Fresh strings. You guys know what I’m talking about!
If you’re not a guitar player, just imagine that "new socks" feeling times 10! Not only will your guitar perform better from a tension or tuning standpoint, but strings play a huge factor in terms of dialing in your desired tone. I’d go as far to say strings are the easiest and cheapest mod you can do to your guitar.
For the past month, I’ve been checking out Tone Rockets from StringDog. StringDog is based in Massachusetts, where they make their strings and other guitar accessories. At the moment, the company offers one electric guitar string design that’s available in three different gauges.
I went with what I would call the company's medium gauge set, which is .010-.046. The other sets are a .009-.042 and an .011-.050 set. The strings start out as a steel core and are wrapped with nickel wire. The packaging is corrosion resistant, so no more DOA strings that sat on the shelf too long. Another huge perk here is each set comes with an extra high E and B string.
Installation was pretty standard. Each string is wrapped in its own well-marked envelope. There was plenty of slack left on each string. I put them on my Tele, which has a "string-through the body" bridge, and I still had a couple of inches past each tuning peg.
The break-in period was short. I tuned each string up the pitch, stretched it, re-tuned and let the guitar sit overnight. Beyond that, the strings didn’t drift much at all. I’ve been on these strings every day for the past month, and they still feel and sound brand new.
StringDog also included a few of their Black Snapper picks. These picks come in Thin .50mm, Medium .73mm and Heavy 1.0mm thicknesses. The picks are made from Delrin and have a satin-style finish, sort of a halfway point between a celluloid pick and a rough grip pick.
Web: http://stringdog.net/
Price: $3.98 for a single set of strings. $3.99 for an eight pack of Black Snapper picks.
You can't believe everything you read on the Internet, but Billy Voight is a gear reviewer, bassist and guitarist from Pennsylvania. He has Hartke bass amps and Walden acoustic guitars to thank for supplying some of the finest gear on his musical journey. Need Billy's help in creating noise for your next project? Drop him a line at thisguyonbass@gmail.com.
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