Your guitar is your gateway to music creation. With it, you can play your favorite guitar riffs, jam with friends and even perform at the local open mic. But the more you use your guitar, the more weathered and worn the strings will become. To keep the optimal tone of your instrument, eventually you should change your strings.
You may be wondering what type of guitar strings are best. The answer is different for everyone, but you can learn about the various types of guitar strings available to help you make the best choice.
The Importance of Guitar Strings
Your guitar strings are the key to unlocking your guitar's full potential. You can't make any music without them. You need a set of strings to play your guitar, but choosing strings should involve more thought than reaching for the most affordable set or the ones with the best packaging.
The type of strings you choose will impact your guitar's tone. There are many types to choose from, and the packaging or product description may often lack the information you need to determine how the strings will shape your tone. You should consider elements like the strings' material, gauge and the brand producing them when choosing your guitar strings.
Loud or soft, bright or mellow — you can achieve a wide variety of sounds with your guitar, depending on depending on your playing technique and the strings you choose.. Your guitar's signature sound starts with the vibration of your strings. Even after your guitar's tonewood shapes the sound further, strings are the initial sound transfer, imparting unique characteristics that create your tone. Understanding the various materials and gauges will ensure you choose the ideal strings for the sound and technique you're trying to achieve.
Types of Acoustic Guitar Strings
Your guitar strings' material influences the sound and feel of your guitar when you play it. Here's a closer look at the various materials used to make guitar strings with some information about each.
80/20 bronze: 80/20 bronze strings consist of 80% copper and 20% zinc. This ratio of materials provides a bright sound upfront that mellows over time. This makes 80/20 guitar strings great for meshing with other musicians in a band setting, but they lack more complex overtones when playing solo. They are popular for most acoustic guitar music styles. Use the 80/20 sizes that suit you to dial in your desired tone.
Phosphor bronze: Phosphor bronze strings, or 92/8 phosphor bronze guitar strings, are like 80/20 bronze strings but with an added phosphor element that increases the string's life and the higher copper content provides a warmer tone.. They're great for gigging musicians who want a consistent, balanced tone, even after playing several shows.
Silk and steel: Take a steel center, surround it with silk or nylon and wind metal around it, and you get silk and steel guitar strings. Silk and steel acoustic strings offer a full and balanced sound with lower tension for lighter braced instruments. Players also find these to be easier to fret and are smoother overall.
Nylon: Nylon is a soft, smooth material that is easy on the fingers. It delivers a mellow tone with a signature “plucking” sound. They're an excellent choice for classical, flamenco, and folk styles of music, Some nylon strings are wrapped in a metal composite. They offer good projection and a pronounced brightness, but they may be a bit harsher on the fingertips than plain nylon strings.
Catgut: Centuries ago, all strings consisted of animal products. Today's technology allows for other string materials to be available. Nylon has all but replaced catgut.
What Are Silked Guitar Strings?
Silked guitar strings have a soft silk wrap around the inner string material, which can be a variety of materials included in the list above. The silk wrap makes the strings easy and smooth to play, especially for beginners whose fingertips have yet to develop callouses from consistent playing.
Note that silked guitar strings may lack some of the top-end edge needed for more modern, harder music styles.
What Are Treated Acoustic Guitar Strings?
Treated strings serve as a modern alternative to coated acoustic guitar strings. Martin's proprietary Lifespan 2.0 acoustic guitar string treatment helps prevent corrosion without compromising the strings' tone. It protects the strings' core and wrapping to ensure you get the most use out of your strings before you have to change them. The treatment also helps to keep the strings looking great and reduce finger drag when playing.
They are available in 92/8 phosphor bronze and 80/20 bronze guitar strings. These strings aren't available in every material.
Flexible vs. Titanium Core
The guitar string core is the material at the very center of the string, around which other materials are wrapped or wound. Different guitar string cores exist, each imparting different tonalities and feels to the strings.
When it comes to flexible vs. titanium acoustic guitar string cores, both have different advantages. Flexible cores provide exceptional bending ability and reduced playing fatigue. They deliver a balanced tone and work great for altering tuning. Titanium core strings are even more flexible than steel core strings, with industry leading intonation and tuning stability.
Coated vs. Uncoated Strings
Coated acoustic guitar strings have a thin layer of polymer around the core material, wrapping material or both. Uncoated strings lack any coating. While coated strings can increase the longevity of strings by resisting corrosion, they also cause the strings to lack treble response and harmonic content when played. The polymer coating also changes the feel of the strings. Some players simply prefer the less slippery feeling and crisper highs of uncoated strings.
Acoustic String Winding Type
Guitar strings consist of a winding material that surrounds the string core. Different winding types exist, including the following.
Roundwound: These strings coil the winding around the core, providing a tactile texture and bright tones.
Flatwound: When it comes to flatwound guitar strings vs. roundwound, flatwound strings impart a smooth, flat texture and darker tones.
Halfwound: Halfwound strings provide an experience between roundwound and flatwound, providing a smooth feel with brightness and reduced finger drag noise.
Martin Strings–This Is Why We Make Our Own
At Martin Guitar, we make our own strings to ensure players can achieve the best tone from their own Martin guitar. We offer our strings in medium gauges down to extra light to fit a variety of needs. Each of our guitars comes with a set of our own strings, but you can be sure our strings make guitars of any brand sound their best.
Browse our complete line of strings or research our acoustic guitar strings today to take the next step on your musical journey.