People who remember my massive guitar string shootout know who the winners were (Pyramid, Mangan, EB Cobalts, Mapes, and a couple others) but they also wanted to know what the worst guitar strings were.
Here they are:
Not only was this the worst set of strings I tested in the shootout they were the worst sounding guitar strings I have played in 40 years.
These turds were discontinued but the fact that DM would foist this crap on guitarists in the first place means that I would never consider anything from these clowns.
If you want to test the timbral qualities of strings an easy way to do this is to (a) plug a guitar with a maple fretboard and (b) microphonic pickups into a (c) distorted amp and let it rip.
The main culprit in bad sounding strings is the cheap wire companies have sourced from China. They buy inexpensive garbage and then wind it up (or have it wound for them) into these hideous monstrosities. Anything affordable these days are made with this junk wire so you have to pay around $10 a set or more to get the good stuff. Some guys (e.g., Mangan) still use the old wire from Mapes (and you can buy strings direct from Mapes) and only charge you a couple extra dollars.
The consistent result of using junk wire is this: a harsh or screechy harmonic structure that jumps out around 750 and 2500 Hz
Here they are:
Not only was this the worst set of strings I tested in the shootout they were the worst sounding guitar strings I have played in 40 years.
These turds were discontinued but the fact that DM would foist this crap on guitarists in the first place means that I would never consider anything from these clowns.
If you want to test the timbral qualities of strings an easy way to do this is to (a) plug a guitar with a maple fretboard and (b) microphonic pickups into a (c) distorted amp and let it rip.
The main culprit in bad sounding strings is the cheap wire companies have sourced from China. They buy inexpensive garbage and then wind it up (or have it wound for them) into these hideous monstrosities. Anything affordable these days are made with this junk wire so you have to pay around $10 a set or more to get the good stuff. Some guys (e.g., Mangan) still use the old wire from Mapes (and you can buy strings direct from Mapes) and only charge you a couple extra dollars.
The consistent result of using junk wire is this: a harsh or screechy harmonic structure that jumps out around 750 and 2500 Hz
