John Pearse Strings • Shoreline Music

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Pierre Bensusan
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John Pearse Strings are the result of an odyssey begun in the 1960s by their eponym. An accomplished guitarist and teacher himself, John set out to develop a string that would satisfy the most discerning musicians. His philosophy was quite simple: He set out to build the best guitar strings possible, even if it involved some unorthodox methods. You see, most guitar strings are made from metal wire, and if you only manufacture your strings with easy-to-get wire made close to home (as most stringmakers do), you're going to get wire that's not necessarily designed for guitar strings, and often designed for the electronics industry. Not content with the status quo, John has scoured the globe looking for the best, toughest, most brittle alloys, which make the best wire for guitar strings. He gets wire from the Ukraine, Sweden and Germany, and wraps it tighter than most other stringmakers, increasing the stiffness of the strings. This combination of the right metals and the right wrapping techniques produces a string that transfers a maximum of energy to the soundboard of your guitar. This is, of course, just a long way of saying that you'll find that these strings simply sound better than just about any other strings. And plenty of pros have found exactly this, including James Taylor, Bob Brozman, Tim Sparks, Woody Mann, and more. And if the endorsement of lots of pro players isn't enough, it's worth noting that around our shop we string virtually every guitar we ship with John Pearse strings, and we string most of our own personal guitars with John Pearse strings, too. We like 'em.

Here's a few of the John Pearse string types you'll find available here:

Phosphor Bronze - This is the standard metal alloy that is the wrap wire of choice for most guitar strings we sell at Shoreline. John gets his PB from Gros Gerau, Germany. I use John's PBs on my own guitars more than any other string.

80/20 - A brighter alloy. John gets this from Gotterberg, Sweden.

Slightly Light - This is the string gauge preferred by James Taylor. These are most similar to Custom Lights from other stringmakers, with a high E of .011", but the bottom three strings are a hair lighter than the standard Custom Light gauges.

Bluegrass - This is a standard bluegrass gauge with lights for the top two strings and medium strings for the four wound strings.

Slack Key - Designed specifically for those of us who spend a lot of time in dropped tunings. Since the most popular alternate tunings tend to drop the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th strings, these strings are medium gauge, and the 3rd and 4th strings are light gauge.

We've just introduced a new way to buy John Pearse strings, and I think you're going to like it. The principle is simple: If you only want to order a single set of strings, then you get our lowest possible price for one set--and it's not just our lowest price, but the lowest price anywhere online. If you know you need more than a couple of sets, then the more strings you buy, the cheaper they get. The best part is, our standard free shipping applies even to small orders, so that you can buy a single pack of acoustic John Pearse strings at a delivered price of only $7. Please note that, at least for now, bulk discounts on John Pearse strings only apply to individual gauges. If you'd like to mix and match to get the bulk discounts, please contact us:

Every John Pearse string order shipped free, regardless of size.

John Pearse Acoustic Strings		Extra Light (.010-.047)	Slightly Light (.011-.050)	Light (.012-.053)	Medium (.013-.056)	New Medium (.013-.055)	Bluegrass (.012-.056)	Slack Key (.013-.056)
Phosphor Bronze	1 set: $7.50 2 sets: $7.00 each 3-4 sets: $6.50 each 5+ sets: $6.25
80/20	1 set: $7.00 2-4 sets: $6.00 each 5-9 sets: $5.75 each 10+ sets: $5.25 each
John Pearse 12-string Sets				Light (.010-.047)
Phosphor Bronze	$10 each, any quantity
John Pearse Mandolin Strings				Light (.010-.034)	Medium (.011-.040)	Standard (.011-.039)	Heavy (.012-.040)
Phosphor Bronze	$6 each, any quantity
80/20	$5.25 each, any quantity

*All John Pearse string prices include free shipping anywhere in the US. CO residents add 2.9% sales tax (7.4% in La Plata county). Please see our Shipping page for additional shipping information.