Choosing Electric and Acoustic Guitar Strings
By Peter | November 28, 2009
As you play your guitar, the strings will gather dirt and oil from your fingers and the sound quality will start to deteriorate. You’ll notice that the sound of stings will begin to lose their “brightness” and tone. As the most touched parts gather more oil, they’ll vibrate less than other parts of the string, which causes problems with consistent tone and also makes it harder to tune the guitar accurately.
How long it takes before you should change the strings varies – it really depends on how often and for how long you play, and how discerning you are when it comes to the tone. A professional will often change their strings once a week. However, if you’re a play-at-home amateur, you can afford to change them much less often.
All brands of string are different, so it’s really down to personal preference as to which type you should use. I’ve tried dozens of different types, brands and gauges. I now almost exclusively use a RotoSound Phosphor Bronze (gauge 11 or 12) on my acoustic guitar. However, this isn’t a recommendation; it’s just what works for me. If you’re a beginner, you should try a few different brands to see what you like.
There are two main types of acoustic guitar string to look at when you’re buying new strings:
- Bronze Wound strings are commonly used by many players. They’re good for professionals who need a very bright sound initially. However, they lose much of their brightness quickly, so need to be changed often to keep a good quality of sound.
- Phosphor Bronze strings are made very similarly to standard bronze string, but with the addition of phosphor. The phosphor gives the sound a slightly warmer tone and also extends the life of the sting (well the life of the bright sound with the string).
With an electric guitar, the types are:
- Nickel Plated strings, which contain a steel core, with nickel plated steel wrapped around it. This is the most often used electric guitar string, and is a good place to start when trying new strings.
- Pure Nickel strings are made of a steel core with pure Nickel wrapped around it.
- Stainless Steel – Exactly as you’d expect: This is simply a string made of stainless steel.
Topics: Learning Guitar | No Comments »
Acoustic Cover Of “Hurt” – Johnny Cash
By Peter | November 26, 2009
This acoustic cover is actually a Nine Inch Nails song that Johnny Cash covered. It sounds ludicrous that Johnny Cash would cover a band like NIN, but it really does work. He cleaned up a few parts of it, but he more than does it justice; and this is probably another of those acoustic covers that’s better than the original (even thought that’s just my opinion, it’s no doubt shared by many people).
It was a great song when Nine Inch Nails performed it. Perhaps it’s just something about Johnny Cash that intensifies a song, but his interpretation really is beautifully haunting. The track was released right at the end of his life – after suffering for years from autonomic neuropathy, which was brought on by diabetes, Cash was hospitalized in 1998 with pneumonia. This spate of illness damaged his lungs, and his next two albums were of an entirely sombre note. “Hurt” being the stand-out track from “American IV: The Man Comes Around”.
If you want to learn more about Cash’s (extraordinarily interesting) life, Wikipedia as usual has an in-depth amount of information. (Just as an unrelated aside, Wikipedia is currently in the middle of its annual fund-raising. They’re not supported by ads or any other corporate means and rely on donations to support the site. I’ve already made my donation this year, and I absolutely encourage anyone who can spare a few $s to support this great resource.)
Topics: Acoustic Cover | No Comments »
Nils Lofgren’s Acoustic Covers Of Neil Young
By Peter | November 22, 2009
I want to start this off with a recommendation of a whole album of covers; a tribute album really. It’s by Nils Lofgren, and is a great collection of Neil Young covers called “The Loner”. It’s beautifully played and sung – clearly Neil Young is one on the greats, but Lofgren’s version of “Like A Hurricane” is remarkable, and I actually prefer this version to Young’s.
Performing a tribute album is always a risky undertaking, but this is not the usual tribute album. Nils Lofgren and Neil Young performed together for years, and Lofgren was involved during the production of many of Young’s greatest songs. Lofgren’s voice and playing style is very similar in tone and technique to the originals; however, it’s Lofgren’s own personality that really changes the music and makes the covers unique. What makes the whole album even more special is that most of the songs were performed alone by Lofgren, on his guitar or piano, in his own house.
As mentioned, I think the stand-out track is the classic “Like A Hurricane”, but I thoroughly recommend listening to the whole album.
Topics: Tribute Albums | No Comments »