STRING THEORY

Fifteen years on from the company’s inception, Curt Mangan’s handmade strings have built an impressive roster of endorsees, from Kirk Fletcher to Allen Hinds and Matt Schofield. Prior to starting up his own company, Curt was with Ernie Ball for 17 years – and so he’s forgotten more about the way strings contribute to your tone than most of us will ever know.

Expanding on our cover feature’s theme of understanding how all the elements in your rig influence one another to generate your tone, Curt took us on a tour through the history of string design in the 20th century. Along the way, he was able to give great advice on what strings will suit your rig best – and why switching string spec may just complete your tone equation perfectly.

EARLY YEARS

“If you look back through the history of string making, in the early 1900s Monel was the most-used wire for making musical instrument strings,” Curt explains. “The old Gibson Sonomatics were all Monel. Monel