Guitar strings--Are you using the right ones?

By Dee Curtis


co-writer Mark Grove


Guitar strings are often mentioned just in passing when it comes to your overall sound. But is quite important to your ability to work those pieces of metal to yours and the fans delight. This article is Dee's first foray into music journalism and hopefully not his last.



Dee Curtis is interviewed by Mark Grove.



There is no intro to this interview. We basically get right into the meat of the subject, which is using the right strings. There's my intro.




MG: What type of strings should a beginning guitar player use?



DC: You have different preferences for different styles of music and how advanced a player is. But for a beginner they should use light gauge strings approximately .008 in thickness. As well starting with a lighter gauge help you in regard to being able to bend the strings for effect, learning chord and note phrases and structures--and being able to handle calluses on your hands. By doing these basic things you can work your way up to a heavier gauge set of strings.



MG: Are certain types of strings better for certain types of music?



DC: Heavier gauge strings like .0012 are used for genres like Jazz. What Rock and Hardcore guitarists will do is drop back the tuning a bit, because the heavier gauge strings give you a fatter tone and more sustain in the note. People like Hendrix, Stevie Ray and a lot of Blues players play in flat tuning. Instead of E they'll tune to E Flat. When they get a Thicker tone it's more relaxing on their vocals if they sing when using heavier strings. There are a lot of advantages to using different types of strings for certain objectives in tone and overall feel.


MG: Are thinner strings harder to master than thick?


DC: Hell no, thinner is easier to bend and to play funk rhythms and high bright "chink chink" chords. Thicker strings make it harder to master funk and very challenging chord voicings.


MG: What kind of tuning should a beginner strive for?


DC: Standard tuning which is E,A,D,G,B,E.



MG: If you're In a band with twin lead guitarists, should their tunings match?



DC: Definitely, because someone will sound out of tune even though they be playing perfectly. The Bass player as well has to be in sync with the lead guitar as far as tuning goes. Even when we go to Suz's Blues house in London, everyone should be in tune to the lead guitarist.


If Pete Denomme (frontman for Blues berry Jam) is leading the jam he'll ask to hear your tuning so it matches. If I go up to play and play in a different tuning, quite naturally Pete will play a bit down on the tempo and play to my tuning, or Pete will tune to my guitar.


If Hendrix or SRV play in flat tuning which they did most times, people who played with them would tune to them and be ready to play more diverse chords, and be able to bend the strings and get a bit more out of them.


Most guitarists, key board Players and even horn players are in standard tuning, and would have to play in flat tuning to come even with Stevie's or Jimi's flat tuning. Most blues players, even today tune by ear and feel.


Eddie Taylor Jr. a well known Chicago Bluesman (Wolf Records) tuned by feel, and when he started playing in the clubs, he jammed with John Primer(Wolf Records) as well, and heard his guitar and told him to change to standard tuning. Even standard tuning isn't perfect.
The Indian Sitar which has many frets and literally micro-tuned to the ninth degree isn't perfect. But overall the long Sitar is closer to standard tuning because of frets being so close together to make each note sound closer to standard roots music tuning.



MG: Do the type of strings you use affect the overall warmth or brightness in your guitars tone?



DC: Yes it Does. There are all kinds of strings out there on the market some brighter some duller. Some made for Rock, Jazz and Country. The country sound being bright you would use a lighter gauge string, and country guitars are not heavily distorted either. If anything, country is definitely closer to R&B based rhythms and tones.




Some guitarists in order to get a clean and bright sound with heavier strings will plug their Guitar Axe right into a mixing board and tweak it with a bit of EQ to boot instead of plugging into an amp. In some instances, playing directly through a board or a P.A. on a regular basis can screw up your playing ability to be able to use an amp.



There was a story I told Dee about a guy who was jamming with Muddy waters and asked to use his amp and guitar. He figured because it was Muddy's guitar it would be tuned perfectly and anyone could play it. Turned out the strings Muddy used on his Fender were so thick, and because of a lack of on board effects or distortion buttons on Muddy's Amp, he literally sounded like shit because he couldn't master the strings and the amp--which was probably very bare bones as far as any effects went.



His Amp probably had more natural distortion properties and I'm not sure if he used Fender or Marshall Amps. May be someone can enlighten me on that aspect of Muddy's guitar and amp rig. Anyway, learn to use the right strings and the right guitar and amp to get you started on an incredible journey into music, and keep on jamming".

Dee Curtis -CGP (Canadian Guitar Player)


deecurtis@rock.com