Savarez Alliance Corum strings

mellowsun

Wow. Amazing 'nylon' strings these. Matt carbon trebles that are thinner than normal nylons (and so intonate better), and really smooth under the fingers. The bass string are more supple than usual.

Overall they sound fantastic, the most perfectly balanced strings, and really bring out the 'woodiness' of the guitar. I'd never go back to D'Addarios, which sound plasticky and harsh in comparison. Expensive, but worth it.

mellowsun

Update on these. Not good!

They sound great on day one. But then the problems start. They stretch like crazy, so even with the strings tied at both ends, after a week they still require retuning every hour or less.

The upshot of this is that the tension is perfect the first time you bring them up to pitch. But, because they stretch so much, they continually go very flat, so by the time you have them at a stable pitch after a few days, the tension is crazy high.

Back to D'Addarios then, which at least are consistent and keep pitch, even if the Savarez sounds incredible for 1 day only.

mart

mellowsun said:

... by the time you have them at a stable pitch after a few days, the tension is crazy high.

....

Er, how does that work? From basic physics, the tension determines the pitch, so if the guitar is at concert pitch, the string tension must be the same as it was on day one.

Anyway, interesting to hear this. I got a cheapy HB classical, that came with Daddario strings that just will not stay in tune, and I was thinking about swapping from some Savarez, albeit not these fancy Alliance ones. 

mellowsun

mart said:

mellowsun said:

... by the time you have them at a stable pitch after a few days, the tension is crazy high.

....

Er, how does that work? From basic physics, the tension determines the pitch, so if the guitar is at concert pitch, the string tension must be the same as it was on day one.

I think the string diameter and composition comes into it too though. Even two strings of the same diameter and same pitch can have different tensions. The Savarez trebles are some fancy carbon compound, not nylon, maybe that has something to do with it.

Maybe it's just a perception. The tension feels higher the more the strings stretch and the more I keep having to keep bringing them up to pitch!

It's probably bollocks but I have gone off them anyway!

mart

mellowsun said:

I think the string diameter and composition comes into it too though. Even two strings of the same diameter and same pitch can have different tensions. The Savarez trebles are some fancy carbon compound, not nylon, maybe that has something to do with it.

....

Yeah, I meant given the same strings and the same scale length, tension determines pitch.

I know there are perception issues where the tension FEELS different even though the physics says it can't be - to do with the length of string beyond the nut or behind the bridge. But again, given the same string on the same guitar, that ain't going to change.

Having said all that, I kind of know what you mean. When you keep tuning the string up over days and days, it feels like it's getting tenser, even though you're just returning it to the same pitch every darn time. But I have a suspicion that that's just psychosomatic.

mellowsun

Yesterday the strings sounded and felt great, this morning, again stiff and a bit toneless.

Maybe temperature related or I am, as you suggest, a bit mental

mart

mellowsun said:

...
Maybe temperature related or I am, as you suggest, a bit mental

I was trying very hard NOT to suggest that. 

Of course, I may have thought it, but I tried hard to hide that.