Half Rounds?

[kieran campbell]

I've been thinking of putting 'Half Rounds' on my 335. I recently put a bowtie bridge on it, so I thought that half rounds might be appropriate.
Has anyone used D'addario Half Rounds Before? Any good? Any thing to know?


thanks

[iiipopes]

No, but I use GHS brite flats 11's on another guitar and they do the Rockabilly thang really well. I don't use the D'addarios because my perspiration eats the nickel and turns my hands black. The GHS wrap is more iron than nickel based.

[0018g]

Don't they rust? I've never seen iron wrapped strings.

[cjj]

Well, even stainless steel is mostly composed of iron. So, whether or not they would rust would depend on the actual alloy...

[iiipopes]

Don't they rust? I've never seen iron wrapped strings.

Yes, eventually they do. I have Progressives, which are the same alloy wrap in rounds, on another instrument I haven't played in awhile. Yes, there is some discoloration present. But oh, the tone is worth it: more iron = more magnetic field = more signal and better tone from the pickups. Moreover, the Progressive alloy is slightly softer than nickel plate or stainless steel, so they're easier on frets.

[0018g]

I never considered the magnetism factor. That's pretty interesting. Sounds like something I might want to try on my Gretsch.

[casinoman]

I have D'addario Half Rounds on my '67 360F, and I like them a lot. They are a good combination of decent brightness and twang, not to mention that they reduce fret/fretboard wear...

[360girl]

b

Don't they rust? I've never seen iron wrapped strings.

Yes, eventually they do. I have Progressives, which are the same alloy wrap in rounds, on another instrument I haven't played in awhile. Yes, there is some discoloration present. But oh, the tone is worth it: more iron = more magnetic field = more signal and better tone from the pickups. Moreover, the Progressive alloy is slightly softer than nickel plate or stainless steel, so they're easier on frets.

Actually, that's not quite true. If it was an iron transformer with windings on it, yes. But it's a string in free space in a magnetic field. The magnetc field strength is determined by the pickup's magnet strength. To get more guitar signal you'd need to either:

1. Use stronger magnets - this works up to a point - if the magnets are too strong, they'll deaden string vibration, and pull the strings out of tune when you fret them.

2. Use more windings on the pickup - in a nutshell, the string "cuts" through magnetic force lines coming from the pole pieces, which induces a voltage/signal in the pickup coil. The more windings. the more induced voltage. But, as you add windings, the pickup gets darker sounding, because the the more the windings, the more high frequency components of the signal are cut.

3. Get the strings closer to the polepieces. The closer you are to the polepieces, the denser the magnetic force lines are. Hence, the more magnetic forcelines "cut" by the string, and the higher the pickup's signal output. Of course get the strings too close to the polepieces, and they suffer from the same effects as using too strong of a magnet.

4. Use larger strings - the larger the string diameter, the more magnetic force lines it's able to cut through. Besides the fact that his Strats had overwound pickups, SRV's use of 13s contributed to the hot output his pickups had. Of course you may need vice grips for hands, in order to fret 13s....

5. Use strings made of a more magnetic material. The more magnetic a string's material is, the more it is capable of causing magnetic force lines to 'guide" through it. This in effect increases the number of force lines the string cuts through, increasing the pickup's output. IMO it's a horse a piece as to which is more magnetic stainless steel,or nickel. Some stainless steel alloys are not magnetic, just as some nickle alloys are also not magnetic. IMO, any difference in output between stainless steel and nickel strings, is relatively minor, compared to the effects mentioned above. Bronze strings compared to stainless steel or nickel strings? - yep,big difference. But not stainless steel vs nickel. The main difference will be tone-wise, because the stainless steel string will vibrate differently than the nickel string will. As a result, not only will it sound audibly different to at least some extent, the signal from the pickup will also sound a little different, due to the vibration patterns (and the path the strings take as they cuts through magnetic force lines) for nickel strings being different than the vibration patterns for stainless steel strings.

So, I say if you buy stainless steel strings, buy them for their tone, and their rust resistance, not for the hope of getting more output out of your guitar's pickups.

[iiipopes]

You missed my point. Progressives are more iron, which is more magnetic, and therefore does interact more strongly with the pickup magnets, than either nickel plated steel (most common string material) or stainless steel. I may not have expressed it in the most accurate manner, but the main reason for playing Progressives is your reason #5. Stainless steel, as you correctly indicate, because of its alloy with other metals that are not necessarily magnetic, do not necessarily interact with the magnetic field of the pickups in the same way.

[360girl]

Yuppers! I might also partly have been at fault, since I rambled in stating the same thing you just stated. Sorry.

[iiipopes]

That's OK. It gets better. I have the D'addario tension chart in front of me. In order of tension for a full set of, say 45-100 bass strings, flats have the most tension, of course, because of the solid wrap (no gaps as in roundwounds). Surprisingly, the ground rounds or half rounds, even being pure nickel wrap, approach the tension of full chrome flats. But then next is the XL series of nickel plated steel. The surprise is that the stainless of the same gauge has, albeit only a pound or so, has less tension than the XL! This is probably because of the formulation. I have never compared them, but I would imagine this means the core is a thou or two thinner and the wind is a thou or two thicker. That means, of course, less mass for the same nominal diameter. Less mass means less material to interact with the magnetic field of the pickup, so less overall signal, compounded even further by the different alloy. Now, of course, the reason for all this is for maximum brightness, as a string with less mass, all else being equal, will tend to be more flexible, and therefore have the ability to generate more overtones. for most people, more brightness is perceived as more volume, due to the way our ears get less sensitive to changes in dynamic as pitch decreases.