So, are cheap guitar strings good? Are cheap strings worth it? Do guitar strings matter? Does the price of guitar strings affect its sound? Can cheap guitar strings have a long-playing life? When it comes to guitar strings, there are really many brands to choose from. It can be a headache to choose entry-level to high-end guitar strings, especially if you do not have any idea about guitar strings. If you want to save up, you would prefer to go for the cheap ones; however, is it really worth it? Let us check it out.
Things To Consider When Buying Cheap Guitar Strings
In choosing cheap guitar strings, you have many things that you should consider, and these are some of the factors that you must evaluate before using one:
Durability
One of the important things you should consider when buying cheap guitar strings is that they should be durable. Usually, high-end and more expensive guitar strings use materials that help them last longer compared to other guitar strings. This is why they are known to have a longer playing life than cheaper guitar strings. High-quality materials really do help the guitar strings in making them more durable, but this does not mean that all cheap guitar strings only use low-quality materials.
When saying that the strings are made from high-quality materials, it means that they have better resistance against rust and corrosion. Your guitar strings must be protected from the two as they are the usual suspects why guitar strings do not last very long. Rusty guitar strings can also be very uncomfortable to play with.
Rusty guitar strings are some of the results of poor guitar maintenance and storage, as the humidity of your surroundings and the sweat from your hands while you are playing is really the usual reason why they easily break, as these things can end up your guitar strings being rusty.
So, if you are a guy who rarely cleans your guitar, always go for expensive strings, as most cheap strings do not have the capability to protect themselves from rust build-up, as there is really some difference concerning the quality of materials used for the different price points.
Tone
Another factor you should consider when buying strings is that there is a difference between the tone produced by using an expensive and a cheap set of guitar strings. All of the guitar strings have different tone performances, and the difference will be more apparent as the price gaps get wider.
Cheap guitar strings have a reputation for not being able to produce a full and rich guitar tone that you would like to hear from your guitar. Although not every time that it is true, most of the time, it is correct. This is because of the difference in the materials that are used in making the guitar strings. Of course, the more expensive guitar strings use more expensive materials, which enable them to have a better tone than the cheaper ones.
Expensive guitar strings are known to resonate better and have a fuller and warmer tone compared to cheap guitar strings. On the other hand, cheap guitar strings have a reputation for having a brighter sound, but their low-frequency production is really lacking. Other cheap strings produce boosted lows, while the higher frequencies lack a little bit. This means that cheap guitar strings are inconsistent, though not all the time.
Grip
Another very important thing when playing the guitar is that your strings have an excellent grip to be comfortable to play with. When you press the strings with your finger, there must be comfort and not pain that you feel so that you can play better.
With the materials used in making expensive guitar strings, it really gives you the comfort to play anything. From playing chords to executing more difficult guitar techniques like bending and shredding, more expensive guitar strings give you the smooth feel needed to be able to do these things. It is easier to execute slides and double stops, which can really add some color to your playing.
As cheap guitar strings can quickly get rusty, they are also harder to play with. Though you can save when buying more affordable strings, you will also have to replace them faster, which can be very costly. They can also be very uncomfortable to play with, as some of the cheaper strings are painful to strum or hold with.
Although there are still cheap guitar strings that have a good grip and are comfortable to play with, there are still more of them that are really that uncomfortable with, and as a musician, you should not be willing to favor the price versus the comfortability of the instrument you are going to play with.
Dynamics
When it comes to more expensive and higher-end guitar strings, they really do have a better resonation than the cheaper options. They are also louder and with better dynamics than the latter, and lastly, they have a better sustain, which is highly needed for playing the guitar, and this can be a problem for many cheap guitar strings.
As expensive guitar strings have the capacity to have a better resonation, the guitar’s pickup will also be able to send a better signal to the guitar amplifier. Cheap guitar strings have a reputation for not being able to produce a loud sound and having a bad resonance. This is why if you are using cheap strings, you will notice that the pickup and the amplifier still need to be amplified more before you can get a decent output.
Materials
All the factors mentioned above come down to the materials used in making the guitar strings. If the materials used in making them are of high quality, then it is expected that they are more durable, they produce a better tone, are more comfortable to play with, and they sound louder and better. These things can be very hard to achieve if your strings are made from low-quality materials, which you usually find in cheaper guitar strings.
Aside from labor costs and the technologies employed in manufacturing, the quality of materials used in making the guitar strings is an essential factor in why a specific set of guitar strings is sold at that price point. Of course, if the company uses high-quality materials, they are also more expensive, which can make the guitar strings expensive compared to the cheap guitar strings that are usually made of low-quality materials.
Although there are cheap guitar strings that perform better than expected, there are still more out there in the market that are not really worth it if the only reason why you prefer using a cheap guitar string is to save money. Always go for quality and comfort when choosing guitar strings to use, so you can also play better when performing.
So, are cheap guitar strings good? Though there are cheap guitar brands that may perform well, but overall, it would still be better to use more expensive guitar strings. You do not want your guitar string to break while you are in the middle of a performance, so to make sure that there is a lesser chance for it to happen, you should use more expensive guitar strings rather than cheap strings.
