Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Are Pyramid strings as good as they say?
Are they equally as good for hi gains as well as toaster pups?
Graeme

Welcome to the forum

There was just a big thread on Pyramid strings recently, and doing a search will lead you to all postings that have been made about them.

Ok, to quickly answer your question, they are pretty, shiny, rarely have to change strings. I had to widen the low E saddle and nut to fit the low e string on my 360/12 to fit in the slots. The strings sounded fine, but felt incredibly stiff and difficult to bend. I later read that because they are so high tension that there was a possibility that they could damage my guitar. Whether or not this is in fact true, I wasn't about to take any chances, so I removed them and replaced them with a set of Tomastik 12 flats. They sound great, are lighter tension, and much easier to play and bend. Pick of the Ricks has sets for sale and you can buy them over the net or go to their store.

I'm sure someone with high gains can respond with their experience, as I have toasters on my 360/12.

I don't like Pyramids.

I know this topic has been covered a lot in previous posts, but I find the majority of the comments tend to be about how the Pyramid flats are with a 12-string. I have a 330 and am planning on fitting it with Pyramid flats (.010 - .0465). I'd be curious to hear from those of you who have these strings on either a 330 or 360.

Pyramids are: too high tension,
the wrong guage,
expensive,
the wrong alloy,
too stiff,
will shatter an R TP.....

I had minor success in custom guaging a 12 string set from D'Addario chromes.
Wasn't perfect, but they were as close to the Maxima's as I've come.

TI Jazz's can work, but they are very warm.

TI strings for the twelve.

Six-string? Hmm. The SIT flats are good. TIs too, but $$$. Maybe the chromes would work for you?

I don't like Pyramid strings either, but then I don't much care for flatwounds at all. But as to the tension, this is what Pyramid says about that. They say that tension in wound strings is determined by the solid core. The "wrapping" has very little to do with it. They use a thinner core (hence less tension) and more wrapping (more expensive process) to bring the dimensions up to the proper gauge. At least that's the corporate line, so take it with however many grains of salt that you wish. A friend did shatter the tailpiece of his '66 330/12 while re-stringing with Pyramids, however. BTW - they do make GREAT pics........!

I tried Pyramids for a while, but ultimately didn't like them either. I now use Elixir Nanowebs on all my guitars.

Pyramid flat 13's sound great on a Ric 325s. I just purchased 10 sets of vintage 60''s Pyramids from a shop in Canada and they sound even better than the modern versions. I originally bought 3 sets on ebay and after I paid for them, the store owner mentioned he had 20 sets left so I bought 10 more. I was tempted to get the rest of them, but these should last me about 10 years.

I like Pyramid Gold flatwounds in six string sets, and have used them when I want a brighter sound than I get with TI Swings.
The tension seems lower to me than with some brands.

I like gliding around on flatwounds but usually only have them on one guitar. I need other sounds on other guitars. And other feels.

tension seems high to me. I just changed a set on to my friends 360 12 and they seemed tight but sounded nice. I just got a set of the Curt what's his nuts and I'm gonna slapp em on my 330/12, idf you can call the protracted affair of changing strings on a Ric 12 slapping on. Nut I am dying to hear em. Check out Picoftherics.com for a wide, respectively speaking selection of strings for your Ric. aren't Ric the bombdiggity???!!!!!!

Okay, no more posting in the bar at close. Note to self, proofread...

seanyfitz wrote:...a set of the Curt what's his nuts...!!!!!

Yeah, I like those too. Nickel 10's in 6 string set feels good, sounds good. Lots cheaper than imported brands from da fotterland that Ah-nold might use.

I'm never going to use Pyramids on my 660/12, and I don't plan to use them for my incoming Rics (should I get them!). I'm planning on using Ric compressed round wound for all my Ric 12s, but I'm also thinking about getting TIs, too. Flats or rounds...oh, desicions, desicions!

Pyramids have their place but I found that the tension was too high and the bending with them was very difficult. I did, however, like the tone.