Wound g string

don't know about an unwound G being an accident ...

As electrics evolved and gauges became lighter, an unwound G became an obvious choice for an equi-tension set of strings. FWIW, there are indications that original Strats and Teles were designed for use with wound G strings: the polepiece (magnet) staggering of the first Strats and the limited intonation (paired strings) on the vintages Tele both work a bit better with wound G's.

I was reading at this site: http://images.onstagemag.com/files/46/0202Setuptxt.html

This guy says that it happened because players were discarding their low E string and moving all strings up, A string becomes E, D becomes A etc. Apparently they started making sets accordingly.

don't know about an unwound G being an accident ...

As electrics evolved and gauges became lighter, an unwound G became an obvious choice for an equi-tension set of strings. FWIW, there are indications that original Strats and Teles were designed for use with wound G strings: the polepiece (magnet) staggering of the first Strats and the limited intonation (paired strings) on the vintages Tele both work a bit better with wound G's.
When I first picked up a guitar, there was no choice - all G strings were wound.

I was reading at this site: http://images.onstagemag.com/files/46/0202Setuptxt.html

This guy says that it happened because players were discarding their low E string and moving all strings up, A string becomes E, D becomes A etc. Apparently they started making sets accordingly.

Hardly an accident -- more like common sense. First decision is to lighten the gauge. Then shifting a string over, becomes a very logical way to down-gauge and be assured tension remains balanced string-to-string. Leaves only a decision on the high e gauge. Enough people demand this setup, and someone will sell it. AFA the wound/non-wound G, string makers already know where the winding-tension-gauge trade-offs will be -- unwound is optimal for these lighter gauge sets.

Maybe it is just my ear then. I always thought the G string had clearly worse tone than the rest of the strings. I actually went through a bunch of string brands, but it doesn't seem to matter. Also it's the same across my 3 guitars.

On a side note, it's much more noticeable when playing with overdrive/distortion.

Edit: Also, I notice it goes out of tune way more often than any of my other strings. Again across all guitars.

I didn't state that an unwound sounds better, only that unwound makes sense for tension balance -- a playability factor. Wound strings will sound different than unwound for many reasons, among which are the freq locations and levels of the harmonics. Moreover, If you are comparing wound and unwound G strings on different guitars, I doubt they are the same gauge. That also will contribute to differences, both acoustically and electrically. If you really want a wound G, you will probably have to move up a bit in gauge.

Thanks for the responses gnease.

I understand the differences in tone between unwound and wound strings, however I really only notice the "bad" tone out of the G string, not the other two unwound strings.

As for the higher gauge, I can't remember for sure, but I think you have to move up to about a set of .13s to get a wound g string by default, and I'm no SRV :(

Apparently you can find wound .18 singles :)

I use D'Addario XL Chromes on my semi-hollow guitar, and the G string is wound, but they are flat wound strings. Guages are 11's.

Dan

Thanks for the responses gnease.

I understand the differences in tone between unwound and wound strings, however I really only notice the "bad" tone out of the G string, not the other two unwound strings.

As for the higher gauge, I can't remember for sure, but I think you have to move up to about a set of .13s to get a wound g string by default, and I'm no SRV :(

Apparently you can find wound .18 singles :)

You probably already know this: SRV tuned down, making the heavy gauge easier to take.

Are you sure you don't have an intonation issue with the G? What kind of guitar and bridge? Describe how and where (e.g., chord, fretting position) it seems out of tune -- could also be a nut issue.

0.18 single -- if round wound -- is probably a very delicate string.
I use D'Addario XL Chromes on my semi-hollow guitar, and the G string is wound, but they are flat wound strings. Guages are 11's.

Flatwounds are a whole different story in sound and feel. I've used D'A Chromes in both 11's and 13's on a semi. Love the feel, but the timbre is a bit too limited for some types of playing. Good for jazz, surf, clean country and rock.

You probably already know this: SRV tuned down, making the heavy gauge easier to take.

Are you sure you don't have an intonation issue with the G? What kind of guitar and bridge? Describe how and where (e.g., chord, fretting position) it seems out of tune -- could also be a nut issue.

0.18 single -- if round wound -- is probably a very delicate string.

Yeah SRV I think tuned down half a step, and he didn't even use .13's all the time. It's just something I've noticed on every electric I've ever played. I have an Ibanez S series with a ZR trem bridge, a Fender american deluxe fat strat, and an Eastwood SG model with a fixed bridge. I've been reading a lot today and surprisingly I'm definitely not the only person to notice this.

Flatwounds are a whole different story in sound and feel. I've used D'A Chromes in both 11's and 13's on a semi. Love the feel, but the timbre is a bit too limited for some types of playing. Good for jazz, surf, clean country and rock.

Yeah I've used flat wound. Very jazzy and bright but very limiited sustain.

Yes it is common. (And given the guitar is an equal temperament instrument, so is always a bit out of tune somewhere.) But where/how are the tuning/intonation issues the worst? Near the nut? All over? For example, if usually near the nut, then a check of the nut set up is warranted. These days, a majority of new guitars seem to be sold with improperly cut nuts. Most noticeable result: out of tune first postion D chords ... and it would be worse on solid strings.

The limited sustain of flatwounds is very useful for jazz and acoustic orchestra playing: Very loud attack, esp on hollow archtop. Quick decay, so those dissonnant jazz chord hits the ear and go quickly away -- perfect balance of subtlety.

I usually find it more noticeable the higher up I get on the fretboard, which would definitely indicate intonation problems which is what I think actually causes it. It just doesn't seem to stay intonated or tuned as well as the rest of the strings.

agree -- sounds like an intonation issue. Intonation is always a compromise, but seems as if you could get some improvement by adjusting at the bridge. Even the Eastwood probably allows a coarse (entire bridge at each post) adjustments.

blue steel med.strings have a wound g string and a unwound g they give you a choice although i never use the wound g string maybe i should give it a try