Competition Time!!

It’s competition time at Strings Direct and for the next 4 weeks we’ll be giving away £100 worth of Ernie Ball gear to 4 lucky winners. To enter the competition please answer the following question.

What’s the craziest alternative way to use your Ernie Ball strings?

The funniest answer wins and the winner will be selected over the next 7 days. To submit your answer you can enter it in the comments section of this post but feel free to post on our Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/stringsdirect where you can even post pictures for extra brownie points!

Good luck, and if you’re not successful this time around then remember, this is happening every week for the next 4 weeks!

Newsflash: New Single String Search Facility!

Have you ever wanted your own signature set of strings? 

At Strings Direct we have now developed a new single string search facility that allows you to peruse our wide range of electric, acoustic, classical and bass strings from brands D'Addario, Ernie Ball, Earthwood, Elixr, Rotosound and many more.  You are also able to pick your own gauges to ensure you really can create your own perfect set of custom strings...

Most guitarists change their strings when one breaks. However, there are several other tell tale signs which will tell you when to change your strings:

- Have your strings become discoloured or rusty? Constant wear and tear of guitar strings will inevitably cause your strings to corrode. Even if you don't play that often and your guitar sits in a case or on a stand exposure and humidity will still cause your strings to deteriorate over time.

- Does your guitar suddenly sound dull? If so, a new set of strings will definitely brighten up the tone and make you want to play more and more :)

- Tuning issues are not always down to the strings, but if your string set is old it is worth a change not only for the fresh feel of new strings, but also for process of elimination.

For those who have already used this service, get in touch and let us know what you think.. we would love to hear from you! info@stringsdirect.co.uk 

Bag a Dad?

A post from our very own David Wallings:

“You’re in that Baghdad tunin’ incha?

I had been demonstrating open tunings and slide playing to a customer on a beautiful Pete Turner resonator recently, when the question came from a grinning, gurning galute wearing tracksuit trousers, slip-ons and eau de rollup who had sidled up beside us. “Jimmy Page done that all the time”, he explained.

To be fair he heard right. The guitar was indeed tuned to DADGAD which can sound very Zeppelinish with the right fingers, normally other than mine. Jimmy Page’s in fact. Close your eyes and listen to ‘Kashmir’ for instance and Mr Galute’s erroneous Middle Eastern reference seems strangely apt, you can practically smell the incense and spices and hear a far-off Imam chanting under the sounds of a bustling Arab market.

And that reminds me of something useful. When your guitar playing is getting a bit stale, a bit predictable and in a rut which let’s face it, happens to all of us, a great way to inject a bit of colour and inspiration is to muck about with your machine heads. And how wonderfully evocative it can be.

With a just bit of tube on your finger and an open chord tuned up for instance, you can almost sense the warm, tumbleweed strewn breeze on your face at sundown. Just breathe real slow, take your time, pour some heartbreak into your visceral, sliding undulations and you too can hear the faint sound of a beat-up Ford V8 pickup throbbing in the distance down a long dusty Texas road. You will practically feel the half-empty bottle of Wild Turkey in your hand as your worn-down boot heels shamble up the dry lumber steps to a Blues soaked roadhouse bar….

Which I find jolly refreshing when looking out of my drizzle streaked window in Southend-on Sea.

I think you’d agree.