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Topic: Nickel -wound VS stainless steel-wound strings |
John Pelz
From:
Kettering, Ohio, USA
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Posted 26 Oct 2004 3:04 pm |
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Someone clue in a newbie, please: what tonal differences, if any, are there between nickel-wound strings and stainless steel-wounds? I.e. -- how is one going to sound different than the other?
I have the feeling that this may be one of those incredibly basic questions, but I haven't yet found anything in the archived threads that specifically addresses this issue. (Maybe I just haven't figured out the best search-phrase?)
I don't know if this will make any difference in peoples' answers, but just for the record, I am asking this in reference to upcoming tuning-changes on my Rick 59 & B6. Also, I prefer a smoother sound, and am willing to sacrifice sustain, etc. for a mellower, less "buzzy" sound on my wound strings. The smoother, the better!
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1952 Fender Dual 8 Professional
1939 Rickenbacker 59
1937 Rickenbacker B6 & original Standard amp
Peavey Delta Blues amp
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Ron Randall
From:
Dallas, Texas, USA
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Posted 26 Oct 2004 4:48 pm
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Hi John,
IMHO, Nickel Roller wound strings should do what you are looking for. GHS makes these, perhaps other mfg. They are kinda in between round-wound and flat-wound. They are very quiet compared to roundwound. Sometimes takes a day or two to get quiet.
I think GHS uses the name "Pure Nickel Rollerwound". Check their website for details. I have been using these for 3 years now on all necks, Pedal and nonPedal. 
(I do change them of course)
I have no experience with SSt wound strings.
Hope you are doing well.
Ron
[This message was edited by Ron Randall on 26 October 2004 at 05:51 PM.] |
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2004 5:03 am
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I feel that nickel wound gives a smoother and softer sound. I use nickel half rounds.
if they where broken I would replace them. |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2004 5:35 am
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In my opinion ... The "ultimate" in smooth and mellow ...
Thomastik-Infeld Nickel Flatwound
Expensive ... but 
I change them every two years ... need it or not 
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My wife and I don't think alike. She donates money to the homeless and I donate money to the topless! ... R. Dangerfield
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Roy Ayres
From:
Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 27 Oct 2004 6:19 am
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John,
Good to hear that you are still pluggin away at that steel.
On the suvject of wound strings, the core of the string is what disturbs the magnetic field and produces an emf in the pickup coil. The purpose of the winding on the string is simply to increase the mass per unit length of the string. Nickle windings are non ferrous, and therefore do not affect the field. Stainless steel is ferrous due to its iron content. Bronze windings may or may not be ferrous, depending on the specific alloy. I, personally, like nickle windings for two reasons: (1) they don't interfewre with the "clean" signal produced by the core of the string; and (2)they are not as abraisive on the bar as are stainless windings.
Now, sit back and watch how many "flame" me for purporting to be an "expert" in this field. |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2004 8:05 am
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Certainly not a "flame" ... but
Elemental Nickel (the metal) is ferromagnetic. I have a heck of a time nickel plating my neodymium based horseshoe magnets.
I had to resort to "tie-ing down" the nickel electrode ... cause it (they) kept "jumping at" my magnets. I had to re-do several ... before resorted to "lashing" down the electrode.
Some manufactures of nickel wound strings offer "pure nickel strings" (which are actually some nickel alloy) ... and "nickel plated steel".
These "nickel alloy" strings may indeed be paramagnetic or even diamagnetic ... depending on the Ni content.
As far as stainless steel ... there are both ferromagnetic, martensitic alloys (400 series) and non-ferromagnetic, austenitic alloys (300 series).
I believe "stainless steel" guitar strings are martensitic SS ...
Just tryin' to help ... 
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My wife and I don't think alike. She donates money to the homeless and I donate money to the topless! ... R. Dangerfield
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Roy Ayres
From:
Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 27 Oct 2004 9:10 am
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Rick,
I humbly bow to your knowledge of metals, as is obvious from the great magnets you are known to produce. My meager knowledge of metalurgy is from courses I took some 45 to 50 years ago. Thanks for the information.
Roy
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Visit my Web Site at RoysFootprints.com
Browse my Photo Album and be sure to sign my Guest Book. |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Paul Arntson
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2004 9:52 am
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| Pardon me for being overly obvious, but my curiousity overcame my pride: Why do you magnetize them before you are done working them? Is it because neodymium requires such high magnetic force to magnetize? |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 27 Oct 2004 10:37 am
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| Frenchy sells some nice mellow semi-flat wound nickle strings. Incidently, the plain strings are all stainless steel, even in nickel sets. The mellow nickel sound is good for jazz. But the brighter stainless sound is good for most everything else, and the stainless steel wound strings seem to keep their new sound a little longer. |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2004 10:43 am
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My electromagnets can charge Alnico 5 (coercivity = 640 Oersteds)...
But Neodymium-Iron-Boron (coercivity = 11,000+ Oersteds) is way outta my league.
That kinda electromagnet is big $$$$$ ...  |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2004 10:54 am
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| Quote: |
| Incidently, the plain strings are all stainless steel |
Actually ... plain strings and the core of wound strings are Plain Steel (Carbon Steel) ... which is tinned ("hot dipped" or electroplated).
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Jay Fagerlie
From:
Lotus, California, USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2004 1:39 pm
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I've been using D'Addario "Chromes" for years....they are flat wound so there is no bar noise, but they are not 'dead' sounding at all....they sound like a 'broken in' set of strings.
Try it, you'll like it
Jay |
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John Pelz
From:
Kettering, Ohio, USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2004 4:30 pm
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| Quote: |
| Hmmm ... I've heard of a E-Bow and a Diddley Bow ... but not a Humbly Bow ... |
Ah, yes, the Humbly Bow: the incredible device that makes your playing sound great, but you don't get a big head about it...
Speaking of heads, mine hurts: martensitic-neo-oersted-what??? Dr. Aiello strikes again! Guess I should've paid more attention in chemistry-class, instead of shooting spitballs...
Anyhow, from the above responses, it sounds like nickel is definitely the way to go. Those GHS Pure Nickel Rollerwounds sound good. I got a chance to call GHS' 1-800 number earlier today, and really quizzed them on all the different materials & winds of their various guitar string types, and yup, just like you suggested, Ron, we concluded that the pure nickel rollerwounds are the best overall strings, given my wish for a flatter wind, smoother sound & nickel construction. I wonder if we could get b0b to carry these?
Those Thomastik-Infelds sound even better; maybe sometime I'll give try & put 'em on my B6, which stays in C6. I'll have to shake out the sofa (several times; maybe the neighbors', too) to save up enough pennies, though. My Rick 59 keeps changing tunings, though, as I slowly work my way through Jerry Byrd's instructional book, so I guess I'll try to stick to less expensive strings on the 59.
The D'Addario chromes sound interesting, too. Hmm, I'll just have to think about all this a bit. Call me a rube if you must -- though I'd rather you didn't -- but I never realized that there were so many things to take into consideration when choosing a string. (If you choose to get that nit-picky, that is.) What I've learned from this thread (and given my personal preferences) is that nickel is the way to go, and the flatter the wind, the better. Guess I'll just have to try 'em all as time, need, and $$$ allow, and see which kind resonates with me. Thanks for all of the input, everybody.[This message was edited by John Pelz on 27 October 2004 at 05:31 PM.] |
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Kevin Ruddell
From:
Toledo Ohio USA
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Posted 30 Oct 2004 2:50 am
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| I just ordered the GHS Semi-Flat Nickel Rockers from Elderly Instruments in Lansing MI. The Medium set is $4.25 and has 11,15,18,26,36,50.They also carry a great selection of strings of all types. They aren't as twangy as the Ernie Ball strings, not as bright as Stainless, not quite as mellow as flatwounds. Very nice sounding strings on my guitars. [This message was edited by Kevin Ruddell on 01 November 2004 at 02:49 AM.] |
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