Sugar Slaps Strings by Aquila

The Sugar Slaps are designed to emulate gut strings (for slappers, particularly) in a durable, affordable synthetic option. The early feedback on these strings is that they do it very well - players report that the strings feel very much like gut strings under the hands, and have many of the favorable aspects of the tone without the hassles of oiling gut strings (or the high cost of them!)

The unique sound and feel of these strings was made possible thanks to a combination of innovative materials including a vegetable-derived plastic -Sugar- loaded with thin copper powder for the E and A strings. The D and G are made of a special elastomer. The result is a full-bodied, percussive sounding strings with just the right sustain and quick rebound on the fingerboard.

They are especially well-suited for the Rockabilly style and also for pizzicato, particular for "old-timey" styles like bluegrass, Americana, Roots music, and "old" jazz styles. They are not particularly useful for arco/bowing, as the bow tends to "skate" on the surface, and they don't respond too well tonally when you do manage to get a grip with the bow.

They have a lighter-than-average tension, and while they have the sound of gut, they do have a better overall intonation, especially on the lower strings, where unwound guts can get a little wonky, pitch-wise.

Some players are even saying that they come the closest to gut strings of any synthetic strings they've tried!

Aquila strings are made in Italy.

Note about changes to the E-string: Historically, the "E" string has been made in three versions; the original sets were made with all four strings being solid and unwound. However, for a brief time, the E string was made with a thinner core, which was wound with nylon wire, due to some complications with the extrusion machine for the largest diameter strings. That wound version of the string still sounds and plays great - there's just a little "texture" under the fingers. It's very stable and tonally matches the rest of the set.

The current (and what should be the design for the foreseeable future) is a very tight-tolerance tapewound design. They are very smooth, and you can only see the seems under very close examination. They are very smooth, and feel very similar to the adjacent solid A string. That's what is in the sets we now have available - the ultrasmooth tapewound E with the A, D, and G being unwound, solid strings.

String Gauges/Tensions

* Yes - the A string is slightly thinner than the D string! This is because a special blended in copper powder is added in to the E and A strings, adding to their mass and requiring less physical size. So the D and A seem almost the same size but have the correct tensions at pitch.