Steel wound or Nickel wound?

Ben Godard · From: Jamesville NC

I want to know what people think about the differences and the pros and cons of using the stainless. Obviously, Everyone says the stainless strings sound better for much longer than nickel wound. I have always used nickel wound myself because I thought the steel winding might scratch or burr the changer finger being that its harder than nickel but I know several people that laugh at my nickel strings Laughing

They tell me that I sound like a dead horse.

What do the professionals use. AS far as I know Paul Franklin uses nickel wound but I dont know about the others.

Should I switch to stainless wound strings

Paddy Long · From: Christchurch, New Zealand

Have you ever heard Paul sound like a dead horse ??? Very Happy

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Dustin Rigsby · From: Parts Unknown, Ohio

I'm no pro, but I have tried both and I prefer nickel. Stainless just is a lot of brightness and less body to my ears. In the end, it's about what YOU prefer. I know a guy who swears by semi flat wound strings....and they sound good when he plays his guitar. YMMV
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Tom Gorr · From: Three Hills, Alberta

there's so many alloys these days for electric guitar, and the steel guitars get nickle or stainless? Judging from trying different strings on my six string electric, there's better tone out there than either.

Daniel Policarpo · Posted 20 Nov 2014 2:27 am

I've only been playing a couple of years and I've used both nickels and stainless, as well as Cobra Coils's and Live Steel, which I've had on the longest. I really like the different ways each interact with my preferred equalization. Of course we make little adjustments there to absorb and utilize the different characteristics, but nickel strings seem to really have that nice chewy factor on the lower mids and chords in general. I seem to lean toward that sound, probably because my pickup is pretty bright and it balances everything out a little. I think our pickups may play a large factor in what we find pleasing for a string's composition. So far, I've mostly preferred the Cobra Coils, but I am really happy with how these Live Steels are so balanced, and they seem very robust. I have not noted any tone degradation over the last 6 months after 2-3 hours daily use. For my pickup, the Cobra Coils have the richest sound. GHS Super Steels,which are stainless,seemed to accentuate some of those things I like about Ralph Mooney's sound, especially when the amp is nice and healthy in volume.

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

One thing to consider - regular steel is permeable, stainless very much lees. The string need to grab the magnetic field in order for a magnetic pickup to work.

Bill C. Buntin · Posted 21 Nov 2014 7:41 pm

I've had the best of luck with d'adario stainless, on skh Legrande, it had BL705 on the e neck and a pf geo l on the c neck

Paul Franklin Sr used to sell strings that made a really great sound on MCI and MSA guitars that I used from time to time. And I used plain old Ernie ball nickel on an all original sho bud pro 3 and had no complaints.

I think it just depends on the guitar, the player, the rig and your mindset even??

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

The alloy used in GHS Progressives strikes the middle ground between nickel and stainless.

www.steelguitarshopper.com/ghs-e9th-progressive-wound/
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Tom Gorr · From: Three Hills, Alberta

I know ghs boomers took just the right amount of edge and added just enough extra body to the tone of my six string guitar to make me a fan...I wonder if that's the same as the progressives.

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

"Have you ever heard Paul sound like a dead horse ??"

No,,,, but he probably puts on new strings a lot more often then most of us here. Although I prefer the sound of nickel, they just don't hold their tone as long. When I was gigging 5 to 7 nights a week, I only used stainless.

Dan Robinson · From: Colorado, USA

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

My Franklin came with Lawrence SS strings when new. Shortly after I got the Franklin Steel Bill Lawrence sold his part of the "L&L Sales" to his partner, George Lewis. George Lewis came out with "George L's" branded strings which were also SS. I've primarily used George L's since they came out. I've tried almost all other brands, Nickel, SS and other compositions and keep going back to George L's.
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Gary Cooper · From: Atmore, Alabama

Stainless steel are to bright, in my opinion. To me, the nickle are 'warmer'
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John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

Stainless calms down after a few gigs, whereas nickel starts going dead after a few gigs. I don't like dull, muddy-sounding strings. I prefer the sound of nickel, but could never afford to change strings once a week. I do pick very firmly, so that may contribute to my killing the tone of nickel strings.

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I think the guitar and pickup have a lot to do with how nickel or SS strings sound.

When I had my Emmons PP D-10, I used Sho-Bud or Emmons strings and they were all nickel. And it sounded great. With the Franklin I like the SS better.
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Kyle Everson · From: Nashville, Tennessee

Ben,

I use GHS Boomers and love the way they sound! As long as you keep them fresh, they will not sound dead at all. Once every two weeks on the road is my rule. I'm sure others prefer to change them more often, or perhaps less.

Tom Gorr · From: Three Hills, Alberta

Do you get your boomers in steel sets, or do you buy individual strings? Great strings, my number one for six string.

Mike Johnson · From: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

I use NICKEL "LIVE STEEL STRINGS". They sound great and last for hours and hours of playing time. I've never had a set of strings that sound and last like these. If you haven't already tried them, I would sure encourage you guys to try a set.

Ive always used nickel, mainly because I was told the stainless could cause damage to the guitar. I wouldn't know, because I've never used anything else. However, Mike Cass has been doing all the work on my "Push-Pulls" for a while now, and he suggested I try a set of stainless. So-I guess I'm not much help-sorry.
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Eddy Dunlap · From: Nashville, Tn

I wouldn't qualify my opinion as, "Professional," but I tend to prefer nickel strings. I also agree with Mike about Sid Hudson's Live Steel Strings. Not only is Sid a great guy and musician, but his company provides high quality strings for the marketplace and offer first class service. I've played around with different brands over time and go back and forth between different materials and gauges as well. Sometimes for the sake of experimenting and then sometimes just because that string was there when I needed something right away and at a reasonable cost.

The stainless steel guitar strings always sounded just fine to my ears. A lot of players that I really enjoy to hear use stainless(Lloyd, Hughey, Weldon, Russ Hicks, Jernigan, etc.) The positive side of using stainless to me is the extra brightness/sustain and they tend to last longer. The downside in my personal experience is some brands of stainless feel, "looser,"/ inconsistent in string vibration, harder on the hands while playing, often have burs from the wrapping process at the factory, cause more friction and bar noise when moving up and down the neck, wear on your changer and make marks where the string rests, and sometimes they bring out some weird, honking overtones and frequencies in the eq of some amps(particularly tube amps and when you're playing in a higher register on the neck.)

The reason I love nickel strings is because of the warmth and thickness in the vibration from the wound strings on the E9th, the overall balance in tone, very little noise from the bar, a stronger/tighter tension, and just have that sonic ability to really be dynamic with your pick attack. The only con I could think of is if you have a skin reaction to nickel(some people it can give a rash to) I feel like I can get more out of all of the bands of eq on my guitar AND amp when using nickel strings. Plus distortion sounds smoother with nickel.

In the end there's no right or wrong way to go about strings. If you're happy with your sound and you like it, I'd say it works. If you're not entirely satisfied, there are a ton of brands, gauges, materials, etc. out there to try. Some strings may sound better on some guitars possibly, like bassists using old, dead flat wounds on an Fender P-bass and fresh round wounds on a modern Jazz bass. There are so many variables with a steel guitar from the player and their hands, pick material and gauges, strings, pickup, amp, speaker, volume pedal, pedal pot, legs, etc. we always go down the rabbit hole trying to find what we're wanting to hear. I think you'd sound great on any kind of string material, Ben! Let us know if you decide to switch or stay with nickel.

Ben Godard · From: Jamesville NC

Thanks everyone for your ideas. And I especially appreciate Mike's post. It's not everyday I get a response from such a heavywieight steel player.

I am so glad b0b created this forum. I've been using it since 99 and I hope it continues to go on for a long time.

Jim Bob Sedgwick · From: Clinton, Missouri USA

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I've used Stainless Steel on my 81 D-10 Franklin since new. It has not caused any wear on the fingers.
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John De Maille · From: On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.

I have played over 70 gigs using SS strings, the same ones that I put on last November!!!! I used Live Steel Strings and they still sound almost as good as the day I first put them on. I'm totally sold on SS strings. They stay crisp and clear and hold their pitch forever. This is actually a test I've been doing to see how long they'll last. I've got one more gig this year on 12/31 and then I'll change them. I could never had done that with nickel strings, now way. I'll report back after the New Years gig and see if they hold up, one more time.

Sid Hudson · From: Virginia, USA

I prefer the nickel wound strings. To me the nickel wound strings are sonically more even. No hot spots. The difference in these strings (stainless vs nickel) really show up in a recording environment.

Once again this is a personal opinion, but I believe that nickel strings have that new string Zing out of the pack and seem to retain that Zing longer than stainless.

The cryo treated nickel strings are the bomb! Now you have something that is sonically even and lasts about 3 times longer than an untreated string and for three more bucks its a no brainer

John De Maille · From: On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.

Hello Sid,
They're your brand strings, that, I have on my Zum with over 70 gigs on them. I would never do that with any other brand string. I personally prefer the SS strings. I like their sound better, but, that's just my opinion.

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