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Hardly news, I know, but aahhhhhhh sooo much better.
Same gauges from newtone and daddario. In theory. 12 16 20p 32 44 56. Drop A#.
Was on newtone thick cored. Got em custom made. I liked the thicker core keeping low end more stable and higher tension (in theory).
I began to suspect that the high end overtones clarity and harmonic stability was being compromised by the thicker core/stiff string. Low end you can control with technique, overtone propagation not so much. So I thought I'd try them out again (I used daddario for years before newtone).
Findings.
1: Break out the mircometer screw gauge. Newtone 56 = 1.32mm, so actually its closer to a 52. All the '56' gauges I just took off my 3 main guitars were the same. They had very accurately made the wrong gauge.
The things you take on faith, eh?
Didnt measure all the strings, dont care that much. I saw what I needed to see in that and the following:
The daddarios are ~1.43mm. Advertised 1.42, so its a 0.0562 gauge. Not quite, but much better!
While I'm here, SI units = win, Imperial = should have been left in victorian times.
2: The core thickness: NT = 0.54mm. DD = 0.46mm. The core is indeed thicker. Not by that much though.
On the guitar, tension feels more or less equal. Daddarios have a bite and attack that I didnt realise I'd missed loads, though it was a little harsher, where the newtones high end sounds weirdly conjested by comparison. Low end rings out better on the daddarios, though theres a little more of it and its a little tubbier, its nothing that cant be controlled with decent technique, whereas the difference in attack, highs and mids could not be made up with playing. Winner: diaddarios, by a clear margin.
TLDR:
Moral of the story: some everyday things arent to be fucked with, and some extra-special stuff is not what it appears. Daddario are great.
Not having to wait 2 months + for your strings to be made = win.
If youre in the UK, stringbusters rule. Quick, courteous, efficient, sent out replacements that royal mail lost without a hint of a quibble or bat of an eyelid, and packed up my singles into sets for me.
Same gauges from newtone and daddario. In theory. 12 16 20p 32 44 56. Drop A#.
Was on newtone thick cored. Got em custom made. I liked the thicker core keeping low end more stable and higher tension (in theory).
I began to suspect that the high end overtones clarity and harmonic stability was being compromised by the thicker core/stiff string. Low end you can control with technique, overtone propagation not so much. So I thought I'd try them out again (I used daddario for years before newtone).
Findings.
1: Break out the mircometer screw gauge. Newtone 56 = 1.32mm, so actually its closer to a 52. All the '56' gauges I just took off my 3 main guitars were the same. They had very accurately made the wrong gauge.
The things you take on faith, eh?
Didnt measure all the strings, dont care that much. I saw what I needed to see in that and the following:
The daddarios are ~1.43mm. Advertised 1.42, so its a 0.0562 gauge. Not quite, but much better!
While I'm here, SI units = win, Imperial = should have been left in victorian times.
2: The core thickness: NT = 0.54mm. DD = 0.46mm. The core is indeed thicker. Not by that much though.
On the guitar, tension feels more or less equal. Daddarios have a bite and attack that I didnt realise I'd missed loads, though it was a little harsher, where the newtones high end sounds weirdly conjested by comparison. Low end rings out better on the daddarios, though theres a little more of it and its a little tubbier, its nothing that cant be controlled with decent technique, whereas the difference in attack, highs and mids could not be made up with playing. Winner: diaddarios, by a clear margin.
TLDR:
Moral of the story: some everyday things arent to be fucked with, and some extra-special stuff is not what it appears. Daddario are great.
Not having to wait 2 months + for your strings to be made = win.
If youre in the UK, stringbusters rule. Quick, courteous, efficient, sent out replacements that royal mail lost without a hint of a quibble or bat of an eyelid, and packed up my singles into sets for me.
