The right ‘Spanish guitar strings’ can help bring flamenco music to life by enabling dazzling rhythmic techniques such as rasgueado, the golpe, and fast picado runs.
But it takes a careful selection of string gauge, tension, and material to bring out the unique characteristics of the instrument. While there is no magical quality to Spanish guitar strings, the right choice helps build the flamenco sound, which is more bright, sharp, dynamic, louder and even more percussive than classical guitar.
In reality, these musical goals involve trade-offs and go hand in hand with the flamenco guitar’s quality and construction.
This article will review the scientific data and technical information of several popular brands, while also listing the string preferences of some great flamenco guitarists.
This information will allow you to make a genuine like-for-like comparison and find the strings that work for you.
Table of Contents
String tension and gauge for flamenco
String tension plays a crucial role for flamenco guitarists, who often perform blinding picado runs. Crossing from one string to another at speed is incredibly difficult – the tiniest fraction of a millimeter can lead to a missed note.
But string tension doesn’t just affect an instrument’s playability, it also affects its sound. To understand why, we need to take a step back to understand how string tension works.
String tension refers to the amount of force required to tune each string to its required pitch. As we discussed in our article, High versus normal tension strings: the secret trade-off, the key variable is the string’s mass.
Evening out string tension: the key to picado runs
For flamenco guitarists, the relative thickness or tension of each string is critical to perform the blinding picado runs that characterize modern flamenco. It can help when attempting to cross from one string to another, where the tiniest fraction of a millimeter can lead to a missed note.
On Y No Llegastes a Quererme, the legendary Paco de Lucia plays a one-measure 16th-note run at above 200 bpm, (prompting Camarón to shout “olé!”), beginning on the first string and finishing on the fourth.
Paco’s one-time student Ruben Diaz has revealed that Paco had a novel approach to even out tension across the six strings, making string crossings easier.
He focused on the extreme difference in tension between the first and second strings, which makes it difficult to adjust to when moving between them at speed. (You can press down the second string and feel how ‘loose’ it is compared to the first.)
One way to solve this is to use a medium tension first string and a high tension second string. This evens out the difference in tension.
There’s a similar tension difference between the fourth and fifth strings. This can be solved by using a medium tension fourth string and high tension fifth and sixth string.
These subtle differences are why some players mix and match strings from different sets. This is something that Paco did – use one string from each brand to create the perfect set.
Aquila has created a set, Sugar, based on these recommendations. You can see that each string has significantly different tensions in the flamenco string table below. This difference in tension plays a crucial role when selecting the best Spanish guitar strings.
The volume versus brightness trade-off
There is another important aspect of string tension: loudness. All else being equal, higher tension strings require a more dense or thicker string. This greater string mass creates more energy, leading to more volume.
This can be important for flamenco guitarists who perform in an ensemble or accompany dancers.
But research has also shown that high tension can sound less bright, which is a key flamenco sound.
The reason is a note’s overtones – which give it harmonic characteristics such as warmth, brightness, resonance – roll off as tension increases across the three treble strings.
The standard size of the guitar means this is generally not a major issue compared to instruments such as the harp, which require longer strings. However, it is noticeable.
These harmonic characteristics are also affected by the material of the treble strings. Materials such as gut, nylon, fluorocarbon and titanium highlight different tones, which we will discuss in the next section.
Gut strings: where it began
Gut strings are hand-made from animal gut such as sheep. Before the mid-1940s and the invention of nylon, guitars were always strung with gut or silk strings. Today, gut strings are most often used on antique instruments.
You can listen to flamenco guitarist Ramon Montoya, captured on record here between 1923-1936, playing with gut strings (although the quality of the recordings is not great):
Gut strings have a certain warmth and resonance that other string materials lack. They produce more overtones and have a higher damping threshold than materials such as nylon and fluorocarbon.
However, gut strings have many drawbacks that make them ill-suited to flamenco guitar. They are expensive, hard to keep in tune and prone to breaking.
Given flamenco techniques place great stress on guitar strings, Montoya must have spent a lot of time replacing his. Modern flamenco has taken the techniques Montoya used to new extremes, making gut strings even less suitable.
Nylon: the flamenco standard
Nylon strings – first introduced in the 1940s – have become the standard for classical and flamenco guitarists.
However, not all nylon strings are the same.
Different manufacturers use different polymers that can have different timbres. Nylon can also be manufactured in different ways. Rectified strings, for example, are centreless-ground to give a smooth surface finish and more precise diameter.
The table below shows that the vast majority of professional flamenco guitarists prefer nylon strings. Why? They are well-priced and perform reliably.
Are black and red nylon more ‘flamenco’ than clear nylon strings?
Several string sets specifically marketed for flamenco guitar include either red or black nylon strings. While not always explicitly stated, the insinuation is that they create a brighter sound.
Sometimes the same string set is offered with clear nylon or with black or red dye. For example, D’Addario’s EJ25B Flamenco set comes with black nylon strings while the EJ25C Flamenco set comes with clear nylon. The gauge and tension of each treble set is exactly the same.
Scientific studies have suggested colored strings may be different but not necessarily in sound quality. However, that’s not to say black and red strings will always sound the same as clear strings.
Manufacturers use different types of nylon that produce different sound qualities. As always, the best test is your own ears.
You can read more in our article, Black nylon guitar strings versus clear: is there a difference, which also lists the technical data of 11 popular colored string sets.
Fluorocarbon
Fluorocarbon (or carbon fiber) trebles are more dense than nylon and gut strings. This greater mass is one reason they sound brighter than nylon strings, which is why some flamenco guitarists prefer them.
The damping threshold tends to particularly affect the third string of the guitar, which can sound dull compared to the first and second strings. For this reason, guitarists will sometimes replace the third string with fluorocarbon.
This is what the great flamenco guitarist Tomatito does. His custom Savarez set includes a fluorocarbon G string alongside nylon B and E strings.
However, some guitarists find the way fluorocarbon highlights certain upper frequencies isn’t as harmonically pleasing compared to nylon. The higher density of fluorocarbon strings can also make them harder on the fretting fingers.
As always, it comes down to the player, guitar and personal preference.
The following video is a good demonstration of the difference between fluorocarbon and nylon strings because it is played on the same instrument by the same guitarist.
Titanium
Titanium treble strings are made by adding a titanium-nylon polymer or a polyamide formula to nylon strings, which can give the strings a purple or dull blueish color. They tend to produce a brighter tone than nylon strings, although arguably not as bright as fluorocarbon strings.
The video below shows the late classical guitarist Ernesto Tamayo demonstrating titanium treble strings. He makes a passing comment (at 1.48) that he’s been told flamenco guitarists use titanium trebles. It’s not surprising when you consider the brighter tone, which would have more cut-through.
The clarity of the strings is clear in Tamayo’s version of Una Limosna por el amor de Dios.
A comparison of popular ‘flamenco’ strings
The table below compares 17 popular flamenco guitar string sets by string gauge (inches) and tension (pounds). This basic data can often be hard to find on manufacturers sites (Hannabach do not list string tension at all).
What strings do the pros use?
By now, it should be clear that the choice of guitar string depends on many factors. Not surprisingly, some of the greatest flamenco guitarists of today make widely different choices of Spanish guitar strings. The following is a list of several professional guitarists and their chosen string manufacturer and sets (many are disclosed via their endorsements).
How often should I change strings?
How long strings last depends on several personal factors: how often you play, how clean your hands are and how much you sweat, as well as the heat and humidity your guitar is exposed to.
Treble strings last significantly longer than bass strings, which are wound with metal, and can be changed as often as once a week.
Hence, it’s good practice to clean your hands before playing and store your instrument (and strings) in a humidity-controlled environment wherever possible. These practices will go a long way towards maximizing the life of strings. There are also a range of accessories to clean your fretboard of dirt and grime building up, such as ColorTone Lemon Oil with superfine (#0000) steel wool pad.
D’Addario’s EXP Coated sets even coat the strings with an ultra-fine substance, which bonds to the silver-plated copper wrap wire in an attempt to create a barrier against corrosion and wear.
No matter how good the care or treatment, eventually, strings wear out. There is no point in neglecting a precision instrument by letting them decay and even rust. The inconvenience of changing strings is relatively minor for the benefit.
Final flamenco guitar string advice
All of the main string manufacturers mentioned in this article, such as D’Addario and Savarez, are well-respected and produce excellent strings.
The only way to find the right strings is through a process of trial and error. Play and record a selection of pieces that stress different dynamics of the guitar. Make qualitative notes (such as the strings’ sound and playability on your guitar) alongside quantitative information (such as string material, tension, brand, set – see the table above).
Store these notes in the same folder as the recording – it’s all too easy for memory to distort the differences between strings.
Over time, as you naturally change strings, you will develop a database that is as unique to you and your guitar, ensuring you are truly able to select the ‘right’ strings.
