14 DAY TRIAL // You don't necessarily have to be a metalhead to know that rock and metal is a music that's played hard, loud and fast. But behind all the (sometimes) scary and twisted looks, music involves a lot of hard work using high-class instruments, mastering countless techniques and making everything look easy, even though it is not. Taking one step further and drawing away from rock and metal, the guitar is one iconic instrument when it comes to all the neat music people are listening to; be it a lead or a bass guitar, these instruments have roughly the same construction and it involves strings, pickups and other things, some of them unchanged since the early age of the guitar.
Well, it's time to witness one dramatic innovation that promises to change the way you've been used to experience your beloved instruments, mandolins, ukulele, 12-stringers and the likes included: the GraphTech String Saver technology, one fantastic intrusion of high-tech engineering and modern high-tech materials in the seemingly static world of guitars.
Among the many mishaps that plague the otherwise perfect occupation of playing a guitar, a breaking string is perhaps one of the most common and most annoying. First of all, if you break a string during a performance and have no backup guitar, you've had it. And changing strings needs time, until they stay in tune perfectly.
Apart from pulling excessively on a string and thus causing it to break, the main reason of the constant friction between said string and the bridge of the guitar is the nut. While aftermarket nuts come in many nifty materials such as bone, the majority is made from metal, just like the bridges, rollers and other components that interact with a tuned string. And here comes the friction between the two metal objects – the good traction strains the strings during playing and makes them susceptible to breakage in a rather short time.
The String Saver technology from GraphTech brings forth graphite guitar nuts, rollers and bridges impregnated with Teflon! Teflon is probably the most slippery substance known to mankind until now. All the GraphTech String Saver pieces are treated in a special Teflon bath that literally embeds the substance in their own structure, gradually releasing it over huge periods of time and dramatically diminishing the friction between said elements.
And if you thought that graphite is slippery enough, keep in mind that Teflon is no less than 500 more slippery than graphite – you now have a better picture of what “slippery” can actually mean. Building on massive experience and extensive experimentation, the GraphTech engineers have managed to develop a substance that not only exerts a minimal friction on the strings but is hard enough to make everything resonate better. And when it comes to resonating, well, that's what guitar tone is all about!
Finally, one more thing you should know: don't fear GraphTech haven't got the right piece for your axe, because they actually do. You can choose between all the legendary systems – the classic Fender Stratocaster bridge, the Telecaster one, the tune-o-matic and stop tailpiece from Gibson-like guitars, and even the high-tech Floyd Rose double-locking mechanism has been modded. And of course, all sorts of bridges and nuts, bridge pins for acoustic guitars, mandolins and ukulele guitars are waiting for you. With prices around $50 for a whole upgrade kit, the GraphTech String Saver technology makes me think about adding something new to my old guitars.
More specs and features can be found on the GraphTech webpage, here.
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