G strings

[Apsu]

Sorry guys, probably not the kind you had in mind, but then again, you never know with us guitarists.

So I bought a new pack of strings the other day to replace the colored DR strings I tried (after it became obvious they were pretty much shittastic and going to flake and wear stupidly fast ) and also because I was very unhappy with the plain 0.024 in that set. Maybe it's just me but I absolutely hate the sound of plain G's past about 0.020 or so, particularly with the higher gauges and corresponding lower tunings. Sure, with enough distortion you can't tell a huge tonal difference, but unplugged, strumming through a naked clean channel or just tuning... man, the heavier plains sound like ass. uke:

Thumpy, dull ass in fact, and the coated DR set was no exception. Unfortunately, my favorite local guitar shop didn't have the DR gauge/set I normally get in stock, so I was checking out the offerings from D'Addario and Ernie Ball for 12 52-56's, and offhandedly commented out loud that I was liking the slightly heavier gauges on the EAD side in the Ernie Ball pack, but that it had a plain G, so I'd take the D'Addario instead. The sales dude was like "Whoa. No one ever wants wound G strings over plains. You're the first person I've ever seen in here that wants them besides myself." Needless to say, I found this a little strange. Surely I can't be the only one who's heard enough of a difference to make a point of avoiding plains?

What do you guys like, and why? Have you found that heavier plain G's are usable on some guitars but not others? Also, for note, I have three electrics at the moment and I've tried various brands of plain G's on all of them over the years, but I've never been satisfied with the tone in comparison to wounds, so it's not simply a case of "your nut/saddle/tuner/frets/etc for your G are fucked up". There's simply no comparison in tone, sustain and character for the same guitar, wound vs. plain.

 

[Notuern]

I use plain G-string on all my guitars.
Im to much of a solo-guy to slap on a wound-g, and ive found that the issue you are describing is a pickup-problem, not the strings them selves.

Im currently using MMK45's in all my guitars(A vintage-pickup from the Japanese guitarmanufacturer Matsumoku.), and i have it adjusted slightly higher on the thinner strings to make them come through better(Im playing 80's heavymetal, so i need to be able to play BIG chords with distortion and still have clarity.).

 

[Jaymz]

I find wound G's are almost un-useable, thick G's are ok but sound really stuffy but a normal/lighter G sounds crisp and sharp.

 

[Metaltastic]

I absolutely will not play an unwound G below D-standard, twang-city! For chording, there's no comparison, a wound G sounds so much fuller, and with a .22w in C standard for the G-string (AKA Eb), there's still enough slack for me to be satisfied with bending! (cuz solo'ing is just as important to me as rhythm playing) For C-standard I use this set and replace the .20p with a .22w, and it works great! (might try an .11 for the high C and .56 for the low C though)

 

[Jaymz]

Ive got a .24p in C standard and its really woofy, however ive got the strings ready to step down to a .20/.22 before recording I wouldn't recommend anything thicker, in that tuning or higher.

 

[Apsu]

I use plain G-string on all my guitars.
Im to much of a solo-guy to slap on a wound-g, and ive found that the issue you are describing is a pickup-problem, not the strings them selves.

I find wound G's are almost un-useable, thick G's are ok but sound really stuffy but a normal/lighter G sounds crisp and sharp.

Hm, so you're both suggesting that something about wound G's is non-ideal for soloing or leads/clarity, however The_Shred, you say a thick plain G sounds 'stuffy', so you're hearing a very similar difference to what I am. Why do you say that the wounds are unusable? I play a wide variety of styles with varying degrees of gain and I've never found that a wound, thick G is unusable, lacks clarity or doesn't cut through like the B and e. Elaborate please?

Also, Notuern, I can't really see how the pickup would be the culprit since all 10 pickups I've compared with have given me consistently richer timbres on wounds of the same gauge, on the same axe. Note again that this does not apply with lighter plain G's. They sound just fine, as do the B's and e's. Seems to my ears like 0.020 is where the timbral character takes a nosedive.

 

[Metaltastic]

Yeah, I've never played a plain string thicker than .20, but it seems like it'd just sound pretty nasty, after a certain point you gotta go wound IMO! (and as I mentioned, I have no trouble with bends or vibrato using a .22w tuned to Eb)

 

[Apsu]

Ah, a believer! So I suppose what they were suggesting is that you can't easily bend or vibrato a 22 or 24 wound. I certainly haven't had any trouble with it in anything lower than about D standard, and I'm usually in C or Db.

 

[Jaymz]

and I've never found that a wound, thick G is unusable, lacks clarity or doesn't cut through like the B and e. Elaborate please?

It was a fairly long time ago but as far as I remember I used it 5 minutes and put it in the bin. Wasn't anything abouy clarity or cut as such, it just souded/felt plain awful too me. Im happy with the lighter un-wounds for my playing so ive never gone back to the wounds since.

As far as the thick G, it sounds very..."tight/constricted" more like a fast vibrating metal bar than a airy string ringing out into the cold night. I perfer it to a wound one but stepping the .24 down will be a good thing for me.

 

[Metaltastic]

Then stick with it, I don't think anyone would claim an unwound sounds better in low tunings, so the only advantage is ease of playing (and if that's not an issue, then screw it ) And I dunno if you saw my above post, but I linked to a place you can buy individual strings, worth checking out!

 

[Apsu]

As far as the thick G, it sounds very..."tight/constricted" more like a fast vibrating metal bar than a airy string ringing out into the cold night.

Exactly! Like a thumpy steel rod straddling my poor fretboard, raping any tone that's not hypersaturated nu-metal wanking.

 

[Apsu]

... I linked to a place you can buy individual strings, worth checking out!

Yeah, that's actually quite handy to know. Duly noted, sir!

 

[scorpio01169]

welcome...it's nice to see another SA-Towner here

 

[Apsu]

Thank you kindly. Been lurking a long while, it's about time I jumped in! I'm liking SA a lot better than the DFW which is the area I used to live in.

 

[Jordon]

I usually play in B and A# and use a plain .020 and plain .022 G string respectively. Anything heavier then .022, and I'll go wound, but by that time I'm playing a baritone and not worried about much lead stuff.

 

[slashvanyoung]

I not only prefer the sound of wound g-strings (so much more body on both chords and single notes at higher frets), but also their feeling.

And for baritone-tuning they're a must for me anyway, everything else usually fucks my intonation hard.

If you've got the right-balanced set for your tuning, bendings/vibrato are absolutely no problem with a wound g.

 

[Notuern]

Hm, so you're both suggesting that something about wound G's is non-ideal for soloing or leads/clarity, however The_Shred, you say a thick plain G sounds 'stuffy', so you're hearing a very similar difference to what I am. Why do you say that the wounds are unusable? I play a wide variety of styles with varying degrees of gain and I've never found that a wound, thick G is unusable, lacks clarity or doesn't cut through like the B and e. Elaborate please?

Also, Notuern, I can't really see how the pickup would be the culprit since all 10 pickups I've compared with have given me consistently richer timbres on wounds of the same gauge, on the same axe. Note again that this does not apply with lighter plain G's. They sound just fine, as do the B's and e's. Seems to my ears like 0.020 is where the timbral character takes a nosedive.

Im just saying its not for me, a wound string on the G would just be wrong for my style of playing: I do loads of wierd bends and legato-stuff on the G B and E-string, and if the G-string is wound, it will either be to stiff and cause to match scratchnoises, or it will be to loose and sloppy to match my E A and D-string(For my playing style.).

And about the pickup, i am using a Railed pickup, its basically a crossbreed of a PAF and Distortion(How wierd that may sound, its the closest way i can explain the tone.), so it gives me allot more clarity then a pickup with separate polepieces.
And i always want my thinner strings to be louder then my thicker, because when i strum large chords, i want the higher strings to really pop through, and when i switch to soloing i really want to be able to get that ascending/descending sound when going between the fat and thinner strings.

So again: It just fits my way of handling the guitar.

(Addition to the pickup part: The better the pickups, the more your thinner strings will "shine".. did not have a clue about what gear you where using.)

 

[STINNETT]

My G string is actually tuned to G. so no wound strings here.

 

[Metaltastic]

Im just saying its not for me, a wound string on the G would just be wrong for my style of playing: I do loads of wierd bends and legato-stuff on the G B and E-string, and if the G-string is wound, it will either be to stiff and cause to match scratchnoises, or it will be to loose and sloppy to match my E A and D-string(For my playing style.).

And about the pickup, i am using a Railed pickup, its basically a crossbreed of a PAF and Distortion(How wierd that may sound, its the closest way i can explain the tone.), so it gives me allot more clarity then a pickup with separate polepieces.
And i always want my thinner strings to be louder then my thicker, because when i strum large chords, i want the higher strings to really pop through, and when i switch to soloing i really want to be able to get that ascending/descending sound when going between the fat and thinner strings.

So again: It just fits my way of handling the guitar.

(Addition to the pickup part: The better the pickups, the more your thinner strings will "shine".. did not have a clue about what gear you where using.)

Probably pretty important to mention that you play in standard tuning dude

My G string is actually tuned to G. so no wound strings here.

Precisely, and for anything down to D-standard I'd go unwound as well!

 

[Apsu]

Probably pretty important to mention that you play in standard tuning dude

Er.... yeah, that's slightly relevant to the question in the first place

Precisely, and for anything down to D-standard I'd go unwound as well!

Exactly. It's those heavier sets for adequate tension down in the baritone-becoming-bass ranges where my ears start telling me something's wrong with my G's.