0:39
well hello friends and welcome to ask
0:41
Zack today we are going to talk about
0:43
what I think is a very underrated string
0:45
set and sometimes mocked and Mis
0:49
misunderstood at times and that's the uh
0:53
didario 995 through 44 set and I've been
0:57
using this gauge off and on for probably
1:01
30 years since the mid 90s and uh but in
1:04
the last couple of years it's really
1:06
become uh a main stay especially on the
1:11
uh Telly type guitars that I play like
1:13
this Dan caster and uh it's just ended
1:16
up being kind of the perfect string for
1:20
me so I'm going to talk a bit
1:24
about where uh how I learned about the
1:27
string set cuz it's not you know it
1:28
certainly wasn't common especially back
1:30
in the '90s I was lucky enough to get
1:33
some information directly from uh
1:35
didario spec specifically from Jim
1:38
diodio about the why these strings were
1:41
created in the first place and yeah and
1:44
just talk about some of the uh you know
1:47
I've had friends that have made fun of
1:49
the set and then when I finally got them
1:50
to try it they end up uh getting into it
1:53
and becoming a Believer so that's what
1:55
we're going to do
1:57
today first off I want to chck I want to
2:00
thank not chank I want to thank my
2:02
patreon members that are what keeps this
2:05
show going they are the core and I am
2:07
very grateful for them and if you'd like
2:09
to join them in supporting the show
2:11
there is a link in the
2:13
description all right one other thing I
2:16
need to say before I get into the video
2:18
and that's that I am a Dario artist and
2:23
I get discounted strings I do not get
2:25
free strings but I just wanted to make
2:27
that clear before we uh we Dive In
2:31
all right
2:33
so I've like many guys uh I've kind of
2:38
waffled between nines and 10 for my
2:41
whole playing career so I started
2:43
playing guitar in the 1980s and then in
2:45
the 1980s really the most popular set
2:48
were nines whether it was you know Ernie
2:51
Ball Dario ghs whatever that was the
2:54
most popular set and uh it just had to
2:58
do with uh you know light gauge strings
3:00
were popular uh strats were popular uh
3:04
you had hair bands and kind of the Hard
3:06
Rock thing going on and a lot of them
3:08
used nines AD Van Halen used nines you
3:12
know your lone uh guys that weren't
3:15
using that maybe were I don't know
3:17
Clapton would use nines or 10 and then
3:19
you had uh you know Steve Ron which of
3:21
course you know we're all familiar with
3:23
his uh you know heavier string set and
3:25
tuning down a half step but really his
3:28
whole thing didn't become Popular until
3:30
into the '90s after he was dead that's
3:32
when all the imitators came about but
3:35
yeah I I used to use nines and 10 and
3:38
then I also used kind of a a hybrid set
3:41
because I was very much into James
3:43
Burton Albert Lee and so I would get a
3:45
nine set and then I would swap out uh
3:48
the G string instead of using a 16 a lot
3:51
of times I'd use a 14 or 15 sometimes
3:54
even down as far as a 12 for a g string
3:56
when I really wanted to go for that uh
3:59
James Burton
4:00
thing and I moved to Nashville
4:04
and you know I started really playing a
4:06
lot and those strings started feeling
4:09
really light and I also started I
4:11
started doing a lot of recording and I
4:13
started realizing that with nines I was
4:16
kind of mashing them down too hard and I
4:18
was kind of getting out of
4:20
tune and I decided kind of partially for
4:24
intonation sake and just to keep from
4:27
being hamfisted and such I I moved up to
4:30
tens but it was such a big leap um and I
4:35
just uh I just wasn't able to do all the
4:37
things that i' had been doing on nines
4:40
and so I kept kind of going back and
4:41
forth back and forth this is you know
4:43
through the '90s and then I was talking
4:46
with a friend of mine named Scott
4:48
Johnson that uh he was friends with
4:51
guitarist Jeff King who Jeff King's a
4:53
great session player here in town and he
4:56
also is the band leader for Brooks and
4:58
Dunn and and he told me he said uh you
5:02
ought to try these strings uh they're
5:04
didario
5:06
92 and I never heard of such a thing and
5:09
frankly it was like it sounded
5:13
ridiculous and uh and he said You know
5:16
here they are and he had a set of them
5:17
he showed them to me and I looked at the
5:19
gauges and everything and I was like
5:20
yeah this is kind of in between a nine
5:22
and a 10
5:23
set and but the problem was is that
5:26
especially back in the 90s this wasn't a
5:28
easy to find string set and finally I
5:32
found an old shop that's not closed here
5:34
in
5:34
Nashville called guitar Heaven that uh
5:38
that had them and so I got a set and
5:40
tried it and I really liked
5:42
it however there was this kind of weird
5:46
attitude toward uh strings and I I've
5:51
seen this even up until today that so
5:53
many people when they hear about nine
5:54
and a halfs they'll be like why don't
5:57
you just play nines or 10 and or or you
5:59
have the the guys that are like be a man
6:01
and play tens because let's let's just
6:05
face it in the last like 20 30 years
6:09
tens are really kind of the standard now
6:12
that is many times what comes on guitars
6:15
and that's many times what most people
6:16
are playing just like back in the in the
6:18
80s you know the nine set was really
6:20
popular well tens have been really
6:23
popular since then it's just been more
6:25
popular popular to use that gauge
6:29
uh
6:31
so but I you know just kind of kept
6:33
using it and then I read this interview
6:36
uh in in vintage guitar Magazine with
6:39
Reggie young this was probably in the
6:41
early
6:42
2000s and in it he said that he used
6:45
these didario sets and I and he said for
6:51
a while he used uh Fender
6:56
strings and he said that Fender make
6:59
made him special strings back in the day
7:02
that were the same thing as the as the
7:05
Dario 9 set who knows they might have
7:06
been made by him but I actually have a
7:10
set of these uh Reggie young strings
7:13
here so uh this was something that that
7:17
uh uh Jenny Young was kind enough to
7:20
give to me but this is a real Fender
7:23
Reggie young set of 9 and2 through 44s
7:28
and so fender
7:30
and I'm who knows these might have been
7:32
Dario strings that were supplied to them
7:34
but they never sold these to the public
7:36
they just gave these to Reggie for a
7:38
while and they said they were going to
7:40
come out with them but they never
7:41
did so uh that uh and then of course
7:45
when they stopped making these for for
7:47
Reggie he went back to using the Dario 9
7:50
and a halfs but that's kind of a a fun
7:52
little uh Side Story but yeah but Reggie
7:55
uh using that gauge kind of helped me
7:57
feel like okay this is you know this is
8:00
not a uh an uncool set as it were and I
8:03
should have just had more uh confidence
8:04
in what I was doing but uh e even to
8:08
this day uh I have people that I tell
8:11
this string set about that some will
8:12
just be like oh okay I I think I'll go
8:15
try it but a lot of them will just still
8:16
say be a man you know get a set of tens
8:19
or or whatever and then I'll get them to
8:21
try it and then they'll be like oh I get
8:23
it now so here's the
8:25
deal nines have always been too light
8:28
and tens have been a little too stiff
8:31
and people think oh well they're not
8:34
that different but you can really feel
8:36
the difference there is a massive
8:38
difference I mean most guys that are
8:39
nine set guys don't want to use tens
8:42
they feel like they're too stiff and
8:43
most guys that use tens don't want to
8:44
use nines be like I can't play on a set
8:46
of nines so there is a big there is a
8:50
big jump I mean your fingers can really
8:52
tell the difference in you know mass and
8:55
tension and such so this is a good point
8:58
to talk about uh Jim diario's uh story
9:03
on these strings so of course just a a
9:07
real brief you know didario you know
9:10
started out on their own then they
9:12
started working with Martin in the in
9:15
the 60s early 7s they had Darko strings
9:19
and then they they uh they separated out
9:22
and started uh J Daario and Company and
9:26
it was in the in the early '70s and so
9:29
it's some point in the late 70s uh the
9:32
Japanese distributor for Daario strings
9:36
requested a string set that was in the
9:40
middle of a nine set and a 10 set and so
9:43
that's where the set came from from and
9:46
so originally it was exclusively sold to
9:49
Japan but then they just had them on the
9:52
shelves there and they decided to go
9:55
ahead and launch it to the US
9:58
also when when they did it you know
10:00
because it was this half size they
10:02
decided to make it a series so in other
10:06
words they weren't just launching this
10:08
one you know string set in the half
10:10
gauges so they did a 8 and 1/2 set the n
10:13
and 1/2 set that you know of course
10:15
started it you know originally then you
10:18
had and then you had a 10 and 1 half set
10:20
and so they launched that in the 1980s
10:23
to the uh you know to the masses to the
10:26
to the public in the US and and uh the
10:29
string set you know kind of caught on
10:32
and uh Jim said in the in the email that
10:35
he uh that he sent to me through uh uh
10:39
through their artist rep that
10:41
um that uh Joe Satriani was actually
10:46
going to uh to endorse this set and uh
10:50
and and then it kind of as things went
10:52
along he decided to switch to just using
10:55
the regular 9 through 42 set and so of
10:58
course then ended up being their most
11:00
popular uh string set throughout the 80s
11:02
which of course I'm sure for every
11:04
string company the uh 9 through 42 set
11:07
was the most popular but yeah so uh so
11:11
Dario started making this set all
11:14
because of a Japanese distributor and
11:15
they specifically wanted one that the
11:18
tension was in between a n set and a 10
11:22
set and so that's what they came up with
11:24
I think the set is really the perfect in
11:28
between it's the perfect compromise
11:30
because to me always nine sets are
11:34
always kind of too loose and light and
11:38
so one of the things that happens for
11:40
me sometimes for some of you that have
11:43
been watching the show for a while you
11:45
know that I have arthritis in this joint
11:47
here in the you in my left hand my Fring
11:50
hand and most of the time it's fantastic
11:53
but sometimes if I don't play for a
11:56
couple of days like if I go on vacation
11:58
or something like that uh or if I
12:01
overplay if I play too much if I you
12:03
know just have something where I'm I'm
12:05
just killing myself with two heavy
12:07
strings or whatever my hand will get
12:09
really sore so at times there was a
12:12
recent run that in fact this this last
12:14
weekend I was playing with my buddy Paul
12:16
Bogart in
12:18
Tulsa and my hand was really feeling
12:21
sore and so I put on a set of Nines in
12:24
fact uh this is kind of a this is
12:25
another one of these kind of hybrid sets
12:27
that Dario makes but this one's called
12:30
balance tension and so it's 9 through 40
12:33
and it's like 9 12 15 22 30 40 and
12:38
that's that's pretty light but that's so
12:40
I put this set on one
12:43
guitar and and then I put a regular set
12:45
of N9 and 1 halfs on my other Telly and
12:48
so I took two Tellies with me usually I
12:50
take a Telly and a strap but I took two
12:52
Tellies and so that way I was able to
12:54
start off with the first show just
12:56
playing the 9 through 40 guitar and I
12:59
was able to kind of get my hands kind of
13:01
back in shape after the first night and
13:04
then I switched over and so one of the
13:05
things I noticed and this is something I
13:08
don't like about a nine set is that you
13:11
have to bend the strings further so I'm
13:13
talking about the physical distance so
13:17
um it's like when you bend you know like
13:20
even a nine a 9 and 1 half set or a 10
13:22
set you know when you bend something a
13:23
whole step it's less distance than what
13:26
you have to do with a N9 set and so
13:30
that's that's something that's always
13:32
been uh you know frustrating for me
13:34
because uh you know I don't really mind
13:36
a net otherwise but I actually what I
13:38
don't like is how far I have to bend the
13:41
string and it's not like it's that hard
13:43
but it's just you know you you run more
13:46
up against the other strings and so to
13:48
me again the n and a half set is just
13:50
kind of the perfect um you know kind of
13:54
compromise between nines and 10 also it
13:57
just just has a fat
13:59
sound uh you know it to me it it sounds
14:02
a little bigger than a nine set um you
14:06
know it always feels good it feels
14:09
natural under my hand um yeah I have uh
14:14
no complaints and uh and love it a whole
14:17
lot
14:18
so yeah uh I guess I need to thank uh
14:24
Andy pitcher who is the uh artist rep
14:27
for Dario and also of course Jim Dario
14:31
for uh you know digging up some uh some
14:34
history of the company I uh again I just
14:38
love this set it's been a godsend to me
14:41
and one that I uh I use all the time uh
14:44
just a brief uh gear thing I always put
14:47
the gear that I use in the description
14:49
of the video but uh just in case you're
14:52
wondering this is a dam cter guitar and
14:54
I'm using a mirage compressor and uh and
14:58
then I have a head strong Lil King amp
15:00
and that's all that I'm you know running
15:02
through today and uh yeah I hope you'll
15:06
uh try out a set of uh of the uh N9 and
15:11
a halfs there are options so this is the
15:15
regular 9 and 1 half set that of course
15:17
they've been making since I guess the
15:18
late '70s early
15:19
80s and uh you know they're around four
15:22
or five bucks you know depending on if
15:24
you buy just one set or multiples and
15:27
then I use the nyxl version which this
15:31
is a lot more expensive um these are you
15:35
know 12 bucks a set uh now again I have
15:38
a a discount through Dario cuz I'm an
15:40
artist with them but uh to me these are
15:43
very worthwhile to to purchase over the
15:47
other ones because for me these last a
15:49
lot longer I can play you know three or
15:52
four shows on these and they they they
15:55
stretch in very quickly I'm just talking
15:57
about the nyxl's and General they
15:59
stretch in very quickly and then they
16:01
stay in tune I have to do less touchup
16:04
of the tuning throughout the night and
16:07
so these are uh yeah these are are
16:10
wonderful and so you know I'll usually
16:13
string up my guitars you before I go on
16:16
a three or four Show run and uh you know
16:19
with the nine and a halfs and sometimes
16:22
I'll use the tens like on certain
16:23
guitars where they just feel looser
16:25
anyway like I have a strat that a lot of
16:28
times I'll put the NY XL 10s but on the
16:30
Tellies I put put these and I'll put a
16:32
set on there and then I'll have a backup
16:34
set with me in case one pops or
16:36
something like that but I haven't had
16:38
one pop so far um should knock on wood
16:41
this is made of wood right yeah uh but
16:46
yeah I love love these strings love the
16:48
nyxl this is the the perfect set for me
16:51
and uh you you ought to go try them out
16:53
because there is there is a big big big
16:56
difference between a set of nines and a
16:57
set of 10 and these have a really good
17:00
feel to them they sound great they stay
17:03
in tune well and uh and I'm uh grateful
17:07
all right guys well I hope you've
17:09
enjoyed today's episode and I'll see you
17:11
next time bye-bye