Classical guitar strings

[ef37a]

Son has a birthday coming up and he says all he wants is strings!
Can anyone give me ideas on good quality strings I can buy in modest quantity and get a good deal please?

If possible I would like to buy from a small, 'family' business.

Dave

[zenguitar]

I use D'Addario EJ46 which are hard nylon. They are available as a pack with 3 sets in the box at a slight discount from the individual set price.

I tend to by from www.stringsdirect.co.uk who have a large selection and are generally decent prices across the board.

Andy

[Sam Spoons]

Doesn't he have a preference for a specific brand/type/gauge string? I'll ask my mate what he uses.

edit:- He doesn't go for a specific make just something decent like D'Addario or Augustine but says whatever make get high tension strings.

Like Andy I have found Strings Direct very good with good service and prices but I'm not sure if they qualify as a small family business.

[sonics]

It sounds like he has yet to settle on a favourite type, so why not buy a selection and he can experiment? Most guitarists I know are rather picky about string brands.
I can't help you with a supplier. My local family-run store is a couple of km from here, and almost 5,000km from you at a guess.

[ef37a]

Doesn't he have a preference for a specific brand/type/gauge string? I'll ask my mate what he uses.

edit:- He doesn't go for a specific make just something decent like D'Addario or Augustine but says whatever make get high tension strings.

Like Andy I have found Strings Direct very good with good service and prices but I'm not sure if they qualify as a small family business.

He may have a preference Sam but he hasn't told me it yet! He has had the guitar some years but has only been working on it seriously for the last two years or so. "Buying a selection" is bit of an expense at about 15 quid a pop! I really want him to pick a brand/type then I can perhaps get good deal on 5 or 6 sets?

Can I take it that "high tension" (some sites say "hard") means the string are louder but take more effort to play? That won't bother him, he has been playing so long that action height doesn't bother him. He is right handed but his left hand is actually bigger than his right!

Thank you for all your contributions.

Dave.

[tea for two]

Ef37a I recall a post where you mentioned your dear son was unhappy with how his nails were filed as they were causing his playing to sound not as he would liked.
So possibly enquring whether a set of strings more forgiving is preferred.
Also enquiring from him whether he has a bright or warm sounding Guitar is he wanting a bright or warm sound from the strings.

[Sam Spoons]

Doesn't he have a preference for a specific brand/type/gauge string? I'll ask my mate what he uses.

edit:- He doesn't go for a specific make just something decent like D'Addario or Augustine but says whatever make get high tension strings.

Like Andy I have found Strings Direct very good with good service and prices but I'm not sure if they qualify as a small family business.

He may have a preference Sam but he hasn't told me it yet! He has had the guitar some years but has only been working on it seriously for the last two years or so. "Buying a selection" is bit of an expense at about 15 quid a pop! I really want him to pick a brand/type then I can perhaps get good deal on 5 or 6 sets?

Can I take it that "high tension" (some sites say "hard") means the string are louder but take more effort to play? That won't bother him, he has been playing so long that action height doesn't bother him. He is right handed but his left hand is actually bigger than his right!

Thank you for all your contributions.

Dave.

High/hard tension is a given for anybody half serious about classical guitar, they are still a fair bit kinder to the fingers than steel. Apparently the plain strings last much longer than the wound, maybe 3 times, but I'm not aware of anybody who sells sets with two each of the wound strings.

T42 mentions nails, one of the best things I've been given (by Mrs S) was a crystal glass nail file, I keep meaning to buy my mate one as they are brilliant. https://leightondenny.com/large-crystal ... e-set.html

[Wonks]

I wouldn’t say that classical strings are kinder on the fingers than steel strings, certainly compared to a low-action steel string acoustic. I can change to my classical guitar after playing an acoustic for a while and my finger pads soon start hurting. And the classical (well technically a flamenco) has a low action as well.

[ef37a]

Whoa Sam! Those files are two sets of strings! He is ok for emery boards it is polishing blocks he has trouble finding. We had a glass file a few years ago. My wife practically financed OPI! I have given away sheds of booteek nail care cases and about 2 ltrs all told of polish! The file got broken.

I think he will come back for the high tension strings. Playing never seems to bother him? Four hours is a "warm up" he says.

Dave.

[Sam Spoons]

TBF I don't play classical guitars often, I dislike them intensely, but it's the nut width and flat fingerboard that I hate, string tension has never been a problem IME, My mates with high tension strings is about the same as a 10-46 strung Strat.

I do play fingerstyle on steel strung acoustic and, at the risk of jinxing it, I've had my glass nail file for several years. I would buy another tomorrow if I lost or broke it. £28 is for two BTW and there are much cheaper ones out there though I haven't tried them and probably won't bother when I buy a spare.

[tea for two]

https://www.savarez.com/products-catalog
Based in France where you said your sons band is.
Savarez Alliance Corum reading reviews seems suitable.

::

Classical style placing Guitar on my lap helps my somewhat banged up right shoulder : more relief lesser stress than placing Guitar on my right thigh.
At 12 years I started on Classical lasted couple months lol I just don't have the mindset dedication. Takes a particular person to practice hours n hours.
Also I discovered Chris Rea, Gary Moore, Hank Marvin, Mark Knopfler.

[Old Plucker]

Savarez Red (Pink) Card here for the last half century & a bit !
Tried a few others along the way, but always returned to Savarez Reds

Also a happy buyer from:
www.stringsdirect.co.uk

At 12 years I started on Classical lasted couple months lol I just don't have the mindset dedication. Takes a particular person to practice hours n hours.

Snap @12 &.....that would be me then.

[ef37a]

"Savarez Red (Pink) Card here for the last half century & a bit !
Tried a few others along the way, but always returned to Savarez Reds

Also a happy buyer from:
www.stringsdirect.co.uk"

That ^ looks like a plan Plucker. I shall speak to son on Skype either today or Sunday depending on when he has band practice.

Dave.

[merlyn]

These days classical guitar stings are available that are made from materials other than nylon.

Take Savarez. They have Alliance (flourocarbon) and New Cristal (rectified nylon) trebles, and Cantiga (composite) and Corum (rectified nylon) basses. Sets are available in different combinations e.g. Alliance Corum or Cantiga New Cristal.

Aquila have other materials available -- Nylgut, the Sugar range that are made from a bio plastic derived from sugar cane, and Rubino. Rubino is innovative in that the diameter of the trebles is the same, and different pitches are obtained by changing the density (mass per unit length) of the string by mixing metal particles into a polymer. I haven't tried Rubino as they're not available in high tension (or superior tension, as Aquila call it).

One of the attributes Aquila use to describe their strings is 'promptness of attack'. You have to realise that 'promptness of attack' is a phrase made up of three words that is doing its best to describe something that is a playing experience. Higher tension strings have more promptness of attack. Low and normal tension are for students. They feel quite floppy, which is similar to saying they have a low promptness of attack.

[ef37a]

Thank you Merlyn, I had pretty much decided on 5 sets of Savarez high tension and put them in my cart at Strings Dir. The site then changed my order to two sets because they did not have 5 in stock. I await a reply from them.

I am on the clock a bit because I would like to get the strings over to son in Le Havre by the weekend.

Dave.

[adrian_k]

I am on the clock a bit because I would like to get the strings over to son in Le Havre by the weekend.

Dave.

Another one to try might be D’Addario from Andertons https://www.andertons.co.uk/daddario-pr ... al-strings. Didn’t check their stock levels

[ef37a]

What a total cluster****!
Strings Direct have emailed me back and said to ring them to sort my order. Tried 3 times this morning, busy.

The London Guitar Centre I found stock and got so far with the order then it would not let me put my card details in. Usually such forms give a warning in red of what you have missed. Not this one and I scrutinized it but could not make it work. Phoned 'em...busy.

Went into town as there is a super music shop there but despite 1/2hr of running around I could not get parked and I don't feel up to a long walk from a car park. In any case I object to paying for a 5 minute shop transacation. So I have just phoned them.
They do not have Savarez in stock but do have D'addio in HT and will drop them in later today. Was going to buy two packs but upped the order to 3 to make it worth their while.

Dave.