Acoustic string journal

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TanninTannin Frets: 5267
edited June 2022 in Acoustics
I've done quite a bit of string experimentation this past year or so. I've been keeping notes individually for each guitar, copied below and annotated for readability. (What me? OCD? Never!) I'll update this thread from time to time. Please feel welcome to comment, argue, all the usual things.

THE DOCTOR
Maton SRS60C Custom dreadnought, bought used February 2019, made in the Custom Shop October 2014. Western Red Cedar top, Queensland Maple  back, sides, and neck, rosewood fretboard. The cedar top makes this a more melodic, gentler dreadnought than most.

* Elixir Nanoweb bronze 12-53. Came with these, the factory standard. 12-16-24 32-42-53
* Elixir Nanoweb bronze 11-52. One gauge lighter. Bad idea. 11-15-22 32-42-52
* Elixir Nanoweb bronze 12-53. (MM, $30.) Reverted to standard. Not entirely happy: the lower strings lack definition. Largely this is a dreadnought thing, but strings should be able to help.
* Rotosound Jumbo King bronze 12-54. ($11.70 MM.)  A bit more definition in the wound strings but still not enough. Similar to the Elixir PBs but a little brighter, a little better defined, *lots* more string and fret noise (but less than the Martin 80/20s on the Angel). 12-16-24 32-44-54
* Martin Retro monel 12-54. (MM, $24.66) Excellent, in a weird way. Flat, metallic, but warm too. Nice and smooth under the fingers, and very quiet (hardly any left hand string squeak). They last *forever*! Over 6 months and they still sounded much the same as they did in the second week. (Monels sound dreadful for the first few days, you *must* stick with them until they play in.) I really, really like the feel (smooth, gentle, but none of that slickness coated ones have) and the lack of string noise. All that said, the sound is not right for this guitar. Its natural sweetness and their natural metallic flatness don't quite match. 12-15-25 31-41-54
* SIT Silencers semi-flat 80/20 brass 12-52. (SBM, $13.32.) Supposed to be "compression wound" and semi-flat surfaced for noise-free fretting. Initial impression was that they were rather odd strings: some of the deadness flatwounds have, plus some of the extra brightness of brass. Despite a fairly smooth feel, and a liberal application of Fast Fret, they squeal more than a bit. Sounded quite different the next day and ever since: these are really rather nice: warm and medium-bright with good feel. I might buy them again. 12-16-25 32-42-52. See https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/200300/sit-silencer-compression-wound-acoustic-strings
* Ernie Ball Earthwood bronze 12-54. (MM, $16.70.) I went back to phosphor bronze to see if I liked it better yet. My right-hand technique had changed quite a bit so it was worth a try. Initial impression: not bad but a bit muddy and I disliked the very rough feel of the Balls.  Settled in quite well and made a good sound overall. I still disliked the roughness, though a rub with a foam nail buffer helped. Good strings but I won't buy them again. 12-16-24 32-44-54
* Fender brass medium 13-56. (MAN, $10.) As good a sound as I'd ever had from this guitar, but the feel is remarkably heavy. Are the Fenders so much heavier than the Darco 13s? Does the Doctor stiffen up more than the Angel when you go up a gauge? Or is it just that with bluegrass sets on both the other sixes now, I no longer have a lightly stung "rest guitar" to give my fingers a break? Overall, the sound is good but it's too hard to play. The Fender 13s only lasted a week before I spat the dummy and took then off. 13-17-26 36-46-56
* SIT Silencers semi-flat brass 12-52 again. (SBM, $13.11.) I have come to like these a lot. They felt familiar and comfortable straight away. I'll keep trying new things, but probably come back home to Silencers every second set.  12-16-25 32-42-52.
* Darco brass 12-54. (Repackaged Martins.) (MAN, $12. On May '21, off 5 July.) First time I've tried full-on round-wound brass 12s with this guitar. Noticeably lighter tension than the Silencers (surprisingly enough given the .54 6th) and more finger noise of course. Very much strings with two faces. Fresh on: somewhere between shouty and shrill. Nasty. After a week: still a very present top end but balanced other than when strumming (which gets a bit over the top). Improved further as they aged. Excellent after two or three weeks and still good after about 7.  12-16-25 32-42-54.
* Fender brass 12-52. (MAN, $10. On 5 July, off 1 Nov.) Pleasant enough strings but a little too light - more like 11.5s than typical 12s. Fresh on, the sound is immediately attractive but lacks a little body on the bass strings. After a few days, still pleasantish but a little gutless. Perfectly decent strings and very cheap but not among my favourites. 12-16-24 32-42-52.
* GHS Americana PB 12-54. (16.42 SBM. On 1 Nov, off 18 Feb 22.) Not coated but "cyrogenically treated". Pretty strings! The plains are gold coloured. It know it is is silly but I like that. I like the strings too. To my ear they perhaps lack a little bass and middle, though that could be a good thing in a band context where you don't want to clash with other instruments. The longer I leave these on, the better I like them: they seem to have become fuller and richer. Long-lasting too: I played this guitar a lot with these on and it wasn't until late January that they started to lose a little tone, so call it three months of solid playing. I've already ordered more. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
* La Bella Golden Alloy. ($14.13 SAB, On 18 Feb, off 13 March.) 80/20 brass. A brand I remember from the dark ages long before the Interwebby thing was invented. These surprised me. I expected a routine, competent string much the same as any other, but these have their own distinct character. On paper they are slightly lighter than a standard set of 12s, in the hand they are a little lighter still; a year or two ago I would have hated that but now I rather like it. They don't have a lot of body, a thin, almost tinny sound fresh on, but they feel great - as supple and easy under the fingers as round cores - and the tone soon settles down to something sweet and pleasing. Beware: they squeal like crazy: a 9 out of 10 on the squeak-o-meter. Being so light-voiced, they would be hopeless on a big, brash dreadnought (or on my Guild with its stiff Red Spruce top) but are well-suited to the gentle cedar on the Doctor. I doubt I'll buy Golden Alloys again but these are good strings.  12-16-22 31-41-52.
* Dunlop Phosphor Bronze. ($10.20, SAB; on 13 March, off 22 March.) A high-tension string, brash, shouty, and very loud. If you play bluegrass and really need a banjo killer, Dunlops might be your go-to. With a few days of solid wear on them they become less objectionable but still stood close to the bottom of my rankings. A good clean ringing treble is a plus but there are too many minuses. Very stiff strings, hard work to play.  I used this guitar a lot while these strings were fitted, mostly aiming to wear them out quickly and put something nicer on. They actually became quite pleasant for a few days before dullness started to set in. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
* SIT Golden Bronze Light. ($10.43 SAB, on 22 March, off May 4.) Pleasant, no surprises, nothing unusual to note, a good everyday 80/20 string. (On the whole I prefer phosphor bronze strings on this guitar now that it's had some solid play on it and matured. People say that cedar tops don't open up like spruce ones. This guitar says that they are wrong.) 12-16-25 32-42-52

(Continued below.)


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  • TanninTannin Frets: 5267
    edited May 2023
    THE DOCTOR (continued)

    * John Pearse Phosphor Bronze Light ($15.14 SAB, on May 4, off July 18.) Just a little stiffer than the SITs, which is welcome on this guitar which has a fairly low setup and was verging on buzzy. Very good strings. I like them. Lasted well. 12-16-24 32-42-53
    * Stringjoy Naturals. (SJ $22.40, on July 18, off August 9. Very nice first up: good sound, well balanced, good feel - soft under the fingers but not sloppy. Sadly, once played in they were dull and rather lifeless. Might go OK on a different instrument, might not. And very expensive! 12-16-24 32-42-54.
    * Galli LS. ($15.31 SBM, on 9 August off 15 December.) My #1 favourite strings on the Angel. On this guitar, they seem quite soft and have a pleasant light twang fresh on. Played in they remain excellent, though not as outstanding as they are on the Angel. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
    * GHS Americana PB 12-54. ($12.79 SAB on 15 December off 21 April.) I loved these the first time around. Still excellent. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
    * Godin A6 (SAB, $14.35 on 21 April) Rather light for 12s, E & A strings buzz a bit. Pleasant, middly sound with bass and treble both a bit subdued. 12-16-24 32-42-53.
     BEST SO FAR: SIT Silencers, Darco brass, GHS Americana.


    THE ANGEL
    Cole Clark 3 Series Angel bought new in January 2020: Huon Pine top, Silky Maple back, sides and neck, ebony fretboard. Its own unique sound, difficult to classify; rich and subtle, with a lot of top end but well balanced nevertheless. Sometimes I describe it as "the acoustic equivalent of a Telecaster" which gives as good an idea as any.

    * Elixir Nanoweb phosphor bronze 12-53. Came ex-factory with these. Replaced them once with the same thing. As always with Elixirs, they lasted well. Unfortunately I didn't make notes about them at the time but I can't have been 100% happy or I wouldn't have started trying all these other ones out. 12-16-24 32-42-53.
    * Martin Authentic MA140 80/20 brass 12-54. (MM, $13.66.)  Bloody wonderful! That ringing brass zing just does it for me. Fantastic sound. But a little buzzy on the bass strings, needs to be slightly heavier (at least for my heavy right hand). Lots of string noise from that rough finish. Don't last: at their best for 10 days max. But brass is like that. 12-16-25 32-42-54.
    * D'Addario EJ16 bronze 12-53. (MM, $15.70.) Pleasant, rich, very warm, but rather bland, especially after the brass Martins. Don't seem to get the top moving. B string buzzes. Lighter than most 12-53ish strings, which I have since learned is typical of D'Addarios. One gauge up might be better. 12-16-24 32-42-53.
    * Elixir Nanoweb coated 80/20 brass medium 13-56. (MM, $30.) Good but strangled - just a bit too much string for the guitar. Great RH feel (I love to dig in like a bass player) but too much hard work on the left. 13-17-26 35-45-56.
    * Fender brass 12-52. (MAN, $10.) Excellent sound second only to the Martin 12s; too sloppy under the right hand for me. 12-16-24 32-42-52.
    * Darco brass mediums 13-56. (MAN, $12.) Very nice. Best, most playable mediums so far. Probably the best strings of any gauge so far. Remarkably easy under the left hand. After a couple of weeks, still have a little zing (I think the 13s last longer than 12s do). (BTW, Darco is Martin's cheap brand, invented by some marketing zombie. The packaging is plain and you don't get six little paper envelopes, each with a single string. But they are the same strings out of the same factory.) 13-17-26 35-45-56.
    * GHS Vintage Bronze 85/15 brass 12-54. (SBM, $11.62.) I expected these to sound very like the other brass strings I've used (all 80/20s), but they don't. They are curiously mellow, even when new, and not unlike old, well-played 80/20 brass strings. Good strings, but not for me. They might go well on the Doctor. A little bit light for this guitar's setup, especially the always-problematic B string. Wasn't happy with them - more the too-low tension than the tone - and they only stayed on for a week. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
    * John Pearse brass bluegrass 12-56. (SBM, $13.62.) First impression: these are as good as it gets. Even fresh on they sound great and have a good feel, though heavier than I expected, more like 13s than bluegrass 12s.  After a couple of weeks, not quite so keen. They are just a fraction heavy for the guitar, and the sound is striking me as excessively toppy with not enough bottom end. I remain just as keen as ever on them for single-string fingerpicking, but the plain steel two sound thin and shouty, while strumming produces a very nasty boxy sound. In the end, I took then off early. I might try the standard JP lights though (as opposed to this bluegrass set). 12-16-24 35-45-56.
    * Santa Cruz Parabolic Low Tension coated bronze. (SBM, $30.25.) The first time I've had phosphor bronze strings on the Angel for almost a year. The Santa Cruz strings are overpriced and overhyped, but excellent. The Angel sounds less boxy with these than with the JPs (which were a bit much for it), but still has plenty of treble. Interesting gauges! On paper this is a bluegrass set, but in the hand the feel is akin to 11s. They are too light for this guitar and I might do better with the Santa Cruz medium tension set. These are very good strings and I'll buy them again in one gauge or the other. They last well too. Removed 11-7-21. 12-16-23 32-44-56.
    * Newtone Masterclass round core brass bluegrass. (NEW, $18.24. Fitted 11 July, off on the 20th.) Very lacking in bass and weak tone overall, but shouty and obnoxious on the treble side. They improved with more time on, but not nearly enough. Nevertheless, they seem to be excellent strings with a nice feel, not as soft under the right hand as I had feared, and an excellent score on the Squeak-o-meter for an uncoated string: call it a 4. Quite smooth under the fingers too, a 4 where 10 is very rough. Although a benefit in many ways, this  makes it difficult to get enough volume from the bass strings without a plectrum Unless I miss my guess, these would come into their own on something like a big, bass-heavy Martin dreadnought, and using a pick rather than fingers. After a bit more than a week of putting up with them and hoping they would eventually improve, I gave up and took them off before their time. Nevertheless, the quality was obvious and I'm encouraged to try some different Newtones over the coming months.12-16-25 36-46-56. 
    * SIT Royal Bronze light. (SAB, $14.55. On 20-07-21.) A fine balance between richness, warmth and ring. Not bad for squeak either - say a 5 - which is probably better than SIT's own Silencers. SIT say these are their best bronze strings and charge a dollar extra per set without really saying what makes them special. For the sake of curiosity, I have ordered a set of their cheaper standard bronzes to compare against, but I've also ordered another set of the Royal Bronze because these are as good as anything I've had on this guitar. (And less than half the price of the Santa Cruz strings I also like.) One more thing: I used to love the sound of brass strings on the Angel, which is now  close to two years old, but the last 3 brass sets have been unsatisfactory. Has the guitar changed so much as the woods mature? Am I using the wrong brass strings? Have my tastes changed? Or is it my technique that is different? (I used to use all-flesh but use a lot of nail now). Whatever the reason, I seem to like phosphor bronze on the Angel these days. 12-16-25 32-42-54.

    (Continued below)


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  • TanninTannin Frets: 5267
    edited May 2023
    THE ANGEL (continued)

    * Galli LS PB light. ($12.44 SAB, on 15 Oct, off 19 January.) Very good strings. Nice feel; lovely balanced sound; there is a lot to like about these. A fraction lighter than the average set of 12-54s. (Similar to D'Addario or Fender 12s.) I'll happily buy these again. I might try them on the Messiah too. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
    * D'Addario EFT16 Flat Top light ground wound PB. ($18.65 SAB, on 19 January '22, off 29 Jan.) These aim to eliminate left-hand finger squeal without the dullness of flatwounds or the unpleasant feel and muffled tone of plastic-coated Elixirs. They start with a slightly oversized but otherwise normal round wound string and grind it semi-flat. Flat Tops don't feel quite like standard round wounds but they are pretty close, and the anti-squeal really does work - if anything, it is better than the coating on Elixirs. They are surprisingly stiff and heavy under the fingers (which is unusual for a D'Addario product) and feel almost like bluegrass strings or mediums. When you think about the way that they are made, perhaps this shouldn't be surprising. But do Flat Tops sound good? Well, not really. They have a rather odd tone, quite difficult to describe. They lack roundness and subtlety; everything sounds shouty and muffled (yes, both at once). They improved over the 10 days I had them on, but after the lovely tone produced by the Galli and SIT Royal Bronze sets, these were very disappointing. Nevertheless, for the right player on the right guitar, they might be the very thing. (It is interesting to compare these with the theoretically similar SIT Silencers. The Flat Tops are much better at  suppressing the finger-squeals you don't want to hear; on the other hand, the Silences are far better at making the sounds you do want to hear.) 12-16-24 32-42-53.
    * SIT Phosphor Bronze light. ($9.15 SAB. On 29 Jan, off 10 March.) Good ordinary strings. Not as rich or subtle as the Royal Bronze, but a night and day improvement on the unlovely Flat Tops. 12-16-25 32-42-54.
    * SIT Royal Bronze light. (SAB, $11.35. On 10-3-22, off May 4.) These are great strings. Last winter I wrote "a fine balance between richness, warmth and ring". That's a good summary. There is a subtle extra richness to the Royal Bronze, achieved without sacrifice of zing or playability.   12-16-25 32-42-54.



    (^ The Angel with Optima Gold strings.)

    * Optima 24K Gold Plated. ($47.89 SBM, on May 4.) These strike me as a ridiculous extravagance (look at the price!) but I'll try anything once.  They turn out to be bloody good strings. Fresh on they have a curiously raspy feel under the fingers, but that is not unpleasant. The sound is full and rich. I'm a fair way off saying they are worth the outrageous price, but I like them. UPDATE, June. After a month on these are starting to fade and I'll replace them before too long. I'm still not convinvced that these last as long as advertised or are worth the crazy price, but I've ordered another set and I'll test them back to back with some of my other favourites. 12-16-24 32-42-52
    * Galli LS (again). ($13.05 SAB, on 8 July.) Just great strings. Not rubber-soft like a round core but a nice responsive feel nevertheless, not too noisy, and an excellent, well-balanced sound good for any style. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
    * Newtone Masterclass round core PB. (NEW, $21.78. On 2/9/22, off 23/9.) I got this custom gauge set for the upside-down leftie, which is now sold. They are close enough to standard to be worth using up.  Seemed reasonably OK first up, much better than the same strings on the rosewood Messiah, and they improved as they wore in. Pleasant enough in the end. Interestingly, the odd gauging made no noticeable difference. 12-17-24 34-42-54.
    * Galli Jazz Flat 80/20 brass. (SAB, $35.91. On 23 Sept, off 19 Feb 2023.) Yes, flatwound. Not only that, brass flatwounds, a very odd combination. It is probably illegal to buy these if you don't own an archtop. Very different to most strings. The lack of fingering noise is almost eerie. Not much of a strumming sound (never the forte of this guitar in any case) but a remarkably pleasant tone playing fingerstyle, and very, very clean even with my sloppy technique21w. I have become rather wedded to these, though I might wind up putting them on a different instrument. 12-16-24 32-42-52.
    * D'Angellico Prohibition Bronze 85/15 (SBM $16.46 £9.19, on 19 Feb off 9 March.) Immediately pleasing. Warm and full, not over-bright, nice feel - but if this is what they are like fresh on, once they play in will they be too dull? A week later and these have been a revelation I have never had this guitar play better ... but is it because these are great strings and suit it well, or is it simply that I've had the Galli brass flats on it for nearly six months and had forgotten just how good the Angel can sound with orthodox strings? Brass strings seldom last long, but by Jimminy Cricket they can be good for that first week or two. 12-16-25 34-44-54
    * Galli RA1254 80/20 (SBM $13.15 £12.19 on 9/3/23, off 28/3/23) Much as expected. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
    * Adamas Composite. (SAB $11.59 on 28 Mar off 5/5). Immediately pleasing.  12-15-23 32-44-53.
    * Optima Bronze (SBM $23.97 £13.39 0n 5 May) Very nice strings. Stiffish with good brassy ring.  Expensive. 12-16-24 32-42-52
    * BEST SO FAR: SIT Royal Bronze, Galli LS, D'Angellico Prohibition Bronze. 


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  • TanninTannin Frets: 5267
    edited May 2023

    THE MESSIAH
    Maton Messiah 808, bought new in July 2020. Sitka Spruce top, Indian Rosewood back and sides, mahogany neck, ebony fretboard. An orchestra size guitar in the classic spruce and rosewood mould broadly similar to (for example) a Martin OM-28 or a Taylor 714.

    * Elixir Nanoweb phosphor bronze 12-53, the factory strings. Seem to suit it well. Lasted a long time, from late July to about November. Replaced with the same ones. Could use a little more character. Try an uncoated PB? Something with not too much string noise though. I need slightly heavier bottoms since I had the saddle shaved - maybe shaved a fraction too far, it buzzes a bit now on the bass side. A bluegrass set (12-56ish) might be the go. 12-16-24 32-42-53
    * Sfarzo Alloy 5109 bronze 12-54 (coated). Horrible. There is something very wrong with Sfarzo's gauging. In standard pitch the wound strings feel like mediums, or like lights tuned up to F. They are quite stiff under the fingers and pull the action up a little bit in the same way you'd expect a set of mediums to do. Now all of that is fine: I like strings with a bit of bite in them. However the plain B string is a 15, not the 16 supplied with every other set of lights I've ever heard of. It is loose and flappy and sounds dreadful. As a set, the Sfarsos sounded awful first up and settled in to be merely very bad: shouty try-hard strings, very bright and tinny, which made the delicate, rich Messiah sound like a cheap Chinese copy. A quite different sound to anything else I've tried, colder and more metallic. Looking at Sfarzo's range, I see that they also sell this same alloy in 10-48, 11-46, 11-50, and 13-56 sets, which all have sensible, normal gauges. The 12-54 is the only screwy one. I can imagine these working well in the right application: strumming a dreadnought playing country or bluegrass they might be the very thing. But on this rosewood 808 they were hopeless and they came off after less than 24 hours. 12-15-25 34-44-54.
    * Elixir Nanoweb PB bluegrass 12-56. Excellent on this guitar. Noticeably stiffer than the standard lights but by no means difficult. Produce a more ringing, extraverted sound. The Messiah has never sounded better. After a while I started to think that they were a little too heavy for me, but I had bluegrass or medium strings on all three guitars at that time and didn't get any rests. With 12s on at least one of the other two, it's not a problem, and the sound the bluegrass Nanowebs make is outstanding. 12-16-24 35-45-56.
    * Rotosound Nexus coated 12s ($20.91 SAB. On 12 August off 4 Feb.) Nice feel, not soapy like the Elixirs - but much more squeak.  I like them. More life than the Elixirs. Last around about as long. 12-16-24 32-44-54.
    * Dogal Phosphor Bronze Round Core. ($25.59 SBM, on 4 Feb 7:30 PM, off 4 Feb 7:34 PM.) Hopeless. Apparently hand-winding them in Venice makes them "special". Specially bad on this showing, and very expensive to boot. The ball ends are oversize and I had a lot of trouble getting them on, especially the low E string which had me tearing my hair out trying to get it to hook under the bridge pin. (And yes, I've been playing acoustic guitars for more than 50 years - I know how to put a bloody  string on.) Then the G string wouldn't hold tune and broke at the nut end before I could play even a single chord. Out came the snippers and into the bin they went. 12-16-24 34-44-54
    * DR Sunbeam light round core PB. ($11.35 SB, on 4 Feb. ) Brilliant! My new favourite strings. At first they felt oddly soft under the left hand and produced a lot of string noise and jangle, but I've grown used to that and tidied up my technique a bit. The pay off is a richness and responsiveness well beyond anything else I've tried on this instrument. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
    * Newtone Masterclass round core PB. (NEW, $19.14. On 7-5-22.) Great feel, shame about the sound which is thin and shrill. This seems to be a Newtone trait, the set I put on the Angel last year was similar. On the spruce and rosewood they just don't work: they make the Maton sound like a Taylor, and I don't mean that in a nice way. It's not just me: a friend familiar with my guitars complained: "What are the strings? They've wrecked that guitar." However, there is a great deal to like about these too. These achieve excellent crispness and clarity. Usually an over-bright string set produces a muddy jangle but these remain well-controlled and every note is clear.  They have a lovely soft feel under the left hand (maybe too soft, they play like 11s). I can imagine someone who plays a lot of single note lead lines up the neck loving these - the feel really is excellent - or someone wanting to float a bright acoustic rhythm part across the top of a mix. They might work on a guitar  with heaps of bass which could use a treble boost. Or they might not. Maybe I'll another set one day and see how they go on the cedar top dreadnought. Overall, despite many good aspects they don't rate a pass mark and I took them off long before time. 12-16-24 34-44-54.
    * GHS Silk and bronze. (Nylon wrap over a round core, all wrapped in bronze. $13.44, SAB. On 19 May, off 6 June.) Pleasant. Not bland as I'd feared; nice top and middle, a bit weak in the bass. Good strings, and pretty much unique. The bass strings feel almost like nylons and have a hint of the same sound. Not quite my thing but if you are looking for something soft and mellow without being dull these are certainly worth a try. 12-16-24 32-42-54
    * DR Sunbeams again. ($17.00 TAC, on 6 June. ) So nice to be back on these after the over-shrill Newtones and the good but odd silk and bronze set. Second time around with these on this guitar and still my favourite strings. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
    * Adamas Composite $12.50. Yes, Ovation makes awful guitars but there is nothing wrong with these strings. The tension is medium-low, the feel is smooth and stiffish at first(similar to D'Addario EJ16s) but soft and flexible when played in, and the sound is light, crisp and pleasant.  Remarkably good strings, well worth trying. 12-15-23 32-44-53.
    * Black Diamond N600L ($13.92 SBM on Dec 3). As expected, very stiff and high tension, but not unpleasant. A very bright, crisp sound at first which would be ideal for strumming on a boomy dreadnought. After playing in, the feel improves and the sound is very clear and pure, well-matched to the rosewood Messiah. Very much an old school string but no harm in that. I like them. After 2 months just as clear and pure as ever. They are a little stiff under the fingers and harder work than most strings for that reason, but they are very cheap, last really well, and sound great. 12-16-24 32-42-53.
    * Galli Jazz Flat 80/20 brass. (SAB, $23.55, on 15 Feb off 29 April.) Very different to the same strings on the Angel. Much sharper, treble-heavy tone especially when strummed. A good sound in its own way but I don't think rosewood is right for these strings. From now on I expect I'll always have a set of these lovely and very different strings on at least one guitar, though not this one.  12-16-24 32-42-52.
    * Moonshiners (Top Shelf $10.50 £5.50 On 29 April) Pretty decent strings, very cheap too. A bit too stiff and too bright fresh on, which most good strings are. 12-16-25 32-42-54

    * BEST SO FAR: Adamas Composite, DR Sunbeams.


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  • TanninTannin Frets: 5267
    edited May 2023
    THE WA MAY:
    Maton WA May from the Custom Shop. Sitka Spruce and Blackwood with a Blackwood neck, ebony fretboard and bridge, Satin Box binding and trim.  Bought new in April 2022. Maton's new "Traditional" body is slightly larger than an 808 and makes for a big, bold guitar, good for any style of music.  

    * It came with Maton's standard Elixir Nanoweb bronze 12-53 and they suit it very well. I might even replace them with the same again, though I do love to experiment. 12-16-24 32-42-53
    * Cleartone PB. ($26.41 SAB, on 14 May, off 13 June.) Quite expensive. First impression: Sort of OK, maybe a bit thin-sounding. Very squeaky under the left hand. As stiff or stiffer than Elixirs (which is unusual). Improved with time on and certainly rate as decent, but there are plenty of other "quite good" strings. I'll move on. 12-16-25 33-43-53.
    * Curt Mangan Round Core ($15.68, SAB. On 13 June 22, off 11 August.) Made in Nashville and play like it. Very bright first up, but by no means unpleasant. It's a distinctive sound very like the sound of the hex core Mangans I had on my Cole Clark 12-string - quite twangy but melodic even so. I like them. Remarkably stiff for a round core string at first, but they soften up more and more as they play in. 12-16-24 32-42-53.
    * Pyramid Western Folk round core phosphor bronze light. ($19.55 SAB, on 11 August off 10 December.) Work well but I prefer the Mangans, which have a lighter feel and a brighter sound. 12-16-22 34-44-54.
    * La Bella Phosphor Bronze (SAB, $12.16 on 10/12 off 7/1/2023) Like the La Bella Golden Bronze, these are very light for a set of 12s, they feel like 11s. Soft and easy to play but require a gentle touch. They have a pleasant, light tone and I like them a lot, though this guitar is a bit too big for them.  I'll certainly buy these again, though possibly for a different instrument. 12-16-22 31-41-52.
    * Philippe Bosset Acoustique (SBM, $32.91 on 7/1/23 off 14/4/23.) Ridiculously expensive for a plain-Jane hex core string but very nice indeed: a lovely soft feel and rich, well-balanced tone. Their warmth and fullness is just barely on the right side of too much for this big full-voiced Blackwood instrument but might be the very thing for a traditional rosewood-backed guitar (like the Messiah). These are truly great strings, but ouch! that price!  12-16-25 32-42-53.
    * Dogal Phosphor Bronze Round Core. (SBM, $26.64 on 14/4/23 off 15/4) Dud strings once again. Three sets, only one of them good. A very poor record. What I did hear from them suggested that they lack a bit of treble on this well-balanced guitar and are better suited to something which is top-end heavy. (E.g., Angel, Messiah.) 12-16-24 34-44-54
    * Curt Mangan Round Core ($18.38, SAB On 15-4-23) 12-16-24 32-42-53.
    * Best so far: Curt Mangan Round Core, Phillipe Bosset.


    THE THUNDERHAWK
    Tacoma Thunderhawk baritone jumbo, bought used in October 2020, made March 2005. Sitka Spruce top, Rock Maple back and sides, mahogany neck, ebony fretboard. The very long scale (730mm) makes this almost unique. It has a rich, deep, well-defined cello-like tone. 

    * Came with unknown brand phosphor bronze strings with a plain second, something around about 17-70. The vendor thought they were Tomastics, which sounds unlikely. Not great. False notes on the B string. Lacked a bit of punch and cut-through.
    * John Pearse 80/20 brass light baritone. $9.69. Fantastic! Outstanding rich, bright sound with plenty of bass oomph too. Play well, nice to have a wound "B" string (actually F# on the baritone in standard tuning). But just a fraction too light for the setup, they are a bit buzzy. Tuned up a semitone to C they work very well indeed. They also last far longer than any other brass string I've ever used. The Thunderhawk gets played a lot and they have been on for 7 months now and are still good. 15-22-30 43-54-68
    * John Pearse 80/20 brass medium baritone, 17-70. These were very hard to find. They seemed huge after the lights. Tuned to A (said to be the design tuning for the long-scale Thunderhawk) they are flubby and very muddy. Still a bit flubby and muddy in Bb. You can't really play it like a guitar. Already getting just a bit heavy on the left hand too. In B tuning they are much improved, but that wonderful cello tone on the lower strings is not really there. The sound is deeper and rounder but it's not as usable or as playable: fingering is noticeably slower and heavier. I took them off after two days. They are perfectly good strings and settled in nicely, but no.  (BTW, why not just tune to C and be happy? Because C tuning on the baritone tends to lead to awkward keys in conjunction with a normal concert-pitch guitar - for example, playing the C-tuned baritone in G means playing the standard guitar in Eb, C means Ab, and D Bb. Tuning the baritone a fourth down (B) mostly leads to more pleasant combinations.) Fitted May 21. 17-24-32, 45-56-70.
    * John Pearse 80/20 brass light baritone. $9.69. Straight back to these after just two days with the mediums. The Thunderhawk comes alive with the lights in a way it doesn't with other strings - even back when I used to tune the lights to B it still had that magic tone which you just don't get with the mediums. Fitted May 21. 15-22-30 43-54-68.
    * Newtone Masterclass acoustic baritone brass roundcore. (NEW, $21.10, on 3/2/22, off 31/5/22.) I thought I'd try these just for fun. I wanted a set exactly the same as the JP lights but in round core. I only discovered when I went to put these on that I'd been sent quite a different set with a plain steel .18 second instead of the .22 wound, and different gauges for the remainder with only the .15 first and .68 sixth as expected. No matter, I put them on anyway. As when I first put roundcores on the Messiah, the greater flexibility resulted in quite a lot of unintended jangle and fret noise. On the Messiah, the new strings soon settled in and I quickly learned a slightly different way of playing them. On the Thunderhawk with its very long scale, the round core softness is more problematic. Oh, and I hate the plain steel 2nd. UPDATE: after leaving the Thunderhawk largely unplayed for months (mostly because I didn't like these strings) I've come back to it. Three months sitting in the case seems to have improved the strings quite a lot. Or maybe I've forgotten just how good the JPs were. Just the same, the round-cores buzz like crazy. I could have tweaked the action up a bit to suit the lower tension but instead I took them off and put some JPs on. 15-18p-28w 38-48-68. 
    * John Pearse brass light baritone. ($15.97 SBM. On May 31.) Firmer, less buzzy than the Newtones but by no means hard to play. 12th fret action went from 2.3mm to 2.6mm which sounds high but is about right for the baritone strings and very long scale,  15-22-30 43-54-68.
    * Newtone Custom. Baritone, round core, phosphor bronze. (NEW, $25.01, on Jan 26 2023.) Same gauges as the excellent JP set (including the wound 2nd) but in a round core and phosphor bronze. These are very nice: a bit brash at first as you expect with a new string, then bright but full-bodied. I'll have to try them back-to-back with a fresh set of JPs to decide which I prefer the sound of. They do rattle and buzz a fair bit thanks to the extra flex of the round cores. I could adjust the guitar's action but I don't like doing that too often. Instead, I'll look at ordering a marginally heavier set, perhaps something like 16-23-31 44-55-69. These are 15-22-30 43-54-68.*
    BEST SO FAR: John Pearce light baritone.
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  • TanninTannin Frets: 5267
    edited May 2023
    THE GUILD
    Guild CO-2 bought used in July 2021, made in Tacoma 2007. Red Spruce top, mahogany back, sides and neck, ebony fretboard and bridge. A bold, responsive 000-size guitar with that nice Guild top end, not unlike a brighter Martin 000-18.

    * D'Addario EJ16 PB 12-53. On 26-7-21, off 15-10-21. Started with these as a plain vanilla sort of sting to set a baseline. Seem like a decent choice.  The Guild is (to my ear) a little weak in the bass and rather strident in the upper middle (G and B strings, mostly). Let's see if we can improve on that by matching it up with the right set of strings. 12-16-24 32-42-53.
    * Darco brass mediums 13-56. (MAN, $12. On 15 October, off 29 January '22.) I had these spare and no other use for them, so why not? As so often with brass strings, strident and nasty fresh on, but they settled in beautifully. The Guild remains fairly easy to play with the 13s, and the extra weight of the bigger strings seems well-matched to that stiff Red Spruce top. The upper mid sound is noticeably more restrained and balanced now. I didn't really expect these strings to work all that well on the Guild but they have surprised me.  13-17-26 35-45-56.
    * Elixir Nanoweb bronze bluegrass 12-56. (SM, $26.95. On 29 Jan, off 12 April.) I wanted to try something slightly lighter and easier to play, but still heavy enough to suit the Red Spruce. These work well. Nice clean sound, and I don't mind the soapy feel. Still little too much hard work for the left hand though. I took them off early, with plenty of wear left in them, and put them aside for possible re-use. 12-16-24 35-45-56.
    * Santa Cruz Parabolic Medium Tension PB coated ($32.00 TAC, on 12 April, off 9 June.) Nice strings, noticeably easier to play than the 13s or the Elixirs but still heavy enough to get that stiff top working. I'd really rather 12s but am afraid that they won't have the required oomph.  13-16.5-24 33-45-56.
    * D'Addario nickel bronze 12-53 ($17 MAN On 9 June.) A revelation. All of a sudden, this guitar really works. It is controllable and far more melodic. These are very light for 12s, I had to play with the truss rod to stop it buzzing. 12-16-24 22-42-53.
    * Martin Retro (On 19 August, off 14 Jan 2023.) Poor to start with, improved when played in. Wild and rather atonal at first, needed to be solidly played in for a week or ten days before they settled down to be - on this guitar - just OK. In the end, I was never really happy with the Retros on the Red Spruce. They are great strings but this guitar needs something darker. 12-15-25 31-41-54.
    * Stringjoy Foxwoods. (SJ $26.90. On 14 Jan 2023 off April 16.) The uncoated Stringjoy Naturals started well on the cedar-top dred but very soon sounded very dull. For that reason I was reluctant to put the Stringjoy Foxwoods on any of my favourite instruments. Why not try them on the Guild? It's my least-favourite guitar, and it is very prone to being harsh  and shouty. (I persevere with it because it also has a lovely crisp, clear tone if you get things exactly right.) The combination - over-brash guitar and over-dull strings works reasonably well. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
    * John Pierce Pure Nickel (SAB $11.51 on 16 April)  Decent. Not as good as the D'Addarios. 12-16-24 32-42-54.
    BEST SO FAR: D'Addario Nickel Bronze



    THE MINEUR
    A single luthier concert size guitar made in November 2020 and bought used in August 2021. Engleman Spruce top, tiger myrtle back and sides, Blackwood neck, Indian Rosewood fretboard, ebony bridge. 

    * Martin EC Signature 12s. ($14.00 TAC.) Started with these as a plain vanilla baseline. They work well. Two things to work on: a bit boomy in the bass and a bit harsh on the plain strings. 12-16-25 32-42-54.
    * SIT Silencers brass 12-52. (SBM, $12.59. On 20 October, off 9 November.) I thought these might tame the bass and tone down the harshness in the upper mids. Nope. I lost the bass grunt and didn't really tame the treble harshness. I don't much like playing this guitar with these strings on it. (But love these same strings on the Doctor. Horses for courses.) 12-16-25 32-42-52.
    * Pyramid Western Folk round core phosphor bronze light. ($18.54 SAB, on 9 November.) Immediately appealing. Lovely feel, very flexible but not sloppy. I like these a lot. 12-16-22 34-44-54.
    * Pyramid Western Folk hand-polished round core phosphor bronze light. ($23.88 SBM, on 9-2-22, off 10-3-22.) These are a variation on the semi-flat theme. Like D'Addario Flat Tops they are a round wound ground part-flat to reduce left hand noise. They have an odd, raspy feel a bit like Flat Tops, but are more similar to a normal string. They aren't ground as deeply and, having started with a more flexible, melodic round core, the result is much more satisfactory. Pyramid recommend these premium-price strings for recording. They do have a decent sound for a ground string, but not nearly as good as the standard (unground) Pyramid Western Folk in my view, and they are in any case still quite squeaky. File these under "nice idea but". I prefer the unpolished ones, which are also cheaper. 12-16-22 34-44-54.
    * DR Sunbeam light round core PB. ($11.88 SB.  On 10-3-22.) Lovely soft, responsive feel like the Pyramids (the nice ones, not the polished things), similar sound but perhaps a fraction sweeter. 12-16-24 32-42-54.

    (continued below)



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  • jellyrolljellyroll Frets: 3073
    Not sure I’ve the patience to read it all but Kudos for the effort. I started a string diary too but it faded once I’d run out of adjectives (“not bad”, “quite nice”, “great”…..er….)
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26743
    I did this over a couple of years a while back, but I didn’t try this many!
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • TanninTannin Frets: 5267
    edited May 2023
    Martin Flexible Core (Tommy Emmanuel signature) PB. ($12.79, SAB. On May 10, off 16 June.) These have thinner core wires with heavier windings to produce a lower-tension, more finger-friendly string - sort of the round core you have when you're not having a round core. Do they work? Yes. Do they feel like round cores? Not really: they go only part-way toward the round core feel - which might be exactly what you want.  Good sound, nice strings, good price, Not knocking my socks off but I might buy them again some time. 12-16-25 32-42-54.
    Dogal Phosphor Bronze Round Core. (SBM, $27.05. On 16 June, off 6 Aug. ) The first set of these had a dud string and I cut them off in a temper without hearing a single chord. And their non-standard oversize ball ends are a pain in the arse. And they are very expensive. But I decided to give them another chance anyway. Result: I've never heard this guitar sound better. Good feel, nice moderate tension, great sound. I'm a convert. 12-16-24 34-44-54
    Pyramid 307 Silver-Plated (SBM, $18.83, on 6 August 22, off 24 Sept.) Really interesting strings! Very soft and flexible under the fingers, an invitation to fast and fancy fretting. The silver coating is not rough or raspy but it micro-grips the fingertips as if it was coated in rosin or non-slip rubber (that sounds unpleasant but isn't). Very light for 12s, more like 10s but perfectly playably nevertheless. The sound belongs to the same broad family as a standard set of, for example, phosphor bronze strings, but without the stridency. It has a gentle, very slightly muted flavour not unlike (but much more subtle than) a silk and steel sound. Excel at fingerstyle but strum happily too. 12-16-24 32-42-52.
    * Thomastik-Infeld Plectrum Bronze (TAC, $36.00 on 24/9/22 off 13/12/22). Weird strings. Hard to know what to make of them. The under-gauge B string is buzzy. Why do manufacturers do this shit? Just use a .16 like any normal person FFS. Still, they settled in OK and ended up sounding good. 12-15-24 33-44-59
    Augustine Phosphor Bronze (SAB $11.92 £7, on 13-12-22, off 12-1-23). Good standard strings, nothing much to report except that they work well and I'm very happy with them. 12-16-24 32-42-53.
    fs* D'Addario EJ16 12-53. (Free. On 12-1-23, off 3-2-23.) Paul, who made the guitar, borrowed it to take to an exhibition, and put new strings on it while he had it. Perfectly good strings but I don't warm to them. Hard to say why. Don't last very well. 12-16-24 32-42-53.
    Magma GA140PB ($11.61 £6.48. On 3 Feb, off 12 Feb off 3 March.) Pleasant feel but a sound that doesn't suit this guitar. Nothing actually wrong with them but just a bit lifeless and dull. 12-16-24 34-44-54.
    Newtone Masterclass Double Wound roundcore phosphor bronze. Bluegrass gauge. ($23.78 £14 NT, on 12 Feb.) Immediately impressive for their very low squeal. Nice tone (not dull as I had feared) though distinctly lacking in the bass (which was to be expected). Excellent feel, the extra weight of the bluegrass gauge compensating nicely for the excess flexibility of a round core. 12-16-26 36-46-56.
    Savarez A140L (SBM $13.92 £8 On 3 March.) Stupidly, I expected these to be similar to the Augustines I liked a lot. They are not. Remarkably low tension for a hex-core with a fairly coarse finish, they are very loud, soft-feeling strings rich in bass and ill-suited to my heavy right hand, certainly on this light, responsive guitar. Would work better on a more heavily-built instrument or for a player with a gentle touch.  12-16-24 32-42-53.
    Dean Markley Blue Steel (SBM $15.57 On 17 April) I expected these to be very old school strings, stiff and high tension. They are indeed rather old school, but not so hard to play. In fact they feel like high tension 11s, if that makes any sense. First up they are nice and bright but lack bass and body. Let's see how they settle in.  12-16-25 32-42-54.
    * BEST SO FAR: Pyramid Western Folk, DR Sunbeams, Dogal, Pyramid 307, Augustine Phosphor Bronze. 




    THE 12-STRING: 
    Cole Clark 2 Series dreadnought bought new in December 2020: Bunya top, Blackwood back and sides, Queensland Maple neck, River Sheoak fretboard. A fairly typical 12, leaning more towards a jangly treble sound than a warm and rich one, but not unusually so. Although I played 12-string almost exclusively for many years, I've recently taken to stringing this up as a 6. SOLD April 2022.

    * Came ex-factory with Elixir Nanoweb phosphor bronze 10-47. Good sound. Plenty of top end on this body (not middly and borderline muddy as bronze strings can be on some guitars).  They need a gentle touch on the right hand: I get buzz between two strings in a course when I play them the way I play my 6-strings (i.e., like a demented bass player doing 80s disco-funk). Will probably last well which is especially important on a 12-string 'coz restringing is a pain in the arse. UPDATE: after getting used to them, I tuned them down to Eb to de-jangle it just a little, and to make life easier for my left hand. That worked well. 10-10 14-14 23-9 30-12 39-18 47-27.
    * D'Addario EJ38 PB. 10-47. (MM, $30.) I had the nut re-filed to be able to swap the E and A strings over with their octave strings, what you might call doing a half-Rickenbacker. Although the factory Elixirs were still good, they were now too short. The EJ38s were what the local shop happened to have in stock. I like them. Theoretically the same gauge as the Elixir 10-47s, they are in practice a fraction lighter. They are flappy in Eb, just right in E natural. A bit dear at $30-odd for uncoated strings. Possibly a fraction too middly now that I've swapped the courses over and brass might be good, but let's wait a while before deciding. A couple of months after putting these on they seem to be lasting well for an uncoated string, although to be fair I don't play the 12 much. Same nominal gauges as the Elixirs except for the octave G which is an 8. 10-10 14-14 23-8 30-12 39-18 47-27.
    * Darco 80/20 brass 12-54. (SD, $15.72.) Yes, a six-string set. I wanted to try the Bunya and Blackwood twelve-string out with six strings so that I could - don't laugh - hear it. With 12 strings on, those extra strings make a much bigger difference to the sound than the woods or the build; I wanted to listen to the guitar itself. I also wanted to try a six-string with a wider neck (50mm instead of 44mm), and above all, decide whether to keep the 12, trade it in on another six-string, or just play it with 6 strings. A set of phosphor bronze 12s would have been ideal but I didn't have any handy. As always with brass, at first the Darcos seemed way over-bright, but they mellowed nicely. It's a nice guitar strung as a six, and although the wider neck can be a bit of a stretch, I play cleaner and better on it. I do like the compressed dynamics. This is a setup you can take liberties with. (That is the extra 12-string build strength paying off.) 12-16-25 32-42-54.
    * Curt Mangan Fusion Matched coated phosphor bronze 12s ($20.26 SB, on 20/01/22.) Immediately pleasing. These are nice strings, good feel, plenty of zing but not jangly. 12-16-24 32-44-54.
    * Martin MA500 12-string PB 10-47 ($17.80 SBM.) Seem to work well. I put these on to sell it. 10-10 14-14 23-10 30-12 39-18 47-27.
    * BEST: D'Addario EJ38s (12). Darco brass (6). 


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  • DavidRDavidR Frets: 727
    Gosh. Well done. Useful for others+++. I keep a string diary too but don't experiment as much as you do. Mainly because I feel I've found my fave strings for each of my instruments, but your try-outs re-inforce the fact that we should always be open to change.

    More generally, I am always fascinated that prior to D'Addario introducing phosphor-bronze in the 1970's all acoustics used Monel or 80/20 'bronze'. Well before that they would just have used Monel. People can't have bothered that much about strings back then. When folk put PB on an old 1930's/40's instrument now, that's not a sound anyone would have been hearing at the time!

    Big fan of Monel, not least because of cost-savings resulting from less frequent need to change. I just like the tone. Put on PB from time to time. Except for my resonator, upon which Monel does sound dull.
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  • maltingsaudiomaltingsaudio Frets: 3098
    In an effort to channel Blackadder referring to Dr Johnston’s new dictionary:
    ”(cough) Picato phosphor bronze”
    www.maltingsaudio.co.uk
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  • TanninTannin Frets: 5267
    In another thread, simonhpieman asked some questions:

    When you talk about how long the strings last, is this until one breaks or until you consider the tone to have "gone off"? 

    Until the tone goes off. I can't remember the last time I broke a string. 

    It sounds like you play quite a lot?

    Several hours a day. Being retired is great!

    How long do you expect things to need to settle in? I assume this varies quite a lot set to set. I'd have thought my Martin string would have dulled down a lot after 45 minutes of gig-level strumming but it's still pretty bright.

    I think this varies with the string (a bit) and with the player (a lot).  Some people love the sound of brand new strings, some can't stand it. But let's not go any further down that thought-path until we have clarified some terms. 

    Strings go through a set series of stages over their life.

        1: Wild. They are all over the place when you first put them on and have not yet stretched and settled down. They sound unpleasant, mostly because they don't hold tune yet. They need to be stretched (either manually or by playing them in) until they hold tune. This stage lasts only a short time. To pluck numbers out of the air, say 20 minutes of normal playing, or as little as 5 minutes if you stretch them manually.
        2: Zingy. The string holds tune, but is still ultra-bright. This stage lasts for a day or two, or a few hours of playing time.
        3: Normal tone. Still quite bright, but not excessively so. This stage lasts a long time; typically something like 3 weeks for brass, 6 weeks for phosphor bronze, several months for monel.
        4: Dead. They sound dull and lifeless, the overtones are gone.
        5: Unusable. They no longer play in tune.


    This is only a rough guide. Sometimes stage 5 happens before stage 4. The borderline between stages 2 and 3 (zingy and normal) is fairly subjective. (In theory it could be measured and quantified, but who has the equipment to do that, let alone the time? We are guitar players, not PhD candidates!) Note that none of these terms or stages are "official", they are just stuff I made up to describe what I see.

    Most of us put new strings on when we get to the end of stage 3 (normal tone) but some people change far more often. Many well-paid professional musicians, especially ones with professional road crew to do the boring stuff for them, put new strings on every night and always play in stage 2 (zingy tone). On the other hand, some people actually prefer stage 4 strings (dead tone) and leave them on until they break. 

    In general, I hate stage 1, dislike the zingy stage, and much prefer normal tone, but there are exceptions. I sometimes enjoy the sugar hit of having ultra-zingy fresh brass strings on my Huon Pine Angel. Yes, that's way too much top end for any sane person, but it's fun for a day or two, and I can always play one of the other ones if I want something normal. Stage 4, "dead" tone can be good too, given the right string and the right guitar. Stage 4 brass strings - which were brighter than almost anything else in the zingy and normal phases - go very sweet and mellow. I assume that the brass (an alloy of copper and zinc) becomes more ductile as the micro-structure changes in response to fatigue, and this is the basis of the soft feel and gentle tones produced, while bronze (an alloy of copper and tin, usually with a trace of phosphorus added) becomes harder and more brittle, which is what eventually leads to false notes, but I'm no metallurgist and while the observed tone changes are perfectly clear I'm only guessing at the reasons for them. These exceptions notwithstanding, most people play most of the time in the normal tone stage and like that sound. 

    Where do coated strings fit in? Coating certainly extends the length of the normal tone period, at least double. I don't think it makes any useful difference to the zingy period though, except to dull some of the highs. My assumption is that this is because the transition from zingy to normal tone has nothing to do with dirt and corrosion, it is purely a metalurgical process. 

    From the sounds of things it looks like I might like Monels

    I agree about monel for players who don't like strings too bright. Monel in the normal tone stage is similar to brass or phosphor bronze in the dead stage. (Not identical, but similar.)

    Actually, one more question and then I promise I'll leave you alone! All these string changes, are you making adjustments to the guitar each time? Truss rod etc? Surely different gauges and sets has a huge effect on setup?

    No. I try to pick strings that are appropriate to the setup. As noted above, I don't always succeed. Sometimes that's because I tried an experiment and it didn't work; sometimes it's because a particular manufacturer's strings have a higher or lower tension than you would expect from the label; very rarely it is not possible to set a guitar up properly for a given set. (For example that ridiculously over-light .015" B string on the Sfarzos above. No setup that worked for the B string could work for the other five.) 

    In my head I have started grouping string brands into three groups. 

    (1) Those that tend to be lighter than expected - i.e., their 12s play more like 11.5s. These include  D'Addario, Santa Cruz, and probably GHS. 
    (3) Those that tend to be unexpectedly heavy (Sfarzo, possibly John Pearce). 
    (2) Those that are pretty much what you expect - all the others I've tried so far.

    Obviously I'll refine and correct these groupings as time goes by. 

    Returning to the question, big changes to string tension would obviously require a different setup. But small changes are usually OK. (All I've done really is go between lights (12-53) and mediums (13-56) with the added halfway step of 12-56 bluegrass sets.)

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  • jaymenonjaymenon Frets: 804
    edited June 2021
    You missed out Elixir Phosphor Bronze 13-56...

    Also tighten the truss rod a little (or actually, lower the saddle very slightly) - you can take the action lower with heavier strings - and they will be easier to play.
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  • TanninTannin Frets: 5267
    I don't have a guitar that would like the Elixir phosphor bronze mediums, Jaymenon. I did try Elixir brass mediums on the Angel (identical bar the alloy) but they were a bit much for it, and the Elixir bluegrass PBs are plenty heavy enough for the Messiah. Now if someone would like to lend me an HD-28 for a year or two to try some strings out on ..... :)

    Updated today: a new guitar (with no interesting string changes yet, obviously), a couple of new sets on the Angel, various minor changes. I've started recording date on and date off (because I quite often forget how long I've had a set on) and  also prices. Neither of these are likely to be of interest to anyone bar me but I'm too lazy to edit them out of the posts above. 

    My string box is overflowing with old friends and new things to try, and I just went nuts and ordered another dozen different  sets. It is going to take me years to try all these out. 
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  • ScavengerScavenger Frets: 148
    I've been doing this for years, I thought I was the only one! All I record is the date I strung the guitar , what strings and any adjustments or modifications. I started doing it for my basses , I was finding that although it sounded ok in isolation often in a band setting it didn't punch through . After a bit of experimentation I found that my preferred strings lasted about a year with the response I was after.  I do the same with my guitars now and make note of every gig I play . This gives me a good idea of the level of use the strings are getting and let's me wallow in reverie.
    I recently joined a band wanted to use a certain bass , from my log  I could tell that it was last strung 15thJan 2017!
    www.scavengermusic.co.uk
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  • TanninTannin Frets: 5267
    edited May 2023
    Updated today - one new guitar; five new string sets tried out; three old friends tried on different guitars.  Four very good or excellent results; two good; one fair; one poor result. 

    New strings: GHS Americana, Galli phosphor bronze, Rotosound Nexus, Martin EC Signature, Pyramid round core.
    Old friends but on different guitars: Fender brass, Darco brass mediums, SIT Silencers.

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    Stuck here via edit because I'm out of space above
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    THE 225
    Left-handed Maton M225 made in 2014 and bought used in February 2022. The M225 was Maton's last try at competing with cheap Asian guitars, and the last Maton to use laminates. Otherwise, apart from the very plain Jane decoration, it is similar to the current SRS models: solid Sitka Spruce top, Queensland Maple neck, rosewood bridge and fingerboard, but laminated Queensland Maple back and sides. My aim with this one is to exlore the world of upside-down playing. The basic idea is to tune it the same as a normal right-handed guitar but with the octaves backwards: high E at the top (6th string), low E at the bottom (1st string) and so on.  NOW SOLD.

    * It arrived with an unknown brand of strings fitted, 80/20 brass by the look of them. I think they were pretty much unplayed but had been on for quite some time as the plain steel ones sounded a bit wonky. It's a fair guess that the guitar had been in a cupboard for many years, then someone gave it a bit of a clean and put new strings on it for sale, then it sat in the shop for quite a while before I bought it. 
    Rotosound Super Bronze contact core PB light. ($12.76 SAB. On 23/2/22, off 18 July.) Contact core strings start the winding a short distance above the ball end, so the part passing over the saddle is plain. This is supposed to change the sound a bit (which is does, though not in a good way on this guitar) and also very slightly lowers the action. It's an odd instrument and hard to say too much but put it this way: it sounded significantly better after I took these off and put some Martins on. 12-16-24 32-44-54. (However I swapped in a .17 "B" string as this is tuned to A on the lefty.) 
    Martin Custom Light 11s ($13.00 TAC, on 18 July).  Ordered by mistake, these are fine strings, even for a player who generally dislikes 11s. They play like light 12s. If you like the Martin sound but want something a just little lighter, these deliver. 11-15-23 32-42-52.

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  • I have just put d'addario 10-46 extra lights on my jumbo and they sound very nice. Does it figure that bigger bodied guitars handle lighter strings better and smaller bodied heavier strings?
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  • MellishMellish Frets: 945
    edited November 2021
    @guotarjack66 10s are very light for dread/Jumbo, but if your guitar sounds OK with them, there's no buzzing etc, there's no reason why you shouldn't use them. String gauge according to body size? For me it's more about finding the gauge that works best for your guitar. My HD28, for example, sounds choked with 13s.12s in phosphor bronze are better but still not quite there. 12s in 80/20, though, and this  guitar comes alive. And it's for you to find out what strings work best for you and *your* guitar  
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  • Mellish said:
    @guotarjack66 10s are very light for dread/Jumbo, but if your guitar sounds OK with them, there's no buzzing etc, there's no reason why you shouldn't use them. String gauge according to body size? For me it's more about finding the gauge that works best for your guitar. My HD28, for example, sounds choked with 13s.12s in phosphor bronze are better but still not quite there. 12s in 80/20, though, and this  guitar comes alive. And it's for you to find out what strings work best for you and *your* guitar  
    There is a bit of buzzing but it might need an adjustment to compensate for it. I've had 10s before and they worked nicely. Phosphor Bronze 10s and 11s just didnt appeal to my ear.
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  • MellishMellish Frets: 945
    edited November 2021
    @guitarjack66 if you do tweak the rod, just a small adjustment then retune and try. You just want the minimum that sees off the buzz  
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  • MellishMellish Frets: 945
    edited November 2021
    Just to add you'd be loosening. It's best to come up to where you want to be rather than go down, so go below then come back up like you would when tuning :) 



     
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