, with optional hand-polishing at no extra cost (IIRC). Neither is particularly more expensive than buying their off-the-shelf sets. Not as dirt cheap as these strings from Mapes but those do look very much intended for electric blues, rock etc.

[Avery Roberts]

Screenshot taken May 06 2024

This is the Pyramid H427 Jazz 11-48 set: 011p, 014p, 018p, 028w, 038w, 048w. Essentially equivalent to the MAPES but without the additional options.

So the Mapes Hexacore Blues Set should be just fine for Jazz.

Cheers
Avery Roberts

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

For the novice player who doesn't have much experience with various string gauges, this Blues Set is a great educational tool. I recommend the following procedure:

Step 1: determine whether you like the wound G or the plain G.
(1) String up your guitar like this: 011, 015, 020w, 028w, 038w, 048w and play it for a week.
(2) Replace the 020w with the 018p, and play it for another week.
(3) At this point you should have a pretty good idea of which you like better, the plain or the wound.

Step 2: determine whether you would like a harder high e string.
(1) Replace the 011 with the 012 and play it for a week.
(2) Replace the 012 with the 013 and play it for a week.
(3) At this point you should have a pretty good idea of which you like better, the 011, the 012, or the 013.

Cheers and hope this helps,
Avery Roberts

Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple because of nut slot clearance. If a slot is too narrow, the string will bind. If it’s too wide, the string will not be stable, which is a common cause of “ghost” tones and assorted tonal oddities. The slot should be between 0.0015” and 0.003” wider than the string. A perfectly cut slot in a low friction material may be OK with 0.001”, but if it’s the slightest bit off axis or irregular it will need to be opened another thou or 2 and reshaped or realigned in the process.

If the existing nut was cut for 9-42, even some in the 11- 48 set will bind. A string too fat for the slot can even crack it. The worst problem is when the 6th is too tight, because that can crack off the outside lip.

Before fitting a larger string, check to be sure it contacts the slot bottom and is not just sitting on the edges. Put a little marking (like a tiny drop of graphite lock lube) at the bottom of the slot with a fine modeling paint brush and run the string back and forth through the slot like dental floss. If it doesn’t remove the color, the string is not at the bottom and the slot needs widening. If it’s only 2 or 3 thou, you can widen it by “flossing” it gently with a RW string on most nut materials. Move gently and perfectly in line with the string’s axis when on and tuned, because the slots also have shaped sides and you don’t want to alter that.

Another good way to check whether the string is at the slot bottom is to lay a length of ultrafine untaxed dental floss in the slot, seat the string over it, hold the string down firmly and have someone try to pull out the floss. If the string is fully seated, the floss will not budge. If it’s not, the floss wil easily slide out no matter how hard you press the string into the nut.

[Avery Roberts]

Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple because of nut slot clearance.

Thanx and a tip o' the hat for your "heads up" and clever tips. I have entered an "edit" in my prior post to reflect your concerns.

Cheers
Avery Roberts

[Avery Roberts]

FWIW, Pyramid also let you compose your own sets through their website, and will do "specialty" string orders, with optional hand-polishing at no extra cost (IIRC).

Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to tell us about Pyramid strings. I never knew this company existed until your post. I did a "captain cookabout" and I am impressed by the breadth of their offerings. So much so that I ordered 3 sets of their H427 Jazz 11-48, but alas they e-mailed me back saying they were out of stock. They seem to be very difficult to find in North America but probably very easily obtainable in the European market.

Cheers
Avery Roberts

[Avery Roberts]

It seems that upsizing the high E string is standard operating procedure in the world of the Classical Guitar. I just looked at a pack of "D'Addario Classic Nylon" and noticed that the tension of the high E string is way higher than that of the B and G strings.

Here are the tensions:

E or 1st: 15.6 lbs
B or 2nd: 11.3 lbs
G or 3rd: 11.5 lbs

So the high E string has a whopping 38% greater tension than its nearest neighbour.

Cheers
Avery Roberts

[Oscar67]

You get 9 strings in a package and the nice thing about that is that you get flexibility! If you like a heavy high E string, say an 013, you got it. Prefer a wound G? You got that too. Those are just two examples. There are other combinations you can come up with, and without the cost of buying extra single strings. The price (as of May 5 2024) is US$3.30 for the stainless steel set and US$4.40 for the nickel plated set.

Thanks for sharing this! I’ll likely order some to try.

[RJVB]

What busy schedule?

It seems that upsizing the high E string is standard operating procedure in the world of the Classical Guitar.

I'm not certain where this comes from but there are 2 things at play here:
- getting sufficient volume and sustain higher up the string
- these tensions are theoretical values that do not account for stretch!

Steel strings practically don't stretch when you tune them up and thus don't drop sufficiently in gauge that their tension at pitch is meaningfully lower than the calculated one.
Anyone who has played nylon, carbon or Aquila Sugar strings in particular knows that new strings can easily drop a tone or more over a few hours and will continue to do so over days. If memory serves me well, I once measured over 25% decrease in the sounding length after I took a (finally stabilised) Sugar E1 string off (I had marked the nut and saddle contact points).
It is a public secret that the working (at pitch) tensions of esp. the unwound strings are lower than the ones specified, and that this is the main reason why one manufacturer's "extra-high tension" is barely another manufacturer's "high tension". The thinner the string, the more it stretches.
For illustration, here are 2 of Aquila's references; like everyone they specify the theoretical tensions but they do design their sets to a more or less identical tension-at-pitch across strings:

Aquila Sugar HT
# kg gauge (mm)
e 9.1 .69
b 7.2 .82
g 6.7 1.00
D 7.1 .76 ext
A 7.2 .95 ext
E 6.7 1.16 ext

Aquila Perla HT (AFAIK this is their offering in standard musical nylon):
e 8.2 .72
b 6.3 .84
g 5.9 1.03
D 7.1 .72 ext
A 7.9 .91 ext
E 7.3 1.12 ext

(data from https://aquilacorde.com/en/gauges-an...ssical-guitar/)