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I was about to purchase a set of strings from juststrings.com but decided to hold so that I could ask everyone what their favourites are. My own standard choice has been the D'Addario composite hard tensions. The composites really do last a lot longer than the regulars, and I find that they sound quite a bit better.
So what's your favourite, and why? Also, where do you typically make your string purchases?
Oh -- and I can't tell the difference between strings marketed as flamenco. Black trebles, red trebles, regular nylon: all the same to me, provided they're comparable tensions.
I'll hold my purchase for a few days. Maybe I'm missing out on something great.
I always use La bella 820 medium tensions black or red. I've had them recommended to me several times on this site and elsewhere. they sound great, and last too.
The strings I'm using at the moment were bought for me by a friend when he went to granada. he went to a guitar shop and said my friend plays flamenco what are the best strings you have?? he gave him some nylon Stagg cassic Angel Lopez strings. I was skeptical and have only just decided to use them but they sound really nice and they are high tension which seems to have helped with my picado. but maybe thats just coincidence. (anyone tried these strings???)
I used to use the LaBella's but switched to Luthier's I think the sound and last better than the LaBella's. I think LaBella trebles feel like cheap plastic to me ...
LaBella trebles are the ONLY trebles I have ever actually had break, and it happened three time in the past. I have never had Luthier's break.
Both my Pedro De Miguel's sound better with Luthier's.
I like the sound of Hannabach carbon trebles also, which are very bright and crisp, but they tend to be a bit like wires. I tend to switch back and forth between them and Luthier 20 trebles.
Actually a mix of them. Please try La Bella 820 for basses, and Luthier 20 (or any other Luthier of the same series, not the "concert" ones) for trebles. Especially La Bella basses sound like a "razor machine", which is very good for rasgeados.
I switch between medium tension D'addario Pro Arte's and Hannabach Flamenco's with the red trebs on my Burguet 1f. I think I prefer the Hannabach trebs over the D'addario's but the D'addario basses last much longer; I usually mix them up and I play approx 2 hours per day... I have had very good luck ordering strings and accessories from "Strings by Mail". Their prices are competitive and shipping is $4.00 no matter how much you order. Sig--
Aquila Alabastros have been the only strings on my guitar since Doog recommended them a few months ago. They have a dryer sound with less sustain which makes the strings sound more separated. The feel of the strings is different too. The diameters of the trebles are excellent, and they last longer than anything I have tried to date.
My own experience is just the opposite of Deniz’s (I’d prefer a combo of Luthier bass and La Bella Treble), which just goes to show how subjective all this is and how far from a consensus we all are. At any rate, my two cents:
I use D’Addario EJ45s as a base to compare all other strings. Dirty cheap, super consistent, good sound, and they last forever and ever.
Luthier 20s are good, and sound really great at first, though their initial brilliance wears off pretty quick, at which point they pretty much end up sounding like the EJ45s but cost an extra couple of bucks more. The difference in sound isn’t great enough to warrant the additional cost, IMO.
LaBella 820B have great (black) trebles, but lousy basses. I found that the basses wore out really quickly, faster than any other strings I can recall. Price is midway between the D’Addario and the Luthiers.
I tried Hannabach 827 Flamenco MTs once and thought they were totally crappy. Dull sound, bad feel, short life, and ugly, burnt-orange/red-ish trebles.
After trying out a number of things myself I think I’m leaning towards settling on an 820B treble/EJ45 bass mix. For me this is working out to be the best combo of sound, string-life, and cost.
And stringsbymail.com is definitely the way to go, at least if you’re in the U.S.. I haven’t seen lower prices (I just did a quick check and they’re notably cheaper than juststrings), shipping is quick and reliable, can’t go wrong.
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