About our strings

 

We offer a variety of metals selected for their individual character and integrity.  These metals are hand wrapped around a round steel, or nylon Fibre-Core.

Hex-Core : (

Steel Hexagonal Core strings are the industry standard for most steel string guitars, including electric guitars.  They provide durability and affordability. The mass-market string industry has used this core primarily for its affordability and we feel it has limitations that we. as a custom shop, we should avoid.  We only use the highest quality Steel Round Core for our metal core string lines.

 

Steel Round Core  : )

Steel Round Core strings provide a unique sound characteristic that makes for impeccable tone, brightness, and clarity whether the wrap is Silvered Copper or Nickel Plated Steel.  We feel Steel Round Core strings are superior in tone and feel.  Steel Round Cores are not as common as hexagonal cores in the industry because of the greater care needed to produce makes mass automated fabrication too difficult. 

Phosphor Bronze or Brass wrapped around a Steel Round Core produce the brightest strings with true and sustained pitch. 

GCS also offers a professional line of Electric Guitar Strings featuring Steel Round Cores, these strings exhibit marked improvement in sustain, playability, and tone.  Not to mention that they last far longer than hex-core.

Brass Round Core

Brass Round Core strings are primarily used with Copper Wound Guitarron Strings.  They also make great cores for Russian Contra Bass strings, which are also Copper Wound.  Our founder Francisco Gonzales found that Brass Cores work best in bringing out the full range and color of Copper, one of the oldest combinations in history!

 

Silvered Copper

Silvered Copper is a softer metal with warm tone characteristics. Silvered CopperWound Strings are smooth and comfortable. They are the most popular among classical guitarists and guitarron players for their playability, warm tone and higher resistance to humidity and rust.  We feature Silvered Copper in our ManoucheTone strings.

 

Brass

Players seeking clear and powerful tone have long preferred brass.  It is striking yet warm.  Our BrassWound is featured in Requinto Romantico, Tres Cubano, Guitarron, and Classical Guitar high tension strings.  All of our BrassWound strings are sealed in plastic to prevent oxidation.

 

Phosphor Bronze

Phosphor Bronze is the brightest metal wrap we use and is most often paired with the Steel Round Core for clear highs and punchy mids.  We highly recommend it for mandolin and acoustic 6 and 12 strings.  The PhosphorRound string highly responsive and comfortable on fingertips—often preferred by finger-picking style guitarists.  All PhosphorRound strings are sealed in plastic to prevent oxidation.

 

Nickel Plated Steel

Nickel Plated Steel is often referred to plainly as Nickel or NickeledSteel.  Nickel is the most preferable metal when using magnetic pick-ups.  They are the industry standard for electric guitar and bass strings.  They are responsive, the longest lasting, and most rust resistant string we produce.  We have also developed the use of Nickel for acoustic instruments such as the Cuatro Puertorriqueno, 6 and 12 string guitars. 

 

Classic Copper

Copper was a common metal used in string making as Mariachi music evolved in Mexico and therefore is associated with that classic sound.  We feature it in our Classic Copper Guitarron strings for that deep traditional tone.

 

Red Copper

This Copper coated in very thin bright red plastic resists rust and makes a striking impression on an instrument.  This is for the guitarron player looking for more definition in the high and low frequencies, less mid range. The color also adds great style to Rockabilly Bass, or Guitarron sets.

 

Nylon

Nylon is a synthetic petroleum based plastic.  It is produced exclusively by its patent holders and cannot be produced by anyone else.  We, like a growing number of independent businesses, are always searching for more sustainable materials and methods.

 

Monofilament

We use a type of nylon made specifically for musical instrument strings.  We offer all available gauges in either clear, black, or hand dyed colors.  We use a safe, non-toxic, natural dye. Used for Classical Guitar Trebles, Jaranas, Ukuleles, and more.

 

Fibre Core

Our Fibre Core strings include everything from ukulele to double bass. Fibre Cores give a punchy, solid tone and can be custom formulated to fit any player’s specifications for tension.  Fibre Core strings used in packaged sets have been custom formulated to the optimal performance for each instrument, string and pitch.  They produce a brighter sound than the monofilament and are also long lasting. They are great for Requintos Jarocho, Ukuleles and any nylon stringed instrument.  These strings are the most comparable to the tone and feel of gut strings of the strings we offer.

 

MultiColor

Fibre Core strings hand painted in rainbow colors prior to being wrapped in clear nylon.  Custom colors and patterns are offered at an additional charge

 

Color

All monofilament strings are available in solid hand dyed colors.  We offer blue, red, green, yellow, pink, and black. 

 

Harps

Mexican and South American harps employ roughly half monofilament strings and half wound strings.  Since all harps are different in scale lengths, tunings, and are used for differing styles, we recommend customers contact the shop to make an in-shop appointment with our technicians to properly size and formulate a set for their particular harp.  If an in-shop consultation is not possible, we recommend customers purchase a variety of gauges, available in six packs and singles, to find the best string for each note on their instrument.

 

Custom Gauge

All sets have been formulated over years and years of working to meet the demands of professional musicians around the world.  Our formulae are balanced and will bring out the best possible tone from the instrument.  We do also welcome feed back from our customers.

 

ManoucheTone

ManoucheTone strings were developed by our founder Francisco Gonzalez specifically for Gypsy Jazz style playing.  These strings feature a Silvered Copper wrapped around a steel round core and a distinctive SilkWrap at the base.  These strings come in three tensions, available in loop or ball end.

 

SilkWrap

ManoucheTone strings feature a characteristic silk thread wrapping around the base of the string.  The silk thread wrap reaches approximately one inch from the loop or ball end to protect a guitar’s bridge (Macaferri style guitars) and add a dash of style. 

 

Tension

Tension refers to the amount of force the strings apply to the guitar.  A higher tension string will require a little more strength to play and will apply more force to the guitar but may generate a louder brighter tone.  The tension of a string is not necessarily dictated by its diameter.  It is more related to each element’s tensile strength, weight, core, and wrap size.