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THE EVOLUTION AND HISTORY OF STRING MAKING AND DESIGN
Okay, guys and gals, What REALLY happened in that summer of 1970?Well, the MAJOR change was in the material that was used to make guitar strings up to that approximate time period! Remember when in the mid-sixties our metal coins had a new look to them? Specifically, there was a big chunk of copper in the middle of our quarters and half-dollars. I vividly recall this happening in about 1965, as my brother and I were avid collectors of the pure silver JFK quarters. We were getting a bad reputation for bilking every Foster's Freeze and 7-Eleven of every single JFK quarter they had on a daily basis! Between us, we had about 300 of these coins and they were proudly displayed in those nice coin folder type books.
My point is this: Due to the increasing cost of silver and other metals, it no longer made sense to manufacture coins that were actually more expensive than their face value. This is the reason why our mints substituted copper in their currency so they could compensate for their increasing costs of raw materials.
In our last installment, we saw that our guitar strings changed in their volume, tone and especially their short usable life span. The strings that were made before this time were made of pure nickel instead of the newly found nickel-plated steel formula, which was also much,much cheaper to produce than their pure nickel predecessors!
The MOST important aspect that was completely lost with the nickel- plated strings was the warmth and TONE of the final sound that came from your amp. Another great advantage of the earlier nickel string, was that they actually felt and sounded better as time went on! One analogy might go like this: pure nickel strings are like a fine Cabernet Savignon wine that has sat in a controlled temperature wine cellar for five years to age. These strings have many differences to them as compared to the other forms of strings we will study.
NICKEL-PLATED STEEL VS. PURE NICKEL ROUNDWOUND STRINGS
Nickel-plated strings have more output to them because of their higher content of steel, which is much more magnetic than the earlier pure nickel style string. Steel is much more active with your pickup's magnetic field, so it interacts more with the pole-pieces to give you your increased output signal.
When you try a pure nickel string, output is reduced because the pole-pieces of your pickup are actually "listening" to the magnetism of the steel core- wire inside the lower three wound strings. Again, keep in mind that nickel is LESS magnetic as compared to steel.
Certain instruments respond extremely well with the pure nickel type and sound much more bell-like than if they are strung with the louder nickel-plated string types. Good examples are instruments that have single-coil pickups as original equipment (e.g. Strats, Teles, Les Paul Juniors with the p-90's, Rickenbackers of either six or twelve strings, or any other Fender-type guitars}.
They also sound quite nice on big, fat, jazz guitars such as Super 400's and L-5's, as well as ES-335 types of instruments. Personal taste will dictate which string style suits you best.
On the humbucking side of things, this can be a little harder to decipher. The main reason for this is because many favorite axes like the Les Paul Standards, vary a lot in their wood density and weight. If your guitar weighs a ton, chances are that the pure nickel string will darken the tonal specrum a tad too much.
My own Explorer sounds "tuddy" with the nickels on it, where it sounds just perfect with another louder compound used on the lower three strings! The type of string I prefer on the Explorer is of an alternative type which we will discuss in the near future. Interestingly enough, my PRS Standard sounds great with the pure nickels on it, because the mahogany body is much lighter with less mass as compared to the other guitar.
Another hint for you... if your pickups have ceramic magnets in them and they sound a little too edgy for you, installing pure nickel strings on your guitar will temper the high-end a bit, and add alot more depth to your midrange and bottom-end frequencies.
As you can see, every guitar will respond a little differently to the various types of strings that are currently available. The KEY is patience and the willingness to spend a fair amount of time to experiment, so you can really dial in YOUR own sound.
STRING TYPES AND FRET-WEAR
Different strings can affect the life of your frets in a very profound way. The rule of thumb is simple....the harder the metal, and the harder your left hand hammers the fingerboard, your frets will not last as long. I know players who have to re-fret their axes on an annual basis because their technique of their left hand beats the HELL out of the frets.
Frets are usually 18% nickel-silver in content, so they are actually quite soft and prone to abuse from a harder metal compound sitting directly above them. I'm sure that most of you out there have seen things like divots, and the crown of the fret going a bit square-ish. This is also a great indicator of what positions and keys you like to play in! If you're like me, I play all over the neck, and don't favor any particular position. I guess this is due to my jazz background. I think this is a blessing in disquise, as I take about ten years to wear a set of frets.
This is also due to the fact that I use strings that are softer than most of the other strings that are out there. For the record, pure nickel is by far the most friendly to your frets, as nickel is A LOT softer than nickel-plated steel or stainless steel.
One last reminder: Your string height plays an important role in relation to the life of your frets. My guitar tech, Stephen White, believes that players that have a higher action on their guitars also have a much harder left hand attack.
MODERN SOUNDS VS. VINTAGE TONES
I feel obligated to clear up a few misnomers about the "nickel- issue". When you are experimenting with various brands of the two types of strings that we have been analyzing, BE SURE to watch what you are buying!
Most strings brands today are made of nickel-plated steel compositions, even though they might state on the outer label of the string set that they are "Nickel Wound". This is simply a carry-over from the period when they switched to the new high-octane plated string. Your ears and skilled fingers will readily tell the difference, especially if you have really listened to the music from the 1960's.
Any record that Jimi Hendrix did up to around 1970 or before is definitely the REAL nickel tone as the open bass strings of his guitar had a shimmering, rich, vibrancy that is really hard to forget! Even though Jimi was known to tune to "E" flat most of the time, it is a hard fact that he also played in standard tuning on some of the earlier recordings such as "Axis: Bold as Love", and the first album.
Early Eric Clapton recordings, especially with John Mayall have that rich sound as well. We also can't leave out the a couple of Johnny Winter records, like "Progressive Blues Experiment" or "Second Winter" either! That's just WAY too obvious!
When purchasing real nickel strings, be sure they say something to the effect of "Pure Nickel", "Original Nickel", "100% Nickel" and so forth. It is also wise to look for a considerably higher retail price as solid nickel is far more expensive to make. I also should mention that the strings available today of the pure nickel type won't sound exactly the same from one brand to the other, due to the fact that the CORE-TO-WRAP RATIOS are going to be different in each case.
You recall our previous discussion from last month's column? Again, keep in mind that this will change the FEEL and SOUND of the string. Every string out in the market has it's own aura about it, so you be the judge. You'll really know it when you've struck the right combination for your own needs.
SOUND PERCEPTION BETWEEN THE WOUND AND PLAIN STRINGS One interesting thing that happens in a guitar string set is that your ear can (and will) play tricks with you. If you have a set of strings that is composed of pure nickel on the lower three wound ones, this will alter the way your ear hears the plain or higher three strings. You can take yet another type of string, like stainless steel, for example, and have the exact same plain strings next to them and they will sound different! This is because your ears "tune in" to the lower three wound strings first, and THEN compare them to the plain strings last.
The way your ears perceive the plain strings is entirely dependent on how your ear listens to the bass frequencies. This is not my own opinion, as there is a interesting analogy which involved classical guitarists. There were many interviews in the past with famous classical guitarists who, when asked about what strings they used, would reply that they used one brand of strings for the wound ones, and a separate brand for the treble strings! Modern classical string sets for the most part, use a synthetic nylon material for the treble strings that is made by the DuPont company. I just thought I would add that in as food for your hungry brains!
The above mentioned concept is known as "Psycho- Acoustics".
NEAR FUTURE COLUMNS Since the 1960's contains so much relevant musical treasures, we're going to have to break up this facinating decade in a series of columns, because there's just TOO much stuff that was going on to condense it into a single article.
In order to cover this period thoroughly, I've decided to tackle a little at a time so you don't get overloaded with all the information! Believe me, The amount of research alone for this time period is staggering all by itself due to the vast array of musical styles that were emerging. This is not to mention what we were being invaded by!
Next month, we will get further into this era to discuss equipment and their applications, and how you can re-create a desired sound. Of course, there will be more musical examples to DISSECT as well. Until then, I have a feeling you readers have a lot of homework and experiments to perform!
Copyright 1994 by Dean L. Farley
Reprinted from "Vintage Guitar" April 1994 issue.