La Bella’s 427 Pacesetter Elite Classical and Flamenco Guitar Strings

I had put off trying a set of La Bella 427′s far too long, though I had known about them for some time.  Well, I just put a set on my guitar, and I must say “they blow my socks off”.  Man, I was really surprised and pleased at their creamy sound.  They are a well balanced set, that makes strong, full bodied chords and have excellent clarity for single notes.  They have ample volume and projection if you want to be heard, or can also sound sweet when played softly, with feeling.  My first impression of these strings is…they are great, and very versatile.  I could play just about anything with them.  Not expensive, either.  A lot more string than their price suggests.

One of the pleasant surprises with 427′s is how easy they are to install.  La Bella didn’t economize on string length, here.  You get plenty of string length for easy ties at each end of a standard 650 mm scale length guitar, with ample string to trim off at each end.  Some makers cut them a little short, making it a challenge to finally get a reasonable looking traditional tie done; but not La Bella.

More to follow, soon.  I like these strings, and I want to go play them some more.  I’ll be back with more impressions after a few days of purposeful playing and evaluation.  I wish I had tried them sooner.

Where I got them: Classical Guitar Strings at www.guitarstrngdepot.com

Link to these strings:  La Bella 427 Pacesetter Elite classical/flamenco guitar strings at www.guitarstringdepot.com

Catch you later,

Rancher 110

I just put on a set of La Bella 10PH Professional High Tension strings, and I must say I am very impressed with them.  To start with, they tuned up so quickly and easily that it could be possible to put on a set just before a performance, and play with confidence that they won’t go far enough out of tune to ruin the gig.  They seem to have very little stretch to them, and feel good also.  They stay in tune a long time, which is probably one of La Bella’s goals in creating the Professional Series.

Description:  La Bella 10PH strings consist of silver plated alloy wound bases, on nylon multi-filament cores; while the trebles (first 3 strings) are all clear, high density,  mono-filament nylon.   They are made for long scale (655 to 664 mm) classical guitars, which have to carry a little more string tension, due to the longer vibrating length.  But they work perfectly on my 650 mm Cordoba.  They were a snap to install and tie, at both ends of the guitar.  No problems or hassles.  Plenty of extra length, so I didn’t have to feel like I needed to stretch anything just to get them tied.

Impressions:  Their tone is full, rich and clear, and sound powerful with plenty of volume and projection.  The treble notes are pure and clean, and sustain a long time.  The bass notes are robust and well balanced with the trebles.  They feel very responsive, due to slightly higher tension.  Strumming 6 string chords or picking finger style, 10PH’s are a joy to play.  I love they way octave notes (played in unison) sound.  I play a lot of Jazz, and they make me sound better than I thought I was.  Sometimes, it is the strings that make the difference.

I have had them on for 3 days, now…and I didn’t have to re-tune when I picked up the guitar for the first time today.  I think the silver plating will soon burnish off, where the strings touch the frets; but that’s to be expected and won’t affect the tone at all.  I don’t think the presence or absence of the plating makes any detectable difference in the sound or tone of the strings, since it’s contribution to string mass is insignificant, and it’s primary reason for being there is for string longevity.  The way I play, though, I wear out a set of nylon strings about every two to three weeks, and put on another set anyway.

A Note on String Life:  Oh, by the way…it seems to me that nylon string life is more a function of the number hours of playing on them, and not so much the total time they have been installed on the guitar.   If I play two to three hours per day for a couple of weeks, that puts me in the 30 hour cumulative playing time range, which is where I start to notice the evenness of the string tones starting to drift apart.  It seems that I have to de-tune the G and B strings slightly to get them to blend  in.  That’s when I start thinking about the next set of strings.  So, I think the generalization that a set of strings should last for 30 hours of playing time is about right.  Beyond 30 hours, you have to make tuning compromises to keep them sounding alright, but only up to the point where you know it’s time to change strings.

Get La Bella 10PH Professional Series High Tension Strings online: Guitar String Depot

Well, that’s all I’ve to say for now.  I love these strings and will continue to evaluate them over the next week or two.  I may update this blog post, if my impressions change or if they exceed expectation.  It’s time to pick up my guitar and play something….like “How High the Moon”, or “Rainy Night in Georgia”; or even a some old Jim Reeves tunes.

See ya’

Rancher 110

I’ve always been amazed and impressed at the sound of Willie Nelson’s guitar, “Ol’ Trigger”, and the fact that he gets his sound with nylon strings.  It took a while, but I finally determined he’s using Dean Markley 2804 ball end nylon strings to get that amazing sound.  That got me interested in finding out more about not just Willie’s strings, but ball end strings in general.

Ball end strings differ from conventional nylon classical guitar strings by having metal either brass furrels or plastic beads already attached to one end, when you take them out of the package.  This greatly simplifies the task of installing the strings and successfully securing them to the bridge tie block, since the ball on the end will simply anchor the string and keep it form passing all the way through the tie block hole.  Personally, I don’t mind doing the traditional tucked under tie-off at the tie block, but it was knowing that Willie Nelson plays ball end strings that drew my interest.

I decided to try a set of Dean Markley 2804 ball end nylon strings, just to see how they would play and  sound.  They were a snap to install, and quite easy to secure at the tuner spools.  The three bass strings are gold colored and wound with a very fine wrap wire, which feel smoother than most other wound nylon strings.  In playing them, I found they were fairly quiet and generated very little finger noise.  The bass strings have regular brass furrels at their ends, just like steel strings.  The first three strings are all black mono-filament nylon, with plastic balls slipped over them.  Plain stopper knots are tied in the ends of the strings to keep the balls from sliding off.  After installing, I snipped off the extra tenth of an inch of string protruding through the balls, just for neatness.

On tuning up for the first time, I found these strings have an awful lot of stretching to do before they come into tune.  The wound bass strings finally came into tune and didn’t go flat very fast; but the treble strings seemed to take forever.  The black strings wouldn’t stay in tune for more than a minute.  I finally just gave up and let them stand overnight.  The nest day, they were completely flat but tuned up quickly and seemed to stay in tune now.  Two to three days later, they needed only an initial tuning when I first pick up the guitar, but they tended to stay in tune for quite a while, once the initial stretch is worked out of them.

As for tone, the set as a whole has a different voice.  The basses are strong and full, but the black trebles sounded a little thin when played up the  neck.  The black trebles sound great when played long, or up near the nut; but they persisted in having a tinny sound when played short.  I suppose this is fine for some genre of music, such as what Willie plays.  I found I could easily sound like Willie playing Star Dust, and the notes and chords just seem to invent themselves and lead me along…naturally.   It doesn’t matter if I play hard or softly; these strings respond appropriately, and don’t sound over-driven.  Maybe that’s one of the reasons Willie plays them.   Or could it be there’s something magic about those black strings…so different from other strings that they empower you just let it all hang out, and go for it.  Maybe it’s that “black sheep” image the black strings suggest; but whether a chord melody or a penetrating solo, these strings have a special character that fulfills the emotion of the melody, with raw honesty and boldness that can hold its own, even in a Texas beer joint.

You can find Dean Markley 2804s online at Guitar String Depot, as well as some other ball end nylon strings, including:

• Dean Markley 2802 ball end classical nylon strings, with silver basses and clear trebles
• Dean Markley 2904 ball end classical nylon strings, with gold basses and black trebles…as described above
• La Bella 830 ball end nylon strings, with black trebles and metal balls (furrels) on all strings
• Martin M160 high tension, ball end classical nylon strings with clear trebles and silver plated basses

I had fun with these strings and I’d advise anyone who whats to sound like Willie Nelson without knocking a hole in his guitar to get a set, and try them out.  They are a bit different, but so is Willie.

Best of luck,

Rancher 110

I must say that I learned to love these strings, and to appreciate them more and more every time I picked up my guitar.   They are a bit different form “ordinary” nylon strings and have excellent physical qualities that make them a great guitar string.  It’s the natural physical and mechanical properties of the carbon composite materials used in making these strings that really sets them apart.   Being able to carry higher string tensions, standing up to hard playing, and holding on to their acoustic and harmonic qualities is what they are all about.

I put the first set on my Cordoba C7, with a cedar top and Indian rosewood body.  The guitar itself has a tendency to sound a little deep and dark, but I really came to life when these strings finally settled in.    At first, I wasn’t all that impressed, but kept an open mind.  They sounded a little bright at first, and wouldn’t stay in tune very long, since they tended to have a lot of initial stretching in them.  However, somewhere around the third day they settled in and began to hold their tuning.   From that point on, I began to appreciate their special characteristics and the wonderful voice that gave my Cordoba.  Their brightness had lost it’s crisp edges and the trebles began to produce sweeter tones.  The basses were always full and rich sounding from day one, but now all six strings were working together.

These strings carry a bit more tension than “normal tension” strings, and conduct every vibration to the soundboard with excellent fidelity.  The trebles have smaller diameters than most classical strings, so their spacing and feel under my fingers is very comfortable and it gives me a feeling of confidence that the string is there and ready.   They respond immediately and I found I could out-run them with fast picking.  The feel a little like steel strings because of their smaller diameter and higher tension, yet they produce beautifully clear tones and excellent harmonics.

Volume:    These strings have a ample volume, and it’s evenly distributed across all strings.  They can be played softly or vigorously, to alter the projection; and always sound great at any volume.  You won’t have any problem being heard with these strings, and some people may think your are playing through an amp.

Intonation:   Very good.  I don’t know why some people have complained about intonation inaccuracies with these strings, unless it’s due excessively high string action.  I personally like a fairly low action, even with nylon strings.  I find the higher tension strings have very little excess movement when they vibrate, and don’t tend to rattle against the frets at low action heights.  But getting back to intonation, it’s the low action height that minimizes intonation problems.   That’s because low action means you don’t have to stretch the strings so much when you fret them, thus minimizing the increase in tension due entirely to fretting action.  I have no complaints about intonation on my Cordoba, and feel that such minor problems can be moderated out through proper set-up.  I also increased the truss rod tension to compensate for the extra load on the neck created by the higher tension these strings carry.  I left a very small amount of relief in the fretboard and have had no problems with buzz.

Materials of Construction:  Savarez Corums use a carbon composite filament material for the cores of the bass strings and the bodies of the treble strings.  The material itself looks very much like regular nylon, except it’s a little darker in color and not completely clear.  The bass strings use multi-filament cores wrapped with silver plated copper windings.  They are rather smooth and don’t produce much finger noise.  They have a firm feel that’s reassuring, and a warm bass tone.   The trebles are mono-filament strings of the same carbon composite material, and feel and sound great.  These strings have a fair amount of elasticity when they are fresh out of the package; but it seems to disappear quickly as the set is played and re-tuned.  Eventually, they reach a point at which the initial elasticity has left and you are down to the pure and stable string condition, in which very little stretching or “creep” will occur.    As they aged a couple of months, they seed to start feeling harder and held their tune a very long time without having to make any tuning adjustments.  I played them for two to four hours every day for three months, then decided to take them off and give another type of string a chance.  I like to test and evaluate strings, so it was time to try something else; even though I wasn’t done with these.  (Can’t wait to get back to these after finishing the next evaluation.)

Why I like them:  I like they sound in Jazz and especially chord melodies, with lead line finger picking interspersed.  They are a natural form my style and are well suited to my Cordoba C7.   I’d recommend them to anyone who has played steel strings for a while and is “crossing over” to nylon, because they make the transition much easier.  Yes, they cost a little more than ordinary strings, but they are really worth it.   Anyway, don’t we consider an investment in quality strings money well spent?   I do.

Where to get them:  Savarez 500AJ at Guitar String Depot.

You might also want to check out the other classical guitar strings offered there, including more offerings from Savarez.

I hope this was helpful.  I will be evaluating other strings from time to time, and posting my conclusion and impressions; so keep an eye open for new postings.  (Coming soon:  my impressions of Augustine Red Label classical guitar strings)

Rancher 110

P. S.   Hey, even Willie Nelson plays nylon strings.

I’ve tried La Bella 413P strings on a purely acoustic classical guitar and also on my acoustic electric, and have some interesting observations to share that you may find useful and informative.   If you have the slightest curiosity about these strings, then I urge you to read this.  It will be well worth your time.

If you’ve read my other blogs, then you know I put a stet on a purely acoustic, Cordoba C7 a few weeks ago and I was quite impressed.  As time went by, they seemed to settle in and blend into the character of the guitar, perhaps even changing it a little.  That same set is still on my Cordoba and still sounding and playing great.  I’ve played the Cordoba almost every day, and the strings and I have gotten know each other.   Now, here are some real life, everyday findings you need to know if you have any interest in these strings.

Tarnish Proof Technology:

This is something that sets 413Ps apart form most other strings.  Most wound classical strings develop some degree of burnishing where your fingers press them against the frets.  This appears as discolored or dark areas where the silver plating wears of f the windings, revealing the base metal of the winding wire.  However, this hasn’t happened with these strings, because there’s no plating to wear off.  La Bella treats them in a proprietary process referred to as “Tarnish Proof Technology”.  I haven’t yet found out exactly what they do, but their literature says its a four step process that “guarantees vibrant, aesthetically pleasing strings with longevity second to none”.  All I can say for sure is that it really does work.   These strings haven’t tarnished, or developed burnishes from my fingers or where they touch the frets, and their tone is just a fresh and lively as the day they came out of the package.

Running Silent:

I find it hard to believe how quiet these strings are under my fretting fingers.  There’s no finger noise at all on my acoustic Cordoba, and to go farther, I recently put a set on my acoustic electric Godin Multiac Duet.  I had a set of Savarez 520P1′s on the Multiac and loved them, but they were starting to make a little more finger noise than I wanted, and the Multiac’s pickups were emphasizing it.   I was all smiles after putting the 413′s on and finding they were just as silent on my acoustic electric Multiac as my Cordoba.  It’s fantastic to play without having to worry about and holding back because of finger noise on the strings.  These La Bellas really do the trick, and I can see why Chet Atkins used them.   For studio and recording work, or for just general playing, you don’t want a lot of high frequency squeaks and hisses interfering with your sound.   These strings take all such worries away.

Acoustic Electirc EQ: 

I find acoustic electrics are prone to amplifying finger noise on the strings, and I have to cut back on the treble and mid adjustments in an attempt to keep it down.   This doesn’t work very well, because the resulting tone is missing some of the important colors.   However, that’s not the case with these 413Ps.   They are so quiet that I can run the treble up without picking up much high frequency noise.  I now put the guitar EQ adjustments on the center positions, and sometimes do a little final adjusting at the amplifier.  But, in all cases, the treble and mid are both up at a reasonable setting, and I get a full tonal spectrum with no annoying finger noise.  Stone grinding really does take away the surface roughness of the windings, leaving a smooth surface for your fingers to glide on.

The photo on the right shows my normal EQ settings with La Bella 413P’s.  The functions of the slide switches are as follows, from left to right:  Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, and Blend.   Both Treble and Bass are on the middle settings, while Mid is reduced just a little.  The Blend is used to proportion the outputs from the LR Baggs Element  and I-Beam pickups.  Final EQ-ing is done at the amp, but is quite similar to these settings.

Strings To Relieve Your Stress:

These are classified as “classical” guitar strings, but that’s a much too limiting to contain their extensive range of music genre applications.   These strings sound so full and natural in easy going and mellow chord melodies and Jazz improv, to Soft Rock standards like Take It Easy by the Eagles, to old Country standards and ballads, and even a little Bluegrass.   I find them exceptionally expressive of what ever mood I’m in, and they help me unwind and relieve the stress and and anxieties of daily life.   These strings have blended in with the nature and soul of my guitar, and it just comes to life when I pick it up.    They eve make my playing sound good; so much smoother and richer than ever.

The Cost Factor:

These strings cost about $35 a set at most retail music stores, which is probably why  so few people other than professionals have discovered them.  Cost is certainly a factor when choosing strings, especially when a person is accustomed to paying much less and getting by with ordinary strings.   But you don’t have to spend $35 at a retail store to get these strings.  You can get them for just $14.14 online at www.guitarstringsdepot.com, and know the return on your investment is going to be positive.   So, why not step up to a quality, professional level string, even if you are only playing for yourself?   It will make a HUGE difference in how you will relax and play more naturally, and enjoy it more….simply because these strings are so smooth and quiet under your fingers, they produce wonderfully rich and warm tones, and feel so natural that you can relax and connect with your guitar.   I never played such a satisfying set of strings before, and “yes” they are worth every penny and more.

Check out and buy your La Bella 413P’s here.

Best regards,

Rancher 110

Learning By Experimentation:

Several months ago, I lowered the saddle on the my guitar, to get an ultra low action.  I got what I wanted in action and playing ease, but the tone suffered a little.  It lost it’s rich, full bodied tone I had enjoyed before. I just put up with it for a while, even changed strings but it didn’t help.  Recently, I decided to gain back some of my lost tonal quality and powerful volume by putting in a slightly taller saddle, and worry about string action height later.

I fitted a fresh bone saddle and set it a littler tall, just to get a reference for a starting point.  The string action height was a little too high for my liking, but the tone and volume were incredibly good.  I had clear and distinct treble voices and a full and well rounded mid-range and bass, plus tremendous sound volume.   I liked the sound, but I took the saddle out and sanded the bottom edge down and refitted it a couple of time until I got an acceptable playing action height.  With each incremental reduction in height, I had a perceptible change in tone and volume.  I stopped sanding it down before I ended up back where I had started, which was a very good compromise between loosing the sound I liked and bringing the action down to the deck.

Lesson Learned:

The higher the saddle, the louder the volume and the clearer the tone.  However, too much height can give you a high string action (height of strings above the fret board, measured at the 12th fret), which makes it a little harder to play.  A high saddle gives you great volume and tone, which tends to get weaker and thinner as you decrease saddle height.  So, we have to find the right balance between saddle height for tone, balanced against its effect on playing action.

Why It’s This Way:

It’s really quite simple.  Modern fan braced classical guitars and X-braced steel string acoustic which anchor their strings at the bridge rely on the torque effect of the strings pulling on the bridge to produce their volume and tone.  They are designed to react elastically to this torque, as well as enabling the top to sustain the steady pull of the strings.  But it’ the torque that’s important here.   Torque is simply a rotational force, which is the product of the string tension load multiplied by the height of the saddle above the top of the guitar.   For any given set of strings, it’s quite easy to see that the height of the bridge saddle above the top has a tremendous effect on the amount of torque transferred to the top.  The greater the torque, the greater the sound.

Here’s a hand sketch to illustrate how this works:

The Simplified Sketch helps define the significant parts of bridge, saddle, string, and guitar top relationship.

The Free Body Diagram shows the forces and spacing factors involved.    The “M” in the diagram comes form the engineering term “moment”, which refers to the bending or twisting effect an off-set load has at its support point.  Here, M is the torque input to the guitar top by the string tension t acting through height h above the guitar top.

Not About Archtops:

It should be obvious that this doesn’t apply to guitars with trapeze tailpieces, which transfer the string tension load to the tail end of the guitar.  On these guitar, such as a jazz archtop,  the bridge experiences no torque input form the strings.  There, the string load provides a vertical load, downward through the bridge, to the guitar top.  Such guitars have no need to braced for torque input, and are usually braced to react to the vertical load only.

Conclusions:

This article is intended to explore just one aspect of guitar set-up, specifically how saddle height affects the sound of the guitar.  It’s tempting to discuss other topics, such as neck relief; but I want to stay focused on the main point.  This information about saddle height also applies to flat top guitars with height adjustable bridges, which aren’t too common anymore.   I happen to have an older Gibson with an adjustable bridge, and I can say the effects I described above have also been proven true on that guitar as well, where  it’s a simple matter of just turning a coupe of screws to change the string height.

1. If you sand down the saddle to lower the action, you will sacrifice the tone and volume you had, and weaken the voice of the instrument.  Set your saddle height according to what your ears tell you, not your fretting hand.    You want to optimize your saddle height to give you the sound you want, not the playing action.

2. If you strings are too high for comfortable playing, examine the entire “set up” before deciding to lower the bridge saddle.  There may be another way to lower the string action, such as a modest truss rod adjustment to correct excessive neck relief.

Notes:

1. Guitar at Top:  Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Cutaway, vintage 2005.   The saddle is a freshly fitted, new bone saddle.   I actually sawed the saddle blank form a cow bone, cut it to size, shaped and finished it myself; and lightly polished with 600 grit sandpaper.  The tone is wonderful.  You can’t beat bone for tone.

2. Guitar at Bottom:  1970 Gibson Jubilee Deluxe.  The adjustable bridge makes it too easy to change string action height; a feature not found on many newer guitars.  The Crestwood Model 2010 is a good example.  It still has an adjustable bridge.   Click here to see.

3. Images:  Those of the Gibson Songwriter are my own images, taken with my Pentax K20D, using my 50 mm manual focus Pentax lens, and no filters.  All pictures were taken in mid afternoon, outdoors, under a partly cloudy sky in late July.   I prefer to get my own pictures, so I can emphasize what I want to say.  You can click on the images above, and they should expand to larger views for you.  I also took the shot of the Jubilee Deluxe, but with a point and shoot Nikon.  This was an indoor shot, using natural window light.

Be sure to visit my website, www.guitarstringdepot.com if you’d like to browse for new strings, straps, tuners, capos, amps, effects pedals, or even stringed instruments.

Life is good.

Rancher 110

La Bella 413P Studio/Professional Recording Strings

Yeah, I found out about these sort of by accident.  I was talking to a senior purchasing agent for one of my suppliers (for my website) about classical strings, and the up and down supply and demand for La Bella 413P’s.  He told me something I had forgotten years ago….that these were Chet Atkins’s favorite classical strings.  I think I just shrugged it off way back then, as something I wasn’t interested in at the time; but now that I’m actually getting into classical guitar,  my curiosity began to grow.

Chet  was my first guitar hero, when I was a boy; and when I heard he was playing La Bella 413p”s, well I just had to get a set and try them out for myself.   So, I pulled some out of my stock,  just to see what was so special about them.  I must say I could tell as soon as I opened the package they were unlike any classical strings I’d seen before.  A couple of things caught my attention, right away.

First Impressions:

To start with, their wound strings look and feel different.  Their color is somewhat like bronze. and they feel fairly smooth.  They seemed to look and feel like something form out of the past.   I also noticed they are rather stiff, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it just makes it a little more interesting when you make the traditional loop tie at the tie block.   Being stiff, they are a little more difficult to tie snuggly, without string tension applied.   They have a tendency to spring back and not stay down.  I found it helpful to pull a little tension on them, then clamp a capo down on the neck to hold them down under light tension, while I ran the head end through the tuning spools.  Then, as I tightened them up, they gave off a creaking sound as they tightened up on the tie block.   Not frightening, but something I had not encountered before; so I kept an eye on them as each one was given its first tension to tuning pitch.  They all stayed in place, and the tie block loops tightened up with no slippage.

The trebles are crystal clear in appearance.   They also have a very smooth feel, that makes them seem almost invisible under my fretting fingers.   They have clear and well defined tone, an their voices blend smoothly with each other and with the metal wound strings.  Chords sounded full and rich; individual notes are clear as a bell.  I had no problems securing the clear trebles on the tie block or tuning spools.  The behaved just the way you’d want them to.

When I started playing them, I soon forgot about concerns such as finger noise, and found I was playing more freely and enjoying it a lot.  They have a wonderful sound with no dull thuds; just full bodied, warm, and clear tone.  They feel a little like acoustic steel strings, in that they give me a firm contact impress under my fingers.  The playing effort is quite low, and I soon felt confident of every note and chord I wanted to play.   The challenge of concentrating on fretting and fingering was gone.  I think quality strings like these enable me to relax and enjoy playing a lot more.

No wonder Chet Atkins liked these strings.  He played steel string electric hollow bodies for most of his recordings, and he practices for hours each day.  Making the switch to a classical guitar, as he started doing in the late 60′s, presented a step change in his attack and touch on the strings.  But these strings don’t seem all that different from steel strings, in terms of how they feel and respond under your fingers.   That makes it easy for someone like me, who plays different guitars every day to pick up my classical and instantly feel at home.

They Really are Noise Free:

The thing that impressed me most about these La Bella’s is how quiet they are.   I don’t have to worry about finger noise on the metal wound strings; there just isn’t any.   La Bella’s “stone grinding” process removes the outer ridges of the metal wire windings, and polishes them smooth.  The result is a string that resembles a flat wound electric guitar string, in appearance and smoothness.   A few minutes of break-in time was needed to stretch out the three wound strings, which seemed to improve their smoothness.  The three mono-filament strings (high E, B, and G) are crystal clear in appearance, and the feel just as smooth as they look.  They are totally noise free, and I couldn’t get a squeak out of them even if I tried.

La Bella has made classical guitar strings for a long time, and they’ve innovated and perfected some remarkable techniques.  Their 413P  “professional”  recording strings are a perfect example.  The absence of finger noise and their consistently high quality makes them a reliable choice for stage and studio guitarists.  Probably the most notable of them was Chet Atkins, “Mr. Guitar”, himself.  He used 413p’s religiously, for his classical guitar recordings.

About the Stiffness:

I’ve been curious by their stiffness, so I disassembled on of the ends from the excess string I had cut off at the tuner end.  Using a magnifying glass, I could see how the ground surface was perfectly flat, with minor valleys between the turns of the cover wire.  The color was uniform between the ground surfaces and the valleys, leading me to conclude the natural color of the wrap wire alloy is the reason for the color.  I then pulled some of the wrap off the end of the core and found the core is a multi-filament, white nylon, which is very soft and flexible.  The wrap wire, however, is very stiff and has a very full cross-section, being flat on the outside.  The diameter of the wrap wire before the stone grinding process, appears to be rather large, when compared to other classical strings.   I’m sure this is necessary to allow some of the outer surface to be ground away, while still retaining sufficient thickness in the wrap to maintain structural integrity.  Being of larger diameter and having to be deformed so acutely to conform to the tightness of the wrap,  is probably the reason for the initial stiffness of these strings.   But, you know, it doesn’t really matter how stiff or limber they are.  It’s how they play and sound that’s important.   In that department, La Bella’s 413P’s don’t disappoint.

Conclusion:

Finding these strings is like discovering a lost secret.   They are amazing.   They bring out the voice in my guitar, and allow me to play more freely and confidently.  They sound and feel great, and I strongly recommend them to anyone who frequently alternates between steel and nylon string guitars.  La Bella 413P’s feel a lot like steel strings, and make it easy to make the transition.   Yes, they cost a little more than “ordinary” strings; but they’re far different form the standard strings most of us have been used to.  They are worth every penny, several times over.

Notes:

1. Guitar:   The guitar shown in the images above is a Cordoba C7, with an Indian rosewood body and Canadian cedar top.  It’s very light and responsive.  It has a 650 mm scale length, and I love the 50 mm nut width.  It’ quite easy to adapt to.  The 413P’s make it sound strong, but mellow.

2. Photos:   All the images are my own.  I’ve learned that natural, outdoor light is best for bringing out the details in strings and instruments.  I use a Pentax K20D digital SLR camera, with second hand Pentax A-series manual focus 50 mm lens.  No filters.   My images may not be “professional”, but at least they are mine.  I like to improvise and do it myself.

3. Where to get La Bella’s: You can get La Bella 413Ps at my website, www.guitarstringdepot.com.   They retail for $37.05 a set in town; but I sell them for just $16.82 per set.    Yep, my price is probably the lowest on the web.  Click Here to link to the La Bella 413P page.

Hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did in making it.

Life is good,

Rancher 110
You can buy La Bella 413P’s online at  www.guitarstringdepot.com.  Click here for the Home Page, or of these specific links: Classical Guitar Strings, La Bella 413P, or click on the image to the left.   Guitar String Depot specializes in quality strings and accessories, and prices them within reach of everyone.  Guitar String Depot believes letting musicians and music lovers get the tools and materials they need in order to bring out their musical desires is much more important than and rewarding than making big profits.

Filling needs and making people happy….that’s what life is all about.

Well, I’ve had these strings on for over five weeks, and they still amaze me.   Here are some of my impressions and thoughts:

• Even string voicing. Savarez has broken through the limitations of ordinary, mono-filament classical guitar strings with the 520P1 design.  All six strings have multi-filament nylon cores, which allows them to work together and sound harmoneous, all the way up the scale.  Other strings sometimes produce a change in tonal character between the metal wound bass strings and their mono-filament trebles; but not these.   They have a very even voice, that carries from the low end of the scale all the way up to the highest notes you’d ever want to play.

• They stay pretty much in tune.  They are well past that initial phase in which most strings continue to stretch out for day, and you have to constantly re-tune every time you pick up your guitar.  These strings got past that point almost immediately.  For a while, I might find the bass strings were a little flat, when I’d pick up the guitar after not playing it for a day or two.  Now, all six strings hold their tension well.

• They have a pleasing sound. This is pretty much a subjective evaluation; but I like the way they  sound.  It doesn’t matter if I’m strumming a six string chord, playing fingerstyle, or picking out single notes.  Their voice is sweet and pleasant, which is something hard to put into words.  There are no harsh edges on any notes, just smooth and clear pitches.

• Their sound is uniform all the way up the neck. I frequently find myself running up above the twelfth fret, without thinking about it.  There tone is still harmoneous  and strong; and chords still sound full and even.  I think is is because all six strings have wound multi-filament cores; none are mono-filaments.  I want to give this more thought; but there’s something different about the way mono-filament and wound strings sound when pressed down onto frets at the shorter playing lengths of the upper register.  What ever its is, these strings definitely feel and sound better, to  me, in this upper range, and seem to have no limits.

• They are fairly quiet.   By this time, I think my fingers have pretty much worn down any surface irregularities between the windings, which made a moderate amount of string noise when they were new.   Now, they are quieter than most classical strings I’ve tried.

• They feel good.   Savarez labels them as “strong tension” strings, which means they carry a slightly higher tension load when tuned to proper pitch.  This additional tension gives my guitar  a stronger and clearer voice, as it conveys more vibrational energy to the soundboard than normal tension strings.  They also don’t seem to stretch as much as other strings, so they provide a  firmer feeling under your fingers, a little like light gauge acoustic strings.  The P1′s never feel or act sloppy; they are always ready for the next note or chord.

• As for sustain, I don’t think they a little less.  I ran my own, simple comparisons against my other classical guitar, which has ordinary strings.   The P1′s metal wound bass strings have just as much, no more or less sustain, than other wound bass strings.  However, the plastic wound trebles seem to have less total sustain than mono-filament trebles.  It may be due to internal friction within the parts of the string, and the fact that the plastic wound trebles don’t have a homogenious cross-sectional composition.   But this doesn’t bother me at all.   I don’t necessarily need an extended sustain for the kind of playing I do.

Overall evaluation: I love these strings.  I wantt to put a set on my other classical guitar, when it’s ready for new strings.  Yes, they cost a little more than ordinary strings; but they are more than worth the extra.   If it’s for your enjoyment, then it’s money well spent.   I don’t see why the world hasn’t flocked to these strings, unless it’s just because people are willing to settle for mediocre strings, or maybe people have been looking for cheap strings.  Once  discriminating guitarists try  Savarez 520P1′s, they will impressed with them and may not want to switch back.   These strings really break through the limitations of ordinary strings.

Buy Savarez 520P1′s : Click Here.

$11.77 per set, and well worth it.  Why buy cheap strings, just to be disappointed?  Change your strings, change your life.

You may want to see my previous blogs on these strings.  Every one holds something worth knowing, that you won’t get from advertising or from reading the packaging.

Rancher 110

7 June 2010: UPDATE: SAVAREZ 520P1 PLASTIC WOUND CLASSICAL GUITAR STRINGS

It’s been three weeks since I published the article above, and time for an update.  I’ve played the Multiac off and on, not always every day, but frequently; and I must say that I’m honestly impressed  and amazed at how these strings sound and perform.  I’ll try to give you some specifics, as follows.

Overall Sound: They generate full sounding chords, with even string to string volume and continuity.  This is true no matter where up and down the fingerboard I play chords.  There’s no sonically apparent transition in tone character from the metal wound bass strings to the plastic wound trebles.  Normally as classical strings age, they develop a step change in tonal quality between the bass  and treble strings; but I haven’t seen it yet with these.  When played individually, every strings sounds clear and strong.

Tonal Character: Another thing is the “softness” of each not played on the plastic wound strings.  They don’t produce that hard edged, crisp sound of single notes played on monofilament strings; but have a smoother quality to them.

Finger Noise: Now, there are some noticeable differences with plastic wound strings, as compared to bare monofilament nylon strings.   They are not “noise free”, but produce a slight raspy sound when my fingers move linearly on the strings, much like the familiar sound of metal wire wound strings.  It isn’t loud, but there’s a whispery sound  I can bring it out more distinctly by playing at an angle to the string, allowing some movement of my fingers along the strings as they are plucked.   I can also minimize it by altering my fingering technique, and it doesn’t interfere or constrain me after I’ve gotten used to it.   It’s just my opinion, but I don’t think they make any more finger noise than conventional classical strings.

Tuning Stability: One of the amazing things about these strings is how well they stay in tune.   The cores of the plastic wound strings are composed on multi-filament  bundles of long strand nylon.   This core configuration doesn’t stretch much, gives immediate resistance to the applied tension, and makes the strings feel firmer.

Versatility: A second surprise is how the plastic wound strings sound and play above the twelfth fret.  My Multiac has great upper register fingerboard access, and playing up past the the twelfth fret is a snap.  What I noticed with these strings is that they don’t tend to go sharp or sound tinny in the upper fret region.  They continue to deliver consistent tone, clarity, and volume on the upper frets.

I like these strings on my Multiac.  I think they’d also sound and play just fine on a traditional, acoustic classical guitar, especially one with a cutaway, so you can play higher  on the neck.   My playing style and musical preferences come from Jazz, and I love to play rich and warm Jazz chords and chord melodies with these strings.   That’s my opinion for now.  I’ll give you at least one more impression in a few weeks.  Meanwhile, you can check out these Savarez  520P1′s at Guitar String Depot, just by clicking this  LINK .

If you haven’t already done so, please take a look at my earlier posts on Savarez 520P1′s., dated May 13 and May 14.   They contain my initial impressions and adventures in learning about these strings.   They certainly are like no others I’ve tried, and they have their own unique characteristics.  I thought the packaging was especially interesting, also.

A different note: This has nothing to do with strings, but I thought I’d share, just the same. It’s springtime here in Texas, and baby deer are popping up everywhere.  I always have some born out on the back side of my east pasture.  They have no knowledge or fear of dogs or people, when they are newly born.  A few days ago, I came upon one and my dog Daisy immediately tackled it.  When I got it away from Daisy, it took to me immediately…like it I was it’s mother.  I held him in my arms, while I settled the dogs down.  Rich brown fir with white spots, a slender body and all legs.  After taking my dogs back to the house, and putting them inside, I walked the baby deer back to the area where I found him.  He followed me like I was his mother, and never got more than fifteen feet away until he saw his real mother.   I kept on walking, to let “mama” lick and groom him, to wash away the  human scent.  It’s amazing how innocent and trusting young deer can be, and that reinforces a sense of responsibility to guard and protect them from harm.   I left them alone out in the east pasture for a few days, and still haven’t taken my dogs back out there.   I’ve seen them (the deer) at the water trough out there, and I just leave them alone.

Life is good.

Rancher110

Second Installment on Savarez 520P1 Classical Guitar Strings

I put a set of Savarez 520P1′s on my Godin Multiac Duet three days ago, after figuring out how to do the “loop end” installation at the bridge.  I tuned them up and was favorably impressed with them.   I didn’t get to play them yesterday, because I spent the day on my tractor, working on a neighbor’s driveway.  It looked like rain and I wanted to fix their driveway before the rains came.  What we call a driveway here in Texas is what most other folks would call a road.  It’s actually a quarter mile dirt road, up hill all the way; and rain water rushes down it and washes across it, making it quite a treacherous drive.  Well, at least I got it done before the rain started early this morning.  I’ll take a look at it later today, to see if it needs any more tractor work.

This morning, I was surprised to see how little loss of string tension had occurred in the full day of not being played.   All six stings had lost a little tension; but it seems to have been an even loss, keeping them roughly in tune with each other, though below proper pitch.  I think it’s because all six strings have the same core construction.  The cores are all nylon multi-filament, which is stronger and doesn’t stretch as much as an equivalent amount of mono-filament nylon.

The plastic wound trebles tuned up with very little additional tension, and seemed to have a clearer and cleaner tone than when brand new.  The twelfth fret harmonics were much clearer and louder than they were when initially installed.  The set played nicely, with no apparent difference in voice or tone between the plastic wound and metal wound strings.  Everything sounded good, especially in the mid-neck area.  Their volume is quite loud, and I didn’t have to plug in to my amp to get a good volume.

That’s all for the moment.  I’ll post an update on these strings in a day or two.  Meanwhile, I’m going to take a second look at my neighbor’s driveway and make sure it’s holding up alright.

Click HERE to link to Savarez 520P1 Classical Guitar Strings.

Life is good.

Rancher110