Strings - where do you buy yours?

[KuruPrionz]

I was looking for some large diameter flat wound strings for the low 2 strings on my baritone 8 string.

I've got it tuned to A. The low two strings are round wound acoustic strings with large wraps and they make a LOT of string noise when shifting positions. 

Googling and surfing, I found juststrings.com and they have D'Addario Chrome flat wounds that are large so I ordered a .056 and a .065 for the low A and D strings. I'll keep the wound strings on the double courses in the middle of the neck, the two highest strings are plain. I think they might be a little too thick but I have all sorts of plain strings so I'll figure that out. 

 

I don't need any chime from the low strings, just bass. 

 

So, where do you buy your strings? 😇

[Caevan O’Shite]

I used to frequently buy my strings from Ithaca Guitar Works in Ithaca, NY, when I lived much closer. Even during the years when I lived in Rochester, NY, a considerable distance, I'd fairly often buy my strings at IGW when I was in the Ithaca area from time to time. GREAT store, GREAT people, GREAT EVERYTHING.

There is a store very near me where I currently live- the only such music/guitar/etc. store for a long ways- and I've sworn and sworn them off after a series of inexcusably poor, insultingly bad customer service incidents. Not so much as a free guitar pick; not if they paid me.

In more recent times- as in the past ten years or so- I've often ordered strings from Strings and Beyond.

Their prices are usually fairly low, orders of $35+ ship for free unless a specific item is excluded, and they often have special promotional offers.

They've nearly always had whatever I wanted in stock, or could get it pretty quickly if they didn't; they carry excellent brands and types.

They've gotten custom mixed-gauge sets to me, for Open-D Tuning; they even discussed the possibility of some custom mixed-BRAND and TYPE orders for me, which I will probably eventually obtain when I start to gig in any capacity again ('s been a while, and not just due to pandemic concerns- 'life stuff', too).

Their customer service is outstanding all around. Once, when I didn't receive my order due to a shipping address mix-up that was NO fault of THEIR own, they decided to credit me in whole and sent me a duplicate of the package of strings that I'd ordered- a good $50 or $60 worth or more if I recall correctly. I was not expecting that- they just emailed me to inform me to look out for a new complimentary package of strings that was on the way.   
    
 

[Larryz]

My mom and pop store sells strings for the same price as the mail order sites, but they do not have what I want these days.  I too have ordered from String and Beyond and I have also ordered from Sweetwater.  They have had good shipping prices.  My go to site was Juststrings.com as I could get my GHS Rollerwound sets and also order singles.  I would order singles by Elixir of the 1st and 2nd stings as they have a rust prevention alloy and last a long time.  The downside on Juststrings is the shipping cost of $6.95.  But if you spread that over 5 or 6 sets with the singles, it is a reasonable charge.  They also send me some free picks with each order!  The GHS Rollerwounds cut out 50% of finger squeak and sound bright.  They are somewhere between a wound and a flat wound string. 

 

Fast forward to today and I now use Magma Flats, a different brand exclusively, on my acoustics and on my electrics.  Both now come in 10's.  Phosphor Bronze for acoustics and Stainless Steel for electrics.  They are just like flat wounds as far as cutting out 100% of finger squeak. Yet they sound as bright as regular wound strings.  They are a little stiff when 1st put on but stretch in after a couple of weeks.  The 10's come with two 3rd strings (18 plain and 20 wound) and give you a choice.  I prefer a wound 3rd.  They run about $13 to $15 a set depending on where you find them.  I found them at the Magma.com site and at Amazon.  Amazon sells them in packs of 3 and they ship free.

My acoustic brothers found the Flats sounding as good as their other wound strings but without the finger squeak and really like them.  The Flats are made in Argentina using a special winding process.  They are round wound on hex cores and then polished down to smooth... 😎

[KuruPrionz]

Thanks Caevan and Larryz! Much appreciated. I checked both Strings and Beyond and Sweetwater and neither had the strings I needed listed for sale but Just 

Strings did. Bit of a specialty item, no doubt. After playing it for a bit, the 8 string baritone told me that it was actually 3 guitars on one neck. The two low strings are a bass, the double course (4 strings total and left round wound for the low strings) are sort of a baritone 12 string with a nice chimey sound and the two high strings are whatever you make of them but quite different from the others. 

 

I've long considered all acoustic guitars as being 5 sets of 2 and 4 sets of 3 (all at the same time!!!) but this is a different beast with distinctly different sets. D'Addario apparently makes EVERYTHING and Just Strings has all of their strings listed in singles. I'm pretty easy on strings, which makes no sense since I show them little or no mercy so I probably won't need more of these for a good while. I only bought one of each since I want to be sure I've got the correct guages before I buy too many. 

 

I hope more of guitarist friends pipe in, we could all learn something useful!!!! 😊

[Caevan O’Shite]

2 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

I checked both Strings and Beyond and Sweetwater and neither had the strings I needed listed for sale...

Do you mean these, and these? (The Strings and Beyond site seems a bit shaky today; be patient and hit Refresh occasionally.)

 

 

2 hours ago, Larryz said:

The GHS Rollerwounds cut out 50% of finger squeak and sound bright.  They are somewhere between a wound and a flat wound string. 

Yeah, those are pretty cool strings, as are their Nickel Rockers.

 

2 hours ago, Larryz said:

I now use Magma Flats, a different brand exclusively, on my acoustics and on my electrics.  Both now come in 10's.  Phosphor Bronze for acoustics and Stainless Steel for electrics.  They are just like flat wounds as far as cutting out 100% of finger squeak. Yet they sound as bright as regular wound strings.  They are a little stiff when 1st put on but stretch in after a couple of weeks.  The 10's come with two 3rd strings (18 plain and 20 wound) and give you a choice.  I prefer a wound 3rd.  They run about $13 to $15 a set depending on where you find them.  I found them at the Magma.com site and at Amazon.  Amazon sells them in packs of 3 and they ship free.

My acoustic brothers found the Flats sounding as good as their other wound strings but without the finger squeak and really like them.  The Flats are made in Argentina using a special winding process.  They are round wound on hex cores and then polished down to smooth... 😎

Very interesting...   ☕🤔
    
    

[KuruPrionz]

3 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

Do you mean these, and these? (The Strings and Beyond site seems a bit shaky today; be patient and hit Refresh occasionally.)    

The .056 yes. The .165, no, that's a bass string. 

I do use D'Addario Chromes on both basses, they are flat wound but sound almost as bright as round wound. 

The .056 is the standard low E for a "medium" set of flat wounds. It's probably great as a D string on a baritone. The .065 that I ordered, I have not seen anywhere else but Just Strings. They have a .072 but that seemed a bit heavy for a guitar style, probably fine for a bassist. Still, these are listed as guitar strings and they have every possible bass string as well. Not just D'Addario either, there were 12 or more different brands of single strings on Just Strings with a huge variety of sizes and types for each brand. It's a gold mine of stuff your local store will not have. 

 

Good place to hunt if you need a bit of this and that...

[Caevan O’Shite]

54 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

The .056 yes. The .165, no, that's a bass string.

That might be alright for you after all- that's labeled as being 1.65mm (not .165" gauge), which equals .064961", damn close to the .065" gauge you cited- under by just .000039". I think that just might do ya!

Are the flat-wound D'Addario Chromes singles that you can order from Just Strings specifically 'guitar' strings?

A bit long, but you could save the excess lengths and make soft .065" dressing files for nut-slots and bridge-saddles from them.


  

[CEB]

Depends.  I'm not picky.  Before 2014 I used these:

 https://www.webstrings.com/products/electric-guitar-strings-nickel?variant=19628459331

 

But the price has really risen.  By the case they were just under $2 a set when I was playing a lot.  They let you mix guitar and banjo and mandolin etc... sets to get to 24 set minimum if you were a multi instrumentalist.  The strings seemed to have a broke in feel.  My tech hated them, he said they didn't oscillate right.  We played a ton of outdoor dates and the weather conditions and the way I sweat I had to have fresh steel every week.  I am obviously not string snob.  I carried 3-5 Telecasters and weekly restrings gets expensive.  If I was playing Humbucker loaded guitars I would not care so much.

 

A LONG time ago I had a deal on SITs.  Now I just get SITs, D'Addario, or DRs at the shop.  Hell they all probably come from the same wire factory. When I worked music retail in the 80s only 4 manufacturers made all the string wire. 

 

 I'm picky about Pedal Steel strings.  The benders break strings as they age.  I hate breaking strings on the job.  One doesn't carry backup pedal steels.   And tuning steels is a pain in the keister.

 

I need phosphor bronze dobro set with at at least a 58 on bottom.  I prefer a 59 or 60 because I will drop the bottom G to E to get a G6 or Em7 tuning.  It give major and minor grips like C6 and due to the order some pretty voicings.  To get back to open G just raise the bottom string back to G.  58 low E is slight flabby when the picks HIT the strings.   59 is okay.  This probably varies by guitar.

 

I like whatever is on my Martin.  I used to use coated Martin Strings but my tech put on something different and I like them a lot.  The core feel gentler.  I think they are DRs.

[KuruPrionz]

3 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

That might be alright for you after all- that's labeled as being 1.65mm (not .165" gauge), which equals .064961", damn close to the .065" gauge you cited- under by just .000039". I think that just might do ya!

Are the flat-wound D'Addario Chromes singles that you can order from Just Strings specifically 'guitar' strings?

A bit long, but you could save the excess lengths and make soft .065" dressing files for nut-slots and bridge-saddles from them.


  

The bass string will have a much larger ball end. It won't go down the hole for the pin on the bridge. 

Yes, the strings I ordered were on the D'Addario guitar string page. They have a separate page for the bass strings. I'll know more when they arrive but pretty sure they are guitar strings with the appropriate small ball end. 

You COULD run another string down the specific hole for the low string, fish it out of the sound hole and tape the end of the bass string to it and weave it into place that way, but why?

 

[KuruPrionz]

3 hours ago, CEB said:

Depends.  I'm not picky.  Before 2014 I used these:

 https://www.webstrings.com/products/electric-guitar-strings-nickel?variant=19628459331

 

But the price has really risen.  By the case they were just under $2 a set when I was playing a lot.  They let you mix guitar and banjo and mandolin etc... sets to get to 24 set minimum if you were a multi instrumentalist.  The strings seemed to have a broke in feel.  My tech hated them, he said they didn't oscillate right.  We played a ton of outdoor dates and the weather conditions and the way I sweat I had to have fresh steel every week.  I am obviously not string snob.  I carried 3-5 Telecasters and weekly restrings gets expensive.  If I was playing Humbucker loaded guitars I would not care so much.

 

A LONG time ago I had a deal on SITs.  Now I just get SITs, D'Addario, or DRs at the shop.  Hell they all probably come from the same wire factory. When I worked music retail in the 80s only 4 manufacturers made all the string wire. 

 

 I'm picky about Pedal Steel strings.  The benders break strings as they age.  I hate breaking strings on the job.  One doesn't carry backup pedal steels.   And tuning steels is a pain in the keister.

 

I need phosphor bronze dobro set with at at least a 58 on bottom.  I prefer a 59 or 60 because I will drop the bottom G to E to get a G6 or Em7 tuning.  It give major and minor grips like C6 and due to the order some pretty voicings.  To get back to open G just raise the bottom string back to G.  58 low E is slight flabby when the picks HIT the strings.   59 is okay.  This probably varies by guitar.

 

I like whatever is on my Martin.  I used to use coated Martin Strings but my tech put on something different and I like them a lot.  The core feel gentler.  I think they are DRs.

Thanks CEB, I'm not particularly picky either. Like you, there are certain gauges that work for certain guitars. Right now I'm finding out what is best for an Alvarez 8 string baritone with a 28" scale. Once I find the right thing I'll just stick with it. 

 

I still have strings that are a couple of years old, Guitar Center had a sale on D'Addario strings and I bought 20 sets. They are in sealed plastic bags so they stay fresh and un-corroded and I haven't had any problems with them so I've stayed with them. 

I don't seem to be corrosive myself, I often get six months out of a set of strings that have been gigged 3 nights a week for 6 months. Then I change them because it seems like time to do it. I could probably play longer on them.

I use locking tuners so the very rare string breakage is quick to deal with and I don't need to lug a bunch of guitars around. I haven't used a backup in years, since I put Sperzels on my 2 main giggers. I can just play the gig with the one, not a problem. 

[Larryz]

+1 on locking tuners saving a lot of time for string breaks at a gig.  I rarely break a string, but back in my gigging days I packed a spare guitar on the rack just in case.  Never had to use the spare but it was nice to know it was there LoL!  My tech showed me a trick for my LP jr. stringing a wrap over bridge.  Cut the ball ends off the old strings and use them as a spacer before sending the string through the tail stop style bridge.  It pulls the string back just far enough to keep the strings from poking your palm if you rest it on the bridge or tail stop.  He said if it's good enough for Joe Bonamassa I'm sure you will like it! 😎

 

Ps. glad you liked Juststrings Kuru! 👍

[Caevan O’Shite]

7 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

The bass string will have a much larger ball end. It won't go down the hole for the pin on the bridge.

AAAAAHH... .  Sorry that I overlooked THAT.

'FWIW', I messaged S&B and asked "for a friend" if they could get D'Addario Chromes flat-wound .065" gauge singles, explaining about the unusual 8-String acoustic arrangement. I'll let you know what they let me know and we'll both know, we'll ALL know, know what I mean?   At the very least, it's good to have options.
 

  

7 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

You COULD run another string down the specific hole for the low string, fish it out of the sound hole and tape the end of the bass string to it and weave it into place that way, but why?

Only as a last resort!
 

  

7 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

I still have strings that are a couple of years old, Guitar Center had a sale on D'Addario strings and I bought 20 sets. They are in sealed plastic bags so they stay fresh and un-corroded and I haven't had any problems with them so I've stayed with them.

Oh, man- I have a LOT of DR Pure Blues that I purchased when a band I was in had booked more than a year's worth of monthly gigs, and even more often, all in advance with a certain venue. Somehow, three or four people involved on both sides managed to make that fall apart, and I later put in my notice while there were no gigs or projects on the horizon so as not to leave anyone hanging, as well. I have not been changing strings nearly as often! Then and now, I almost never break strings while playing. THAT'S almost ALWAYS something that might occur when restringing and initially tuning... !!
 

  

7 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

I don't seem to be corrosive myself

Thankfully, neither do I! I've known a couple of individuals whose acid-touch literally, actually IMMEDIATELY ruined strings; after even a few minutes of their playing one of my guitars, overnight the strings would turn crusty, gritty, green and black. IIIICHK. I'd have to thoroughly clean the fretboard, neck, even the body- anywhere there was contact. Two different people, different times and places, several times!
 
  

[KuruPrionz]

7 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

AAAAAHH... .  Sorry that I overlooked THAT.

'FWIW', I messaged S&B and asked "for a friend" if they could get D'Addario Chromes flat-wound .065" gauge singles, explaining about the unusual 8-String acoustic arrangement. I'll let you know what they let me know and we'll both know, we'll ALL know, know what I mean?   At the very least, it's good to have options.
 

  

Only as a last resort!
 

  

Oh, man- I have a LOT of DR Pure Blues that I purchased when a band I was in had booked more than a year's worth of monthly gigs, and even more often, all in advance with a certain venue. Somehow, three or four people involved on both sides managed to make that fall apart, and I later put in my notice while there were no gigs or projects on the horizon so as not to leave anyone hanging, as well. I have not been changing strings nearly as often! Then and now, I almost never break strings while playing. THAT'S almost ALWAYS something that might occur when restringing and initially tuning... !!
 

  

Thankfully, neither do I! I've known a couple of individuals whose acid-touch literally, actually IMMEDIATELY ruined strings; after even a few minutes of their playing one of my guitars, overnight the strings would turn crusty, gritty, green and black. IIIICHK. I'd have to thoroughly clean the fretboard, neck, even the body- anywhere there was contact. Two different people, different times and places, several times!
 
  

I had 2 customers who HAD to change their strings every gig or they crusted over with muck. 

In retrospect, if they had created a team for making guitars look "vintage" they could have made a ton of $$$$. 

Except... in both cases the lacquer would turn a sickly green color where their arms touched it. Then it would rot off but leaving a ring of snot green corrosion behind, nasty. Didn't look good on a white Strat or a sunburst Les Paul. I hated working on their guitars, was constantly trying to clear the threads in the bridge components so I could complete a proper set up. I did learn some cool tricks, get a pot of cold water and ice cubes, then remove the entire bridge and associated screws, boil the lot and drop it into the ice water. All sorts of corroded muck came loose that way. Next step WD40, wait a little while and most of the screws could then be turned to adjust. 

 

I don't miss working on guitars like that at all!!!!! 

[Caevan O’Shite]

9 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

I had 2 customers who HAD to change their strings every gig or they crusted over with muck. 

In retrospect, if they had created a team for making guitars look "vintage" they could have made a ton of $$$$. 

Except... in both cases the lacquer would turn a sickly green color where their arms touched it. Then it would rot off but leaving a ring of snot green corrosion behind, nasty. Didn't look good on a white Strat or a sunburst Les Paul. I hated working on their guitars, was constantly trying to clear the threads in the bridge components so I could complete a proper set up. 

 

I don't miss working on guitars like that at all!!!!! 

Yeeesch...

I strongly suspect that most, perhaps all, such acid-touch ruiners of strings, hardware and finishes are heavy smokers and/or drinkers. That's what I've personally experienced- that is, observed in others in this boat- ehrr, rusty tub...
 

 

15 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

I did learn some cool tricks, get a pot of cold water and ice cubes, then remove the entire bridge and associated screws, boil the lot and drop it into the ice water. All sorts of corroded muck came loose that way. Next step WD40, wait a little while and most of the screws could then be turned to adjust. 

Excellent idea!
   
  

[Mark Schmieder]

I can't buy from just one source, as I have so many specialty instruments and unique strings. Each vendor has depth in different areas. So I use Strings and Beyond, Strings by Mail, and Just Strings, more or less in that order as by far my dominant brand at this point is Pyramid, especially round core strings, and I use a lot of John Pearse strings which seem best covered by Just Strings. I even have single-source strings for some instruments, and I use Rickenbacker for electric 12-string sets. Ukulele sets have to be ordered from Ukulele Site in Hawai'i as I use small independent shops. The list goes on.

 

They all have different shipping policies as well. My recollection is that Just Strings is a flat rate, so I only order if I have a bunch that they carry -- it's partly what pushed me to seek alternatives, but then when I started going to less common string types and formulations, as well as uncommon world instruments, I started having better luck elsewhere. Some of my world instruments require ordering strings overseas. So those are all one-offs.

 

At least La Bella no longer requires you to buy two at a time! That gets expensive!

[Mark Schmieder]

I used to think I hated SIT strings because it was what most budget guitars got shipped with, ten years ago or thereabouts, but then a few years ago I learned about all their specialty strings and now I swear by them for stuff like resonator guitar flatwounds, some of their semi-flats for other folk instruments, etc. Just not for electric guitar. 🙂

 

They are hard to find. It's one of the brands whose catalogue is rarely represented in much depth at any specific site.

[Larryz]

I got the bug from this thread and ordered 3 sets of 10-46 Magma electric flats today off of Amazon $40.  9 singles 10gauge, 3 singles 14 gauge, & 6 singles 13 gauge, Elixirs plain rust prevention alloy $30 off of Juststrings. Even though I don't smoke and limit myself to two drinks a day, my acidic hands can wear the gold off my TOM plated bridge, so I try to buy chrome ones.  One problem with Magmas can be some sitar sound on the 1st and 2nd strings and hopefully the replaced Elixir singles will help...me and my big mouth LoL! 😎

 

Ps. Juststrings has tons of strings for everything from guitars, bass guitars, to mandolins, to nylons, to banjos, to violin, to so many stringed instruments I don't even know the names of.  A site well worth visiting...shipping is a flat rate of $6.95. 😎

[KuruPrionz]

On 10/25/2022 at 8:08 PM, Larryz said:

I got the bug from this thread and ordered 3 sets of 10-46 Magma electric flats today off of Amazon $40.  9 singles 10gauge, 3 singles 14 gauge, & 6 singles 13 gauge, Elixirs plain rust prevention alloy $30 off of Juststrings. Even though I don't smoke and limit myself to two drinks a day, my acidic hands can wear the gold off my TOM plated bridge, so I try to buy chrome ones.  One problem with Magmas can be some sitar sound on the 1st and 2nd strings and hopefully the replaced Elixir singles will help...me and my big mouth LoL! 😎

 

Ps. Juststrings has tons of strings for everything from guitars, bass guitars, to mandolins, to nylons, to banjos, to violin, to so many stringed instruments I don't even know the names of.  A site well worth visiting...shipping is a flat rate of $6.95. 😎

Agreed, I just got my strings from Juststrings today. D'Addario flat wound guitar strings, .065 and .056 for my baritone 8 string. 

The string noise from sliding my fingers over the winds is almost entirely gone and the strings are the Chrome series so they are relatively bright for flat wounds. 

I'm really pleased with the results, the intonation is a little bit off up the neck but fine up to the 7th fret so it works well for this particular instrument. 

Both strings came in individual sealed plastic bags, D'Addario strings stay fresh for a long time in my experience. I was going through some other strings that I've let sit too long in their paper sleeves and I'll probably just put them in the "used string bag" and when there's enough I can ship them to D'Addario and get points. 

 

Now the 8 string baritone is more or less as I envisioned it - 3 guitars on one neck. 2 bass strings, 2 double course 12 string style in the middle and 2 plain unwound strings in the trebles. If you strum it right it sounds huge and full, like a band almost. I've got a solo gig coming up November 21st, a happy hour show. I'll play some six string acoustic, some 8 string baritone and some electric guitar with backing tracks that I'm working on now (drums and bass). First solo gig in a LONG time, I think that's my future. 

I'm in control of the volume and it will stay that way. Not so loud... 

[Larryz]

Kuru, Just got my special singles order from JustStings and they always throw in a few of their picks.  They are a little thicker and different material than the ones I use, but are the exact same size.  They do work great and do change the way the strings sound in a good way for lead work.  Did you get some of their picks with your string order?  😎

[KuruPrionz]

11 hours ago, Larryz said:

Kuru, Just got my special singles order from JustStings and they always throw in a few of their picks.  They are a little thicker and different material than the ones I use, but are the exact same size.  They do work great and do change the way the strings sound in a good way for lead work.  Did you get some of their picks with your string order?  😎

No picks, just a sticker. I never put stickers on anything, ever. 

I did only buy 2 strings so maybe that doesn't rate?

 

I would buy from them again, now that I am more familiar with what they have on offer (mostly everything!).

There was nothing to complain about regarding their service and I couldn't find the strings in Bellingham. 

Seattle maybe if I drove around a bit. I don't like driving in Seattle and the gas for a round trip would have easily been 10 times what it cost for shipping. 

So that's a win, less time spent looking and stuff came here. 

 

I am pretty loyal to D'Addario but I have my reasons. They seem to make everything, just for one.

Even the individual strings came in sealed plastic pouches so they would be fresh for years. 

I still have sets of strings from a few years back when they were on sale for Xmas at the local Guitar Center and I bought 20 sets. Every pack I've opened has been just like new. Could be another year before I need new electric guitar strings!!! 

 

I just use regular 10-46 light gauge sets on my electric guitars. They have 10-47 sets with wound G strings for acoustic and they sound great on my Rainsong plus very easy to play lead on. Their 12 string sets are nice too, I can tune to pitch with the extra light set. I haven't broken the G octave string ever, that's usually the first one to snap if you are at pitch. 

 

Lately I've been thinking about putting heavier strings on the 12 and tuning it down to C or something. 

[Larryz]

Kuru, maybe when you become a repeat customer they will send you a few picks. D'Addario are definitely good strings at a good price.  I think the $6.95 shipping cost spread over 5 or 6 sets is quite reasonable and they get to my door very fast.  +1 saves time and gas. 😎

[desertbluesman]

I buy my strings at Sweetwater, D'Addario XL110's 10 pack. $54.99 shipped.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EXL110-10Pk--daddario-exl110-regular-light-nickel-wound-electric-strings-010-046-10-pack

[Caevan O’Shite]

17 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

No picks, just a sticker. I never put stickers on anything, ever.

Picks, stickers... I never use picks on anything, ever.     
    
   

[KuruPrionz]

3 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

Picks, stickers... I never use picks on anything, ever.     
    
   

I play finger style, sometimes. I play with a thin pick, sometimes, I play with a medium pick, sometimes. I play with an extra heavy pick, most of the time. 

I also play nylon string, 6 and 12 string acoustic and electric, fretted and fretless bass, lap steel, a bit of banjo etc. 

Fingers and picks sound different and are different styles. I love them all. 

Stickers are completely useless to me, I just throw them away. 

[Caevan O’Shite]

6 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

I play finger style, sometimes. I play with a thin pick, sometimes, I play with a medium pick, sometimes. I play with an extra heavy pick, most of the time. 

I also play nylon string, 6 and 12 string acoustic and electric, fretted and fretless bass, lap steel, a bit of banjo etc. 

Fingers and picks sound different and are different styles. I love them all. 

Stickers are completely useless to me, I just throw them away. 

I was just being goofy. Though I really do play fingerstyle- or, at least, without a pick- 100% of the time.

I know what you mean- there are a lot of kinds of tones and techniques one can get from a wide variety of picks. I did not mean to imply that they're invalid. I know the types of picks that I'd tend to favor, IF I were going to use one- I, personally, just don't.
  
  



 

[Jozef Behr Music Academy]

I usually buy from the offline store of london..

[KuruPrionz]

6 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

I was just being goofy. Though I really do play fingerstyle- or, at least, without a pick- 100% of the time.

I know what you mean- there are a lot of kinds of tones and techniques one can get from a wide variety of picks. I did not mean to imply that they're invalid. I know the types of picks that I'd tend to favor, IF I were going to use one- I, personally, just don't.
  
  



 

I'm totally OK with that. My decades of being the Lead Guitarist/Primary Decorator were done with a heavy pick, I've found that I have a broader dynamic range by using one, if I play lightly, I can stay in the background. If I bear down a bit I can come up to the front of the mix. 

At the same time, I've seen Joan Baez, Carlos Montoya, John Renbourn and Jeff Beck, all finger pickers and a vast range of styles and techniques. That is inspiring. 

Being left handed and playing right handed, my right hand has always been less adept than my left. Fingerpicking has helped me improve my right hand over the years in ways that using a pick could not. 

 

I am recording my music. Using different picks and fingerpicking provide a much larger range of tones than any single technique. 

Some things simply sound better to me when done in a particular way. 12 string guitar has always had more chime when I use a thin pick. My least favorite sound for 12 string is a heavy pick. Fingerstyle is somewhere in between but I like it much better than the heavy pick. 

 

Nylon string is always fingerpicking, lap steel is always a heavy pick. Simply choices I've made by listening back to my recordings. I play bass too, sometimes with fingers and sometimes a pick is the better choice, typically a medium or thin. 

 

Yes, it's complicated. The things we do for love!

[Bluesape]

I get mine locally. Lotsa stores here. Sometimes they go on sale if they sit too long. My string choices are outside the norm in terms of size, and I usually buy single 8's and 10's as they break. I don't buy into the theory that strings go bad. Too many guitars to keep track of how long they've been on each one.

[KuruPrionz]

57 minutes ago, Bluesape said:

I get mine locally. Lotsa stores here. Sometimes they go on sale if they sit too long. My string choices are outside the norm in terms of size, and I usually buy single 8's and 10's as they break. I don't buy into the theory that strings go bad. Too many guitars to keep track of how long they've been on each one.

I have quite a few Ernie Ball strings that I bought when they came in paper envelopes and I can assure you that they have corrosion aplenty on them now. 

I've never used them. 

As I mentioned above, strings on guitars are affected by what ever chemical processes various human hands provide. My strings last a LONG time on a guitar, the tone does change as stuff clings, however thin a coat it may be. I had customers who could ruin a set of strings quickly, they had very corrosive sweat. The crust that formed after even a day or two was amazing. It's not a theory, it's a personal experience that I observed many times. 

 

So, it depends. Sounds like you are not corrosive, count your blessings! 😇

[Caevan O’Shite]

1 hour ago, Bluesape said:

I get mine locally. Lotsa stores here. Sometimes they go on sale if they sit too long. My string choices are outside the norm in terms of size, and I usually buy single 8's and 10's as they break.

I used to much prefer buying from local 'brick & mortar' stores in areas where I lived, and had some favorite places. If my I could purchase strings online for delivery from my main favorite such store (Ithaca Guitar Works  💖✨), I'd probably do THAT.

As it is, I have a number of reasons to NOT want to do any business with the one local store where I currently live. I'll leave it at that.
 

  

1 hour ago, Bluesape said:

I don't buy into the theory that strings go bad. Too many guitars to keep track of how long they've been on each one.

 

27 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

I have quite a few Ernie Ball strings that I bought when they came in paper envelopes and I can assure you that they have corrosion aplenty on them now. 

I've never used them. 

As I mentioned above, strings on guitars are affected by what ever chemical processes various human hands provide. My strings last a LONG time on a guitar, the tone does change as stuff clings, however thin a coat it may be. I had customers who could ruin a set of strings quickly, they had very corrosive sweat. The crust that formed after even a day or two was amazing. It's not a theory, it's a personal experience that I observed many times. 

 

So, it depends. Sounds like you are not corrosive, count your blessings! 😇

I can understand that, Reif, and I also thought the same for a long time- but my experience has been otherwise.

I switched the brand, type, and gauges of strings that I used the most, and had quite a few leftover 'spare' sets and singles. I had those kicking around for a few years, and I later gave them to a friend. He very, very frequently broke the 1st, 2nd, and even occasionally the 3rd strings, and more frequently than usual the 4th and 5th. Once or twice the 6th! It was definitely not due to any bridge-saddle or nut issues, between my careful examination of the guitar and the points along the length of the strings where they broke. While he did have a rather heavy-handed picking approach at times, he also used very thin, light picks.

I almost never, ever break strings while playing, and when I have, it's almost always been when I've used some of the oldest leftover strings that I happen to have kicking around, from when I ordered a whole lot when a band I was in had more than a year's worth of monthly or more often gigs booked in advance- but then, long story short, those got canceled.