Round wounds if I never plug in?

banjomike

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The nickels give a more raw, Piedmont Blues type of vibe?
Yup. Nickel round wounds never sound as spanky as a set of bronze wound strings when new, but they hold their tone forever.

I switched to nickels after trying a set of D'Aquisto Tony Rice strings. Tony always used them only through his entire career.

The family wasn't related to the famous guitar maker with the same name, but Jimmy D'Aquisto used their strings on the guitars he made.
Mom and Pop, along with some of their kids did all the string winding, the little kids and grandkids did the packaging, and a cousin showed up in the evenings to sweep and clean their little shop. Their company never hired someone who wasn't in their family.

When Mom and Pop grew too old to wind strings anymore and some of their grown kids began to move away, they decided to quit the business and sold their equipment about 10 years ago or so.

I especially miss their banjo strings. They were the perfect gauges for me, and I'm a lot fussier about gauges on my banjos than I am for guitar strings.

There's a similar family connection in Guilds. When Alfred Dronge died, he passed his interest in Guild to his son Alfred Jr., who ran Guild until it was sold to a larger corporation. After the sale, Junior decided to quit making guitars and founded the DR string company, where he makes strings.
I would like to know more about Guild strings; back in the 70s, Guild strings were the only ones I could find that had phosphor bronze wound acoustic strings, and I loved 'em. They were my only acoustic guitar strings for about a decade, and I noticed the strings changed at some point.
I wonder if Guild ever made their own strings in-house. Does someone here know the answer?
 

davismanLV

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Roundwounds for sure, but try different types to see what sounds best to you - 80/20 bronze, phosphor bronze, monel, and nickel. Also string gauge makes a difference, too. Sometimes heavy strings don't yield the loudest or best (to you) tone. Have fun experimenting!
Best advice!! (y)(y)
 

mellowgerman

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I have a recommendation for you to try: Newtone Archtop strings. They're available from the manufacturer in the UK and from resellers such as GuitarsNJazz in the US. I like them because their double-wound strings have less string noise than single-wounds.
Ooo I'm intrigued! These sound like they'd be right up my alley. How are they in terms of stiffness/flexibility? Thomastik Flatwound 12s have been my go-to strings for any guitar with a pickup, but I'd assume these might be a bit stiffer, since they don't seem to have the nylon internal wrap/layer? So maybe a set of 11's of the Newtones would feel comfortable to me? I'm not super picky when it comes to this but looking for a ball-park idea
 
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GGJaguar

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Another suggestion is Magma phosphor bronze flatwound string (they are really roller wound). You can read my review in this post:

 

DeArmond Hammer

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Ooo I'm intrigued! These sound like they'd be right up my alley. How are they in terms of stiffness/flexibility? Thomastik Flatwound 12s have been my go-to strings for any guitar with a pickup, but I'd assume these might be a bit stiffer, since they don't seem to have the nylon internal wrap/layer? So maybe a set of 11's of the Newtones would feel comfortable to me? I'm not super picky when it comes to this but looking for a ball-park idea
When I got the Newtone Archtop strings, I chose a heavier gauge than usual, I think 12s, so they weren't slinky, but my impression was that they were more flexible than the flatwound 12s I had previously had on that guitar.
 

teleharmonium

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I use Newtone rounds on flat tops, including one with a mag pickup, and have been very happy with them. They do not feel stiff at all for the gauge. I think they have relatively small round cores.
 

Westerly Wood

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I switched to nickels after trying a set of D'Aquisto Tony Rice strings. Tony always used them only through his entire career.
Pretty cool...

Capture.PNG
 

banjomike

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Pretty cool...

Capture.PNG
Yup. Those were the strings I used for so long.
Wyatt Rice, Tony's brother, recommended them to me back in 1996. I had a hard time finding them at first, but I eventually found a vintage dealer who always carried them, and when I was gigging regularly, I bought them a box at a time, and strung all my guitars with them, including the solid-body electric I used the most.
The mediums went on everything acoustic, and the lights went on some vintage instruments I never took on the road and the electrics.

Tony played his guitar as a job, so when he wasn't performing, he was practicing. 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Just like a typical job. That's why he used nickel strings. 4 hours of practice while on the road, followed by 4 hours of performance, either live or in the studio.
He wanted his sound to be consistent, and that was more important than sparkly-sounding strings to him.

The Rice brothers learned to play from their father. Wyatt said their Dad first clued Tony about using nickel-wounds, but in their early years, Tony used Gibson Mono-steel strings. He switched to the D'Aquistos because they lasted longer and held their tone longer.

I've always had less trouble playing different instruments when the strings felt the same. My banjo strings are usually too heavy for other players, but they're part of that consistency for me.

These days, all my electrics are now strung with Fender Rock & Roll Lights. They feel winky, but I'm having a lot easier time bending strings than when I was doing it for my living. I still need a flat pick that's as heavy as a rock though.
 

BruceGA

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Many years ago, I had used a Lawrence mag pickup in my F30. I started using some Gibson electric guitar strings that had a wound 3rd, and found I really liked the sound as an acoustic. I think they were Sonomatics or something like that. I think they quit making/selling them. However, a new Martin D Jr. a friend gave me came with their Retro strings, which are monel (nickel/copper alloy). They sound good, and reminded me of the Sonomatics. I'm going to get some to try back on the F30....
 
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Rich Cohen

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I mostly remember the playability was better with the electric strings (of course), but the A-50 definitely was fun to play, too!

This will sound obvious, but the acoustic strings on the A-50 sounded very much like a "normal" acoustic guitar, while the electric strings on the X-50, even unplugged, had more of a jazz tone to them.

I must say, out of all the Guilds in my signature below, the A-50 surprised me the most with it's great sound and "fun to play-ness". I think you will enjoy yours a lot!

Note - D'Addario XL110W have a wound third string.

Note #2 - we are going back about 15 years, so take what I seem to be remembering with a grain of salt!

walrus
Apropos Walrus' remark about his A-50 surprising him with a great sound, I have this to say about archtops. As many of you know, guitars pass through my fingers like water. I try to always have one archtop in my stable at any time. Currently I have an A-500 (1956) and though I have recently offered it for sale, I took down the guitar when I realized what a duffus I am. I mean, sell a 1956 A-500 in excellent condition with a Lollar pickup? Anyway, I digress, a talent I learned from Adorshki, whose posts I thoroughly enjoy for their wittiness. Now, about comparing different guitars' tone and playability, in this case particuarly archtops. I have owned vintage Epiphones from the 30s, 40s and early 50s: essentially the same dimensional aspects. Except for the bling factor and binding differences, all of them sounded similar enough to my ear to argue against paying a lot more for the "top of the line" models. With the right strings installed, they all sounded similar enough to not justify spending a lot of money on them. Regarding vintage Guild archtops, I would argue that there isn't all that much difference between similarly conditioned A-500, AA or Johnny Smith models. And yet, as we know, the Johnny Smith demands bags full more of coin to acquire. Yes, there are small differences, but basically you're paying for the model name.
 
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Maguchi

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i still use nickel strings, even acoustically,
Hmm, interesting. How are the Darco D910s for acoustic volume and tone?

I'm thinking about going in this direction too. So far I got some John Pearse Acoustic Nickel, Martin Monel and DR Zebras (not made no more).

20230717_163849.jpg
 
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