String types, formulations, brands - care to share your experiences?

TimmyO · April 2017

I tend to automatically buy Elixirs (PB I think), but aware that other stuff exists :-)

stickyfiddle · April 2017

Following. I'm on Elixir Nanos but open to hearing about others for acoustics.

VimFuego · April 2017

boringly, I always go for d'adds phos bronze. Good tone, good life span, never had any issues with them once they bed in.

TimmyO · April 2017

Acoustic Guitar

80/20 Bronze - excellent for projecting a penetrating acoustic sound with unsurpassed tonal range. These strings lose their initial super brilliance after a few hours of use. The remaining tone, however, is still pleasant and penetrating.

Bronze - a favorite of acoustic players because of their bright, focused sound. They are bright and brassy when you want them to be, with a clear, penetrating sound.

Phosphor Bronze - longer lasting tone than the 80/20 due to the phosphorus content. These strings provide about 80% of the brilliance of a new 80/20 set for a bright, rich tone that's not excessive.

Brass (85/15 bronze) - a warm, full-bodied tone with good depth. Heavy, louder and brighter and are often chosen by flatpickers and energetic fingerpickers.

Silk & Steel - offers the driving force of steel strings and the soft tonal properties often associated with classical strings. A center wrap of silk fiber provides easier fingering and minimizes the brilliance for a sweeter more mellow tone. Popular with folk guitar enthusiasts and finger-style players.

^ from juststrings.com

comments/thoughts/brand experiences?

VimFuego · April 2017

quite fancy giving those newtone heritage low tension strings a go, may help out the old arfur in the fretting hand.

bluechargeboy · April 2017

I have pretty much moved over to Martin Retro Monel (nickel alloy). I seem to kill phosphor bronze strings within a 45 minute set, but the Retros last me a whole gig! They also have less tension and feel a bit smoother under the finger somehow. More expensive than the default D'Addario EJ12 but worth it IMO.

They sound different; a bit less traditionally "acoustic" than bronze but they work well for me. If using a magnetic soundhole pickup you may find it needs the polepieces adjusting as they tend to come set up for bronze.

I have tried coated but I always chew up the coating with my plectrum.

Winny_Pooh · April 2017

FWIW Elixirs are slightly highter tension than regular strings. Always a bit more banjo like rather than piano like. Were nice on a GS mini

My take:
Daddario PB, reliable all rounder.
Martin SP, good too, lifespan is debateable but I liked them on an OM
Newtone masters - Excellent, awesome
Martin Monel, Marmite and can be either dull/clangy or smooth & woody but inspiring when mated w the right guitar.

Less impressed
Dunlop - bad
Curt Mangan - bland
John Pearce - memory fails but perhaps not as good as Daddarios

TimmyO · April 2017

This is perhaps an embarrassingly naive question : are there any differences in the plain strings between different types and brands?

ICBM · April 2017

TimmyO said:

This is perhaps an embarrassingly naive question : are there any differences in the plain strings between different types and brands?

I would say yes, but much less than with the wound strings. The exact composition of the steel can vary.

At least normally. Strange but true… I tried a single string out of a set of cheap Chinese acoustic strings recently, when I broke one and was out of spare 12s - it sounded fine acoustically but the guitar had a magnetic pickup, and most bizarrely that string was very quiet compared to the others, even the wound ones! It must have been made from non-magnetic stainless steel - which does exist, but is normally quite expensive so it really surprised me to find a set of cheap strings made from it.

AliGorie · April 2017

I settled on Newtone Masterclass and DR Rares decades ago, I've intermittently 'had' to use the readily available usual suspects intermittently due to running out of my usual's, which always reassures me - there's a lot of very mediocre strings out there that sell plenty - it keep's the shareholders happy.

thermionic · April 2017

Generally I like D'Addario EXPs on my Dread. It came with Elixirs but when I switched to D'Addarios it seemed to gain a lower octave. They're coated differently to Elixirs (the winding is coated before it's wrapped round the core) so don't last quite as long, but a good compromise imho.

On my Loar I've liked Martin Retro Monel very much. I think they suit a small-bodied, mahogany back/sides guitar very well, especially if you do any capoed fingerpicking. Amazingly, they seem to last as long as coated strings. Having said that, it's had Martin Lifespan on for a few months now - I think they sound better than Elixirs but last a lot longer than EXPs. I should try these on my Dread.

ICBM · April 2017

The only coated strings I like are DR Dragon Skin, but still not as much as the uncoated Rares. I really dislike Elixirs and the coated D'Addarios.

I still prefer D'Addario PB over anything though - DRs can sound great but they can also be inconsistent, which is something I've never found with D'Addario.

fishfingers · April 2017

Uncoated - I prefer John Pearse PBs.

Using Elixir Nanos mostly - although they don't sound quite as good as the JPs they last for ages. My finger chemistry is really bad for uncoated strings!

AliGorie · April 2017

ICBM said:

The only coated strings I like are DR Dragon Skin, but still not as much as the uncoated Rares. I really dislike Elixirs and the coated D'Addarios.

I still prefer D'Addario PB over anything though - DRs can sound great but they can also be inconsistent, which is something I've never found with D'Addario.

DR D/Skins ARE Rares with their propitiatory coating

- got it from DR themselves.
as said - I've said them for many years - never had the 'inconsistent' issues - yeah I've read about then on State forums and I think there was suppositions that somewhere along the distribution chain to a big retailer they were being left in a very damp warehouse !, just what ya don't need.

Timmy - whats missing in that 'JustStrings' description - is -
1: quality of materials used.
2: quality of design
3: quality of manufacture
just like guitars spruce and mahogany guitars can have a lot of variety between them.

on top of all that you got the issue that certain strings sound 'good' on certain guitars add to that, what sound YOU consider is 'good' - usually your listening tastes will influence this.

earwighoney · April 2017

I find one of the pleasurable aspects of being in ownership of a new acoustic guitar is the process to find which strings suit the instrument the best.

Over the course I generally try out several different brands in both PB and 80/20 in several different gauges.

John Pearse and Newtone make excellent PB's, and their 80/20's are pretty good too. I find D'addarios to be a bit too bright but any slight reservations I have regarding their sound is offset by their long life - they definitely last a lot longer than any other brand I have used and always find myself coming back to using them on my 12 string and other guitars I don't play as much as some other guitars.

BigLicks67 · April 2017

I tend to use bronze or phosphor bronze, either Martin or D'adarrio or Gibson. I did use Elixir at one point but found them to be too expensive. At the end of the day I'm not fussy as long as they are decent quality.

Danny1969 · April 2017

I was using the cheap HB strings from Thoman .... I could get between 10 and 15 gigs out of a set and they are only £1.40 a set. Just gone back to Rotosound though as I can easily do 25 gigs on a set of those so it's less string changing. And you get a spare top E

I would imagine there's not a lot of raw material string makers but it's the way the ends and windings are completed that differ between brands

rustneversleeps · April 2017

I was the same as you using elixirs for years.Tried many others always seemed to go back to them.Then I tried Martin Retros on both maghogany and rosewood guitars.It all I use now.Give time at first as don't sound great at first.I find they have a softer feel too.and cheaper.

Lewy · April 2017

It's a constant source of chopping and changing for me (partially documented on here). The few options I seemed to have settled on now:

Dreadnought: Either DR Sunbeams or Newtone Masterclass PB 13-56

OM & J45: As above but lights instead of mediums.

Also have recently been playing some ragtime on the OM and am enjoying John Pearse PB silks (like silk and steels but with PB instead of steel). They are really interesting - super warm, very playable, not much quieter than non-silk strings but they calm down the harmonics which can get in the way for the style. Not universally appealing though.

Have enjoyed the Tony Rice Monels in the past but I think they've changed something about them - the reason I stopped using them was because they actually felt stiffer to me than other sets, and when I looked at the Martin website sure enough the overall tension was shown as being higher. Looking again, it now seems to show as a bit lower and everyone says they feel slinky. So either I'm going mad or they've changed the core/wrap ratio on some of the wound strings......maybe I'll give them another go.

AliGorie · April 2017

Beware the big boys marketing - they have been known to re-write history-
viz -

the Vinci strings were STEEL - core AND wrap with a nickel plating, TR used them and exclusively, previously they were made by D'Auquisto which went outa business. Thats what he played making all those recordings so when folks talk about Tony's trademark tone - they're talking about STEEL strings - literally (with a nickel coating). He started using 'Monel' strings relatively recently. You can read between the lines - but he ‘got into’ a franchise deal with another big company who, as I say - re-wrote history - very retro - very vintage - very authentic - I suppose a guy’s got make a buck though.
All part of the 'Monel' craze that's been manufactured over the past few years - prob something to do with the price of raw materials - ya gota admit - it's a laugh.

Lewy · April 2017

AliGorie said:

Beware the big boys marketing - they have been known to re-write history-
viz -

the Vinci strings were STEEL - core AND wrap with a nickel plating, TR used them and exclusively, previously they were made by D'Auquisto which went outa business. Thats what he played making all those recordings so when folks talk about Tony's trademark tone - they're talking about STEEL strings - literally (with a nickel coating). He started using 'Monel' strings relatively recently. You can read between the lines - but he ‘got into’ a franchise deal with another big company who, as I say - re-wrote history - very retro - very vintage - very authentic - I suppose a guy’s got make a buck though.
All part of the 'Monel' craze that's been manufactured over the past few years - prob something to do with the price of raw materials - ya gota admit - it's a laugh.

Dismissing something because of how it's marketed is as daft as using it because of how it's marketed. if people have tried the Monels and like them who cares what the history is or what the blurb says?

AliGorie · April 2017

Lewy said:

ya gota admit - it's a laugh.

Dismissing something because of how it's marketed is as daft as using it because of how it's marketed. if people have tried the Monels and like them who cares what the history is or what the blurb says?

it's ALL daft Lewy - and - it's all a laugh u cant dismiss that.
I liked Gibson's Mona-Steel strings 50 yrs ago, much better than what was available then - Cathedral Strings and Black Diamond Strings known as Bailing Wire which corroded and rusted in the all pervading damp. But then they 'discovered' Bronze - which had been used in Piano string manufacture for yonks before - wonder why ?, and for acoustics at least, nickel alloy strings went outa favor - we were lead to believe they sounded better - trouble was piano strings are not touched / played by human hands - bummer. Come to think of it I've never heard of a piano being strung with Monel strings - dont even know if they make 'em, a 'retro' sounding Steinway - nah - wouldnt be very Authentic even with a torrefied soundboard.
maybe it was the margins on raw materials that drove us to the Bronzy side? who knows, all a bit groundhog days - yeah.

BTW I do like TR's steel string tone - 90's and before.

ESBlonde · April 2017

I can't get on with coated strings, I don't like the feel as the finish disintegrates which they always do on my sweaty hands.

Martin PBs have provided the tone and feel on my Epiphone for a couple of decades now. As stated above there are some strings that suit certain guitars and part of the joy of ownership is discovering they combination of brand/gauge/guitar.

TimmyO · April 2017

Interesting stuff fellas, thanks.

I think next month if there are any spare £ I'll order a bunch of stuff to try out - will certainly include Newtone and Pearse as well as D'Add and I may as well try a set of Monel (although the video demos I heard didn't really light any fires, but appreciate these things can be difficult to distinguish online)

One last Q on this though - on my Yamaha dread, for me the plain strings when used ith a plectrum are a bit too... PING! - loud, strident - not bright/brittle but quite penetrating in a way that catches my ear for the wrong reason (I'm describing it badly I know...) - are any brands/types likely to be significantly different on the unwound strings? IS this why people sometimes use mismatched bridge pins? Or am I being too picky on a mid-range guitar? :-)

ta
Tim

Jalapeno · April 2017

I use Elixirs on electric & acoustic - love the feel, and they last. I got my Tom Anderson with a new set on, and they felt right. I understand the tone comments, but just turn up (and use the tone control

)

Exceptions to that rule are for jazz:

-D'Addario Gypsy 10s on the maccaferri style - they keep their brightness, and less prone (not at all prone) to snapping unlike Argentines, Galli etc. Did flirt with Newtone for a while, but though they lasted they went very dull, very quickly.

Archtop - Thomastik-Infeld Swing 12s flatwounds - these are a joy to play

AliGorie · April 2017

ESBlonde said:

I can't get on with coated strings, I don't like the feel as the finish disintegrates which they always do on my sweaty hands.

Martin PBs have provided the tone and feel on my Epiphone for a couple of decades now. As stated above there are some strings that suit certain guitars and part of the joy of ownership is discovering they combination of brand/gauge/guitar.

staying with Tm's original query "String types, formulations, brands - care to share your experiences?It's not the 'feel', -
a lot of £5 a set (or less) strings are quite bright - even metallic - this suites many of the 'budget' or 'student' models - livens up a dull unresponsive guitar - they also last due to they're deliberate formulation - but put them on a responsive, sensitive guitar and (if ya got the ears to hear) you'll notice the effect - bit like far eastern hi fi's in the 70's / 80's - in your face midrange / treble but no real body / depth and quite fatiguing to the ear.
On the other hand - I've suggested the strings I use to players and invariably they have not liked them - I come to the conclusion - typically strings I choose have a fairly uncolored though full, round, smooth sound - on my guitars but as you say ES, the guitar / string compatibility thing comes into play, also the players idea of a 'good sound'.
Funny - the strings get blamed for making the guitar not sound pleasing, when most of the sound is generated from the guitar it's self.
e.g. - I put a set of Thomastik-Infeld Thomastik SB112 Spectrum Bronze on sub £600 far eastern martin copy and it REALLY didn't like them - or was it the other way round ?, whereas Newtone MC's sound pretty good on same guitar.

ICBM · June 2017

I finally got around to trying a set of the Martin Monels - a customer bought a couple of different gauge sets for one of his guitars and we chose to put the 13s on it, so he gave me the 12s to try.

I have to admit I was expecting something a bit more sophisticated than what appear to be simple fairly heavy nickel roundwounds, given the 'vintage construction' marketing - I'm not really sure what I expected about the sound either, but...

They're not as different from my usual phosphor-bronze D'Addarios as I thought they might be, but what difference there is is not particularly inspiring. They actually feel slightly softer (in tension) than I expected from the gauges and the slightly 'rougher' feel under my fingers - but the roughness is annoying, they grate more when I slide my fingers up them. Soundwise they're just a bit lacking in something - hard to put a finger on what. They certainly don't sound brash and trashy like new 80/20 bronze, and since I normally like slightly older strings when they've lost that initial brashness, I thought I quite liked them at first. But actually they're just a bit meh… they don't have the richness and sparkle of new PBs. Apparently some people like them because they don't go dull quickly like bronze strings, but that may just be because they're dull to begin with! They don't have the nice 'thuddy' sound of old PBs.

I can't decide to leave them on for long enough to find out if they do develop it, or cut my losses - I don't tend to kill strings quickly so it may be a while before that happens, and to be honest I'm not sure I want to wait that long...

Winny_Pooh · June 2017

@icbm they're pretty marmite, a friend really dislikes them on dreads but says they are fantastic on his braz OM.

ICBM · June 2017

Winny_Pooh said:

@icbm they're pretty marmite, a friend really dislikes them on dreads but says they are fantastic on his braz OM.

Mine are on a Gibson Dove - dreadnought. Maybe I should have asked first

.

Annoyingly I broke the G string getting the old D'Add PBs off as well...

Winny_Pooh · June 2017

^ Definitely try the Newtones at some point, they are brilliant.

ICBM · June 2017

Winny_Pooh said:

^ Definitely try the Newtones at some point, they are brilliant.

My favourites are actually the DR Rares, but I've been meaning to try Newtones for a while… just ordered a set and some electric ones as well. Not cheap, but if they're good it doesn't matter since I normally only change them about once a year, or less!

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

String types, formulations, brands - care to share your experiences?

Comments