Stringing Along: A History of Guitar Strings and Their Evolution

Stringing Along: A History of Guitar Strings and Their Evolution

If you’ve ever shopped for guitar strings, you know there are a lot of choices. Steel strings, nylon strings, bronze strings, silk strings…it can seem endless.

But did you know many of the materials present-day guitarists take for granted are relatively recent? For that matter, so is the amount of strings on a guitar! We were curious about guitar string history, so we decided to dive into how we got where we are today.

How Many Strings Does a Guitar Have, Anyway?

Let’s start with the evolution of guitar string layouts. The earliest forms of the guitar are believed to have evolved from the lute and the oud in the 12^th century. The original layout consisted of four string pairs, or a “quadra-pairing,” taking the string pairing concept from the lute and the number of pairs from the oud’s four total strings.

Starting in the 17^th century, other string arrangements were introduced. Guitars with a penta-pairing or quadra-pairing plus one, known today as baroque guitars, supplanted the lute as the most popular at-home instrument. Also around this time in Spain, the vihuela was created, which had six string pairings but was tuned like a lute.

The first “extant six-string” is credited to Gaetano Vinaccia in 1779. Fellow Italian Luigi Moretti followed with his own design in 1792. While there are variations such as 12-strings and seven-strings, the six-string has become the default guitar model.

A History of Guitar String Materials

Now we can dig into how guitar strings are made. There are four basic “eras” that tell the story of how we’ve gotten from traditional plucking and strumming to modern shredding.

Early Days: Animal Gut, Silk and…Hair?

Going back to the earliest days of stringed instruments, animal gut strings were the dominant string type, especially among luthiers and other professionals. References to them have been found dating to Ancient Egypt and Greek mythology.

As such, when the earliest guitars were introduced, they also had gut strings. These were made using the intestinal lining of sheep or cattle and were commonly known as “catgut strings” — though as far as we know, no cats were harmed in the process. They produced a distinct warm tone and were easy on your fingers, though they were high-maintenance and very sensitive to environmental changes. Catgut guitar strings can still be purchased today for classical music, vintage jazz, flamenco and other “old-school” genres.

Though gut strings dominated the market, alternatives did exist. Silk strings, which consisted of a silk core with a catgut winding, had a warm, mellow tone and low tension for bending. Some people made strings of plant fibers, and you could even find strings with horse or human hair spun around a gut core. They produced an excellent tone but were even more expensive and labor-intensive than pure catgut.

17^th Century: Metal Windings and Thicker Strings

The first significant leaps in guitar string construction were geared toward producing a fuller sound. While catgut was still the dominant material, the mid-17^th century saw the introduction (first seen on violins) of gut strings wound with metal wire. This improved the sound quality while making the strings more durable.

Also, as the baroque guitar and vihuela came into vogue, concerns arose about getting enough volume and tonal range. The solution was to build guitar strings more like overspun piano strings, making them louder and more robust. In many cases, these thicker strings were loud enough without the need for pairings, which helped lead to the modern six-string guitar.

19^th Century: Steel Strings

Unfortunately, there isn’t much reliable information regarding the history of steel guitar strings. It’s generally known they were available by the mid-to-late 19^th century, and the most likely explanation is that several people developed the concept independently. By the early 1900s, manufacturers such as Gibson gave people the option of ordering gut or steel strings on their guitar.

Regardless of the origins, steel string guitars represented a huge shift. The strings were heavier and held more tension than gut strings, making them louder with a brighter tone. Furthermore, they were more tonally stable and easier to amplify. In the early 20^th century, steel strings quickly became the primary choice for the fast-developing blues, folk and country music genres. John D’Addario Sr. helped develop 80/20 bronze strings in the 1930s and nickel-plated steel strings in the 1960s, two more big leaps for acoustic and electric guitars, respectively.

20^th Century: Nylon Strings

Despite the increasing spread of steel strings, catgut strings remained the standard for guitarists who wanted a warmer tone. However, this changed during World War II when sheep intestines became scarce, leading to skyrocketing catgut string costs. Luthiers scrambled to find a suitable replacement — and nylon was the answer.

First announced by DuPont in 1938, this synthetic polymer was much cheaper than catgut and had a relatively similar sound and tension level. As a bonus, nylon was more stable and less likely to break. The first nylon guitar strings were developed by Rose and Albert Augustine in the 1940s and soon became the new go-to for classical and Spanish guitarists.

Guitar Strings Today

As we said at the beginning, there now are many guitar string variations. You can get pure nickel electric guitar strings and acoustic strings made of phosphor bronze. Each company has a unique nylon blend, and fluorocarbon strings have been introduced for classical guitarists who want a brighter option. Companies have even introduced synthetic strings designed to sound like catgut strings.

No matter what guitar string you’re looking for, you’ll find it at Strings and Beyond. Browse our full string collection, shop by brand or call us at 877-830-0722 for assistance.