squeaky strings

pabrizzer · Oct 11, 2020

just put a set of d'addario ej65b strings on my bari
they squeak so badly - i've used lots of strings but never had any squeak so bad
has anyone else used them?
they also sound very metallic - almost a steel string sound
i'm hoping they will mellow before they start breaking
not liking them as they sound now
there is some reverb added here but you can still get the idea

Ukecaster · Oct 11, 2020

Wow, squeaky indeed. I hope they settle in, as otherwise, the tone sounds great to me.

dwizum · Oct 12, 2020

Is it just the wound strings you're unhappy with, or all four?

kissing · Oct 12, 2020

Wound strings naturally squeak a bit.. due to their nature.
Perhaps some more than others. Otherwise I've found D'addario wounds to be long lasting with a good tone.

Personally I think it can be considered to be part of the tone.
Even listening to professional Classical guitar performances and recordings, it is normal to hear a bit of that wound-string feedback.
It doesn't sound like an excessive amount in your recording.

bunnyf · Oct 12, 2020

Squeaking on wound strings is definitely a common thing, with some brands worse than others. A very light rub with fine sand paper to the top can help. I like Thomastik-Infeld flat wound classical guitar strings. They are pricey but song lasting. In the past, I used Savarez classical guitar and they were less squeaky than many other brands.
If it’s any consolation, the squeaking does diminish a little over time. You’ll hear some squeak in a lot of acoustic guitar playing. Great, clean technique minimizes it, but you still hear some.

glennerd · Oct 12, 2020

Hmm, interesting. I was comparing the specs to my EJ88B set and yours seem much higher tension and thicker. Probably the thickness exaggerates the squeakiness of the wound strings. The tension might exaggerate it too.

Dohle · Oct 12, 2020

Surely the squeakiness is just due to the wound strings. I have the exact same set, EJ65B, on my baritone and I get zero squeak from the non-wound nylon strings. The wound strings squeak massively when sliding fingers up and down on them. I don't mind the noise personally but if you do you can try non-wound fluorocarbon strings for the 3rd and 4th strings or alternatively use polished wound strings. The latter might tough to find for a baritone. You might have to use classical guitar strings like Thomastik-Infeld strings.

rafter · Oct 15, 2020

Dohle said:
Surely the squeakiness is just due to the wound strings. I have the exact same set, EJ65B, on my baritone and I get zero squeak from the non-wound nylon strings. The wound strings squeak massively when sliding fingers up and down on them. I don't mind the noise personally but if you do you can try non-wound fluorocarbon strings for the 3rd and 4th strings or alternatively use polished wound strings. The latter might tough to find for a baritone. You might have to use classical guitar strings like Thomastik-Infeld strings.

I have the same situation with my baritone. Stock strings are D'Addario EJ87B Titaniums. Super amount of squeak coming from the two wound strings. Maybe D'Addario wounds are just very squeaky.

Dohle · Oct 15, 2020

I think D'Addario mostly uses silver wound strings at least on their ukulele sets. I'm pretty sure I haven't tried any other types of non-polished wound strings like bronze but I'd be surprised the material made any difference to the squeaking. The simple fact is that the texture of wound strings is just so rough that they tend to squeak easily. Again, if you want to avoid squeaking completely you should use pure fluorocarbon strings for the 3rd and 4th strings, or if you're ok with minimal squeak, use polished wound strings.

dwizum · Oct 15, 2020

I agree with that. D'Addario aren't inherently more or less squeaky than any other plain wound string IME. The polished/groundwound/halfround (depending on which marketing engine you're subscribing to) strings are somewhat less squeaky, but still squeak. Technique can reduce the squeak, but for people like me who just can't manage anything other than sloppy technique, skipping wound strings all together is the best way to avoid squeak.

squeaky strings

pabrizzer

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Ukecaster

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dwizum

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kissing

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bunnyf

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glennerd

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Dohle

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rafter

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Dohle

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dwizum

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