Headway Music Audio are known for offering cutting edge multi function pre-amplifiers and pickup systems for specific acoustic musical instruments, but are not known for strings.
Why did we bother with Strings?To be quite honest we got fed up paying GB £17.00 ( $22+ / €19.50 ) and more for a set of big brand acoustic nano coated strings we liked, but we didn’t really much like any other brand we could find. So we started looking around at what coated strings could be made and we managed to achieve the manufacture of samples of coated strings that we were absolutely delighted with.
As soon as we we were completely happy with the results of what became Everlux Strings, we found our friends, endorsees, luthiers and dealers all found exactly the same results as we had observed. In fact to date, apart from a printed typo in the first run, nobody, absolute nobody has said anything about them than utter praise. So by word of mouth and a few emails, we had sold 1000 sets in the first fortnight before they appeared on any website or in any internet existence.
Aims & Purpose: We all realise that most guitar players want their guitars to sound as good as possible, for the strings to last, maintaining tone, volume, tuning stability, tonal evenness and not to discolour, corrode, unravel or break. Everlux was created by Headway Music Audio to make that top quality and performance a reality, to be able to offer top end strings at a sensible price, without needing to cover the costs of too many Industry overheads.
The non-coated alternative:The uncomfortable truth about the great majority of strings sold is that they may sound over bright when first put onto the instrument, which may require rubbing the strings hard into frets to cut excessive metal to metal harshness, or rubbing in sweat and skin. This gradually contributes to fret wear and is not needed for nano coated strings.
Many strings also need to a lot of stretching before they become stable on the same day of installation. This risks breakage. After that there’ll be a short period when they perform at their tonal best.
For some people with quite acrid sweat, the optimum string tone may last as little as a couple of hours of hard playing, after which they start to become slightly more and more dull as time passes.
Non-coated strings will usually cost less, but if you add up the total cost over a year, nano coated strings will save you money as well as cutting environmental impact.
Strings for long life and critical applications: When doing critical recording using non coated strings, it is possible to hear the tone on the guitar become less and less bright with every take. This makes accurate continuity of sound impossible and the quality of tone can have become unacceptable after 3-4 hours, making it necessary to change the strings or guitar.
On the day following a session when the new strings were put on, the non-coated strings can be completely lacking in any harmonics, treble, or presence and the top two strings, can be the colour of old disused railway lines.
Of course, temperature, humidity and a players ability to sweat as well as the intensity of playing all play their part in how long strings last. But in all cases, good quality Nano Coated Strings greatly outlast the non-coated types by typically 3-5 times. That can mean up to 7 weeks of regular playing before a serious loss of tone.
Phosphor Bronze Strings last longer than 80/20 or 85/15 Bronze Strings, but if coated, both last much longer than the non coated variety
With Everlux strings, your last studio overdub will sound the same as your first. You will not have needed to rub the strings hard into the frets to tame the metallic edge on non coated strings.
Everlux Strings use the highest quality of materials from USA, Germany & Japan
String specification and voicing has been carried out by Headway in the UK
The tuning stability of Everlux Strings will be alongside the best available.
Tonal and volume evenness of Everlux Strings from 1st to 6th will be alongside the best.
The consistency and neatness of winding and string diameter will also be very consistent, the nano coating covers the entire string and unusually covers the entire string set including plain.
Fast Access Single String Paper PacketsWhen you need to change strings, the last thing you want is to deal with a plastic packet that requires metal tools to get into it, or to have to unravel all six strings wrapped around each other, then to sort out which is which, possibly needing to search around for the thinner ones around your feet, still worse to need do this in on grass. If you do break a string at a gig, you might need to bite into the plastic to get it open rapidly and taste the poisonous, cancer causing plasticiser chemicals in it. Such packaging is made for the convenience of the factory and the contentment of accountants and not for musicians.
There is a myth that surrounding metal items in plastic will necessarily make it last longer, but it locks in the moisture in the air in the factory. Instead paper packets allow things to breath and absorb moisture in the air, preventing condensation.
Don’t forget the environment…We now need to take the environmental impact into account for every product and activity we all carry out. Headway Music Audio already offer a repair service on virtually every pickup, pre-amp and amp it produced over it’s 26 years. Everlux Strings avoids plastic packaging and uses recyclable paper and card.
In offering longer lasting strings, this cuts down the number of strings needed to be purchased and the amount of metal needed to be smelted each year, cutting carbon footprints.
Why big brand coated strings are so expensiveMost of the higher cost of the big brands of strings that many people buy is not spent on materials or craftsmanship or expertise, but goes on a series of industry mark ups, possible Rep. commission, with Duty, Shipping/Handling and Taxes on top, all multiplying the actual cost of the strings to the player.
Fake Brand StringsOf course the other downside to buying strings from the established big bands is that they have often been counterfeited mercilessly. You will see all of the big brands of strings often being advertised on the net at prices lower than those the shops and dealers can buy them in for. But they will not even necessarily be very cheap and how do you tell the genuine ones?
Sometimes the fraudulent strings are reasonable and sometimes terrible, but they are never coated and never the ones they purport to be.
Everlux and Headway will offer you top quality string sound, performance and longevity at a price that does not make you wonder whether they were made of silver, spun gold and spider’s webs. You can expect the range to increase in the near future.
We are so confident of the quality of these strings that we offer to mail you back 3 new sets in return for any genuine and faulty set of strings that might be returned to us.
Guitar players “in the know” deserve better sounding guitars driven by better strings
Don’t you deserve to play Everlux Strings
Looking After Strings:After extended playing you may gently wipe around the strings down full lengths with a soft dry cloth to further extend their life.
Treat your strings as you should the instrument they are on. Do NOT leave your instrument in freezing or hot temperatures such as left for hours in hot cars, outbuildings, or outside for extended periods, near radiators, fires, heaters or in direct strong sunlight.
John LittlerAugust 2021