(Solution Now Found) Suggestion for Strings to Tone down Brightness!

Sammy

I recently bought on here from a Fretboader, a lovely Larrivee OM 03 and put on the same make of strings as I had on my Martin 00028 which I sold previously. They were the Martin MA 540T 12's coated strings, which had a really round nice tone on the Martin but on the Larrivee they sound just too bright, albeit they are a gauge lighter MA 535T 11's.

I know from experince on my electric guitars, the same type strings can sound very different on different guitars.

Until I got the Martin, I have always used D'Addrio coated 11's or Elixir 11's on my acoustics but found those particular Martin strings really suited the Martin, but whilst some would really like the bright sound on the Larrivee, which the tech, who did a set up for me when I bought it did,  but that's not the sound for me.

So can anyone please recommend any acoustic strings which would tone down the brightness and give a more mellow sound.

I could try the D'Addrio or Elixir's that I use to use, but think I would probably run into the same issue, though maybe not!

On looking at various reviews, a few recommended DR Sunbeams for less bright sound, but have never tried DR strings on an acoustic or electric, so anyone tried those?

Andy79

Martin Retro Monel
Or anything un-coated and just wear them in, or out as the case may be

Tannin

If you liked 12s on the 000-28, 11s on the longer scale Larrivee make sense. There are several ways you could go. Andy's monel suggestion might work for you or might be a bridge too far. Monels are weird: they have a sound all their own and you may or may not like it, or you may like it on one guitar not on another. Also, they generally sound really bad first up. You must stick with them for the first week until they start to provide their true sound. The bonus is that they last practically forever. 

You could tinker with the construction: for example a round core (e.g., Sunbeams), or a ground-round winding, or even flat wounds. None of those would be among my first choices.

I think my first choice would be GHS Vintage Bronze. These are an 85/15 brass. The common 80/20 brass strings are more bright than phosphor bronze, not less bright, but the GHS 85/15s are very gentle and mellow. Whether this is a characteristic of 85/15 alloy or just something GHS do with these particular ones I don't know. Straight out of the packet they sound like old, very mellow, well-used 80/20s - which is very likely the sort of sound you are shooting for.

phil_b

Error

ICBM

Newtone Masterclass Phosphor Bronze

Round core, and sound like played-in strings out of the packet. They also seem to last ages.

I really dislike that brash new string sound, and these are the best I’ve used. Second choice would be DR Sunbeam, followed by DR Rare, and if you *must* have coated strings then their Dragon Skin are the only ones I don’t hate.

wrinkleygit

Newtone Heritage for me, however for coated strings try the new DR Veritas range.

Sammy

Tannin said:

If you liked 12s on the 000-28, 11s on the longer scale Larrivee make sense. There are several ways you could go. Andy's monel suggestion might work for you or might be a bridge too far. Monels are weird: they have a sound all their own and you may or may not like it, or you may like it on one guitar not on another. Also, they generally sound really bad first up. You must stick with them for the first week until they start to provide their true sound. The bonus is that they last practically forever. 

You could tinker with the construction: for example a round core (e.g., Sunbeams), or a ground-round winding, or even flat wounds. None of those would be among my first choices.

I think my first choice would be GHS Vintage Bronze. These are an 85/15 brass. The common 80/20 brass strings are more bright than phosphor bronze, not less bright, but the GHS 85/15s are very gentle and mellow. Whether this is a characteristic of 85/15 alloy or just something GHS do with these particular ones I don't know. Straight out of the packet they sound like old, very mellow, well-used 80/20s - which is very likely the sort of sound you are shooting for.

Thanks, I have looked up the GHS strings and surprised that the 85/15 would be less bright than 100% phosphor Bronze. The only negatives I could see is that quite a few have said the strings don't last very long!

Sammy

ICBM said:

Newtone Masterclass Phosphor Bronze

Round core, and sound like played-in strings out of the packet. They also seem to last ages.

I really dislike that brash new string sound, and these are the best I’ve used. Second choice would be DR Sunbeam, followed by DR Rare, and if you *must* have coated strings then their Dragon Skin are the only ones I don’t hate.

I have been looking at the those Newtone Strings, as they are, as you have mentioned are round core which apparently make them also easier to play! I was going to order a pack of 11-52's but they are out of stock and the only ones I can currently see in stock from retailers are asking £15, for a set costing direct from Newtone, just over £8 plus £1.20 p&p

TrevinDevon

Sammy said:

ICBM said:

Newtone Masterclass Phosphor Bronze

Round core, and sound like played-in strings out of the packet. They also seem to last ages.

I really dislike that brash new string sound, and these are the best I’ve used. Second choice would be DR Sunbeam, followed by DR Rare, and if you *must* have coated strings then their Dragon Skin are the only ones I don’t hate.

I have been looking at the those Newtone Strings, as they are, as you have mentioned are round core which apparently make them also easier to play! I was going to order a pack of 11-52's but they are out of stock and the only ones I can currently see in stock from retailers are asking £15, for a set costing direct from Newtone, just over £8 plus £1.20 p&p

Newtone will make to order, if you can be patient for a few weeks. It's basically a one-man operation, so it pays to plan ahead.

ICBM

Sammy said:

I have been looking at the those Newtone Strings, as they are, as you have mentioned are round core which apparently make them also easier to play! I was going to order a pack of 11-52's but they are out of stock and the only ones I can currently see in stock from retailers are asking £15, for a set costing direct from Newtone, just over £8 plus £1.20 p&p

Yes, both the round cores and the (I think) smaller core-to-wrap ratio Newtone use make the strings noticeably lower tension and slinkier to play, for the same gauges - without losing tone.

I would not pay retail mark-up for them though, no matter how good they are - part of the point for me is buying direct from a small UK business. (Although I wouldn't if they weren't good!)

Sammy

ICBM said:

Sammy said:

I have been looking at the those Newtone Strings, as they are, as you have mentioned are round core which apparently make them also easier to play! I was going to order a pack of 11-52's but they are out of stock and the only ones I can currently see in stock from retailers are asking £15, for a set costing direct from Newtone, just over £8 plus £1.20 p&p

Yes, both the round cores and the (I think) smaller core-to-wrap ratio Newtone use make the strings noticeably lower tension and slinkier to play, for the same gauges - without losing tone.

I would not pay retail mark-up for them though, no matter how good they are - part of the point for me is buying direct from a small UK business. (Although I wouldn't if they weren't good!)

Just ordered a set from Newtone, will let you know what I think when they arrive and have put them, could be up to 14 days!

Thanks for your advice, just hope they suit the guitar, otherwise your reputation could be at stake! 

stickyfiddle

I was astonished how bad acoustic Elixirs were when I tried other strings on my Martin. 

I’ve settled on Retro monels, so would obviously recommend those, or phosphor bronze. Definitely not coated  

Sammy

stickyfiddle said:

I was astonished how bad acoustic Elixirs were when I tried other strings on my Martin. 

I’ve settled on Retro monels, so would obviously recommend those, or phosphor bronze. Definitely not coated  

As I originally said the same strings can sound totally different on different guitars, I use to use Elixirs on an old Stonebridge     ( Furch) GA guitar and they sounded really nice much better than any previous uncoated sets I had tried, they just suited the guitar. That was Rosewood with Cedar Top.

TheBigDipper

Sammy said:

stickyfiddle said:

I was astonished how bad acoustic Elixirs were when I tried other strings on my Martin. 

I’ve settled on Retro monels, so would obviously recommend those, or phosphor bronze. Definitely not coated  

As I originally said the same strings can sound totally different on different guitars, I use to use Elixirs on an old Stonebridge     ( Furch) GA guitar and they sounded really nice much better than any previous uncoated sets I had tried, they just suited the guitar. That was Rosewood with Cedar Top.

This...^^^. My Taw originally came with Elxir Polywebs. I didn't mind them, but it wasn't what I usually bought so I started a journey of trying different strings to see what I liked the best. On this, I didn't like Elixir Nanowebs (the string I like on all my electrics). I enjoyed having Monels on the guitar, but found it a bit "one sound". I liked Newtone 80/20 a lot. I've had a couple of "meh" experiences too. But some of the ones I didn't like on the Taw for sound were great on my larger-bodied L'Arrivee. 

Following last weeks tweaking at Brook, I'm back on Polywebs (coz that's what they had) and realised they're actually the best thing for me on this guitar in terms of the sound and feel I get from them. Unsurprisingly, I realise I like the strings that were fitted to the guitar when I first played it and wanted to buy it. 

DavidR

Agree with advice above that Martin Retro Monels worth a try. Lass brassy, more steely and complex. Last 3-4 times longer than PB so work out cheaper in long run. Martin MM12 my favourites on Martin my OM28

wrinkleygit

Even under lockdown the longest I had to wait for Newtones was 10 days, they really do their best to turn orders around quickly , well worth the wait.
 For a first time user follow their instructions on fitting and cutting wound strings to length.

drofluf

wrinkleygit said:

Even under lockdown the longest I had to wait for Newtones was 10 days, they really do their best to turn orders around quickly , well worth the wait.
 For a first time user follow their instructions on fitting and cutting wound strings to length.

My bold; this bit is really important. I thought I knew what I was doing the first time I fitted some Newtones. Fortunately I only ruined one string before I thought to check.

ICBM

Unless it's a guitar with Fender-type slotted machinehead posts you should never have to cut a string before tuning up anyway, regardless of make or construction.

Sammy

Thanks for all the recommendations, will try the Newtones first when I do get them and if not suitable will try the Monels next, as quite a few seem to recommend them. Though may buy a set of the Monels now, as will get them in a couple of days so can try them first!

BingMan

The difference in brightness won’t really be down to the string so much as the wood on those guitars. The Martin 00028 being rosewood and therefore darker in tone compared to the new Larrivee which is mahogany and typically brighter with more mids. 

Monel strings are defo worth a try, especially once they have mellowed off. D’add nickel bronze are also worth checking out - same sort of vibe to the monels. 

80/20s start off bright but once they dull they do go very mellow, it’ll just take some time and playing.

I’d also recommend going for 12s and not 11s personally, think that might help some too. 

Another thing you could try is tuning down a half step... but you’ll best doing this with 12s

And lastly the other thing that’s been overlooked is pick thickness and material (if you use a pick).
a thicker pick is going to give you more a rounded high end, so it’s worth trying a bunch out as they are cheap enough. I like Dunlop primetones with the nice bevelled edges. 

this is all just my opinion of course and part of the fun is trying different strings to see what your guitar responds best too

Sammy

Update, have had to wait to try the different sets of strings, as I was awaiting for a new set of tuners from Larrivee as the tec who set it up advised one of the tuners wasn't quite bolting tight to the guitar, which he said would have happened when being built and fitting the machine head, as it had been slightly cross threaded, so he advised to get it replaced sometime even though it was working perfectly okay. I could have easily just left it but decided to check if I could get a single replacement.  So emailed Larrivee and obviously as I wasn't the original purchaser, it wasn't covered under their gurantee so I would have to pay for a new one.

They advised just for one, it worked out at US$25 about £18 incl postage, so as a good will gesture they said if I would like to upgrade to their better quality set they would let me have them for a 50% discount, which they said would then also help me for the postage to UK, so it was a no brainer! Really top Company and very nice to deal with, as they didn't have to do that considering I bought it s/h.

Anyway, whilst waiting for the tuners to arrive, the Martin strings were starting to tone down a bit and I was begining to quite like them, but as the Tuners had arrived a couple of days ago, as I had to take the strings off when putting the new tuners of yesterday, I decided to try the Monels. As various people have said they definately have their own sound almost like a tin sound, not that great at the moment!  So as advised, I will give them a couple of weeks to tone down and give some feedback on my thoughts, as the Newtone strings arrived this morning, so they will be the next ones to test out, if the Monels don't cut it!