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Stainless Steel or Nickel electric guitar strings, which should I choose?

Posted by The Guru | Posted on 22-06-2010

Category : Electric Guitar Strings, Nickel strings, Stainless Steel Strings

Tags: , , , , ,

fender nickel electric guitar stringsSo you are buying new electric guitar strings and you notice apart from the enormous number of brands and sizes that you also have to think about the material they are made out of. What now?

Well here are a few pointers to help pick which is right for you, Stainless Steel or Nickel:

Nickel Pros:

  • Generally less expensive than Stainless Steel strings
  • Easier on your fingers than Stainless Steel strings
  • Slightly “warmer” tone than Stainless Steel strings
  • Tend to wear frets less quickly than Stainless Steel strings

Nickel Cons:

  • Guitarists with a Nickel allergy may have an allergic reaction to playing with Nickel guitar strings
  • Can corrode very quickly when allowed to stay in a humid environment or are not cleaned after use

Stainless Steel Pros:

  • Brighter tone than Nickel strings
  • Stainless Steel strings are hypoallergenic which means no allergic reaction if you have a Nickel sensitivity
  • Less susceptible to moisture and corrosion over time

Stainless Steel Cons:

  • Wear out frets faster than Nickel strings (*see note below)
  • Can be rougher on your fingers (caution newer players)
  • Tend to be a bit more expensive than Nickel strings
  • Tone tends to go “dead” quicker than Nickel strings

fender stainless steel electric guitar stringsAs you can see, there are a lot of things to think about. My personal opinion: buy a pack of each and see for yourself! People can talk all day about what is good or bad about either type of string but you are the judge of what is the most comfortable and what produces the best sound for YOU.

*Regarding the additional fret wear of Stainless Steel electric guitar strings: keep in mind that when I say extra wear, I am not talking about needing a refretting job a year from now. As with any metal, a stronger metal (stainless steel) rubbing against the slightly softer metal of the frets (usually nickel alloy but sometime stainless steel) will always cause a small amount of wear. Many guitarists have played with Stainless Steel strings for 10 years without noticing extreme wear on their frets due to the harder strings. So don’t let that scare you too much, give them a try, you might just love them!