Silk and steel strings

guitargeek62 · February 2019

I discovered these on a nice little Guild M120 yesterday. I’d picked up the guitar to try it out and loved how mellow and easy to play it felt, the tension seemed nice and low but I could still dig in - it almost felt like all the good elements of a classical/nylon strung, but on something I could actually play. Anyway, I had a chat with the salesman and he mentioned that it was fitted with silk and steel strings too, which vaguely registered in my mind but suddenly all the characteristics made sense.

Is anyone else a fan of these? They seem ideal for finger-picking & couch/home-strumming if you don’t like things too bright. I’m going to try some out on my Yamaha too, as it’s got a bellied top and I’ve been reluctant to string it with anything too heavy!

p90fool · February 2019

They're lovely on my J35, but they don't last me long. I have a couple of sets on standby for recording sessions, they really do sound sweet.

Whistler · February 2019

I like silk and steel strings on my 12-string electro-acoustic. With phospher bronze strings it needs a soft touch otherwise it starts to sound a little brittle - ie. too bright - but the silk and steel strings sound pleasantly full and bold.

thecolourbox · February 2019

Yeah I put some on mine, expensive compared to normal strings, and sounded very dead after a few weeks. They did sound nice to start with though and felt easier to play

Jalapeno · February 2019

They don't last too long sadly

DulcetJones · February 2019

How are they on electric acoustics with under saddle PU's?

zepp76 · February 2019

They sound quite interesting, any recommendations on brands please?

Edit: Any love for John Pearse silk and steel strings? They seem to be the only brand doing the size I'm after (12-53).

GTC · March 2019

Haven't tried John Pearse strings = but La Bella Silk & Steel Mediums are very good (12-56)

TheBigDipper · March 2019

I like them on my Martin 0-16 New Yorker, which is a 12 fret parlour guitar with a flat, classically-wide fretboard. They suit it well and sound good.

idiotwindow · March 2019

I tried some on my D-28 to get away from the "bluegrass" sound that the stock medium PB strings had. They certainly feel easy to play but the lower tension introduced a buzz on one of the bass strings and I wasn't sold on the sound they make. I could have had the set-up tweaked to sort out the buzz but the sound was just a little too tinkly/chimey for my taste and seemed like a waste of a dreadnought body so I reverted back to PB strings.

Andy_Strings · March 2019

I have then on my size 5 (Terz), they seem to really suit short scale and small body guitars. Less attack and a bit less at both ends of the frequency spectrum so it's all more mellow. They don't work as well on heavily built or big bodied guitars because the reduced tension doesn't vibrate the top as much.

GTC · March 2019

Many "standard" silk & steel sets have quite low gauge bass strings (e.g. .047 gauge low E) which can cause buzzes if switching from say, a typical light gauge Phosphor Bronze steel set (.053 low E) set-up.

In addition to the La Bella and John Pearse strings mentioned above, Ernie Ball Silk & Steel soft (80/20 bronze) have heavier gauge bass strings (e.g. .052 low E)

goldtop · January 2023

Any more thoughts on these? I hadn't heard about them until a friend mentioned them today.

I may try a set on the little Yamaha parlour guitar to warm up the tone a little. I can see GHS in 12-54 or various in 11-47 as mentioned above.

(necro-bumping instead of starting the exact same thread)

idiotwindow · January 2023

goldtop said:

Any more thoughts on these? I hadn't heard about them until a friend mentioned them today.

I may try a set on the little Yamaha parlour guitar to warm up the tone a little. I can see GHS in 12-54 or various in 11-47 as mentioned above.

(necro-bumping instead of starting the exact same thread)

I'm not sure about "warming up the tone" – my experience was the opposite I think. However, since then I have tried a set of Silk and Phosphor (Martin MA130FX) and I quite like those. I use them on my D-28.

goldtop · January 2023

Hmmm... that's what my friend thought, and I saw it echoed on this page: https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/blog/whats-the-deal-with-silk-and-steel/

Warmer, mellow tone
Lower tension
Less string noise

Have I got the wrong end of the stick?

shufflebeat · January 2023

For "warmer" but without that lovely low tension it's worth trying nickel-bronze. I got some D'addario to try to get some sense out of a Baggs m1a and, while it didn't really do all I wanted for the pickup I really liked the acoustic sound.

They don't like to be it too hard but if you're reasonably gentle or a flat picker I think they're great.

Mellish · January 2023

Silk & Steel were good enough for Donovan to use for "Colours", "Catch The Wind" etc, back in the 60s, but then string materials were more limited....

If you like that mellow sound, they'll work for you. But I like strings to ring, so I'll go for D'Addario cos they work well with this Gibson Dove. Newtone also work for me in both PB and 80/20.
La Bella I've tried and like, too. But John Pearse alway sound dead to me.

guitargeek62 · January 2023

I’m still enjoying them, but go back and forth with phosphor bronze on my J45/E10 for variety

Cryptid · January 2023

I use silk & steel on my lightly-built New Yorker style guitar for their low tension - a bellied top and spanish heel construction rules out a future neck reset. Suits the sound well as someone mentioned above, with a mellow attack and plenty of sustain.

JP silk & steel sound perfect on this guitar but sadly don't last 5 minutes, but then my skin chemistry ruins all JP strings in short order.

I've moved onto Martin MA130S 11.5 - 47 with an even lower set tension of 122.2 lbs. These are even more mellow than the JP's and edging into classical territory, but they sound good on this guitar and have lasted months without any sign of degradation.

guitargeek62 · January 2023

I must have very non-sweaty fingers, as I don't find that the S&S strings last much differently to standard ones

I've also fitted them to an older Yamaha acoustic that I've got, as that has a slightly bellied top too but isn't worth repairing except for sentimental reasons. It sounds bloody lovely though with them

BillDL · January 2023

I use Tomastik-Infeld Spectrum Bronze 11s on a couple of my acoustic guitars. I find that the 11s in this range are much the same as the 12s for tone and feel less bulky. They are not as loud as most "bronze" wound strings because they have silk integrated into the winding, but for this same reason they are softer to play and have a rich and rounded tone (but never woollly or muffled) across a wide spectrum. I find that they also outlast standard "bronze" strings. Not cheap, and they don't sound great on every acoustic, but I like them a lot.

https://www.thomastik-infeld.com/en/products/guitar-strings/acoustic-guitar/spectrum-bronze

"A unique bronze formula, combined with Thomastik-Infeld's mastery of mechanical filtering with their silk inlay technology, gives a full warm tone, with a sparkling clarity that lets you cut through a dense sound mix. Playing feel is very balanced and they are surprisingly long lasting."

GTC · January 2023

BillDL said:

I use Tomastik-Infeld Spectrum Bronze 11s on a couple of my acoustic guitars. I find that the 11s in this range are much the same as the 12s for tone and feel less bulky. They are not as loud as most "bronze" wound strings because they have silk integrated into the winding, but for this same reason they are softer to play and have a rich and rounded tone (but never woollly or muffled) across a wide spectrum. I find that they also outlast standard "bronze" strings. Not cheap, and they don't sound great on every acoustic, but I like them a lot.

https://www.thomastik-infeld.com/en/products/guitar-strings/acoustic-guitar/spectrum-bronze
"A unique bronze formula, combined with Thomastik-Infeld's mastery of mechanical filtering with their silk inlay technology, gives a full warm tone, with a sparkling clarity that lets you cut through a dense sound mix. Playing feel is very balanced and they are surprisingly long lasting."

I use Tomastk-Infeld PLECTRUM 11's on my Santa Cruz. Again, not cheap but very different and rather lovely and warm - probably more so than the Spectrum range IMO. Despite their name, the Plectrums are very good for fingerstyle

bertie · January 2023

for me, the term "mellow" or more so, "warm" usually means "dull" for my ears at least - pretty sure I sold some Spectrum Bs to someone on here ( @drofluf ;; I think it was you mate ?) , as they didnt suit me, I bought two sets on advice on lower tension, but the tone wasnt there

goldtop · January 2023

Thanks all. I've ordered a set of MA130s as a test. I'll report back after trying them for a week or two.

It's a new guitar, so there's also the issue of playing it in (not an aged top), but that could take years!

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Silk and steel strings

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