Sancho Panza Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 So I was down at my local musicstore to purchase some new strings and the guy in the counter and I started talking, generally, about strings, and he metioned that in the 50's (?) and 60's, that they used to switch the high E-string to a banjostring. Was it to bend it easier or? I've also heard that they switched strings, since there weren't any slinky strings like now.
Murph Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 My guess is they wanted a smaller guage than was available at the time.
ksdaddy Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Up until the mid-late 60s the standard electric string set was 12-52, just like acoustic sets. Some electric players used a banjo string (009 or 010) for the high E on their guitar, then shifted the guitar strings down, using the original E string for the B string, the B string for the G string, etc, and just tossing out the big fat E string. So they'd end up with sets in the range of 009 to 042 or so. A set like that is considered normal nowadays but not back then.
Murph Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Up until the mid-late 60s the standard electric string set was 12-52, just like acoustic sets. Some electric players used a banjo string (009 or 010) for the high E on their guitar, then shifted the guitar strings down, using the original E string for the B string, the B string for the G string, etc, and just tossing out the big fat E string. So they'd end up with sets in the range of 009 to 042 or so. A set like that is considered normal nowadays but not back then. I was right. Again. (you should have more than 2 stars, ksdaddy..... just sayin'.....)
Rocky4 Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 I recall hearing that Blackmore did that. I may be wrong but I think it had something to do with the advent of the unwound G string
pippy Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 It was quite a well-known practice in the early '60s. Apparently when Clapton was playing with the Yardbirds (about '64-'65) he used .008 banjo strings for both E and B strings. The frequent breakages and the time spent re-stringing gave rise to him receiving a slow hand-clap and this led on to his being nicknamed 'Slowhand' Clapton. P.
SG FAN Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 Iommi used banjo strings, on the count of his missing finger tips.
Sancho Panza Posted January 9, 2011 Author Posted January 9, 2011 Thanks for the answers! I've heard that they called him Slow-hands, but never knew why. Now I do! Does it affect the sound at all if you have a banjo string?
schnarz25 Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 what do you mean by "receiving a slow hand-clap"?
milod Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 Yes on the lighter-gauge strings. OTOH, on acoustic there were silk 'n' steels that were light but a but... ringy.... Overall though, you've gotta figure that it was also harder in a lotta places to get any strings at all. So... you'd do whatever. m
pippy Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Does it affect the sound at all if you have a banjo string? I've never had the need to try it out myself but I can't imagine one plain-steel string of .008 gauge would sound very much different from another plain-steel .008 string. Whether they are for banjo or guitar would matter very little. There are differences between, say, Ernie Ball's; D'Addario's and so on but mainly, as far as I can tell, in the tone of the wound strings. what do you mean by "receiving a slow hand-clap"? In the olden days when an audience wished to show their slight disapproval for any reason - in this case the delay in the performance - they would 'clap' slowly (say around 50 bpm lol!). It was a polite way of saying "Get a Bloody MOVE-ON!". It was normally meant to be received in an ironic, gently mocking manner. P.
Versatile Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Good to see a tempo reference for slow handclap Adagio or Andante, if you will..... There is an ongoing discussion on how string gauge affects tone, ie SRV with his 13's vs Eric Clapton with his 8's etc and Albert Lee with his 'big' sound from 9's. All great players with great tone... V
LarryUK Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 I seem to remember that Brian May used banjo strings.
pippy Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 I seem to remember that Brian May used banjo strings. I hadn't read that. I'm guessing you are talking about in the early years of Queen? FWIW and just by way of added info, not long after I started learning to play the guitar (about '76) there was a company called 'Picato' which had a .006 E string available. I tried them out (my fingers were as yet snowflake-soft) but they were so fragile. They almost never saw the day out. What is the thinnest guage anyone here uses for their top E ? P.
Murph Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Around 1981 I found some .08's , maybe I'd read "somebody" used them. I hated them. Ended up back with 10's.
milod Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Been using 8-38 on my Guild version of the SG since I got it in the early 1970s. It came with 'em as I recall. One way or another, Guild branded strings back then - remember it was a separate company at the time - came with that set of gauges as one of the offerings. Finding them was another story. But... where I lived there were no Gibson dealers around that I knew of, and the local story did carry Guild. m
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