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I set up 2 guitars with these strings, today.
One set of rounds and one set of flats.
At first sight these strings look like a less polished product than the usual suspects... but they sound great nevertheless.
What strikes me the most is that they sound noticeably different than (in the case of flats) D'Addario or Thomatsik sets. Can't yet define what it is... they sound like they could do a great job with the bebop repertoire - "modern" style tunes maybe not as much.
Anyway these are just impressions.
Would be interested in your own experience with these strings, if you can share. Thanks!
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12-26-2017 04:50 PM
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I haven't tried the flats, but I did try the roundwounds. They sound fine, but didn't last as long for me as my usual D'Addario pure nickels. They went dead to my ear at about half the time I was used to. YMMV.
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I use the flatwound round cores. As best I can tell they are the same materials and design as the TIs but less expensive. They may have a little more rapid decay in sound (more thunk), but maybe not.
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european made pyramid and thomastik flats are pure nickel wrap...premium strings..all usa made flats are stainless steel wrapped...big difference...in cost, look and tone!
pyramids are top strings....but i prefer thoms slightly lower tension feel
cheers
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Pyramids and TIs tend to last a long time. Pyramids sell for less than $20 a set. Sometimes they are on sale for $16.
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Originally Posted by Marty Grass
My biggest gripe w/ TI flats are their string gauges.......previously discussed here......and then their price...( $24.00 a set @ Just Strings ).
The Pyramids are at least the correct gauges -also nickel wound but for sure don't seem to last as long as TI's, and cost $22.00 a set @ JS.
The Chromes are st. steel wound, but sound good, last longer than both TI's & Pyramids, and cost $10.00 a set less than TI's & Pyramids.
I just can't make a case for that extra cost.
JMO
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I've used, and liked, their rounds.
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The reason I bought Pyramid was 2-fold Originally Posted by Dennis D
1, I wanted to have the same brand/gauge on flats and rounds as much as possible.
2, I wanted a particular set of gauges I can't find anywhere...
.12 .16 .22 .30 .40 .50 - if you look at it 12+4 = 16+6 = 22+8 = 30+10 = 40 ... and here I should have gone with .52 but wanted 50. Not because of the math (though I like the math) but because 52 feels a bit too much .11 too less.
Usually I buy a set of 11s and drop in a 16 and a 12 for the B and high E.
With Pyramid (rounds) I could buy the as single strings, all of them and the set came out as 6 EUR.
As for prices ... I think TI dropped heavilly here in Europe lately? I was looking today and at Thomann here's the relative prices of flats:
Pyramid Gold 11s - 14,90 EUR
Thomatsik JS112 - 14,60 EUR
D'Addario ECG24 - 18,50 EUR
Been playing with the Pyramids all evening and really like their tone - until now the D'Addarios were my favorite tone-wise.. we'll see!
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I've been using Pyramids almost exclusively for the last 16 or 17 years and I like all of them: acoustic/electric - roundwound and flatwound (for two years now). Using all pure nickel winds (except for acoustic) They last long and at least here in Germany they are quite inexpensive in relation to their high quality. On my archtops I'm using a set of .011s and substitute the e and b strings for a higher gauge, too.
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I like both TI and Pyramid strings a lot. However, 4 of my current group of 5 guitars use locking tuners. They don't work well with round cores. I have settled on Galli flats for my Eastman El Rey (Gotoh 510 lockers) and Ernie Ball Cobalt on the others. They make a wound 3rd in the cobalt series that I want to try. Love the clarity from them, and my most used guitar has hardened stainless frets, so I'm not worried about wear. If any of the others start wearing, I'll refret with stainless.
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I tried a set of Pyramid flats several years ago. I agree that they are higher tension than TI's and it was quite noticeable in both feel and sound. I much preferred TI's and I think the difference in tension was the reason but that's entirely about personal preference. Originally Posted by neatomic
Last edited by Jim Soloway; 12-27-2017 at 12:50 PM.
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I bought a couple of Pyramid Classic sets for my semi-hollow and they were a disappointment. The intonation was great but the sound was dull to my ears. I settled on the 11-49 D'Addario XL set with the wound G which is equal in quality and sounds better - again, to my ears; and is easier to find too, as Pyramid doesn't have a distributor even here in nearby Switzerland. I didn't keep the TI Bebops on my archtop for similar reasons. YMMV etc.
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That's the sound of pure nickel winding - one's "dull" is somebody else's "warm"... Originally Posted by m_d
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Just sent one of mine for one of those refrets Originally Posted by krusty
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After a couple of days playing the rounds on my ES-175, I'm loving the fact that I...
...have the exact string gauge combination I wanted
...the tension seems right for me, slightly less than the previous set (Elixir 12s)
...the sound is definitely unique, it has character, a bit on the dark side, doing a nice crossover between flats and rounds
...and that I payed only 6 Eur for this set, wow!
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I just saw an Ad for
'Ernie Ball Pyramid Strings '.
Are these the same ones that they used to rave about in Tonequest Magazine ?
My Mistake Sorry - I mis remembered one of the Guitar Mags at Barnes & Noble ...
The Ernie Balls are 'Paradigm ' NOT Pyramid .
The EB's are priced high but advertised as resisting breakage- not Tones.Last edited by Robertkoa; 01-09-2018 at 09:25 AM.
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First time I hear about those. I googled it but couldn't find it... do you have a link for it maybe? Would be interested to know more about those! Originally Posted by Robertkoa
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Best ones so far. I prefer their flats to Thomastik.
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I used them for a few years, round pure nickel 012, like the darker sound, but the sets I've been getting from Thomann had some intonation weirdness that resolved when I switched to Thomastik.
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Minor point, but if you ever check your strings with a good micrometer, you'll discover that that the string gauges listed on the package (from any maker) are more aspirational than real.
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Rounds sound nice, just a tad on the stiff side.
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I like how Pyramid offers a possibility to order custom sets via a dedicated page, and how they are willing to make custom strings without charging extra. They made me a single set of "silk-and-monel" plus 2 nylon tape-wound over 80/20 brass, IIRC 77€ incl. shipping to France. Not cheap but 3 sets of TI Plectrums would probably have cost me more.
The tape-wounds appear really to be designed for electric guitars with more set-up gimmicks than acoustic guitars tend to have; from the D down they quickly go from barely usable intonation to downright unusable (the 52-gauge low E is more like a low G; it actually buzzed on the saddle on my flattop). The Monels seem OK on the flattop (so should be on the archtop too), but the low E also has a buzz-like parasitic sound that I haven't yet diagnosed.
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I've tried various Pyramid strings on my Tele over the last few months at the recommendation of a music shop (there are a few left) and I'm impressed. 09-46 stainless steels sounded amazing but were a bit too light for my taste. 10-46 SS were great. Now I'm on 10-48 (?) nickels. They took a few days to get used to but now I think I'm going to keep them. At first, I missed some of the brightness that the stainless steels had, but right now the sound is just about perfect.
I have a 11-48 "Jazz" set lying around. I think I'll give them a try when the current set wears out.
All of them are roundwounds, and retail for around 5 Euros. What's not to like?
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Pyramid Classic Nickels (round-.012) is the only string set I ever play with for the past 12 years or so. Absolutely love them. Here’s the sound they were giving me just this morning:
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Very nice tone and interesting playing, thank you. Originally Posted by Mark Kleinhaut
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