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i have seen on many tutorial about basing where they use guitar wire to represent power cables but i cannot seem to actually find somewhere that sells it, i tried ebay and amazon and had no hope, so far i have had to wind my own which is annoying and very time consuming. am i missing something very obvious or is it really that hard to find, please if you know a website that sells it can you post the link in a comment as i want to find an alternative to winding it myself.
thanks
the clone

Do you have a local music shop? Because they would be able to sort you out. If not, a google search for 'guitar wire [wherever you are] should turn something up.

Try searching for guitar strings. Get metal not nylon strings though. Someone on here sells flexible cast tubing stuff as well. Zing industris I think?

I think the obvious thing you are missing, as you put it, is that guitar wire is more commonly called guitar "strings".

They sell lots of guitar strings on Amazon and eBay.

ok, thanks

Go to a local music shop that does any work on instruments or even deals with used ones. Ask them if they have any scrap guitar strings you can have. They will probably give you a handful or coil out of their trash. Works for me every time.

http://www.juststrings.com

You can order single strings of various materials, diameters etc. Also, if any of your friends plays any stringed instrument, they're bound to have sets of worn strings around as spares.

The guitar shop or guitar playing friend for free used strings is your best bet. I used to work at a guitar shop and we usually had some strings in the trash. However, if they don't have free strings, any good music shop will also sell individual strings in small envelopes for about a buck each or a cheap set of strings for about 4 bucks.

If you're not sure what thickness of string to get, you can wander around the shop until you find a string that is the right thickness on an instrument. Any good salesperson will be able to find you an equivalent size string.

A few other things:
-If you want the easily drybrushable rough texture of power cables, then get standard "roundwound strings".
-If you want a smoother surface ask for "Flatwound strings" though flatwounds are sometimes not available separatley.
-For thicker power cables on vehicles and terrain and such, bass guitar strings are the answer.

I haven't used them for modeling, but I do play guitar and i'd say you might be a little wary of used strings as the reason you change them is they get corroded, dulling the sound. If you plan on painting them, i'm not sure how well the paint will react to the corrosion long term. Also i'd make sure you stay away from coated strings as the coating does come off after awhile, again potentially ruining a paint job.

Then again, it might not make any difference, but i'd rather be safe.

Corrosion isn't so much a danger to painting as the oil from hands. If using used strings it's not a bad idea to boil them in water first. Blues and other "working class" musicians used to do that alot to re-use strings before they were as affordable as they are today.

If you worry about corrosion, DR Stainless Steel strings also have stainless steel cores, besides the outer wound.

Anyone who plays guitar will regularly need to change strings, and the worn ones are perfect. Know anyone who plays guitar?

Amazon, or any local music shop will have guitar string. It's very cheap.

First off, do what Paradigm suggested and hit up a local music shop (if you have one). Ask them if they have any old/broken strings they wouldn't mind giving you.

Alternatively if you know someone who plays guitar then ask them if they have any old ones about or if they could save you some.




Me, I get mine from my brother. I've got a sizeable container filled with various gauges of guitar and bass strings. I'm well on my way to having enough to make a scale suspension bridge.

Ehem....

A point about using guitar wire on bases or miniatures:

Beware the ends of the wire.

In the 1980s, since I played the guitar in several Goth/Deathrock bands, I had ample amounts of strings laying around.

And decided to use them on 6mm, 15mm, and 25mm miniatures for a variety of things; usually antennae.

And... I discovered that they are like tiny hypodermic syringe needles pointing straight up into your hands.

I suppose the heavier wrapped strings for the low-e, d, and g strings would not be such a problem.

Or at least as much of a problem, because they are still going to have little ends that are going to catch, snag and poke (I ruined a lot of shirts by snagging them on the ends of wrapped strings).

So... If you are going to do this.... Beware of the ends of the strings, and find something to either cover them (a drop of superglue, set while it is dripping off the end of the string I found to work pretty well, and it doesn't look too bad either), or place them where they can't snag on fingers or clothes (or other models).

MB

A fun lesson I learned: Some guitar strings are wrapped around a VERY hard wire, which calls for a dedicated pair of wire cutters. I naively destroyed a pair of side cutters on my first attempt to cut the guitar string.

So, in case you weren't already planning to: Get a pair of real wire cutters, and think about getting softer strings.

Green Stuff Industries has a pretty cool cable-maker doodad

http://www.greenstuffindustries.com/store/p1/Tentacle_Maker_Tool_Box_v2.html

That's a good point. Guitar cables should be cut with wire cutters, not flush (side) cutters.

I have on occassion used flush cutters, but only the beat up pair that I use for metal models and even then it's not advisable. I think it's commonly known that you shouldn't use the same pair of snips on metal and plastic models.

wow, thank you.
my friend plays guitar and is going to give me some old string (stainless steel so corrosion isn't a problem) and i found some on amazon, 3 strings for £2 and i bought two of those so i wont be in short supply. i have also bought some thin jewellery wire and i wrap that around a bit of 1mm metal rod and it gives some pleasing results but will probably stop when my guitar wire arrives as it is quite time consuming but it appears that it is easier to bend than guitar wire because from what i have read it is quite hard to do so.

anybody got any tips on how to bend guitar wire?

all suggestions welcome

Cool, glad you found some.
I still recommend cleaning or boiling the used ones to get the skin cells and oil out of them.

Guitar wire bends fairly easily 2 pairs of pliers and something to wrap it around and you'll be fine.

By the way, I should mention that I totally hate guitar string for sculpting. As Beafraid said, they have freaking sharp ends, they don't naturally hold their shape, and are generally more pain than they are worth.

Assuming you want to make yourself power cables or xenos looking tubing, I would highly recommend pewter. I've only bought them once, a very long time ago, but they are relatively, hold their shape, easy to cut, and generally easy to use. You can get them in several gauges, too.

Here is one place to get them (scroll to the very bottom) --

http://www.dragonforge.com/Painting%20service/for%20sale/sculpting_supplies.htm

You can get 10 pieces that are 3 inches long (so 30 inches total) for $4.50. They have mold lines, but not really a big deal to clean up, IMO.

Edit -- this is another alternative that I have read about, but not tried -- a greenstuff tube maker:

http://www.greenstuffindustries.com/store/p1/Tentacle_Maker_Tool_Box_v2.html

thanks, i want to get the pewter cables but i live in the uk and to get the sample pack (which i like the look of) it would cost $12 or about £7,i might still get it though. do you know if they sell it on amazon or ebay


Automatically Appended Next Post:
just a quick update, i bought the sample pack as i thought 8 pounds was quite good for just under 4 foots worth of pewter piping

Yeah those pewter cables are great. MUCH easier to work with than guitar wire / string.

ok, thanks

 the clone wrote:
ok, thanks

I think the shipping is the same amount regardless of how much you buy, so once you know what you want, just buy a few packs, and they'll last you forever. Or, just buy one pack of each size (instead of the sampler). You should be good for quite a while, if you're just using them for power cables.

to the uk it costs 5 dollars each package so if i want two products it would cost me 10 dollers

Not sure what your budget is, but you should maybe look into getting a Tentacle Maker Tool from Greenstuff Industries.

I got one and it's a great value, and you will have no problem churning out all sorts of power cables and such. The best part is that you can reshape the finished cables by dipping in hot water for a second and then simply bending with your fingers: I suspect you've already discovered how difficult it is to shape guitar wire.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
oops, Talys mentioned it already. But in any event it's a good product.

The trick with using guitar strings is to get the curve right first, THEN cut to length. Yes, you waste some, but it's far easier to curve a longer length smoothly than a short one.

We have a bunch of guitars sitting around, but much, much prefer zinge industries cable - guitar strings are too springy, so it's hard to get a decent curve.

Of course, being free or really cheap does help. In which case, the lower strings are the ones you want for items like, say, power claw cables

Note on sizes: 0.048 strings, typically bottom E for electrics, are around 1.2mm, with nice chunky windings (the bobbly bit).


0.038 is probably the minimum for a wound string, just under a millimetre. The windings get finer as the string gets lighter.

Also, don't forget the budget tentacle-maker!

thanks, I have found out that it is quite easy to bend guitar wire if you wrap the entire thing around a pencil and clamp it there for about a day. i have previously purchased a greenstuff tentacle maker but it was lost when i moved house. i am interested about the low budget tentacle maker, could you post how it works and how you constructed it as it looks really cool? i myself tried getting two bits of styrene ridged sheet and rubbed them together but the ridges are prominent enough and were to far apart and i couldn't find anything better. thank you again,

the clone

Ooh sorry, thought it would be clear from the photo. It's simply a cheap plastic comb, cut up so that the teeth align.