Strings and Picks

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 9:25 am

what kind and gauge strings did John and George use? What kind of picks?

qmoder · Post by **qmoder** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 10:20 pm

Heavy flat wounds until the Fender rock n roll light guages turned up.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 9:51 am

Is there any resource book that talks about that? I haven't seen it.

beatcomber · Post by **beatcomber** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:18 am

According to "The Beatles Gear" by Andy Babiuk, they most likely used Selmer-branded Pyramid-manufactured flatwounds, probably .12s or .013s. Pyramid still manufactures these strings using the same materials and techniques.

From about 1968 or so they used Fender Rock'n'Roll strings, which were part of the collection of free gear that Fender sent them. This was reported by Tom Hartman of the AeroVons, who recorded at Abbey Road in early '69 and shared the same gear storage room with the Beatles.

(There are some great snapshots of the AeroVons clandestinely posing with the Beatles' equipment at Abbey Road. The AeroVons' album is also quite excellent, btw.)

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:19 am

wow, lets see. I've got the Ric.... I've got the VOX.... I've got the Pyramid flats... now all I need to get is the talent!

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:37 am

Brammy: I've often wondered how some of my guitars would sound with a better guitarist playing them...

scott_s · Post by **scott_s** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 7:27 pm

I read online a couple years ago that George had used .011 gauge flats on his full-scale guitars, and John had used the .013 set, but darned if I can find the link anymore. Might have been on VoxTalks.

FWIW...

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 8:09 pm

By the way, does anyone know when roundwound strings were invented or "arrived on the scene?"

Everytime this debate is raised, be it on VoxTalks, here, or elsewhere, it seems only two things are certain. 1). The Beatles did use flatwound strings early on. 2). The Beatles did use roundwound strings in the later years.

... so does anyone know when they switched? I can personally hear the sound of flats on the Country Gent, but not really on the Tennessean or the Casino when played by George, so I'm just wondering.

beatcomber · Post by **beatcomber** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 5:53 am

'By the way, does anyone know when roundwound strings were invented or "arrived on the scene?"'

I believe they became popular around 1967, when Ernie Ball's Slinkys became widely available.

The Beatles switched to roundwounds around the time of the White Album.

In "The Beatles Gear," a former Merseybeat musician says that roundwounds were preferred by Liverpool musicians in the early '60s, but were very expensive. I find this hard to believe, as it sounds like flatwounds on the old Merseybeat records.

I believe that Steve Cropper used roundwounds in the early '60s, as did many country pickers. In those days, it was common to use a banjo string for the high E, and use the first string in the set as the B, the second as a G, etc., and toss out the sixth string in the set. I believe that's where Ernie Ball got the idea of making light gauge sets with an unwound G string.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 9:37 am

Pyramid flats are the best. If y'all haven't tried them I recommend that you do. After getting used to the smooth feel you'll never want to go back to regular strings... and the sound is sweeter and more pure. I also think the sustain is increased. The are really well made and last longer (one reason possibly being that the lack of high ridges mean they pick up less dirt and oil).

More expensive at nearly $20 a set, but well worth it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PYRAMID-GOLD-FLATWOUND-MEDIUM-6-STRING-3-SETS-55_W0QQitemZ7377688748QQcategoryZ41433QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

grinch · Post by **grinch** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:21 am

Yeah, but do they have a wound third string? I can't stand that.

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:29 am

Thanks for the information, Glenn... I appreciate it.

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 5:15 pm

I started playing in 1965 and all the guitarists used flatwounds -- usually Black Diamond or LaBella. I used LaBella flats on bass and they were just a bit thinner than the cables holding up your average suspension bridge

In 1967 I joined a band with a guitarist who came from a country music background and he used banjo strings on the E and B, but flats on the rest with a fender Jazzmaster. He also used a metal thumbpick to which he taped the plastic point of a regular triangular pick and used all four fingers on his right hand -- not quite a fingerpicking style, but he was very fast and did some amazing solos this way. In line with this, here's part of an interview Guitar Player magazine did some years back with James Burton:
* * * ** * * ** * * **
"Has the steel guitar influenced the way you play?
I think so, because I always loved the slinky bends you could do on a steel. I got into bending strings early on, but on that first Tele my parents bought me in the ’50s, the strings were real stiff—you almost needed a pair of pliers to bend them. So I replaced the first, second, third, and fourth strings with lighter banjo strings. Then, of course, I had to figure out what to do with the fifth and sixth strings. So I took the original D string, and I moved it up to the fifth-string slot, and then I used the A string for the low E. Now the gauges were nice and even. That setup worked out great, and I loved the twangy sounds I could get.

When did you first deploy your string-bending technique on a record?
After becoming Ricky Nelson’s lead guitarist in January 1958, I did a record with him called “Believe What You Say.” That’s when I first did the string-stretching thing.

How did your idea of using lighter strings lead to the development of the Ernie Ball Slinky sets?
Ernie Ball had a music store in California, and when I went out there to work with Ricky Nelson, I met Ernie, who just happened to be a steel player. He asked how I got that twangy sound and did all those bends, so I showed him my guitar. That gave him the idea to make different gauges available for guys who wanted a lighter, or a little heavier, string set. He came up with the light, medium, and extra-light sets with the unwound third, and that was so great for everybody— especially blues and country players."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
John Entwistle said he "invented" roundwound bass strings along with Rotosound in 1966. I started using them in 1972 after I heard Chris Squire. About this same time our guitarist switched to using a Gibson set favored by Steve Howe and I recall his saying how strange it was to have a wound G string. I've switched back to flats for bass and actually prefer them. I still find the flatwound sound the Beatles achieved appealing -- much better than that of the other British Invasion bands. I have to credit George Martin and Geoff Emrick for finding a way to record them so well. Was "Paperback Writer" done with flats?

helterskelter · Post by **helterskelter** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 5:59 am

I read somewhere that John, in the later recordings used to mix and match strings, and even used a G string where the D string would be, and a B on the B string and a B on the E aswell and had all sorts of gauges on his Epiphone Casino. It later said that this was quite typical of John.

winston · Post by **winston** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 8:52 am

I started playing professionally as a lead guitarist in 1964. Sometime in late 1965 I started using banjo strings for the E and B strings and moving the B to G, the G to D and the D to E. I discarded the E string that came in the set. The idea of making up my own sets was given to me by Eric Jessen a local Fender dealer and music shop owner. He thought that it would make it easier for me to play blues and rock. He claimed to have received the idea from one of the many big name musicians that frequented his store.

I started using round wound strings in 1966. I vaguely remember that they were made by Black Diamond, Fender and I believe Labella. I purchased my first sets of .008 Slinky Ernie Ball strings in early 1967 if my memory serves me correctly.