String explorer

jdgm

Where did you buy the Galli strings please?

Tannin

LATE EDIT: Lord of the Strings in the Netherlands is also good.

@jdgm they are made in Italy but I get them from Strings and Beyond http://stringsandbeyond.com or sometimes from Strings by Mail http://stringsbymail.com depending on what else I am ordering. Both vendors are in the USA and have good prices and excellent service. Including postage and tax I pay about £13 for a set from Strings and Beyond.

However I am given to understand that the UK now has awkward and expensive import procedures such that buying even a small thing worth a few pounds from another country is not practical. If so that is a real shame.  You might have to look elsewhere. 

Galli have a website, of course, but it is in Italian which I can't read. Presumably they list their UK distributors there.  

Thomann carry Galli but seem to mostly have their odd-bod instrument strings (orchestral, banjo, gypsy jazz guitar, stuff like that). 

The LS are lovely strings and quite cheap - possibly my all-things-considered favourite standard string - but there are lots of other good orthodox phosphor bronze strings around. The Galli brass flats are almost unique. Magma make a phosphor bronze flat set which should be fairly similar (I have some here ready to to try out), and Dogal (another long-established Italian string maker, like Galli) make a set of flatwounds in brass gauged 12-46 with an extraordinary wound .016 B string. I have a set of those to try too, though how someone with my heavy right thumb is going to cope with a 46 low E I don't know. 

Good luck!

ditchboy

Mellish said:

Well, I've changed guitar, as you know, but EJ16 still work best. Coincidence or imagination? I'm not really sure...
I hear them as loud and full on this Martin OM28 Re-imagined, just like I did on the Gibson Dove...
Maybe it's cos I'm using them on good guitars   


 

What did you settle on, on the OM28?

Mellish

@ditchboy ; kind of got two I like, me old mate:

D'Addario EJ16 
Martin Authentic Acoustic Lifespan 2.0. 

On this Martin OM28 the EJ16s have more volume and punch but (as @Tannin said) they're a bit stiff. The Martin Authentic Acoustic Lifespan 2.0 are easier to play but (on this guitar) lack drive and punch. But they're still ok for home use. 

 

Tannin

Today's updates:

Changed the format a bit, added some useful background information (which nearly everybody reading this will already know), added the country of manufacture.

New strings: Galli RA1254 80/20s are nice enough but I don't love tem the way I do their phosphor bronze ones; Godin's A6  are a nice phosphor bronze set; Dean Markley Blue Steels are sort-of OK. I'd hoped that Savarez A140Ls from France would impress me as much as the Augustines I tried a few months back but they didn't. They were decent, nothing special.

Moonshiners were a nice surprise. These are the house brand of a local music shop and are made by an undisclosed OEM in the USA. (Next time I'm in the shop I'll ask the proprietor who it is. I imagine it's no big secret.) At $10.50 AUD (£5.50) they are crazy-cheap, and it turns out that they are pretty good. I'll buy more. Also John Pierce Pure Nickels. I had high hopes for these as I usually like JP strings and these both the cheapest nickel strings and are also said to be the darkest in tone. They are OK but I prefer the D'Addarios. Finally, a very nice custom baritone set from Newtone in round core phosphor bronze. These ring the bell. 

Tannin

I just discovered a dealer in the Netherlands who has an interesting range, good prices, and very reasonable shipping. 

I ordered sets of R. Cocco (£13.23), Cleartone Red (£10.45), Adamas Roundcore (£7.25), Eko ACB1253M (£3.89) (all phosphor bronze 12s) and two sets of the superb Phillipe Bosset for £10.45 each instead of the £19.50 I pay in the USA. Also a very interesting looking set of double-wound Galli Fingerstyle (£10.42) and best of all, a set of Galli Baritone with gauges of 16-24w-30 47-60-70. at just £7.61. Note that wound 2nd string, an essential for baritones in my book.

All of this from the delightfully named Lord of the Strings. @jdgm these might be the people to use for your Galli Jazz Flats - I didn't order any this time as I have several sets on hand already but they stock them at around e20, which is very reasonable.

jdgm

Many thanks for this, will investigate!

Mellish

My favourite strings were D'Addario EJ16, but that's changed over the past week. 

I tried a set of D'Addario EJ26 (11s) and immediately liked 'em.
I find I'm not losing much volume (if any), less tension (good for the guitar) and better tone.

 

Tannin

My Lord of the Strings order arrived from the Netherlands on Tuesday. Great range of strings, including a lot of stuff you can't get elsewhere, delivery on time, and very reasonably priced. I will buy from them again for sure. 

Updated today: 

D'Addario XT are good strings but I don't care for them. Eko ACB1253s are very cheap and rather nasty; they lasted 3 days before I replaced them with a set of Darco Phosphor Bronze. I see the Darcos are marked "Made in Mexico". Have Martin switched over to a new factory? Or did they just not declare the country of origin them before? And if Darcos are coming out of Mexico, are the identical Martin-branded sets also made there now?

The 85/15 D'Angellico Prohibition Bronze I mentioned previously turned out to be great. Loved them. Can't wait to order more,.  John Pierce Pure Nickels are fine but not, in my opinion, a match for my favourite nickel alloys, the D'Addarios. 

From Germany, Optima Bronze are fairly high-tension but very nice just the same. Richard Cocco Bronze are another good new one, lovely and soft under the fingers like round cores but with that indefinable sense of precision and tautness you get with strings like Optima Bronze or GHS Americana.

Finally, I tried a set of my old favourite Galli LS on my Red Spruce Guild - always a problematic guitar I usually fit nickel strings to, and they did great things for it. 

Newly arrived but untried as yet: Adamas Roundcore (very much looking forward to these after excellent experience with their hexcore sets - however I see that these are made in China where the hex core ones are made in the USA. I hope the quality hasn't suffered), Galli Fingerstyle (double wound strings from Galli - these could be great!), Cleartone Red (already discontinued I see - hope I don't like them!), and Galli Baritone (which ought to be great).

Mellish

Hmm...thats interesting about Darco made in Mexico. 
I'm tempted to say it may be that Martin regard them as a step down from their Martin branded strings. 

AFAIK they haven't switched string-making to Mexico. 

 

Devil#20

It's a bloody good post this. Bookmarked it for reference last year. Cheers @Tannin ;

Tannin

Well they have traditionally been exactly the same as the Martin-branded ones. I've just been playing this set again and no doubt about it, they are excellent strings. Don't tell Martin but I'd be happy to pay full price for them.

(Sometimes I wonder why I keep sampling new ones. The reality is that I'd be pretty happy if I only ever had Galli LS, GHS Americana, and Darco. Oh, and Phillipe Bousset. And Adamas. Not to mention DR Sunbeams. And Galli Jazz Flats, of course. Also .... )

Mellish

Well it may be that you're not as string-happy as you think, or it could just as essily be that you just want to try what's out there.

Regarding the Martin factory, they turn out some fine acoustics, but the reasons behind why they make some of the decisions they do? Well, good luck finding *that* out!

 

more

In 1959, C D Addario & Son ,  at the time a classical instrument string manufacturer, joined Archaic String Manufacturing to form Darco Music . They developed nickel  and bronze wound strings, C F Martin was their  biggest  customer, eventually becoming a partner. In 1972, John  Addario left  Darco and started the D'Addario  String Company . Darco became wholly  Martins , and I believe Addario  made strings for Martin as well . Martin has owned a factory in Navoja, Mexico ,for a long time, manufacturing a number of different budget guitars,  including The Backpacker and all of thier ukuleles  . Originally, American made strings were  shipped to  Mexico  to be packaged by hand , and shipped back .Now, most of Martin strings are made in Mexico .

more

jdgm said:

Where did you buy the Galli strings please?

Years ago, I was the sole UK importer of Galli products . Galli is an old musical string manufacturer and is still controlled by the same family. They  were a difficult company to work with  and they decided to make their  strings  exclusively available online ,  from themselves , and our relationship ended. I don't think that work as well as they hoped , so limited stock is available from different retailers . If you can't find what you're looking for , It can be found on  Galli's web site. 

Tannin

Cheers @more, that is really useful information. What a shame Galli are difficult to work with, I really love their products. 

--------------------------

I'm finding Lord of the Strings in the Netherlands is a good source, not only for Galli, but for numerous other European-origin strings I don't see at the big US dealers (and also for one or two that are reasonably priced where the Yanks ask a heap). Great range, fast delivery, and only €5.95. 

Unsurprisingly, US-made strings are often (but not always) cheaper sourced from the USA.

As for the three (that I know of) British manufacturers, Rotosounds seem to be pretty much the same price wherever you buy them (Europe, UK, USA, Europe or Australia.) , Picato and Legacy are cheaper at Strings Direct in the UK. (I'm ignoring Newtone as a British maker for the moment as one normally deals with them direct.)

Tannin

It is sad to be updating this once again knowing that our good friend Melish won't be reading it and taking part. I miss him. I suspect we all do.

It's been a long time since an update largely because I've been travelling to Europe and Britain. My first time!  With decent luck I'll return for a longer stay in a couple of years. Maybe I'll meet some of you then. In addition, I've been trying several familiar strings on unfamiliar instruments, for example Adamas Composite on the rosewood Messiah, Phillipe Bossets on the delicate little Mineur (a bit much for it actually - that very light Englemann Spruce top is easy to overdrive), and Galli LS on the Guild (they worked very well on it, rather to my surprise). Anyway, not many new strings this time around. 

First, some new strings ordered but not yet tried yet: Picato 80/20s from the UK and Fisoma F2120M 80/20s from Germany. In phosphor bronze, a make called Career from I don't know where, Cleartone Reds from the US (not quite phosphor bronze, some other alloy), and Dean Markley 2081 Helix HD which claim to have "hyper eliptical" winding, which sounds like 24 carat marketing bullshit but you never know. (I ordered 11s by mistake, I usually like 12s.). Also Fender phosphor bronze from Mexico, Dragão D100 Guitarra Acustica from Spain, and Legacy Tru-Tone from the UK.

As for actual new strings actually tried out for the first time, there are only two: Adamas Roundcores which, unlike their excellent US-made hex cores, are made in China. First impression was that they were ratty and weak, rather similar to the ultra-cheap Chinese Ekos I tried last time. I even wondered if they were from the same factory. But after they had been on for a few days they settled down nicely and I have decided that I like them even though they play like 11s. On the other hand, the excellent Adamas hex cores are plenty soft enough and have a better tone and feel. The other new one is the John Pierce Silk & Bronze  set I put on the Mineur yesterday.  I like them.

guitarjack66

Tannin said:

It is sad to be updating this once again knowing that our good friend Melish won't be reading it and taking part. I miss him. I suspect we all do.

It's been a long time since an update largely because I've been travelling to Europe and Britain. My first time!  With decent luck I'll return for a longer stay in a couple of years. Maybe I'll meet some of you then. In addition, I've been trying several familiar strings on unfamiliar instruments, for example Adamas Composite on the rosewood Messiah, Phillipe Bossets on the delicate little Mineur (a bit much for it actually - that very light Englemann Spruce top is easy to overdrive), and Galli LS on the Guild (they worked very well on it, rather to my surprise). Anyway, not many new strings this time around. 

First, some new strings ordered but not yet tried yet: Picato 80/20s from the UK and Fisoma F2120M 80/20s from Germany. In phosphor bronze, a make called Career from I don't know where, Cleartone Reds from the US (not quite phosphor bronze, some other alloy), and Dean Markley 2081 Helix HD which claim to have "hyper eliptical" winding, which sounds like 24 carat marketing bullshit but you never know. (I ordered 11s by mistake, I usually like 12s.). Also Fender phosphor bronze from Mexico, Dragão D100 Guitarra Acustica from Spain, and Legacy Tru-Tone from the UK.

As for actual new strings actually tried out for the first time, there are only two: Adamas Roundcores which, unlike their excellent US-made hex cores, are made in China. First impression was that they were ratty and weak, rather similar to the ultra-cheap Chinese Ekos I tried last time. I even wondered if they were from the same factory. But after they had been on for a few days they settled down nicely and I have decided that I like them even though they play like 11s. On the other hand, the excellent Adamas hex cores are plenty soft enough and have a better tone and feel. The other new one is the John Pierce Silk & Bronze  set I put on the Mineur yesterday.  I like them.

Mellish has passed? Oh that's sad. My deepest sympathies to his loved ones.

Tannin

In today's updates (as always posted by editing the first page of the thread) I tried the UK-made Picato 80/20 and liked them.  Also from the UK, Legacy Tru-Tones, which seem pretty good. I can't find out where the very cheap and plainly packaged Career phosphor bronze strings come from so I'm assuming China. They are a bit crappy but at least playable. 

From Mexico, I tried Darco D220 phosphor bronze which were just as good as I expected, and at a bargain price. American-made Cleartone Reds were remarkable. Usually weird alloys suggest a try-hard not-quite-right product, but these really work: they fill out the sound and add body to it. I'd recommend trying them on any rosewood-bodied guitar unless it is already bass-heavy - i.e., these would be perfect on a Taylor 814 but not on a D-28.

Finally, the excellent and inexpensive phosphor bronze  Dragão D100 set, made in Portugal. I'll be ordering more of these for sure.

New ones either on order or waiting their turn include American String, Dean Markley 2081 Helix HD, GHS Phosphor Bronze, La Bella Criterion, Nicola NIC-30, Trad Master Phosphor, Black Diamond Jimi Hendrix, and Headway Everlux, all in phosphor bronze.I think naming a set of ACOUSTIC strings after Jimi and putting his picture on the packet is tacky at best, but I'm running out of strings to buy that I haven't tried yet so I bought them anyway.

Cleartone EQs are a mixed-alloy set (like some Thomastics), Wyres CP1254 are coated and - so their website tells me - "used by the best musicians". When I put them on something they will have to edit their blurb to say "used by the best musicians, and also Tannin".

I've gone nuts on variations around the silk & steel theme and ordered two La Bella sets, one Gypsy Jazz and the other their remarkably expensive Silk & Steel set.

Finally, I bumbled across an Irish retailer who sells, among other things, Irish-made Trad Master strings. As well as the standard phosphor bronze set mentioned above, I've gone for two of their rather expensive baritone sets. The come with plain second strings which is a horrible idea so I've ordered a pair of wound .23s (for even more money).

Oh, and one more thing. I get a bit OCD when I'm buying strings and fill out a big spreadsheet with prices and exchange rates and postage and stuff for all the usual suspects, then buy the one offering best value. With Black Friday on, Strings and Beyond had a 15% off everything coupon going. So filled my boots ... and 10 minutes after concluding the order and paying for it, realised I'd completely forgotten to claim the 15%. Oh well, there is $30 I won't see again.

mo6020

Man, I wish I’d found this thread about an hour ago. I’ve just gone down the rathole and ordered a bunch of different stuff from Strings Direct…