What Are Guitar Strings Made Of?

man playing guitar with guitar strings

Be it acoustic or electric, your guitar is almost useless without its strings. The strings are to the guitar what the keys [and the strings] are to the acoustic piano. To produce sound on the guitar, you will have to pluck the strings for there to be a vibration which then gets amplified by other guitar mechanisms.

To fully understand your acoustic or electric guitar, it makes sense that you also understand what your guitar string is made of. In this article, we will discuss what makes up the acoustic and electric guitar strings and also get to answer some commonly asked questions.

Knowing the Three Different Parts of your Guitar Strings

Before we start talking about what guitar strings are made up of, let us understand its simple anatomy. They are made up of three parts which are: the core, the winding, and the coating.

The Core

This is more like the skeleton of the guitar strings. Without the core, the winding will have no place to wrap around. The core is the heart of the guitar string. The core is often in the shape of a hexagon. The hexagonal shape allows the wire (winding) to wrap more securely around the core.

Hexagonal cores, however, have a downside. Although being pretty much inexpensive, they do not give a full sound as round cores which are found on some modern electric guitars. The thing about round cores is that although they sound a lot better, they are much more expensive.

The windings

The winding is a thin piece of wire that wraps itself around the core of the strings. Remember we likened the core of the strings to the skeleton. We can as well liken the windings to the skin of the guitar strings. There are basically two types of windings and they are round-wound and
flat-wound guitar strings.

The most common are the round-wound strings. Most electric guitars and bass guitars come with round-wound strings. As the name suggests, the shape of the round-wound string is round. This round shape helps give some fullness to the string’s harmonics. These types of strings typically sound a lot more lively and bright.

On the contrary, flat-wound strings give a more mellow, soft, and warm sound. Another advantage of these kinds of strings is that they are less noisy. Bass players and jazz guitar players always prefer this type of string.

The Coating

Just as the name suggests, this is the final layer. This is just a coat used by the manufacturer to enhance longevity and reduce degrading that comes from continuous usage. Different manufacturers use different materials as coatings.

What are guitar strings made of?

Both electric guitar and acoustic guitar strings are made of steel alloy. However, they have similarities but are quite different. Read on to know how they are different.

Steel String Acoustic Guitar

We have the 80/20 bronze string and the phosphorus bronze string. 80/20 signifies the copper and zinc percentage in the bronze used. These strings contain 80% copper and 20% zinc. They sound quite fresh and clean but oxidize a lot faster and need replacement more often. The phosphorus strings contain about 10% copper and a very little percentage of phosphorus. They last a lot longer and give a more mellow, warm, and softer sound compared to the 80/20 strings.

Classical Guitar Strings

Classical strings are basically of two types which are natural and synthetic. Just as the name suggests, natural strings are made from natural materials. They are often made from cattle intestines. These types of strings are often quite expensive. Nylon strings are made from nylon and other synthetic fibers. They may not give the natural feel of the natural strings, but they are quite popular, affordable, durable, and easy to produce.

guitar with nylon strings

Electric Guitar Strings

Just like the acoustic guitar, the core of the electric guitar is made of steel. However, the core is then wound by using a wire wrapped with alloy. This is what gives the electric string its characteristic tone. Oftentimes, guitar players opt for alloyed strings when it comes to choosing electric guitar strings. But apart from alloy strings, there are also nickel-plated steel, pure nickel, and stainless steel strings.

If you have ever played an electric guitar, chances are that you have played a nickel-plated steel string. They are very popular and largely available in the guitar strings market. They also come in different sizes. They give just the right attack, smoothness, and balance expected from an electric guitar string.

For a mellow and warmer sound, pure nickel strings are always the number one choice. The wire wrapped around the core is 100% nickel. For players looking to cut off some excess brightness and harshness from their sound, the pure nickel string will likely be the best for them.

Stainless steel strings give a bell-like electric guitar sound that is just perfect for genres like the blues. When used side by side with strings made from pure nickel, they always “outshine” their pure nickel counterpart. Stainless steel strings have much more bright overtones. These strings are also rust and corrosion-resistant. Perfect for players with sweaty palms and for players who play a lot more regularly.

The above mentioned are not the only materials used for electric guitar strings. Alloy can also be used. It is left to the player to choose which is best for him or her.

How do you tell if your guitar strings are nylon or steel?

The major difference is that nylon strings are very soft and will never hurt your fingers. On the contrary, steel strings will hurt and you will most likely develop calluses from continuous usage. Steel strings are also usually held to the bridge with the aid of bridge pins while nylon strings are usually tied to the bridge.

To hear the difference between nylon and steel guitar strings, watch this video:

Can you replace steel strings with nylon strings?

Yes, you can. But your guitar will sound weird and horrible. You will encounter several issues from tuning stability to buzzing strings and even very obvious intonation problems. You can, but don’t do it.

Is there a difference between acoustic and electric guitar strings?

Electric guitar strings are made of steel and nickel while acoustic guitar strings are made of brass and bronze. There is also a difference in string gauge size and the number of windings.

Can you use acoustic guitar strings on an electric guitar?

No, you shouldn’t. They both differ in size and component material. What you will get will be an extremely unbalanced sound. Also, acoustic guitar strings are not magnetically active as electric guitars thrive on magnetic outputs.

Last Updated: September 2, 2024By

news via inbox

Sign up for the latest music news and entertainment!