Which strings work best for your Guild?

Charlie Bernstein

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Back in the 70s I had a jumbo blond Madeira 12 string. Cannot remember the model, maybe 712? Anyway, I remember it never sounded right unless I used Guild strings. Nothing else sounded correct. . . .
That's just flat-out weird. Like having a brand of beer that only tastes good in one brand of glass.

But then, I guess the seventies were pretty weird in general . . . .
 

Charlie Bernstein

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But to answer your question, there are lots of good brands of strings. None is designed for just one make of guitar. Strings that are good on Guilds are just as good on Gibsons, Martins, and Taylors.

We all have different ears and different hands. So most players just try different strings to find the ones they like - like the many brands mentioned above.
 

Rayk

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D’Addario phosphorus bronze and coated , Martin Monals and my main strings at the moment are Elixir Nano webs.
 

adorshki

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That's just flat-out weird. Like having a brand of beer that only tastes good in one brand of glass.

But then, I guess the seventies were pretty weird in general . . . .
Could be due to the known Guild- D'Addario phosphor bronze connection.
D'Addario "invented" PB windings (as opposed to the alloy itself) and started selling under their own name in '74:
http://www.daddario.com/DADProductF...id=9&sid=4c1fc104-beed-4a34-91b8-cfec59ed187e.
"Phosphor Bronze was introduced to string making by D'Addario in 1974 and has become synonymous with warm, bright, and well balanced acoustic tone"

Guild was one of, if not actually the first, to jump on board and install 'em as the factory strings, and sell 'em under their own brand name.
From D'A's Wiki page:
" During the late 1940s and early 1950s (especially after the birth of rock and roll) nylon-stringed "classical" guitars were being eclipsed in popularity by the steel-string guitar. Some of the younger members of the family wanted to expand into steel strings, but Charles was reluctant to risk the family business on what he considered an uncertain market. In 1956 a new company (the Archaic Musical String Mfg Co.) began to make steel strings, run by Charles' son, John D'Addario Sr. The company made strings for several of the major guitar makers of the time, including Gretsch, D'Angelico, Martin, and Guild. In 1962 the two companies were merged under the name Darco."
and:
"In the late 1960s, Darco was approached by Martin Guitars regarding a merger in order to pool resources and development efforts. While the partnership was beneficial for both companies, by 1974 the D'Addario family decided it was time to market strings under their own name, and the J. D'Addario & Company corporation was formed "

One of the reasons I'm still true to D'A is that, if the Wiki info is accurate, they were in fact Guild's OEM string supplier for the vast majority of their existence, up through early Corona, for acoustic flat-tops, at least.
Other brands have been suggest such as Dr that was in fat founded by Al Dringe's son, so that seems perfectly possible, but I also wonder if they may have provided electric and bass strings as opposed to the acoustic flat-tops, or perhaps was a period when D'Addario wasn't actually supplying, maybe when Guild was having money problems in the '80's.
Thing is, there at least 3 highly credible reports (Drumbob and 2 dealers during the era) of D'A being Guild's OEM maker, and only one hearsays report for DR that I can recall.
And nobody ever mentioned the whether different makers might have been providing strings for different applications, it only occurred to me as a genuine possibility recently.
"Full circle":
Fender did drop D'A in early Corona period in favor of their own captive maker in Mexico, reported as the Squier brand maker by a forum member, many years ago.
I noticed the change when suddenly the L350's were being supplied with an .024 instead of .025 G and the winding color was different from earlier L350 sets I had stashed.
Fender never even bothered to change the spec sheets or web ibnfo, to this day you still see the traditional L35 gauge mix on old spec sheets.
Anyway, early on in New Hartford production D'Addario was once again announced as Guild's official string maker, except they now used coated pb on the flat-tops.

"Next? "
:friendly_wink:
 
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Charlie Bernstein

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Could be due to the known Guild- D'Addario phosphor bronze connection.
D'Addario "invented" PB windings (as opposed to the alloy itself) and started selling under their own name in '74:
http://www.daddario.com/DADProductF...id=9&sid=4c1fc104-beed-4a34-91b8-cfec59ed187e.
"Phosphor Bronze was introduced to string making by D'Addario in 1974 and has become synonymous with warm, bright, and well balanced acoustic tone"

Guild was one of, if not actually the first, to jump on board and install 'em as the factory strings, and sell 'em under their own brand name.
From D'A's. . . .
Thanks! Not so weird, after all! It wasn't about matching brands. It was about the Guild strings just being better.

It sounds like those Guild strings would've improved the sound of any brand steel-string flattop.
 

adorshki

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Thanks! Not so weird, after all! It wasn't about matching brands. It was about the Guild strings just being better.

It sounds like those Guild strings would've improved the sound of any brand steel-string flattop.

It is kind of interesting, because it raises the question of whether certain designs do in fact "sound better" in general with a certain type of string.
Our member Westerly Wood spent some time trying to ascertain exactly what his '72 D25 flatback would have originally shipped with, since it probably predated the use of PB, unless D'A was actually making it and Guild was actually using it without disclosing the maker, before D'Addario "broke out" on their own....
the '72 price list is quite intriguing on that point:
http://www.westerlyguildguitars.com/files/pricelists/72-7.pdf
Note the reference to "special bronze alloy" with "high copper content" for the L350 and M450 flattop sets...

"Woody" 's search:
http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/sh...trung-with-at-the-end-of-1971&highlight=bella
And he loved 'em initially:
http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/sh...t-strings-ever-had-on-the-D25&highlight=bella
But ultimately went back to good 'ol D'Addario Ej-16's (uncoated lights) for best overall combination of properties including durability.
Speakin' o' which:
Haven't seen you around for a while, Clay!
You OK, or just takin' care of higher priorities?
 
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