Wound G StringAs we all know, the third, or "G", string in most "normal" sets of strings for electric guitar is a "plain", or unwound string. This unwound third string normally performs quite badly–typical problems include: poor tone and intonation when brand-new, the rapid deterioration of both qualities as the string ages and radical volume imbalance, to name the most common complaints.
The purpose of this sidebar is to point out the obvious: that the reason that the third string has these problems is because it isn’t engineered correctly. Under any normal circumstances, a guitar string tuned to this pitch would be a wound string, like the fourth through sixth strings!
Just think about it — any steel-string acoustic guitar, for example, would have a wound third string, which would typically be eight or ten thousandths-of-an-inch (.008" or.010") smaller in diameter than it’s fourth, or "D", string. For example, standard "acoustic medium" gauges are (from first to sixth) .013"-.017"-.026"-.036"-.046"-.056", with a wound third string. The third strings on acoustic guitars do not have any of the typical string problems found on electric guitars.
I’ve been told that the adoption of the unwound third string was an historical fluke, being the result of players adding a light, .010" string to a standard acoustic medium gauge set of strings and then discarding the .056" low string. This resulted in the .010"-to-.046" "electric light gauge" set that we know today. The reason that the electric guitar’s standard, unwound third string has all of these problems is because, when tuned to the standard "G" pitch, it is being placed under an insufficient tensile load for its strength; it is just too slack for it to perform correctly (see the "Extremely Technical String Sidebar"). This causes the string’s tonal and intonation problems.
The most common complaint about the unwound third string is its tone; the suckers just don’t sound good. People describe the tone in different ways: "harsh", "clanky", "metallic", "sour", etc. Technically, the reason that an unwound third string sounds "sour" — particularly as it ages — is that the string’s harmonic overtones are out of tune with it’s fundamental note: the string is actually out of tune with itself! Because of this, the string’s poor tone is clearly related to it’s intonation problems: they are both caused by the string’s excessive stiffness. This tone/intonation problem can be heard most clearly when playing with heavy overdrive; instead of a producing a smooth, stable note, holding a sustained note will produce a pulsating, or "beating" warble, similar to playing unison pitches on two strings, while tuning one of the strings to the other. This is the sound of the string’s overtones "beating" against the string’s fundamental pitch, and it’s nasty!
Finally, when playing a vintage instrument, an unwound third string will frequently sound much too loud–this is because the instrument’s pickups were designed for a wound third string, since that was standard before 1960. Since a wound third string is generally the lowest-output string in the set, whereas an unwound third string is the highest-output string in the set, the imbalance is pretty drastic.
Prescription for Tone: the Wound Third StringWhew! What a nightmarish litany of problems, huh? Well, the good news is that the solution switching to a wound third string has very few real problems, and is a safe, easy and inexpensive experiment.
Obviously, the first step is to get some appropriate wound third strings for the set of strings that youre using. As you may remember, I mentioned that a wound third string would typically have a diameter .008" to .010" less than the fourth string in that set; this means that, for a .010" to .046" ("electric light-gauge") set, the appropriate wound third string would be a .016" or a .018", of the same type. Although these gauges are not widely stocked by retailers, most of the major string manufacturers do produce them. For example, GHS makes "Boomer" single strings (called "singles" in the trade) down to .016"; DAddario makes "XL" singles down to .017"; Im sure that there are others, as well.
After installing the "test" wound third string, check the strings fit in the slot in the nut, to make sure that the wound third string wont bind in the slot if it binds, it wont tune well, and the friction will eventually damage both the string and the nut. If the slot in the nut needs widening, I recommend that you have it done by a competent professional repair-person. The third strings intonation will also need re-adjustment. Whereas an unwound third string typically intones correctly when its slightly longer than the second and fourth strings, a wound third string typically intones correctly when its slightly (.025" to .050") shorter than the second and fourth strings. Interestingly, most vintage (and vintage-style) bridges that dont have separate intonation adjustment for each string (like the old Gibson "wraparound" S.G. and Les Paul unit), are designed to intone correctly with a wound third string.
Once you have the guitar re-adjusted to your satisfaction, you should find that all of the problems previously mentioned have just gone away, leaving a couple of minor new ones in their wake: the wound third string is somewhat more fragile than an unwound third string, and the wound third string must be bent substantially farther than an unwound third string, to achieve the same change in pitch.
For most players, the problem of fragility is not significant; violent use of the Strat whammy-bar can cause premature string breakage, but otherwise, its generally no big deal. However, the question of bendability is, for most players, rather significant. Many players just assume that a wound third string is out of the question for this reason alone. Im challenging these players to re-evaluate this assumption do you really want to put up with the Tonal Disaster that is the unwound third string, just to bend the third string like a Blues-Weenie rattling off an arsenal of recycled cliches? Is it really worth it?
I realize that for many players, an unwound third string will always feel like "home"; thats fine, but for the rest of us (yes, I use a .018" wound third string on my hopped-up post-modern Strat-thing), the decision to use an unwound third string should not be taken blindly. For example, it is possible to switch to a wound third string for the instrument (or instruments) which you use primarily for rhythm parts, or to switch back to an unwound third string just for recording solos.
Or, you could just learn to live with a real "G" string. Think about it.
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