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
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Comments
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(^ 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.
* 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.
* Best so far: Curt Mangan Round Core, Phillipe Bosset.
THE THUNDERHAWK
BEST SO FAR: John Pearce light baritone.
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THE 12-STRING:
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.
”(cough) Picato phosphor bronze”
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.
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.
I recently joined a band wanted to use a certain bass , from my log I could tell that it was last strung 15thJan 2017!
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Stuck here via edit because I'm out of space above
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THE 225