W.t.b Cheap strings to use with set ups

mark123

As title want to try set ups on some cheap guitars ,fret dress ,nut cut, etc but dont want to put expensive strings on while setting up ..remember someone saying thommann own brand strings (pyramid ?) Were ok any recommendations ?

underdog

I like the thomann own brand ones, have some on my Les Paul at the moment.

Funkfingers

Given the differences that core mass and cross-sectional shape can have on tension and pitch, any set-up that you achieve with sacrificial cheapo strings is likely to require corrective adjustments when you change to the "proper" set.

It is not unknown for repairers to use the old strings that were on a guitar when the customer brought it in to assess neck alignment, nut slot depths and so on. The new strings only go on towards the end of the service/set-up.

SimpleSimon

Always thought Pyramid were their own brand?

Gizmo

Ive been buying Orphee strings from china via ebay at £1.09 a pack 10-46 for general setups and play about the house strings
and i have to say there just as good as any string ive paid upto £5 a pack for here in the UK

John_A

underdog said:

I like the thomann own brand ones, have some on my Les Paul at the moment.

They great, had a set on my PRS for months after they were put on temporarily for a set up when I went from 10s to 11s. Finally got round to putting some Dadarrios on there before last week's bid and snapped one . The Thomann ones had done half a dozen gigs.

only issue is the plain ones come coated with some anti-rusty stuff so need a good wipe before use

underdog

John_A said:

underdog said:

I like the thomann own brand ones, have some on my Les Paul at the moment.

They great, had a set on my PRS for months after they were put on temporarily for a set up when I went from 10s to 11s. Finally got round to putting some Dadarrios on there before last week's bid and snapped one . The Thomann ones had done half a dozen gigs.

only issue is the plain ones come coated with some anti-rusty stuff so need a good wipe before use

Next time I order from thomann in going to buy lots more of them, I only bought 5 packs to try them last time.

WezV

I have ordered cheap strings in bulk a few times now for various places for this very reason, although I don't think I ever included any in a Thomann order.

i have had 2 different brands of cheap where the a just wouldn't intonate.


i use decent strings for test fits and rough set-ups, but recycle them round a few jobs.  I always do final set-ups with the actual strings that are staying on it.

John_A

The Thomann ones really are fine, the only difference between them and others is, I'm sure, just in my head

mark123

cheers for all comments only trouble with thomann is you pay £10 postage on 5 sets of strings 

LooseMoose

...the correct way to fix that is buy yourself a new guitar at the same time

underdog

mark123 said:

cheers for all comments only trouble with thomann is you pay £10 postage on 5 sets of strings 

Yeah I add them when I'm ordering other stuff I need because of that.

Exorcist

IF your Prime, you can get 3 packs of hybrid slinkys for £6.99 at the moment. FWIW (9's with a beefier bottom end, but not as beefy as skinny top heavy bottom.) My strings of choice 

mark123

anyone used legacy strings from strings direct website ? £3.49 a set

mark123

Gizmo said:

Ive been buying Orphee strings from china via ebay at £1.09 a pack 10-46 for general setups and play about the house strings
and i have to say there just as good as any string ive paid upto £5 a pack for here in the UK

just ordered 5 packs for £5.45 cheers if they are crappie it's only a fiver!

Switch625

webstrings.com? Think it comes out at less than £3 a set, but only worth it if you're ordering a fair few sets to make the most of the shipping charges. Reviews are generally favourable and they claim to be made in the same factories that make GHS, D'Addario, Ernie Ball etc. I ordered a bunch years ago and thought they were pretty good, but only had regular Ernie Ball's to compare them to.

Bridgehouse

Pyramid are their own brand. They just happen to be made reasonably close to the Thomann distribution centre so presumably are easy for Thomann to stock

impmann

Hmmm, if you are using the strings to "set guitars up" with then I think you may be missing a point... different brands of string, despite having the same "size" often have different tension. Therefore if you are looking to replace the cheap strings later with your chosen brand, you may find that the guitar needs tweeking - I've experienced this recently with slotting Exlirs onto a guitar I'd previously set with D'Addarios and it went seriously rattly.

I'd also say that most Chinese strings are crud. But then again, I'm fussy about strings.

D'Addario make 'trade' strings - but you need to buy them in multiples of 100 (IIRC) but they work out a *very* small sum per set (you order them as individual strings). We used to have them in the set up shop at work and they were great. I was also told that they don't make any other brands in the D'Addario factory... make of that what you will.

mark123

mark123 said:

anyone used legacy strings from strings direct website ? £3.49 a set

Anyone used these?