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Showerthought: Maybe cheap guitar strings are actually the move for learning
I been playing guitar for about 8 months now, and I always thought you had to buy the $12 pack of Elixirs or D'Addarios to sound any good. But last week I ran out of cash and grabbed a $3 set of no-name strings from a discount bin at a pawn shop in Akron. They sound fine. They feel a little rougher on my fingers, but honestly that might help me build calluses faster. I'm starting to think I wasted $60 on premium strings that I didn't need. Here's the debate: Is it better to use cheap gear that forces you to learn proper technique, or does bad gear just kill your motivation? Has anyone else found a 'mistake' like this where spending less actually helped you improve?
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oliver5236d ago
sandralee says cheap strings make you sound cheap, and I get that, but my buddy Mike bought a $2 pack of off-brand acoustic strings once and they lasted him like three months. His high E snapped and he just tied it back on with a knot, played like that for another month until the whole thing gave out. He said it actually forced him to be lighter with his picking because he was always scared of breaking another string. He finally got a decent set and now he's got this weirdly soft touch that makes his playing sound cleaner than mine. So yeah, maybe the junk strings taught him something.
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