Strings and picks?

Dunlop jazz III XL black picks for electric, Dunlop .73 gray nylon for acoustic

I have D'addario flat wound 10's on my Hofner Hollowbody and either D'addario pure nickel 10's or EB Cobalts on my strats and Tele.
 
Every now and then I change it up, but always come back to Dunlop Delrin 2.0 picks and D'addario 9-46 for strat scale length and either D'addario or Gibson vintage reissue 10-46 for the Les Paul.

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Electric strings 9-42s, whatever is on offer usually.
Acoustic strings 10-52(I think).

Picks are always those blue Tortex 1mm jobs
 
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Dunlop Ultex 1.14 and .71
Dunlop 10-46 or 11-50 electric strings
Martin SP 12-54 acoustic
LaBella 45-105 bass flat wounds
D'Addario 13-62
Ernie Ball 13-72 baritone
 
DR Silver Stars .009's for my electrics and mediums for my acoustics. Steve Clayton Products Picks made from Ultem
 
I've not really cared much about brands, I care more about a balanced string tension across each string on the neck. Thus I calculate my own gauges for each guitar.
I buy the bulk packs of individual gauges from JustStrings.com. No complaints.

The ONLY brand that I've recently tried are Curt Mangan Strings on my Martin acoustic and they've been on for a month. I calculated and ordered individual gauges, not an off the shelf set. Thus far, these have been really really good....both in sound and feel.
About to apply some Dr. Ducks to see how they do with a string lube.... Pushing them a little :wink:

As for Picks, it depends on what I expect to get out of them. Every pick sounds different and handles different. Adds to the fun..
Anything from making my own out of different exothermic liquid plastics or exotic woods

http://fusedimprov.com/images/liquid-plastic-.html


http://old.fusedimprov.com/Studio_Pics_and_Picks/Picks.html

to just about everything I could find thats out there from the so many makers...
DSCN1680.jpg

Picks are a highly overlooked way to get your axe to sound so many different ways, not to mention each shape offers different types of control. One pick does not fit every need.
 
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I've been a long time D'Addario guy. I use regular 9s or 10s, depending on the guitar.

As far as picks go, I've come to really like the Hetfield signature picks at .94mm.

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i went through a pure nickel phase and thought the Gibsons were very nice if not a bit dark on my Teles. I prefer Pyramid Max Performance and Snakeoil, the former much easier to get.

Now Im back to nickel wound and have been using Dunlops. very nice. Comparable to EB slinkys, Boomers, and D'addario.

I think that strings are more or less the same, the most important thing is to use new ones. Id rather have a cheap new set than an expensive 1 month old set. Yes some last longer than others but not so much you can go months without changing them.

its probably better to use cheap strings because you wont have any worries about changing them. When you pay +$10 for one set youre more likely to let them go a bit longer than say a set that cost $4.

maybe 20 years ago cheap strings were crap but they arent any more.
 
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fused said:
I've not really cared much about brands, I care more about a balanced string tension across each string on the neck. Thus I calculate my own gauges for each guitar.
Click to expand...

Kind of curious about this. How do you measure how the string set is providing even tension across the neck?
 
Dunlop nickel wound 10s on f scale guitars, 11s on g
John pearse pb medium lights
Ultex sharps, jazz 3 xls
 
Alex W said:
Kind of curious about this. How do you measure how the string set is providing even tension across the neck?
Click to expand...

I use a string tension calculator to get the string gauges to within a pound of each other....
THEN I use a Dadario string spreadsheet, their string information, tons of it...

Then I decide if I want to go even tension or, in some cases, increase by a pound for each string, high E to low E for that heavy bottom feel.

The main goal is to have an even migration .... Not have a string in the middle that is way higher or lower than the rest of the set, like 90% of off the shelf sets do.
 
Every now and then I have nightmare flashbacks of Black Diamond strings. They were, perhaps, the worst string I have ever used; back in the 60's they were the only brand my local music store carried. I LOL'd when someone bought the name and reissued them. I know that Guy Clark wrote a song about them, but I think nostalgia overcame reality in that case. :grin:
 
And I know I get a lot of crap for it, but I *hate* the sound of new strings. I don't have acid sweat and I wipe my strings down after playing so they don't accumulate gunk. Strings always sound better to me once they're worn in.
 
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