Stringjoy Guitar Blog
Guitar & bass knowledge. No strings attached.
On the stringjoy guitar blog, we write about guitar history, guitar gear, music theory, and yes, occasionally strings.

A Whole Guitar Rig For Under $600? Our Top Budget Guitar Gear Picks.
July 31, 2018
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We Put 17 Gauge Strings on an Electric Guitar...
July 26, 2018
Can you put 17 gauge strings on a regular electric guitar without making any modifications? Let's find out what it plays—and sounds—like.
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My Desert Island Guitar Pedal? The smallsound/bigsound Mini Overdrive.
July 3, 2018
I got an email the other day asking me what my #1 favorite guitar pedal was—if I could only pick one. It got me thinking, so I thought I'd talk about why for me personally, it's got to be the smallsound/bigsound Mini overdrive
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Is Guitar Tone All In Your Fingers?
June 21, 2018
It's the oldest saying in the book: Tone is all in your fingers! But is it really? We tackle the age-old question, and talk about how your gear and your fingers both have a dynamic role in creating your tone.
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Top 10 Guitar String Myths Debunked
June 7, 2018
There is a TON of misinformation floating around about guitar strings, so we compiled the top 10 guitar string myths we hear most often, and address them each point-by-point, to give you the actual facts of the matter.
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Should You Play Custom Guitar String Gauges?
May 31, 2018
We're big believers in custom guitar strings—heck, it's our heritage as a company. But with all the hype that can build up about them, we wanted to have an honest discussion about the advantages and the disadvantages of custom guitar strings, so that you can better decide whether or not they might be right for you.
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What is Nashville Tuning? Its History, Best Guitar Strings & Uses
May 29, 2018
We cover everything from the history of Nashville Tuning, to its uses, the best guitar string gauges to use, and how it sounds in different genres.
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What Are the Best Guitar Strings for Les Pauls?
May 22, 2018
What are the best Les Paul guitar strings? That depends on a lot of different factors, but today Scott shares his favorite gauges of guitar strings for Les Paul style guitars.
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The Best Strings for Open E Guitar Tuning
May 18, 2018
If you've been following us for long you probably know that I'm a big fan of Open E tuning, so naturally I've got a lot of experience in experimenting with different gauges of guitar strings for Open E. Here I tell you how to customize any gauge set of strings to build the perfect set for Open E, in my opinion anyway.
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Our Top Guitar String Gauges for Semi-Hollow and Hollow-Body Guitars
May 14, 2018
People ask us all the time what gauge we recommend for a given guitar, and the truth is, there's no one correct answer. String gauges depend way more on the player than they do on the guitar. That said, of course we have our favorite ways to set up different guitars for different purposes, so in this series, Scott is sharing his favorite string gauges for a couple of different types of guitars, and today he's going over his favorite strings for semi-hollow and hollow-body guitars.
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Are Locking Tuners Worth It? Advantages, Trade-Offs & Changing Strings
May 7, 2018
Locking tuners help strings stay in tune, but by how much? Are there any trade-offs? Are they worth it? How do you change strings with locking tuners? Let's talk about it...
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How Often Should You Change Your Guitar Strings?
May 1, 2018
Everyone is different, so how do you know how often you should change your guitar strings? In this video we cover the general range of string change frequency, as well as what you can do to change your strings less often than you currently do.
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Do Guitar Strings Really Rust? Or Is It Just Tarnish?
April 25, 2018
People often describe guitar strings as "rusty", but is that the right word? How can you tell rust apart from tarnish? Are they the same thing? Let's talk about it...
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Can You Clean Your Guitar With Toothpaste?
April 19, 2018
Today we look into a long-standing home remedy for guitar: using toothpaste to clean your guitar's hardware. Does it work? Is there a better way? Should you try it for yourself? Let's find out.
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Your Top Plain Steel Strings Questions, Answered.
April 17, 2018
Plain Steel Strings don't get nearly the attention of their wound counterparts, but they're definitely worth talking about! In this video, we cover the most common questions and misunderstandings related to plain steel strings.
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Drop Tuning Guitar Strings: What Gauges Are Best?
April 10, 2018
Most guitar string sets are designed for standard tuning, so what do you do if you play in drop tunings? Well, you watch this video, that's what!
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