What's the difference between loop end and ball end strings?

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Accepted Answer

A ball end string has a small brass ring crimped onto the end and is what standard guitars and basses use. A loop end string has an open loop instead and is used on banjos, mandolins, most lap steels and many resonators. The two aren't interchangeable. The end of the string has to match the way your instrument anchors it.Ball end strings anchor in a guitar or bass bridge, a stop tailpiece, bridge pins or a string-through body.Loop end strings hook over pins or hooks on a tailpiece. That's typical of banjos, mandolins, dulcimers, bouzoukis and many other folk instruments.Tie end strings, used on classical guitars, have no fitting at all. You tie them to the bridge yourself.Our loop end sets include banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, bouzouki, and bajo sexto and bajo quinto strings.We also stock plain steel singles in both versions: ball end from .008 to .026 (including .0095, .0105 and .0115) and loop end from .009 to .017. Our specialty singles also include loop end mandolin phosphor bronze and banjo wound strings.

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