Classical guitar strings had appeared in “Amazon Basic,” the own brand of Amazon, a major online shopping site. The brand concept is to deliver high quality products at a low price, but what about the quality of the classical guitar strings?
The following article summarizes this blog’s string ratings/reviews/feedback/information articles:
What is Amazon Basic?
Amazon Basic is Amazon’s private brand.
The brand concept is “Delivering high quality products at low prices“, and the high cost performance is its main selling point.
The products range from computer peripherals to kitchens, pets, and outdoor sports equipment, and all of them seem to be highly popular.
I had bought a lot of batteries, cables, etc., and when I found out that classical guitar strings were now available, I bought them immediately.
The price is in the low 500’s, which is very inexpensive for a classical guitar string that is usually in the 1,000’s.
There are other cheap classical guitar strings, see this article:
Manufactured by Wanxinda Technology, China
The Amazon Basic classical guitar strings arrived in a package like this.
It is written in a variety of languages and seems to be sold worldwide.
The manufacturer is said to be Wanxinda (Guangzhou) Technology of China.
I did some research and found out that they are a company that manufactures bags for laptops, cameras, and computer peripherals.
It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with classical guitar…
I’m not sure if this manufacturer manufactures the strings or just packages them from somewhere else, but it’s probably just packaging.
Exact same diameter as Pro Arte normal
The back of the package is labeled with a serial number.
That’s how Amazon manages it.
This yellow bag is bubble wrap packaging and is highly protective.
It is probably used for various products. Anyway, it could be considered excessive packaging for classical guitar strings.
The strings were in this bag, and the packaging was the nostalgic “bag used for attaching CDs as a magazine supplement”.
The diameter of the string is marked on the back.
The diameter described here, surprisingly, was the same as D’Addario’s Pro Arte Normal (EJ45).
| String number | Diameter |
| 1st | 0.71mm |
| 2nd | 0.81mm |
| 3rd | 1.02mm |
| 4th | 0.74mm |
| 5th | 0.89mm |
| 6th | 1.09mm |
At best, it was a reference to the most popular, and at worst, it was a rip-off of the specifications.
Each string is individually packaged in a bag.
Unfortunately, the quality of this packaging was not very good, and some of them were open from the beginning, or the seal was off at an angle, as shown in the photo below.
Amazon will easily replace the product if it is defective, so you might want to check it when you receive it.
Looks like ordinary nylon classical guitar strings
The specifications of the strings are as following:
- Treble strings: Nylon
- Bass string: Nylon multifilament wound with silver-plated copper wire, with anti-corrosion coating
It is normal.
The anti-corrosion coating at this price is great.
For this reason, the appearance of the strings on the guitar is naturally normal.
The treble strings were a strong white color, like La Bella 2001.
The pitch of the treble is good, the bass is a little blurry?
As for the important sound, although it has just been strung, the pitch of the treble strings is good.
Nylon strings tend to have low roundness, and it is easy to have a difference in pitch between the open string and the 12th fret, but they seem to be well made in this respect.
That’s what I call Amazon Basic.
The tension is described as “normal light,” but I didn’t feel it was that low. It’s a rather thick string, and I have the impression that it’s rather heavy.
I think the sound quality will change in the future, but the sustain of the bass strings is not bad. However, I thought the sound was a little blurry.
The treble strings are also a bit fuzzy, but they sound loud enough.
The nylon strings will improve in sound as I use them, so I’ll review them again in a couple of days.
PS: The 6th string sounds pretty blurry.
弦を張って少したった感想ですが、6弦がかなりぼやけた音になりました。
There is no core to the sound and it is not fun to play.
The fourth and fifth strings are better, but I still find it hard to feel the joy of playing them.
On the other hand, the treble strings sounded relatively good.
I guess guitar strings are more difficult to manufacture for bass strings.
Cost-effective, no doubt
I found the Amazon Basic classical guitar strings to be highly cost effective, just like the Amazon Basic concept.
At this price point, the Yamaha NS110and Playtech strings would be competitors, but they are definitely better than the Playtech strings,and I feel they can compete with or even better than the NS110.
Note: After a little while of stringing, the bass strings became quite muffled. If I had to choose between the NS110 and this string, I’d say the NS110 is better…
However, the sound quality is not as good as the so-called famous classical guitar strings. Well, if the sound quality was so good at this price, other string manufacturers would be out of business.
If these strings sell well, I wonder if there will be a carbon string version.
