• Lasts longer because of the wound 3rd

  

  As reviewed by Mobius Strip on 2/4/2010

  I read an article a few years ago about how the 3rd guitar string (G string in standard tuning) is supposed to be wound. The article talked in great detail about the intonations, scale length, string length, string thickness and the engineering behind it all. According to this article guitars built prior to the late 60's had pickup pole staggering to accommodate a wound 3rd as the pickup pole on a wound 3rd has to be closer to the string to compensate for less volume and attack. At the time I took it with a grain of salt but tried out a wound 3rd to see if there was any truth to it. I have not looked back... I prefer 10's and the new "standard" for the 3rd string is unwound. I always find that the unwound 3rd string decays quickly and I start having major tuning problems as a result. I own a PRS CU24/10 and a custom built PRS scale guitar with steinberger pegs and a strobe tuner so it's not my tuning peg gear ratio, guitar quality or tuner. The D'addario 110W set lasts longer and stays in tune better. Period. As long as I take care of my strings (wipe them after playing, etc.) I can get them to last 3x longer with that wound 3rd in place. I have a kicker guitar that has had a 110W set on it for 2 years and it stays in tune. The only caveat to this is that I have to raise the pickup pole on some guitars to compensate for the lower volume of that wound 3rd. Other guitars don't need any adjustments other than intonation. It's also a bit more dark sounding and not as bright/twangy/sparkly as the unwound 3rd but I don't mind that. If you can't stand the inherent tuning instabilities of an unwound 3rd, or if you play a vintage instrument that has no intonation adjustment then you might give these a try. If you find that you like this set then you can also buy a bunch of wound .18 singles which is what I do when I can't find this set locally. Also, don't forget to adjust your intonations after changing to this wound string otherwise it won't tune properly. A "normal" unwound 3rd in a set of 10's is a .16 - .17 so your intonation will be off if you don't adjust it. Vintage instruments may not need any adjustments. My father in-law has a 1956 Gibson Melody Maker (Stop bar bridge) and only a wound 3rd stays in tune.

  9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

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• They work for me!

  

  As reviewed by T. Betts on 2/27/2009

  I put these strings on my "strat" body and "les paul" style guitars. Not only do they give me the highs I need on pop and funk tunes, but they give me the mellow resonance I need on jazz tunes and tender ballads. My versatility on these guitars is drastically expanded. The added plus is that they are durable and stay in tune. These will help the player who wants a wider range of tonality without having to change instruments.

  10 of 12 people found this review helpful.

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