Classical Guitar Strings - What are all the cool kids using?

VimFuego · July 2022

Decided to bust out and dust off my classical guitar, only to note that it's been so long since I last got it out the case that the strings have basically disintergrated. Pretty sure back in the day I used D'adds of some description, but was wondering if there's anything I should be looking at. I note that D'add now make pro arte classical strings, I use them on my violin, so was wonder if anyone has an opinion on them, or any other strings for that matter.

Mellish · July 2022

@VimFuego ; - I'd have to say give La Bella a try mate.

There'll be other brands recommended but La Bella is what I used back in the day.

One source would be Strings Direct

ToneControl · July 2022

"carbon" strings are very popular on the trebles, (fluorocarbon), they sound very different. You may like them better

watch out when you fit them, they are far slippier than normal strings, and will slide out of the normal twisted fitting and damage the soundboard - you need to do 2 or 3 times as many turns when you twist them around, and it's worth doing this at the machine head too.

https://www.nylonplucks.com/accessories/try-carbon-strings-on-your-classical-guitar/#:~:text=They are made of harder,longer sustain and overall clarity.

VimFuego · July 2022

ToneControl said:

"carbon" strings are very popular on the trebles, (fluorocarbon), they sound very different. You may like them better

watch out when you fit them, they are far slippier than normal strings, and will slide out of the normal twisted fitting and damage the soundboard - you need to do 2 or 3 times as many turns when you twist them around, and it's worth doing this at the machine head too.

https://www.nylonplucks.com/accessories/try-carbon-strings-on-your-classical-guitar/#:~:text=They are made of harder,longer sustain and overall clarity.

thanks for that, from memory my classical is already on the brighter end (spruce top, the brightness is kinda why I bought it), however I don't want too much brightness, and I see they may be tough on the hands. I already have some issues with my left hand, don't want to do anything that'll make it worse.

PS I like that website, will have fun reading the articles on there.

earwighoney · July 2022

Vim, I have some strings I could send you for free but they might be on the more high tension side of things?

But, reading your last post I think you might be best off with the low tension strings.

If you look at D'Addario they do their strings by tension, eg low, mid, high.

The more tension the more volume you get.

more · July 2022

There are plenty of good strings out there. I like La Bella 820 . Describe as flamenco strings , but you don’t need to be a flamenco player to like them . Not expensive, easy to buy, nice tone .

VimFuego · July 2022

earwighoney said:

Vim, I have some strings I could send you for free but they might be on the more high tension side of things?

But, reading your last post I think you might be best off with the low tension strings.

If you look at D'Addario they do their strings by tension, eg low, mid, high.

The more tension the more volume you get.

thanks, very kind of you. I've ordered a selection of medium tension strings, hopefully some'll be here tomorrow. From memory, it's a fairly bright guitar, so hopefully med tension strings should sound fairly bright. I may have to have a set up carried out as well.

earwighoney · July 2022

more said:

There are plenty of good strings out there. I like La Bella 820 . Describe as flamenco strings , but you don’t need to be a flamenco player to like them . Not expensive, easy to buy, nice tone .

They would be my recommendation as well. I have them on my flamenco guitar, nice tension and feel.

VimFuego · July 2022

earwighoney said:

more said:

There are plenty of good strings out there. I like La Bella 820 . Describe as flamenco strings , but you don’t need to be a flamenco player to like them . Not expensive, easy to buy, nice tone .

They would be my recommendation as well. I have them on my flamenco guitar, nice tension and feel.

I'll add them to the order.

earwighoney · July 2022

VimFuego said:

earwighoney said:

more said:

There are plenty of good strings out there. I like La Bella 820 . Describe as flamenco strings , but you don’t need to be a flamenco player to like them . Not expensive, easy to buy, nice tone .

They would be my recommendation as well. I have them on my flamenco guitar, nice tension and feel.

I'll add them to the order.

I also use La Bella 427's, which I think I might be the same strings as the 820's, with the bass strings the same but the trebles of the 427's are white and the 820's are black.

more · July 2022

820 have red trebles and 820B have black . The 820 have slightly heavier bass strings than the 427 set , but too small a difference to be noticeable. The colour of the trebles makes no difference to the sound . The strings are the same , DuPont nylon , just the coloured ones have been dyed.

Supportact · July 2022

I've used the Pro Arte strings on my classical and liked them. They seem decent quality and consistent.

I've recently come across Aquila strings, which seem to have a variety of options, some made of unusual materials (sugar trebles?). I've ordered a few, I've just put a set of Alabastro ones on. They seem pretty good, i will update once I've used them a bit longer.

Gilly · July 2022

more said:

820 have red trebles and 820b have black . The 820 have slightly heavier bass strings , but too small a difference to be noticeable. The colour of the trebles makes no difference to the sound . The strings are the same , DuPont nylon , just the coloured ones have been dyed.

I disagree. Back when I played flamenco I used La Bella for a while and found the reds to be quite a bit warmer sounding than the blacks. I much preferred the reds.

To the OP, if you’re guitar is bright sounding I’d try D’addario Pro Artes.

more · July 2022

Gilly said:

more said:

820 have red trebles and 820b have black . The 820 have slightly heavier bass strings , but too small a difference to be noticeable. The colour of the trebles makes no difference to the sound . The strings are the same , DuPont nylon , just the coloured ones have been dyed.

I disagree. Back when I played flamenco I used La Bella for a while and found the reds to be quite a bit warmer sounding than the blacks. I much preferred the reds.

To the OP, if you’re guitar is bright sounding I’d try D’addario Pro Artes.

Your right , I was making the comparison between the red and clear trebles . The black is a different material to the red

earwighoney · July 2022

more said:

Gilly said:

more said:

820 have red trebles and 820b have black . The 820 have slightly heavier bass strings , but too small a difference to be noticeable. The colour of the trebles makes no difference to the sound . The strings are the same , DuPont nylon , just the coloured ones have been dyed.

I disagree. Back when I played flamenco I used La Bella for a while and found the reds to be quite a bit warmer sounding than the blacks. I much preferred the reds.

To the OP, if you’re guitar is bright sounding I’d try D’addario Pro Artes.

Your right , I was making the comparison between the red and clear trebles . The black is a different material to the red

Some impressive La Bella info here, I'm impressed with your insights. I've not used the set with red trebles, I should give them a go sometime.

GTC · July 2022

String choice can be very much a personal matter - but, for conventional classicals my go to strings above many other brands (including all the mainstream ones) are Knobloch Active carbons. Not easy to find - but the London Classical Studio stock them. They have a softer feel and tone to other fluorocarbons whilst having good clear definition and projection. The D'Addario Titaniums also tend in this direction although, IMO, they are not as good.

For heavier built nylon string guitars (e.g. some crossovers) I tend to go for Savarez carbons to give that additional bite through the thicker top.

DavidR · July 2022

My favourites are Savarez New Cristal Classics 540CR. I worked through a lot of strings before settling on these. I just like the tone of them on my 2 classicals. Also classical strings fade really quickly cf. acoustic strings and these seem to last just a little bit longer. I don't play classical very much anymore but when I was playing for an ensemble I would change strings every 3-4 weeks with these. I haven't done any trying out of any newer strings to the market for about 3 years though. Savarez always worth a look.

Products catalog | Savarez

GTC · July 2022

BTW - I'm not sure that my comments above are worthy of consideration given the thread's title. Try as I might, I find it hard to position myself in the "cool kid" bracket!

VimFuego · July 2022

GTC said:

BTW - I'm not sure that my comments above are worthy of consideration given the thread's title. Try as I might, I find it hard to position myself in the "cool kid" bracket!

I think that if you consider yourself not a cool kid then you are, de facto, a cool kid.

I'm pretty sure that's how it works.

GTC · July 2022

VimFuego said:
I think that if you consider yourself not a cool kid then you are, de facto, a cool kid.

I'm pretty sure that's how it works.

I see - but if I agree with you, am I not then, de facto, declaring myself to be a cool kid? Which, of course, means I'm not.

CavemanGrogg · August 2022

Savarez medium tension strings, by far the best classical guitar strings I have ever used, and I prefer the slacker tension on medium tension strings over the higher tension you get on their high tension strings.

ToneControl · August 2022

CavemanGrogg said:

Savarez medium tension strings, by far the best classical guitar strings I have ever used, and I prefer the slacker tension on medium tension strings over the higher tension you get on their high tension strings.

yeah, I've stopped using high tension strings too

CavemanGrogg · August 2022

ToneControl said:

CavemanGrogg said:

Savarez medium tension strings, by far the best classical guitar strings I have ever used, and I prefer the slacker tension on medium tension strings over the higher tension you get on their high tension strings.

yeah, I've stopped using high tension strings too

I started on Yamaha high tension strings when I first started learning, and swapped over to medium tension after maybe 2 years if not longer. And for some reason high tension strings seem to be the most popular for classical guitars, the classical guitar teachers I've been using for the past 7/8 months have all been trying to get me to switch over to high tension strings for some reason.

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Classical Guitar Strings - What are all the cool kids using?

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