Michael, The string primer at the Frets site is great. I wish I'd had something like that forty years ago. Local music stores in those days had no idea why strings were different or what the differences were. I used to buy Black Diamond strings because they were cheap ($1.25 as I recall). They were packaged with two G strings, one wound and one plain.

Someone should do an exhaustive history of strings: materials, technolgies, makers, etc. I'm led to believe that there are many more "brands" of strings today than actual producers. Kind of like the sad situation with American beers.

I have a nagging string question that someone may be able to help with. What ever happened to flat-wound strings? Music shops don't seem to cary them, the Frets site didn't mention them, do they still exist? If they're not gone, why are they forgotten? The first serious electric guitar I ever saw up close was a Fender Jazzmaster strung with flat-wound strings. The strings were very heavy and wouldn't have been much use for blues but, thanks to their high tension, were set very close to the frets, like maybe 1/64 in. or less. Just a very light touch was all that was needed to get a clean note, volume was excellent and there was no buzz. The year was 1962. I'd sure like to have a guitar set up like that today.

Thanks,

      - Mark