Pyramid Strings

[David Root]

I just put a set on my Epi Elitist 57 Goldtop. Unbelievable sustain and tone! Significant improvement in sustain with my Bloozman HRM, and it was pretty good before. Now I can do it at lower volumes.

Anyone else tried these?

[passfan]

You've got me looking now and it won't be long.

[andrew]

I got some at JustStrings.com

[David Root]

I found out about them thru Tonequest magazine which I subscribe to religiously, excellent rag!

So I bought two medium and two regular sets from Tonequest, not cheap, but they come from Germany, not the Porsche factory but an outfit with similar standards by the sound of it. The cores are round section, like in the 50s'60s, not hexagonal like modern cores. That is their main technical justification. At my age I'm pre-sold on "Older is Better!

I will probably try the other medium set on my Strat. I'm still trying to remember why I bought the other two regular sets! I should have got SRV heavy sets, except I can't bend'em like they need to be.... hmmm, maybe the longer Strat scale would work. Hmmm, SRV tuned down a half for a reason, right?

[passfan]

So if I'm playing .011 to .049 now what does that work out to ? JustStrings.com has a perfect match of round wounds but some of the customer reviews mention the same gauge feeling lighter due to the higher quality of materials. Any suggestions ?

[David Root]

.011 to .050, medium Pyramids. BUT they have a wound G string, which I think makes a difference too. Wound G is real old style, their heavy set will get you all misty. The nice thing here is you can get that wound G in a medium set, which I'm not sure was technically possible in the '50s.

Oh, and don't confuse "round wound" strings with round CORE strings. The CORE can be hexagonal or round section, but the wound string around it can be round section or flat section. What we're talking here are round core and round string wrap.

Talking about materials, these guys tout 92% pure nickel. This is also pretty old style, tonally sound, and another reason these strings are not cheap.

[rp]

Wound Gs have their place even today. My first real guitar was a '56 Special. For a few years I could never get the G tuned right and could never figure it out. I suspected Gibson screwed up the bridge location. Then someone told me to use a wound G like they did in '56. Bingo. Same with the only real electric I still have, an Epi Granada, needs a wound G to be in tune right. The Pyramids might be really good on that.

I never gave it any thought, but what's the idea behind the hex core anyway?

[David Root]

"Modern Ingenuity", ie CHEAPER to manufacture! Need I say more?

[dreric]

David

Did you try the flat wounds? They are listed as having the wound G. Or the round wounds?, they're listed as having a plain G.

Electro-Harmonix and Kendrick both sell nickle strings They are hex core, I wonder how they would compare, anyone try these ?

Eric

[statorvane]

Hmmm, SRV tuned down a half for a reason, right?

I thought Stevie tuned down a whole step. Anyway, he had strong hands nevertheless.

[David Root]

dreric, these are round wound. They are called the Nickel Classics. I could not find them on the Pyramid website for some reason.

[CircuitButcher]

David -

Don Butler @ Toneman (http://www.tone-man.com/pyramid.htm) carries Pyramid and lists the Classics.

Never tried the Classics but can vouch for the Pure Nickel Round Wounds - in my experience they hold their pitch far longer than steel string equivalents and are malleably comfy-recommended.

[smokin' tone]

I've used them and I really liked them but out of 8 sets 6 of them had a dead sounding low E string. I couldn't figure it out until someone reminded me of something that I had forgotten. On round core strings bend them at a 90 degree angle before cutting them to length. If you don't the core can unwind and cause the string to sound flat. I remember being taught this back in the 70's but somewhere along the line I quite doing it. I'm pretty sure this is what happened to me with the pyramids. I need to order some more.

[mick]

Smokin, your absolutely right it's mentioned in the catalogue in the description for the classic nickel strings

http://www.pyramid-saiten.de/catalogue/ ... 10_eng.pdf

Mick

[solderstain]

So if I'm playing .011 to .049 now what does that work out to ? JustStrings.com has a perfect match of round wounds but some of the customer reviews mention the same gauge feeling lighter due to the higher quality of materials. Any suggestions ?

I've been a convert for about a year now. A couple of my ES guitar customers sent along sets of Pyramid Nickel Classics 11s when they sent their 335s for me to work on. I'd tried about every 'nickel' string out there and never liked any of them. These blew me away on both of the customer guitars. They DO play like lighter strings.

I wanted to be sure it wasn't just the well-played old guitars that felt slinky, so when one of the customers sent a second guitar, he gifted me with a set of the 11s to try. I put them on my '61. After living with them for a while, I bought something like 20 sets of the 11s with a plain 'G' from Don at Toneman. All of my personal guitars use them except my 'shop' guitar. For the record, I've tried Nickel Classic 10s on a couple of guitars, and frankly, the feel 'too light'. 11's rock.

As mentioned, they play like 10s. They last. They stretch-in on the bench. They stay in tune forever. They have a little 'pop' to them, unlike the 'dead plonk' that many 'nickel' strings have.

More expensive, but the extra life alone compensates for the cost.