Beatles Guitar Strings: What They REALLY Used
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- čas přidán 11. 02. 2024
- What The Beatles used for the following guitars 1966 & prior.
1. 1958 325: Unknown until the Bigsby change in 1961, then to Gibson Sonomatics.
2. 1964 325/12: Factory red tail flatwound.
3. 1964 325 "Miami": Factory red tail flatwound, then slowly started switching the broken strings for round wounds. By the time we see the movie "Help!" there is only one flatwound string left.
4. 1964 360/12: Factory red tail flatwound. Would switch in factory unwound Gretsch strings.
5. 1957 Duo Jet: Factory Gretsch Chet Atkins.
6. 1962 Country Gentleman BOTH Dial Up & Flip Up Mutes: Factory Chet Atkins Gretsch.
7. 1963 Gretsch Tennessean: Factory Chet Atkins Gretsch.
8. Gibson J-160e (All): Factory Gibson Sonomatic.
9. 1964 Epiphone Texan: Round Wound.
10. Epiphone Casino (All): Factory Gibson Sonomatic.
11. 1964 Gibson SG: Factory Gibson Sonomatic.
12. 1961 Fender Stratocasters (All): Round wound.
*At all different points in their career, John & George were swapping out individual broken strings for random ones they had laying around. But I speculate it was primarily other factory packs from the guitars they already had.
Gibson Sonomatics were heavily used by them.
Link to my “All About” video on the Gibson J-160e:
• Gibson J-160e: All About
Link to my acoustic cover of This Boy on my 1966 Gibson J-160e:
• This Boy Gibson J-160e
Special thanks to @sampopkin & @LucaColaMusic & @studiotwotribute for supplying photos of their guitars!
Check out my Instagram:
/ guitar_gear_connection - Hudba
Might be the most important beatles-related video of the century!
You making me blush! Thanks Sam!
Lol
@@guitargearconnection
I'm a huge Buddy Holly fan and Johnny Cash and Luther Perkins fan and my buddies grandpa had a whole box of vintage black diamond strings acoustic and electric guitar strings I have the vintage black diamond electric guitar strings on my homemade electric guitar that me and my grandpa built in his garage anyways the vintage Black diamond strings are flatwounds
If you want modern-day black diamond vintage era type flatwounds Thomastik flats 11s or any other guages but 10s will sound like vintage black diamond flatwound strings
Howdy from North Carolina
Sam!!
Ringo definitely used Stringos
This is definitely the best comment!
Nice 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🤣🤣🤣🤣
Our band recorded at Abbey Road in 1969. We kept our gear in the same room as the Beatles kept theirs. One day we snuck in there and looked inside Ringos trap case, and instead of finding cymbals and the like, it was filled to the brim with Fender light gauge rock ‘n’ roll strings as they were called on the label.
That makes sense. I bet by the later years especially 68’ 69’, they and most people were all loving light gauge strings
Yes, and that was around the time fender sent them all the gear, so probably sent them strings as well!
BTW that is an incredible story!!!!
Gauges .10 to .38.
Fender rock'n'roll were made by Pyramid and still available. Pyramid now call them the Jimi Hendrix Nickel Classics.
The Reason the strings were mixed at times, Read ‘Living The Beatles Life..The Story Of Mal Evens’.. it was Mal who used to buy all the strings and Pics, he would go to the nearest Guitar shop they were appearing and just buy a bulk load each, Mal was also the string changer and a very good quick one.. he would re-string and tune the strings before every performance and only change them when they broke, this was also the case in the studio.. it’s a very good book and a recommended read.
The amount of effort and dedication that you put into this is remarkable Paul! People need to share this video around! Spread the word! Very well done
Thanks a lot Dom!!!!! I really appreciate that!
dang you went all out with this one! incredible effort
Thanks Michael!
Really good research here but George and John would be howling with laughter if they could see us today pouring over these small details! Strings were just strings then,we bought whatever was on sale! Also no guitarists knew about truss rods,action,tension etc etc- it was all unknown mystic magic!
Thank you for this deep dive and correcting the myth! The flatwounds on the 12-string are important, for the rest we’ve been leaning towards halfwounds. This is confirmation to use rounds!
Thanks Ably! Your words are much appreciated!!!
Pretty interesting. Never knew Fenders originally came with flats! Or the Beatles leaving the factory strings on until one broke.
Great investigative reporting , I recall watching the Beatles tuning their instruments , they were just cranking it like they had to get the job done. When I was a little boy I remembered that people would replace just the string they broke , I recall going to the store to buy only the one string... stating that they were expensive.
I'm 70 and started playing, age 10 in 1964. Here in England I remember Gibson Sonomatics. Please be aware that no one would change sets, only individual strings. Loose strings were often flat wound, and mixed on the guitar, and obtained from record shops. Because they tended to be heavier than today, they didn't go off as quickly. I also used Black Diamond strings. There were no luthiers, and no one new anything about set ups. I hope this gives an insight to those early years.
Yes it does! Thanks for sharing!
I cannot think of anything more nerdy...Or more enjoyable! Thank you for this deep dive. Now...I just need to give my head a wobble.
Haha thank you! Much appreciated!!!
Shortly after the Beatles came to the US I bought my first guitar I believe in 1965, everyone wanted to be a Beatle. When I changed my strings I used Black Diamond flat wound pure nickel 9 gauge. Loved the tone and feel of them on that guitar. That brand does not make those any longer and I haven’t found anyone that does, sure wish someone did. I still have that guitar today. Thanks for a great job with this video I to have always wondered what strings the Beatles used.
Thank you! I was going to get a vintage pack of Black Diamonds for the episode, but the pack I was watching sold so I decided to skip those in the video. But they are nice strings!!!
I started playing in the 50s and all we used for black diamond.
The legends are more interested in creating than what they create on
I got to say, These Beatles Docs made by CZcams creators can be so rewarding. This definitley one that is a worthwhile investment of my time.
Cheers🎉
There were also half round guitar strings on the market!
Yup!!!! I did find a few variations that claimed to be flatwound, but were 100% half wounds.
22:11 a very rare photo of a Beatle changing own guitar's string(s); usually (always) it was roadie Mal to do that job for them; as well as purchasing them when there were none in the studio.
26:51 i thought THAT was Eric Clapton's "technique" (I used to do it too !!!)
I though in the 1960's in England . . ."Roto-Sound Strings" was the go-to company.
I think that was a myth put in place to possibly help certain string companies with sales. If you think about it, flatwounds were really becoming unpopular in the late 60’s, and I’m sure almost died in the 70’s with everyone wanting to do all bends and crazy Jimi/Clapton stuff. Since these companies realized the past was murky, they needed to bring back sales somehow!
This is a fantastically informative video on string history. In 1960 when I was four I took to my older brothers Gibson ES 125 TC guitar. By 1966 or 67 I had formed my first band in grade school called "What". By this time I thought I should replace the strings. I went to Wally Kings music store in Glencoe IL and asked for a set of strings. He asked if my guitar was a hollow body or if it was electric. Well of course it's a hollow body electric, but I think old Wally decided that it must an old folk guitar and sold me a set of acoustic strings. That weekend my group What played for a party and the new strings caused a complete disaster for me. In the following years leading up to now that I'm 68, I have run a guitar repair business for most of my adult life and after a few thousand string changes under my belt it is a bit more routine than my first traumatic experience. But, this video made me think back and wonder, what strings did I use in the 60s, and for that matter the what about the history of strings and what people have used over the last 100 years and before. So I'm just saying thank you, this video is so informative and I look forward to learning more on the subject.
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing and thank you!!!
Cant wait to see what strings Paul used on his basses, from the Höfners, to his Rickenbacker, to his Jazz Bass
Hoefner strings were and still. are made by Pyramid
Will there be one for Paul’s basses?
@@g.s.3074 From what I understood, at the end of the video I believe he said he would do another video on the strings on Paul's basses
I remember someone asking Paul what kind of strings he used, he answered "long shiny ones." He said he wasn't into the technology of instruments, he just played them
@@OscarMoreno-zx1ox so true, typical Paul
My first electric guitar was an unbranded Rickenbacker thin line replica which came with flats I wasn't in my teens yet and clueless so I assumed that all electric guitars came with flat wound strings. back then.
Absolutely amazing work here Paul!! This was well worth the wait, I need to get my hands on some Chet Atkins yellow furs, or even some Sonomatics ahaha!! Thank you so much for including the pictures of my Gent by the way! I feel honoured to have been part of this, and hope I can help more in the future! :)
Thank you Luca!!! Appreciate it and thanks again for the photo! Now go make some killer videos with rounds on that Gent 😁
@@guitargearconnection I absolutely will haha! It's been a pleasure Paul :)
Paul.....this is simply incredible work my friend.
Thank you! Cheers!
How incredibly interesting. Love the background music...❤
Glad you enjoyed it!
The Mal Evans diaries will be coming out next year, from Ken Womak. Evans was both an extensive diary-keeper, and their tech.
Fingers crossed.
I’m hopping more info comes out!!!!
Direct Quote:
"Long, Shiny Ones".
That was Paul
Great video man.
I’d like to add that George starting on the white album switched to using light gauge Fender “Rock n Roll” strings 10-38. Eric Clapton starting using those strings with Cream and they would have been on the Les Paul he gave to George. John and Paul on the other hand did not switch to light gauge strings until after the Beatles. John however on She’s So Heavy replaced the wound G with a B string. If you listen to that song and play along you’ll notice he only really bends the G string.
Also, Fender’s stock set I believe was their 13-55 No.10 set until the mid sixties when the “Smooth Roundwound” set 12-52 became the stock string set. So they likely used the No.10 set on their strats.
After this video I hope to see more people using historic string gauges when playing Beatles music. 10s just don’t have enough tension, sustain, or midrange to sound right. Hollow body guitars like the Gretschs and Casinos also sound much better when used with the heavier strings they were designed for.
Thanks for that! And also thanks for sharing that info!!! I love a heavier set myself
Amazing research here. Very well done!
Thank you kindly!
Holly crap, I've been completely outnerded! My anorak zip & hood draw strings have snapped! I salute you!
Some Liverpool reminiscing/rambling triggered by this impressive video:
In the late 80s & early 90s, as a teenager, I used to buy my guitar strings from Hessey's, there was a quick picture in your video, I'd never seen it before. Several new to me pictures, thank you. Nobody I knew, even pro jobbing players changed their strings more than when they broke one back in the 90s even, it was too expensive!
You couldn't buy a decent, inexpensive guitar or bass then, even the almost attainable, 'medium priced' guitars were crap compared with relatively cheap, very decent by comparison guitars available today.
Hessey's music shop was very near to Mathew St. where the Cavern had been, The Cavern was raised to the ground at the time. Idiots had knocked it down & was almost a car park that also wasn't being used, it was just waste ground. Liverpool really was being run badly then, still makes me sad & angry. The 'Cavern' that exists there now cost a fortune to build & is a relatively poor 'replica' of the original Cavern.
Curly Music was next door to Hessey's, it became renowned for accepting stolen gear. I used to play in pubs & clubs in Liverpool, had an amp stolen &, sure enough, it ended up in Curly Music, I told them it was mine but they just laughed & said "what ye gonna do about it?"! Dirty f*ckers.
Hessey's & Rushworth's, a big music shop/store over the road, seemed legit though, although I mostly only window shopped. Apart from a second hand analogue echo pedal from Rushworth's that I still have, I bought all my gear though the back pages of the papers, Liverpool Echo & Loot. That really was a different era, let alone the 60s!
Great video, Thank you.
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing that! I would have loved to be over there back then.
This certainly opens up the debate. To this day, Rotosound (UK string manufacturer) say the Beatles used Rotosound strings (not exclusively, though).
I think some string companies tired cashing in on this whole myth of flatwounds, and the fact nobody ever seemed to know really what they had.
I do think rotosounds were popular in 60s England , when they starting making them again in the 90s my dad was ecstatic.
I’ve been waiting for this video for a while now. It didn’t disappoint at all. Great vid, Paul!
After all these years we're still learning things about this band! Amazing stuff...
Isn’t it awesome! I love the fact that there is still more to be discovered
Also at the end of the video you did address the Unwound G situation. I believe that is what we're actually seeing on George's Tennessean from the Shea Stadium where he's probably using an E string for a b string and a b string for a g-string which is why those two strings stand out
The black of Paul's strings is the dead giveaway that they're nylon wrapped. Steel core, but wrapped in a black nylon flat ribbon. Nice old-world thunky ADSR, great for sixties 'soul' music especially.
Paul said, “Silver, Shiny Ones…
I used to love flat wound strings on my first guitar in 1972 (a Futurama 3), I didn’t know what I was doing, but I liked the smoother sound as your fingers move along the strings.
This is an incredible accomplishment in Guitarchaeology. Thanks for your investment in all those old strings, and for all the detailed close ups! Its clear they don't make 'em like they used to! That can be a good or bad thing, new strings are certainly made to finer tolerances and higher standards, but a lot of the old styles of strings are simply no longer made. Even your photos of new strings are super handy, its crazy how different modern flatwounds are from each other.
I hadn't heard the term "compression wound" before but thats a great new search term for me, I have an old Danelectro UB-2 six string bass, and I've heard the original strings on them were "polished round wound" which was described to me as something close to half-rounds, compression wound might just be what they are!
I thank you for the kind words!
Not until Rickenbackers, I first heard of that type of string myself.
Hi,I think Compression Wound,Half Round and Half Ground Wound is the same thing?
Great video Paul & you’re right on the money. Used to play in a Beatles band & could best get ‘that sound’ with roundwounds that were very worn in. Tried flats… made the guitar sound dead, muddy & cheap.
100%!! Thanks for the kind words!!!
I've always wondered what they've used myself so this was definitely a cool one to watch, thanks and great work with all the research
Thank you very much!
One of the most fascinating Beatle videos I've seen in ages, and I've seen a lot at this point. Well done, excellent work!
Glad you enjoyed it!
WOW! what a FANTASTIC video!!! This has always been a huge question mark for me and it's great to know that the Fabs sometimes used flats. I've played Ric 360's (6-string) and Ric 325/V63 in a couple of different bands. Even though I've been a Beatlemaniac since 1964 my bands were never intentionally trying to capture any Beatle sound. However, once I tried Pyramid Flats, that was IT.... I never went back. They are THE BEST.
I appreciate the kind words! Pyramids are really nice strings and do have a great sound!
I know when I purchased my Gretsch blackhawk 1968 in 69, it had flatwounds on it, I used those for a bit, maybe 6 months, and asked my teacher at the time what to get to replace them, he handed me a round plastic pack Gretsch with Blue lettering and coloring, Round Wound strings, this would have been in 1970.
Legendary job Paul! I admit I didn't have much info about strings the Beatles had on their guitars, other than mentions that they used flats wound strings. However that changed when I saw your instagram stories about the rounds actually being on their guitars, and have since been anticipating this video. Gotta say it didn't disappoint and really appreciate the time and effort you put into this video researching the strings and comparing them, especially track down the particular strings.
Thanks as always Luke! Glad you enjoyed this one. And I’m glad you were on time with your comment 😂 ❤️
Congratulations on your J160e 🥳
Thank you!
Best flatwounds I’ve played were he LaBella Deep Talkin’ Flats. Had them on a fretless five for eight years. Popped the B string one day, but recently cleaned the remaining four string set and have them on my parts bass P Bass. They still talk deep, even through the dirt, beer and sweat; just a little rubbing alcohol and pulled each string like a bow to throw the junk out of them.
Love the LaBella!
This is a great video I often wondered what types of strings, picks, and guitars my favorite musicians played. at first glance I couldn't see how you could devote so much time to this subject. But, once I started watching this video I couldn't stop! Your investigative skills are unparalleled! 👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you! Much appreciated!!!
@@guitargearconnection my pleasure
TBH , they just used whatever strings Mal Evens (Beatles Roadie, Mr Fixit and all round dogsbody ) had bought for them, part of his job was going to music stores (which he particularly enjoyed) buying strings, pics and Ringo’s drum sticks, he always said to his assistant Kevin Harrington, “Make sure you’ve always got pics on you and a couple packets of strings”..all this is in the book “Living The Beatles Legend: The Story of Mal Evens” there is quite a lot in there from his unpublished auto-biography, it’s a great read which I highly recommend.
D'angelico rounds were used on the old archtops....they were loud !!! Lawdy lawdy+
Love flats on my basses, never would have thought flats on the 6 string guitar
Great video! I haven't read through all the comments so I can't say that you've addressed this but you seem to have indicated that the metallurgical composition of the Mona steel strings changed, I was always under the impression that the Sonomatics were actually monel which is a somewhat unique alloy for guitar strings and is making someone of a comeback now.
Thank you!
Depending on what model Sonomatics, some could be monel or pure nickel. The E-340’s were pure nickel, and should have been the favored choice for the most part. Even after the Beatles, I have an article that I didn’t include that came right from George’s tech saying he loved E-340’s on “Rocky” for slide. There has been speculation that their J-160e’s came factory with E-229’s which would have been monel, but I think I’m close to debunking that.
@@guitargearconnection cool - do the E-340's say "Mona Steel" on the envelope? Kind of misleading! ;-) Also, were you aware that the Gretsch "Rhythm & Blues" blue label strings came with an unwound g? I believe they may have been the first, before Ernie Ball....
You sir are a true Nerd.. This is a good thing because I'm all about Knowledge, Knowledge is King!!
Thank you for that! Glad to be a nerd in this case hahaha!
Expensive strings for the day.
Very! To pay $40 in strings and just have them break right away almost was crazy!
I was playing guitar in the mid 60s, it was hard to find Light Guage Strings, you needed to order from string Companies
back then. Wating time up to 6 months some times. Finaly by 1970 Rock n Roll gear started showing up in Music stores
and so did light gauge Ernie Balls.........But in the Beatles days it was Black Diamond 13' guage strings, you couldnt bend
them without lifting weights LOL. Thank god for Light Guage slinkys. If i had lived in San Fransisco or Los Angeles
back in the late 60s they already were full of Rock n Roll gear and strings
Interesting! Thanks for sharing that. Crazy to think how far strings have come.
Aw hell yeah been waiting for this! You’re doing stellar work Paul.
You are to be commended for all the research you did for this Video. It must have taken alot of Hunting and Searching for sure!!
Thank you!!!🙏
Mal Evans would change the strings. Read his book....its awesome.
Very interesting! Thanks for posting. I can’t believe John just threw his guitars around like that. Whether it’s a $200 guitar or a $2000 guitar I always handle them like it’s a $1 million Stradivarius violin.
Crazy what they did back then!
And thank you!!!!
Excellent research. This kind of tedious, dedicated and comprehensive research is what many of us are looking for. You knocked it out of the ballpark sir. This is important.
Scrutinizing the photos like you did, surmising their probable responses and laying out a time line regarding string breakage was impressive. Very thorough and very scholarly and lawyerly. You've impressed the f___ out of me. No easy feat. A+5
Thank you for that!
Well , famously, when asked about what strings they use,they would say " the long shiny ones"...... They thought it was silly that anyone would care...Yeah... They didn't seem to give it any thought. Leave them on till they break .. Anyway,this was great. Entertaining. And I'm sure we're all impressed .. Side note..As far as the sound of early recordings???? They sound like giant unbendable cables
A most thorough and complete look into the subject of the Beatles guitar strings.
Well done!! and thank you for sharing this info!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Even in the 50's, in the USA, as I recall anyway, the only guitar players who used flat-wound strings were playing jazz. And 13's were always called mediums as far as I know. I used heavy gauge strings on my D-28 for years (not a good idea, by the way) 14's, just to break fewer strings. (That is a good way to need a neck reset.) On my Gibson SG's I used Gibson Mono-steel mediums.
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Very interesting, Thank you. I didn’t realise that they used flatwound strings at all. I’ve never heard of ‘compressed wound’.
Glad you enjoyed it! Not many companies make the compressed wound. I plan on doing more testing with them hopefully soon!
@@guitargearconnection Back in ‘84, I bought a Rodger Jazz archtop with a tortoise shell scratch plate and De Armond pickup. The tone/volume controls were on a little chrome unit on a bar. It had flatwound strings on it which I’d never seen before. It was stunning and because this type of guitar wasn’t really that popular then I only paid £145 for it. I wish I had it now
Thanks my teacher❤
You are very welcome! Hahaha
Listening to the big popular guitar CZcamsrs is almost like hearing someone read old forum posts verbatim. Glad that after so many years some of these old myths are finally getting laid to rest.
Thank you!
Excellent job. The best most comprehensive video on The Beatles strings, and something that was definitely needed.
Thank you!!!!🙏
Paul this video is the only one I've ever seen with such convincing and abundant evidence . I learned so much about the strings available and used , and will definitely come back to this video to remember stuff. I probably am going to literally take notes on some of this info. I've always felt the rounds were used on the J-160e too after trying flats years ago and not feeling I was getting the sound on the record. Really excellent video and research! Fantastic presentation of the info too! Congratulations!.
Perry again thanks for all your kind words on all this! Means a lot coming from someone that has the best Beatle’s gear collection in the world. Thank you!!!!
Makes you remember that there was a day when manufacturers tried to reward and maintain customers by providing them with what they were likely to need, rather than just being concerned with selling more, sooner.
All these particulars, which are nice to know, show you that the functioning Beatles gear philosophy was " Shut up, don't worry about the small stuff, and play whatever you can get".
Also, early 60's Hamburg they used Maxima or Pyramid or whatever they could get. Pyramid has re-issued monel from these days, Monel Steel Strings relive the great tones of the 50’s and 60’s with a modern touch, we call it
“Vintage bright”. It´s a wonderful alternative to nickel-plated steel and pure nickel strings. Back finally after
decades of being forgotten by other string manufacturers, just google them. Paul used to cut Piano bass strings out of any Piano he would see in those days, money was tied. Maxima strings is now called Optima strings but they do not have any re-issue strings in the catalogue, cheers Bernie, any questions about both brands hit me,
The best video on YT. I always wanted to know what strings the Beatles used!
Shucks… you’re making me blush! Thank you!
Wow! The money I've been wasting on flats!!! But thank you though. This is big. Most important Beatles gear video I've seen.
Well- they did use flats on some guitars.
100%!
I know nothing about guitars but this video was very entertaining
Glad you enjoyed it!!!
In the 70s we used to like Gibson flatwounds, and they had the red stuff on the ends.
Unprecedented research! I will have to do the however brief addendum regarding guitar picks on my channel 😁
Definitely! I would love to see a guitar pick comparison video! And thanks for the kind words Brian!
Excellent production. Being a boomer from these years and even worked in my neighbor's music store from 1970 to 73, I saw a lot of Sonomatics and Gretsch strings back then. But also a lot of Black Diamond as well. Later in life I was friends with Mark Dronge owner of DR Strings and learned a lot from him. Namely, the few companies that actually made the music wire cores aka piano wire. I was a trained Metallurgist besides a musician and learned a tremendous amount of techniques for drawing wire through dies. There is so much more to this subject, the "core" of these strings you have researched is yet to be determined. Still gigging in Nashville I love the tonal possibilities of different strings. My mind is exploding with even more stimulation thanks to your hard "core" efforts to research this info. I wonder if you can contact Sir Paul with his answers to some of your interesting questions. Thank you for your commitment to this subject. By the way for your info, I believe the Mona strings you referred to were made from the Superalloy named MONEL 400. 67% Ni/ 23% Cu.
Thanks for that much appreciated! And also thanks for sharing all that info!
Well I'm an old guy who grew up in the 50s and 60s and all the guitars I had, had round wound strings. All my friends guitars had round wound strings. I used to complain at first about the strings ripping up my fingers. Of course the way guitars were set up back then, the strings were 1/4 of an inch from the fretboard!! My friends said get some flat wound strings. Well you couldn't get them anywhere!! So I kinda find this thing that everyone was playing flat wound strings on their guitars. I do see the packs here, but we couldn't find them.
Thanks for sharing that! Definitely confirms my video too!
Amazing eye for detail. A really interesting watch! Thanks for your excellent work.
My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
GREAT INFORMATIVE VIDEO!!
Glad you enjoyed it!!!
Just an awesome video! Thanks so much for all your effort in researching this very important and mysterious subject!
Thank you much!!!!
Nicely done!
For comparison to recent makes of strings, no mention of the Thomastik Infeld Jazz flat wounds?
I can say that they are the closest thing I've found to the Maxima Rickenbacker flats of yesteryear, and they now finally offer a set for electric 12-string. They sound great and last forever!
Thank you!
Interestingly, the pictures that comes up of the red string ends on my 325V63 & 325V59 were Thomastik. I never really used any other flatwounds besides TI. Love them!
Truly impressive research here !!! Thanks for all the work that went into this. You have more info about strings (and not just the Beatles strings) than I have found anywhere else and I have certainly done some searching on the internet in the last few years.
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@guitargearconnection You were incredibly thorough in your work but I still had a couple of questions after watching the video for the second time.
1. You said that the Rickenbacker strings were "very light". Could you share the actual string gauges of their set(s) ???
2. You have a quick shot of the Gibson strings in 12-56 (mediums) but what were all the gauges on the light set (11) and the heavy set (13) ?????
I've seen people claim 50s Les Paul Juniors came with 14 on the high E (not sure this is even true) but they didn't even mention the gauges of the full set.
Hope you can share the answers to these burning questions and again thanks so much for all the info in this video, it really is one of the most informative gear videos I have seen on CZcams and I have watched a lot of videos about guitar and recording equipment. The amount of detective work and putting things together you did was astounding.
The idea that the Beatles never changed the strings on several of their guitars boggles my mind. Same feeling as when I realized Paul never flipped the saddle around to the proper position on his Martin
Man, that is incredible research! Kudos, man! TYFP!
Thank you!
Ernie Ball Super Slinky 9-42 😂 For real though, great research, you really dug deep on this one.
This is a beautifully produced video! Loved it!
Thank you so much!
Thanks! Nice video and interesting subject.
Glad you enjoyed it!!!
Thanks for a well researched and documented look inside music history.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Impressive investigative work you've done here, and very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!!!
Very important detective work! I LOVE this video. Thank you and Congratulations!
Thank you!
Thanks for your great research. Finally I don't feel that I have to source out expensive flat wounds for my Gretsches.
Glad you enjoyed it! And agree, it’s nice to walk into my local Guitar Center and buy a nice pack of Daddario’s or any other standard brand for $8-$10 lol. And it’s nice most rounds are always in stock in local stores, or next day on Amazon & all that.
Excellent material!!! Thank you ❤❤❤
Glad you enjoyed it!
George's Rick and Gretsch Jet were on tour at the Grammy museum and I checked them out in the glass case they were standing in. Didn't think to notice if they were round or flat. In this video, for the first time, I just noticed that John didn't cut off the ends of his strings by the tuning keys.
Thanks for all your hard work on this
Thank you!
Awesome GGC《☆》Good Job Brother👍🏾🔔🤳It's cool to know that I'm like the Beatles in that I've always been lazy about changing strings. I have a 2001 Squire Fat Strat that still has the original Fender Bullet strings on it. It still sounds pretty good amplified but I'm thinking about going with heavier gauges on the wound strings for better drop D results✌🏼😎☯️
Thank you!!!
Great stuff 👍🎶Thanks for all the info
Thank you!
Thank you for posting this informative video.
I have been trying to find out what picks / plectrums they used but without any success.
Glad you enjoyed it! I have a plectrum video in the works!
I dunno,being a guitar player,someone who can set up a guitar and use his ears. I never once doubted that the Beatles used round wound strings.
But! Absolutely wonderful vid, socially and culturally very important.
Well done that man, well done!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻❤️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
This is excellent work! Congratulations!
I really appreciate that!!!
I don't think I've ever heard someone claim roundwound strings didn't exist for guitar in the 60s. It's on basses where roundwounds didn't exist yet. The thing about guitar strings is more about the gauges available. Electric guitar string gauges were at the time fairly similar to acoustic guitar gauges, the light sets with unwound Gs weren't being sold yet.
In the Beatle gear world, lots think round wound strings for guitars weren’t invented until the mid 60’s. Tons still do. I even had one guy tell me all this research proves nothing and the Beatles never used rounds. Crazy times we live in.
@@guitargearconnection Weird! As far as I know, bronze roundwounds have always been standard on flat top steel string guitars!
I think the composition of the bronze has changed, phosphor bronze is a relatively new development.
I think people are conflating the introduction of roundwound bass strings with the introduction of light gauge sets of electric guitar strings with unwound Gs around the same time.
Great job on this! It settles allot of discussions amongst us over the years. Thanks for the research!
Thank you!!!
That was a fantastic video! Well done sir. You've got a new fan.
Welcome aboard!
Fantastic video! Great job! Waiting for Paul's bass string video.
Thank you! Hopefully I’ll have one out in the next few months!