Why use John Pearse strings?

The best strings for cigar box guitars come from a tiny company from Pennsylvania...

John Pearse Guitar Strings

An appreciation, by Shane Speal

I've been playing cigar box guitars since I built my first in 1993. When I started, I was overcome by the complete primal nature of the instrument with it's trashy tone, scratchy vibrations and overall mean and evil vibe. But as I progressed in my playing, I started to discover the intricate melodies and possibilities for this humble guitar; it had a very feminine side with majestic notes waiting to bloom. Yes, the cigar box guitar can be a dual natured beast, stunningly beautiful as it is maniacal!

Over the years, I have experimented with many tunings and many different strings on my CBGs. Sometimes I would string them with heavier gauge guitar strings if I wanted to bash the hell out of it (yes, I abuse my instruments). Other times, I would search for a very responsive string set in order to play those quiet, feminine sounding instrumentals in my living room. It was during a search for a good 'quiet tone' that I spent a couple extra bucks and bought a pack of John Pearse Strings. These were the mythical strings that were revered by snobby bluegrass pickers (my friend Tim calls them "bluegrassholes"). I figured what the hell and shelled out a couple extra bucks for a pack...

After I strung up my war-torn and battered Macanudo, I was absolutely floored by the responsiveness of the strings. Notes were louder and the cigar box vibrated a lot more than I usually expected. The sound was louder and more pronounced, making my playing much easier and faster. It was like I added a higher octane fuel to the guitar's gas tank. That night, I became a convert! Listen to my Surreal and Surreal II cds and you'll hear how amazing these strings sound in a solo environment. The sound comes thru even though those albums are pure lo-fi recordings!

As luck would have it, I received an eBay order for my Jug Fusion cd by John Pearse, himself! While processing his purchase, I emailed him to tell of my love for his strings. The emails led to a phone conversation where I learned the story about his days as a musician in England, his days working for Martin Guitars in Pennsylvania and eventually to his founding of the John Pearse Strings. What I found was a man with a passion for finding the best ingredients to make the best string (he's known to hunt down the best steel wire from Eastern Europe for it's sonic properties...a step the big string companies would deem 'wasteful'). Pearse also likes to follow his muse, creating string sets for just about any acoustic instrument, including Debhashish Bhattacharya's Hindustani Slide guitar.

The John Pearse String company is a tiny little operation located in the eastern part of Pennslvania. Strings are made by just a few local families who work for the company and the official staff includes several cats. Not much has changed with them since they started in the early 1980's. In fact, if you find their strings at your local music store, you'll see that they're still packaged in the same sleeves as they were 20 years ago! It's just the same damn-good (the best!) strings in the same package. Oh yeah, my personal strings are John Pearse Phosphor Bronze .042, .032, .024 (low to high) on my Macanudo. See tunings on the sidebar to the right >>>

Wait...isn't it kinda stupid to put really good strings on a shitty old cigar box guitar? Aren't they made for better instruments such as Martin guitars?
Yeah, I expected that question. My answer is simple: In my opinion, a humble cigar box guitar is more musical, more interesting and more fascinating than any Martin, Gibson or other "normal" guitar. I've owned many nice guitars and nothing has changed my life the way my Macanudo has. Why wouldn't I want to put good strings on it? My goal, after all, is to create original music. If a magical string makes my CBG come alive even more, shouldn't I use it.

For those CBG'ers who see the expense of John Pearse strings as too high, I simply suggest you purchase a pack and save it for when you record. Use other strings for jamming or live, but trust me, Pearse's will make your recordings better...even if you're trying to get primal!

And one more thing... Is it a coincidence that the greatest guitar strings (John Pearse) and the greatest beer (Yuengling Lager) come from the same area? I think not.

Cheers!
Shane Speal

For more information on John Pearse Guitar Strings, check out their homemade website at www.jpstrings.com