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Comments
I have no idea how popular they are, but to me it seems more like a fad than a real change in buying habit for most players.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson
I didn't like the tone so went back to D'Addario EJ16.
'lixy nano's work for me every time
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
I do prefer PBs on my maple strummers but can't be doing with changing strings weekly. I've compromised and settled on D'addario XS (coated).
Monels really suit my little Vintage V300MH for country blues style fingerpicking. I've been using Newtone round core.
I've tried Monels numerous times. Adjectives that come to mind are "harsh, cold, metallic, tinny."
(I don't like Blue Chip picks either).
Horses for Courses and all that...........
1: Yep, nickel strings last and last and last. There are those who claim that this is because they sound awful first up and are just as awful six months later, but I don't agree.
2: Phosphor bronze strings last a good deal longer than brass ones, all else being equal.
3: If you are a real 1960s diehard , you'll happily use six-month-old brass strings and like the sound, which is very mellow and even and very very dull. Note that dead brass strings still sound tuneful even though they have no zing at all, where dead phosphor bronze strings are simply awful. Back in the day, everyone played brass and everyone kept them on for month after month, and we all - from recording engineers to listeners - thought they sounded fine.
4: The best way to make friends with the String Fairy is to leave your guitar out overnight with a fresh packet of Balls and a bottle of gin.
5: "Monel" is just a tradename for one of the many nickel alloys used to make guitar strings. Some nickel alloy strings are branded "Monel", others use different terms. And no, they are not all the same. John Pierce say they use pure nickel, GHS use nickel and iron 50/50. SIT and Martin use Monel, which is a trade name for nickel-copper plus various minor extras. D'Addario use "nickel-bronze" which is meaningless given that they (a) don't specify the proportions and (b) have the havit of labelling things as "bronze" which are demonstrably no such thing. But it's safe to say that D'Addario "nickel bronze" strings have nickel and copper in them, plus (probably) a few other things.
6: I see no reason to imagine that nickel-alloy strings are any more popular now than they were 5 years ago, or any less. They are and always will be a niche product. A handful of string makers manufacture them, for the most part these are major makers with large market shares (Martin, GHS, D'Addario, Pyramid) and/or very large ranges of many different strings (SIT, GHS, Pyramid). I hadn't noticed that Curt Mangan had started making them too. Curt Mangan seems to be having a big expansion push with lots of new strings lately (or possibly they are just getting the major retailers to list already-existing products for the first time.)
7: I like the D'Addario ones best, but there are a couple I have still not tried yet. There are major differences between the different brands.
8: Having played a couple of Martin mahogany-top guitars recently (well, fake mahogany - one was Sapele and the other one was Sipo) I cannot imagine that nickel strings could possibly make them sound any worse.
9: They have a different sound. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Depends on the guitar, and the player, and the style of music.
10: Martin Retros, the best-known brand of nickel alloy acoustic strings, take a very, very, very, very long time to play in. They sound dreadful for a full week fresh on. You MUST leave them on until that horrible new string atonality disappears. The same does not apply the D'Addarios ("nickel-bronze") or the JPs ("pure nickel"). I'll be interested to see what the SITs (Monel, like the Martins) do.
11: There is no 11.
Does that not suggest it's all a bit bollocks?
I'd never heard of Monels until today.
There is so much discussion about tone. Surely a long-lasting cheap alternative to PB is something we should all give a go from time to time. (If there was an alternative material developed for nuts, bridge pins or bridge saddles for example, we'd all want to try it out at some point.)
I only came across Monels a few years ago by accident and was surprised by how different and interesting they were. On some of my instruments. As well as the longevity thing.
Keep an open mind would be my advice.
Go on. Give'em a go! :-)
Aye, maybe bollocks wasn't the right word.
It's just that if one person is hearing something totally different to the other it becomes a bit more complicated than two people hearing the same thing that one likes but the other doesn't.
It's interesting.
Probably comes down to the individual guitar, and player.
So I totally agree the only way to tell is to try for yourself.
guitar + players preference(made from personal tonal taste + hearing ability) + actual difference in tone = subjective conclusion
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
But I can understand others comments about them being 'one dimensional'
I think string choices are difficult, because there are so many options, there might be a feeling you are somehow always missing out on a better string somewhere that you haven't tried yet.
It's tricky though comparing strings, right? I mean you can't exactly AB test them like amps or pedals to quickly shoot-out a bunch of options. You're always comparing one worn out set with another fresh out of the packet.
Trading feedback here
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On another slant, I've been trying out a number of nickel alloy strings on my Guild, which being a bit brash and shouty by nature, benefits from nickel's flatter tone. The D'Addarios work best on it, the Martin Retros not so much, with the John Pierce Pure Nickels somewhere in between.
This week, on a whim, I put a set of my favourite phosphor bronze strings on it, the excellent Galli LS. I have previously tried other conventional strings - D'Addario EJ16s, Elixir, Santa Cruz (all phosphor bronze) and Darco/Martin (brass) - and didn't especially care for any of them, but the Gallis made a clear improvement. I might put the best ("best" here means "best
for this guitar") nickels (D'Addario) on next to more directly compare them.