Best Nylon Strings for Jazz

[jetrier]

Any suggestions on the best nylon strings for jazz? I find standard nylons too squeaky on the bass strings. I'm so used to quiet flatwounds on my Archtop. Is there an equivalent for nylon string piezo pickup or do I just have to live with it? Or make adjustments at the amp? Or a pedal?

[Woody Sound]

I know someone makes classical guitar strings with flatwound bottoms. I studied with a well-known duo and they used them for their recordings. But I don't know off hand the brand. At least you can get started looking knowing they exist.

[lammie200]

I like D'Addarrio polished bass strings and Aquila nylogut trebles.

[Cunamara]

I use these, which were recommended to me by Gene Bertoncini:

La Bella Strings Professional Series | 413P Studio Guitar Strings

[Michaelmm]

I just switched to D'addarrio ej45lp Pro Arts lightly polished. There great.

[destinytot]

I like La Bella 900B. Made a video:

[DanielleOM]

I use these, which were recommended to me by Gene Bertoncini:

La Bella Strings Professional Series | 413P Studio Guitar Strings

Thanks for the earlier recommendation on these. I like them on that MK Rick Turner N6 guitar.

[jetrier]

Thanks for the help. Sounds like polished basses should do the trick

[mr. beaumont]

I think the polished strings sound like shit.

I hate the squeak too, it's inspired me to really work on my left hand technique. I ain't squeen less yet, I'll tell ya!

[2bornot2bop]

Squeaking, for my dollar, are no worse than the snap, crackle, and pops of listening to Vinyl records. Stop expecting the string to be noiseless. The notes come through just fine. I don't get the obsession with string squeaks. I listen to the music, not the squeaks. And I prefer rounds to flats, for their vibrancy and harmonic richness.

[ronjazz]

The polished basses by D'Addario sound great, John Williams, among others, records with them.

[destinytot]

I find that polished basses help by making it easier to contain the squeak, but I do agree with the point about rounds having more harmonic richness.

For me, nylon string noise which may be innocuous unplugged becomes intolerable with amplification.

It effectively sabotages and undermines what I'm trying to achieve musically; it crushes the eggshells on which I'm trying to tread, so to speak - treading ever so delicately, so as not to break them.

I think biofeedback comes into play. And so do disposition and circumstance - it's "The Princess & the Pea."

[Jabberwocky]

Some player turned me on to Aquila Granato for nylon jazz. Yeah, flamenco strings. He plays a flamenco negra for nylon jazz. And his reasoning was simple: low action, short sustain, fast note attack, percussive sound that works for his style.

Daniel Mari 100p treble strings get good reviews from the Classical guys at Delcamp. The Daniel Mari full flamenco sets get good reviews, too. Ostrie Music is the only webstore I know which carries Daniel Mari.

The La Bella Pepe Romero GLOW and PepeSR get good reviews.

I like the Augustine Imperial trebles, and use the Black, Red or Blue basses depending on my mood and guitar. I am using Blue Imperial at present.

[Jabberwocky]

La Bella Recording strings are reportedly made for the studio, not live performance. I suspect that they would work very well for amplified nylon jazz boxes.

[Dave70]

These were probably my fav for smoother bass strings: GHS 2390 Smoothwound Basses MHT Classical Guitar Strings, Full Set

[jetrier]

I use these, which were recommended to me by Gene Bertoncini:

La Bella Strings Professional Series | 413P Studio Guitar Strings

Thanks, Cunamara - the 403Ps are just what I was hoping for. I got them on yesterday and it made a huge difference

Cheers

[Cunamara]

You are very welcome. They were recommended to me by Nate Najar and Gene Bertoncini (who had recommended them to Nate).

[kris]

I use hard tension standard nylon strings...mostly D'Addario.

[old tube]

Savarez 520R for me with rectified trebles.

Work well for Jazz and classical playing.

[krusty]

I like the feel of the La Bella 900 series bass strings, but after about 6yrs of owning and playing nylon, and trying almost every brand of string on the market, the La Bellas are the only strings that consistently self destruct while sitting idle on the guitar. No other brand has ever done that to me, and a 900 D-string has just done it to me again this week.

For treble strings, I use Seaguar fluorocarbon fishing line, purchased in bulk spools. They settle in quickly, and I seldom have to change them. For bass strings, I prefer the D'Addario lightly polished bass, or Hannabach polished (expensive).

[jetrier]

For treble strings, I use Seaguar fluorocarbon fishing line, purchased in bulk spools. They settle in quickly, and I seldom have to change them

Wow, that's something I never thought to try. What lb rest of line? Isn't that how it's measured?

I love this forum. Thanks for everyone's great ideas. I don't know where else I could find as many passionate jazz guitarists

[krusty]

I've tried various combinations of lb test. I started simply by trying to match the diameter closely with another brand of fluorocarbon trebles (don't try this with regular nylon trebles), then adjusting and trying different weights in order to match the feel of the tension across all my strings. My guitar is a Godin ACS SA, and I prefer higher tension. To balance the Hannabach high tension basses, which tend to be slightly higher in tension than other brands' "high tension", I am using 60/80/100lb spools. The intonation for this particular type is spot on for my guitar. There was a big thread over at Delcamp a while ago with various peoples' tests and opinions. The results were best overall with the Seaguar Premier over other random fluorocarbon fishing lines, or even other Seaguar products. While most will work, intonation is important.

Edit: I just checked all my spools. The breaking strength changed on a couple of them a while ago. Newer formulation led to a higher rating for the same diameter. I have an older 85lb roll that is 0.91mm, while the current 100lb is 0.91mm too.

In use currently:
60lb - .700mm (high E)
80lb - .780mm (B)
100lb - .910mm (G)

I have also tried a 40lb/50lb/80lb combo with some normal tension basses, and found everything a bit loose for my liking. I'm primarily a steel string player, though. I think I also tried 50/60/80, again with the same results.

Seaguar Fluoro Premier Fluorocarbon Leader - Melton International Tackle

[sandal90]

These are great for warm, jazzy playing
Luthier 35 concert dark silver classical guitar strings
But the best set in my opinion is this
Savarez S.A. 500CR New Cristal Corum Normal Tension Classical Guitar Strings | Sweetwater

[jetrier]

Thanks again to all. This thread will be a great resource on the topic for anyone who finds it

[Runepune]

I tried a set with lightly polished wound strings. Less noise...but dead sounding. To me. The best set of nylons I've found so far is D'adddario Pro Arte Carbon (EJ46FF). I always found the unwound nylon strings, especially G, to sound somewhat "plasticky". Not so with the carbon. I play with a pick though, and like to dig in.

EDIT: I just noticed you were mostly concerned with the amplified sound. You could try eq'ing out some in the upper midrange (2/3-4/5kHz or so)...or you could go more advanced and apply a dynamic multiband eq/de-esser at those frequencies