Nickel plated strings or not?

Hi,
Just bought an electric guitar (Shine) and a small vox Amp
it's not an expensive one , as I wanted to try one out.and thought it might be lighter on my fingers while learning ( the action's pretty good. :) ). I do have an acoustic which I've been playing.
Do you think Nickel plated strings will be better, as the electric came with ordinary strings? I read It's good idea to change them straight away if the guitar is cheap

Great to hear you're getting into the realm of electric guitar!
To answer your question, yes. It is indeed a good idea to get new strings and put them on a new guitar. Particularly if it's a less expensive brand of guitar. You see, one never knows the quality of strings or how long they've been on the guitar when you purchase it. You might have a decent guitar w average strings and that'll in turn make the guitar sound average as a whole. Also it's good to get new strings so you know exactly how long they've been on there. That way you'll start noticing how often you should change strings or when they start going "dull".

As far as nickel played or not, as with most things guitar, it's up to each player.
I reckon the nickel plated ones are the most common these days so I'd recommend starting there. But, like I said, it's up to each one to decide what's better. If you can, get a couple different kinds and see which one fits your particular playing style the most.

Hope that answers your question!

Regards,
Henrik

Yes it does thank you.
Another question...... Way back in the 60's a friend bought a decent electric guitar ( can't remember the name of it) and the strings on it where wound with a smooth type of metal tape , or it seemed like that, which made it pain free to play. hope that makes sense..lol
I can't find them on the web though. Are they available, more to the point.. are they any good?

Hi bob_max..
Could be looking for something called Flat-wound

Yeah, that sounds like flat wound strings. They are generally perferred by jazz players because of their very mellow sound. They also reduce or eliminate the squeal you get when you have your fingers up and down the wound strings.

The choice to use them depends on the sound you are after.

yeah that sounds like them, thanks guys.
My thinking with these strings is that it might be easier to learn with, for those who have complained about painful fingers. ;)

It might be hard though to find lighter gauge strings that are flat wound. The heavier gauge would probably overcome any comfort advantage.

I see. :)
I'll get my head around strings and guitars in general one day...lol

Originally Posted by: bob_maxI see. :)
I'll get my head around strings and guitars in general one day...lol

Strings can be a nightmare :-). Well, maybe not a nightmare, but it can more complicated that it would initially seem. Between all of the different brands, materials, gauges, mixing of guages (heavy bottom/light top, medium bottom/light top), it can be daunting. I bought a set with heavy bottom when I was starting out with my strat by accident and was horrified when I saw the bridge sitting at a very steep angle! I soon figured what went wrong and knew not to make that mistake again. I wondered what happend to the simple days where you just bought a set of 9's or 10's and was done with it :-).

If you stick with a set of nickel wound 9's (9-42) or 10's (10-46) you should be fine.

right....after the informative replies...Thanks again guys.
Thought I'd try a couple out, and ordered these:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DAddario-EJ16-Phosphor-012--053-Acoustic/dp/B000EEJ8CS/ref=sr_1_2?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1391200114&sr=1-2&keywords=light+guitar+strings

And
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000EEL5X8/ref=pe_385721_37038051_TE_dp_1

I guess I'll be trying a lot more out before long eh. :)

Cool. I can be fun experimenting with strings. I still haven't settled on a brand that I really like since I moved from 11s to 10s and stopped using Dean Markleys after too many sets that had rust spots on them. At the moment I'm using Daddarios that I'm still undecided about.

The guy i bought my Acoustic from did a set-up free for me and fitted D'Addario's and I very much like them, which makes it easier for me, and it sounds great.

just gotta find the ones I like for my electric. I'll give the plated ones a try first and see how it goes..
There's more to playing & learning about a guitar than i first thought...:)

Edit...
You say you had a bit of rust? Are you leaving your guitar in a damp place?

They had rust spots on the fresh out of the sealed package. I could look past 1 set, but it was 3. It was a shame because othrwise I thought they were great strings.

Jeeze... That was a bummer. I would've sent them back ;)

The problem was I had bought them months prior. I like to stock up on stuff like that so I always have string on hand. I'm sure if I contacted Dean Markley they would have made good on it, but I just couldn't be bothered.

My hands sweat a lot and I have acidic sweat, so I'm pretty rough on strings. It's part of the reason I stopped playing guitar seriously for a long time because I didn't have a solution and I got tired of my guitar's intoation going off in a matter of days because my strings were destroyed by my sweat. I would trash a set of strings in a single jam session - it was pretty bad. My focus on string quality was how long they would withstand my sweat. I even tried stainless steel strings - they were pretty bad - not recommended! Dean Markleys seemed to do the best. Now I think my body chemistry has changed because any brand last about a month for me now.

The d'addarios are holding up, but they have a rougher feel than other strings I've used. They are also not as bright as the Fender strings I've used. However, they have the same tonal quality through their life, which I think is better. The Fenders would be bright and then mellow out. I think this is all OK...I'm just 100% sure at this point.

Rory Gallagher had sweat problems too, but it worked in his favour, as loads of guitarists tried to copy his faded guitar look. :D .....what a guitarist though.

I'm a Rory Gallagher fan. I love the Irish Tour album. If only we could all play like Rory. At least I can say I sweat like him :-).

Originally Posted by: maggiorI'm a Rory Gallagher fan. I love the Irish Tour album. If only we could all play like Rory. At least I can say I sweat like him :-).

ha ha..well your half-way there then.
yes such a tragedy to lose him.
strange how we seem to lose the most gifted people (whatever their art form) too early.