here are so many guitar strings out there most people don't what it's
all about & can be confusing for anybody pro, intermediate or
beginner. I spoke with D'Addario about some of their strings & here
are the details along with a few other things I've learned over the
years:
(1) The first nylon classical string from D'Addario is the
EJ27 line. These are "Clear Nylon" & Du Pont's original Nylon 6,6.
The word "student" applied to them is now misrepresented & was only
used because they offered short scale string length sets in this line:
EJ27 1/2 & EJ27 3/4 for smaller guitars, & not because they were
any lower quality than other strings. The EJ27N & EJ27H are
professional high quality sets & the brightest out of the 3 basic
nylon string types: "Clear", "Rectified" & "Laser Checked". These
strings & terminology have been misrepresented & misunderstood.
(2)
Then came "Rectified" strings EJ29-31. Same basses as above, just
ground & polished trebles to cut the higher overtones [???] &
harmonics for a "warmer sound" [???] & make em feel more like Catgut
because that's what strings were always compared to back in the day
with feel & sound [not sure if these are Nylon 6,6 or Nylon 6].
Savarez String Co started rectification & D'Addario came up with
their own rectified products EJ29-31 line for that market place [Andreas
Segovia & students also wanted treble string tone difference from
steel string acoustic guitar tone & cut the higher overtones &
harmonics, Augustine String Co simply used a soft nylon but thicker
strings for their dampening method influenced by Segovia].
(3)
Then came the Pro Arte "Laser Checked" trebles EJ45-52. These are
checked for assurance that "They're Round". Their treble gauges are
lighter than the EJ27 line. I believe these to be Nylon 6, with softer
feel, tension & tone
"Clear Nylon" strings don't need to be
laser checked because it's perfectly round from the supplier DuPont who
have their own high quality checks. Many think the laser checking makes a
better string & checks for general integrity & evenness in
manufacturing, but that's only good if you do something extra like
rectification & that costs, it's not needed if you don't want a
"warm" string that cut the overtones.
The bass strings are all
silver coated wound, but the earlier sets I suspect are Nylon 6,6 core
& the Pro Arte line Nylon 6 core. Now many people complain that the
trebles "aren't bright enough" with sets like EJ45-52, well then stop
using those strings & that type of Nylon 6. Also Rectification
dampens the overtones, but ironically then luthiers started to brighten
their instruments with many techniques, woods & engineering &
also flourocarbon & other materials were introduced for strings.
You
can start with the strings first in a very simple way: don't use nylon
strings that are designed to not be bright. The bottom line is a "Clear
Nylon" [Nylon 6,6] is brighter than "Rectified Nylon" or "Laser checked"
regardless of manufacturer. & they're also less expensive. But if
you want the best La Bella makes the absolute best sounding nylon
strings & most balanced gauges. D'Addario's bass strings are a
little too thick & tense with all their nylon string models compared
to their treble strings. La Bella uses the highest quality &
densest nylon for the best tone & most intelligently balanced gauges
for feel & tone with their bass & treble strings.
All
these choices with strings are not well understood by the public &
most music store personal don't know either. A lot of goofy & crazy
things have happened in the classical guitar world because of string
engineering & manufacturing. Guitar players simply experiment til
they find something they like, which is amusing to a certain point, but
you can cut to the chase by eliminating strings that you don't want if
you know what they were manufactured for in the first place.
A
lot of people are using rectified strings that cut the high overtones,
but then use higher tension gauges to get brightness, power & volume
for that exact purpose that would be easier achieved with a clear
nylon? This foolishness makes no sense & other guitarists influence
each other like "the blind leading the blind" through a labyrinth of
idiocy. (a) You need to simplify (b) & understand what you're
dealing with (c) with what it was designed for (d) in order to make
proper choices from facts.
If people like the bass strings from
the Pro Arte line but want brighter trebles, start with going back to
basics & try the EJ27N (Normal Tension) or EJ27H (Higher Tension)
trbles, these give the original classical nylon sound [old school] of
many decades ago & are very balanced across the sound spectrum.
Nylon isn't supposed to sound like Catgut, because it's not Catgut! The
density is different, but Nylon 6,6 has it's own unique beautiful
"modern" sound with it's own overtones & harmonics. & if that
doesn't work then maybe try Titanium Trebles, Fluorocarbon or Nylgut.
Combine
rectified strings with an ebony fingerboard guitar & you have a
very limited guitar when it comes to sound. Ebony is the most dampening
of woods & a deadening fingerboard for guitars. Most guitar tonal
& volume issues classical guitarists have is because of Ebony
fingerboards & rectified Nylon strings. Ebony was used for three
reasons in classical stringed instruments:
(1) Durability. Since
strings were in direct contact on the board ebony was used because of
its density & look. Guitars are fretted & strings don't touch
the wood, so almost any hard wood can work.
(2) To cut overtones.
Since many classical stringed instruments played together, instruments
were created with more fundamental note emphasis, because when multiple
instruments play together they have a chorusing effect, overtones &
volume are created in conjunction with the other instruments. That's why
maple another dampening wood is also used for backs, sides & necks
of many classical stringed instruments. When large groups of stringed
instrument play together if they all had many dynamic overtones, the
group as a whole would sound too blended together, so focusing on the
fundamental is for that environment. Violins had to play above the
orchestras, ensembles or groups, so their instruments were designed with
more overtone activity. In the book Science & Music by Sir James
Jeans explains how the difference between a Stradivari violin &
modern or cheap one is the overtones & harmonics. The Stradivari is
much more sonically rich. The same thing with a Harpsichord or
Clavichord, the modern piano evolved from them because they wanted to
dampen the notes, which were much more sonically rich with overtones
& harmonics.
(3) Placebo Effect. Today a high end classical
guitar is expected to have ebony. No matter what Luthier creates an
instrument [many are overpriced junk] the woods themselves setup
parameters that already lay the tonal foundation. Build two identical
guitars one with ebony & one with Rosewood fingerboard, the Rosewood
one will have better overall sound & will be louder. For example
Cordoba's Iberia line which are designed by Kenny Hill but built in
China by a top Asian Guitar company proves it. The C5, C7 & Flamenco
guitars all with Rosewood fingerboards are designed perfect &
louder than many $800-$10,000 instruments. I have literally compared
especially the C5 & C7 [which are good standard classical guitars at
650cm scale length & for serious performance] to many hand built
expensive instruments & the volume & sound is quite noticeable
& dramatic. I've done this with many Rosewood fingerboard guitars of
various price ranges.
A guitar is a solo instrument. Much like
an orchestra to itself. So more overtones & harmonics brings out the
most of it with great effect. Rosewood or other hard woods are better
for a fingerboard than ebony & no dampening of the guitars spectral
dynamics tones, Rosewood adds to it [that's why it's used for back &
sides]. Torres himself made many Rosewood fingerboard guitars. Luthiers
only use ebony because that's what guitarists want based on a false
impression & reputation of being better. But it's not, & all
kinds of interesting guitar engineering went into hand made guitars that
could easily have been remedied by using a different fingerboard &
different strings other than rectified Nylon or Pro Arte Nylon 6.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great strings at a great price!, November 23, 2009
By
Elton Pinto "Eptiger" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: D'Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte Nylon Classical Guitar Strings, Normal Tension (Electronics)
I've
been using this model of strings since I first started playing in 2003
and they've been awesome! They're good not only for beginners but
intermediate classical guitarists, as well.
I plan on switching
to the composites for this model just to see how they stack up, but I
don't really have any complaints about them. I had bought these strings
on recommendation from a fellow classical guitarist who I had very much
respect in (I haven't talked to him in a while, but I'm sure he's still a
great guitarist) and multiple sites I browsed regarding buying strings
and installing them were fans of the D'Addario Pro-Artes.
I'm not
an expert on different kinds of strings so I don't have much else to
compare to other than guitars I've played in stores or that friend have
owned, but I felt like these strings have had great longevity for me as
long as I wiped them down after practices/performances and washed my
hands before picking up my guitar. Even when they were past their prime
they actually held pretty decent sound, but obviously not at the quality
that they do when they're fresh. I get really nice, rich sound quality
from them when they're fresh.
As I've gotten better guitars these
strings have still continued to serve me well as they provide as loud a
volume as the quality of guitar I'm playing on should provide, and
they've just felt really nice on my fingers overall. Part of why I don't
like steel string acoustics is that they're kind of harsh on my
fingers, which is really bad for when you can't practice every day
because you're on vacation or something, whereas I'm able to pick up my
guitar with these strings easily after a break in practice.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Changed a mediocre guitar to a delightful guitar, February 17, 2012
By
Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: D'Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte Nylon Classical Guitar Strings, Normal Tension (Electronics)
Despite
having played ukulele and guitar as a youth, I didn't realize that
strings matter; so when I pulled out a guitar that belonged to my late
husband, I remembered that (a) I never liked that guitar, a classical
Yamaha model, nothing special and (b) my recent experiments with various
ukulele strings have resulted in a respect for what the right strings
can do for any instrument.
I bought a set of these strings and
strung up the Yamaha. The instrument went from absolutely bland mediocre
to a rich, deep, ringing tone, especially in the lower registers.
The
strings are well-marked; labels are glued to the ends of the string to
tell you who's who. The E string has a thinner area at the end, to allow
you to tie off the end on your bridge. (The rest of the wound strings
do not have this.)
I'm used to playing with normal tension; I
don't like slack tension, but your feelings on this may vary and
depending on the kind of guitar you play, you may want the high or low
tension instead. The bottom line is that strings are very
individualistic and can change the character of your instrument. I now
have a very playable guitar and I think these strings sound wonderful.
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Comment Comments (2)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Only Strings I use, June 2, 2010
By
C. Lopez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: D'Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte Nylon Classical Guitar Strings, Normal Tension (Electronics)
I
have gone through many types of classical guitar strings, and this by
far is the best one I have used. Since I moved to a small town I could
not find replacement strings. Fortunately Amazon had them on stock, so I
did not have to wait long to play my classical guitar again. I would
not change these strings for any other brand.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great strings!, December 15, 2011
By
Mykal - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: D'Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte Nylon Classical Guitar Strings, Normal Tension (Electronics)
I
got these strings to replace my originals after two years. Initially I
had bought the Hard Tension Type as they were the only ones available
locally, and I hated them. They sounded like crap. So I decided to buy
Normal Tension instead, and I have not been disappointed. They sound
great, don't ring as much as hard tension, easier to play, and keep
their tuning easily. I tuned them a few times after installation as
expected, but almost two months have passed and they're still in tune.
All in all, its a really good product and not too expensive either.
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5.0 out of 5 stars a Go To for classical or flamenco strings, December 16, 2012
By
Mel Oh One "Guitarist & Musician" (Durham, NC) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: D'Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte Nylon Classical Guitar Strings, Normal Tension (Electronics)
These are simply my preferred brand. I'd need a Pro to dissuade me otherwise in this price range.
Strum on!
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4.0 out of 5 stars Pro-Art'e Classical Guitar Strings, December 15, 2012
By
Gar "garp36" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: D'Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte Nylon Classical Guitar Strings, Normal Tension (Electronics)
I'm
not a big time user of nylon strings. I only have two nylon string
guitars and only play then occasionally. Although Pro art strings are
more expensive than some other strings they do not seem to stretch as
much. It takes several days to get the cheap strings to hold tune for
any length of time. I think the Pro Art strings seem to improve the
trebles and give a little more ring and sustain. I gave these strings a 4
star only because I have not compared them with other high quality
strings. 5 star, to me, would imply that they are top of the line.
Although I like these strings I'm just not sure they are the best.
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5.0 out of 5 stars loved them, November 20, 2012
By
Freds - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: D'Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte Nylon Classical Guitar Strings, Normal Tension (Electronics)
Excellent
sound, stretched in quickly. Shipment was here 3 days after ordering.
Could not ask for better service. The local music store wanted $17 for
what I thought was a lesser quality string.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Normal Tension, October 27, 2012
By
Azin (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: D'Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte Nylon Classical Guitar Strings, Normal Tension (Electronics)
It
is a good string, but I have to tune my quitter every 15 minutes after
playing. I don't know it is a problem of strings or not. Maybe It is new
and needs more times being better.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Classical Guitar Strings, October 11, 2012
By
Ray - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: D'Addario EJ45 Pro-Arte Nylon Classical Guitar Strings, Normal Tension (Electronics)
I
received these nylon strings just a few days after ordering them. I am
very satisfied with the product and how quickly I received it.
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