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Topic: Nickle vs Stainless strings??? |
Chuck Snider R.I.P.
From:
West Virginia, USA - Morgantown, WV
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Posted 5 Mar 2010 3:11 pm |
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I hope this isn't one of those questions that triggers a contreversial fued like the questions about tunings.  
What are the differences between nickle and stainless strings. Are the unwound strings the same, and the only difference is with the material of the winding on the wound strings? Is there a noticeable difference between the them from a sound perspective? Are there any pros or cons for either type of string sets? Are there any particular reasons I might want to use one over the other?
-Chuck
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GFI U-12 Ultra Keyless, Carter Black U-12, both with Alumitones, and a sweet '70 Sho-Bud Permanent D-10, NV400 in Rick Johnson cabs, NV112, '73 Vibrosonic in Rick Johnson cabs, Hilton pedal, Steeler's Choice seat, Bessdang Gizmos from Dale Hansen, and a few other widgets and doodads.
I may not sound good, I just don't wanna sound bad. |
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Roger Crawford
From:
Griffin, GA USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2010 3:22 pm
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Chuck,
Here's my understanding between the two. Someone may enlighten me on this as well! Stainless is a brighter sound than nickle, and don't last quite as long. The plain strings are all the same. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 6 Mar 2010 9:38 am
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| I much prefer the nickel strings. I can tell right away when I sit down at a guitar if it has stainless or nickel strings. The bar slides a lot easier over nickle strings and they have a richer, fuller tone. |
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Bob Kagy
From:
Lafayette, CO USA
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Posted 6 Mar 2010 1:33 pm
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I used George L stainless for a long time, then Jagwire stainless. I've switched to Jagwire nickel and like it better. Just my opinion.
Here are some of the differences. The stainless wounds sound a bit brighter to me which can be good if that's what you want.
The nickel wound strings are smoother on the fingers and bar and make slightly less noise when moving the bar. You should have a chrome plated bar like BJS for the stainless wounds because they wear some bar materials faster.
I also understand that the cores of the wound strings are different for the same gauge wound string in many cases.
The pulls for the same gauge nickel vs stainless are different; the nylon nuts have to be retuned when switching.
Bottom line - you be the judge. They both vary by manufacturer. I found GHS stainless sounded very different than George L stainless for example. There are people that have found their favorite brand and windings and stick with them. Try as many as you can somewhere along the way and see what you like. |
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Jim Pitman
From:
Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 1:07 pm
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Someone correct me if I'm wrong - Nickel is permiable and stainless steel is not. The more permiable a string the better it will work with a magnetic pcikup. (the core on a stainless steel wound string is plain steel wich is permiable).
This may explain the tone difference.
My personal experience is stainless steel lasts longer as it resists finger acids, however nickel sounds better out of the box but decays tonally quicker. |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 1:17 pm
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)I tried stainless for a while and, while I certainly heard a difference, I didn't care for it. They sound much too brittle for my taste.
I went back to nickel-wound and everything sounds like it should again! I have that warmth back in my tone, and I won't make that mistake again!
(Anyone want to buy some stainless Jagwires?  )
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles, Martins, and a Gibson Super 400!
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Bill Miller
From:
Gaspe, Quebec, Canada
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 2:30 pm
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| Over time the stainless wound strings will wear your expensive chrome plated bar faster than nickle too. As hard as chrome is it isn't comletely immune from wearing. I used stainless wound strings for a time and one day I noticed that my chrome plated bar was developing a wear pattern on the portion of it that was in contact with the wound strings. No wear on the front half of the bar at all. It was obviously caused by the stainless windings and about that time I switched to nickle wound and haven't had a problem since. I've never heard anyone else mention this issue but I'm thoroughly convinced of it. |
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