Let’s talk strings

Rayk said:

Did I hear Beer !?

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Having one right now, my friend.

I like martin strings. I just do. I have tried shoe strings, monofilament, fishing line, and martins always treat me right.

GHS Doyle Dykes DDS s325 phosphor bronze 11 1/2 work good. Keep trying different strings until you find what you like best.. I mail order all my strings.

I don't think they blew me away, but since they have not been mentioned: maybe give John Pearse a try to see if you like 'em

Thanks for the replies. I’ve got enough suggestions to last a year at least. First set I’m gonna try is my nice cheap Earthwoods because I have them, then I’ll give some of these others a shot. I noticed a lot of you like the Martin Retros. Does anyone else find them kinda…zippy? Zingy? at first until they settle in? Truth be told I don’t generally like brand new strings. Two weeks in seems to be a sweet spot for me.

Munchy said:

I don't think they blew me away, but since they have not been mentioned: maybe give John Pearse a try to see if you like 'em

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Fan of the John Pearse uncoated PB strings myself.

I have settled on Curt Mangan round core PB, and have been pleased with them on all my Guilds. I’m playing a drop tuning, so I go a little heavier than you’re looking for. Using Mangan true mediums on all, but CM has a pretty impressive lineup of choices. I buy directly from his website where they have decent pricing on multiples.

I am a creature of habit and been using D’addarios forever, started out with EJ17 mediums, used them until recently when I started toying with lighter gauge. Not sure I’ve landed on a go to set yet At least with D’addario I joined the players club and get the points from each set and someday earn enough to maybe turn them into a new set one day?

edit: Oh and I’m drinking a beer right now

GuildyAsHell said:

Thanks for the replies. I’ve got enough suggestions to last a year at least. First set I’m gonna try is my nice cheap Earthwoods because I have them, then I’ll give some of these others a shot. I noticed a lot of you like the Martin Retros. Does anyone else find them kinda…zippy? Zingy? at first until they settle in? Truth be told I don’t generally like brand new strings. Two weeks in seems to be a sweet spot for me.

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Monels don't have any of that PB zing going on, the string formula is old to answer another question, pre war old I'm not sure but probably.

From Martin:

Martin Retro® strings are the real deal. Not an imitation. With Martin Retro® strings, you get one tough set that offers true, consistent tone and sounds like nothing else on the market. Martin’s solid nickel/copper alloy blend provides a reduced pick attack that allows the guitar’s tonewoods to be heard, not overshadowed. Martin’s proprietary Monel wrap wire is naturally corrosion resistant, so you can play them for a long time with nothing to get in the way of your music. Discover your guitar’s true voice. Retro® strings offer enhanced longevity with warm natural tone, and they sound great plugged in.

Boneman said:

I am a creature of habit and been using D’addarios forever, started out with EJ17 mediums, used them until recently when I started toying with lighter gauge. Not sure I’ve landed on a go to set yet At least with D’addario I joined the players club and get the points from each set and someday earn enough to maybe turn them into a new set one day?

edit: Oh and I’m drinking a beer right now

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I think it's easy to treat D'Addario PBs as if they're generic or bland or something, but to me they are the standard. And if a store doesn't carry my favorite DRs, I'll buy them and think, "yeah these are still great strings. "

I exclusively use D'Addario Phosphor Bronze strings. I switched from EJ16's (uncoated) to EXP16's (coated) and love them. I am getting ready to try a set of XS strings, but I am very interested in the way Nickel Bronze strings will sound on my 1980 D-50.

The Tony Rice medium gauge strings are good. I don’t think they are different from the regular monel mediums, just marketing.

hi everybody

i usually use DR RARE light.
does anybody know if DR strings are tested with guilds guitars?? because the original CEO of DR were Alfred Dronges relatives.
i m wondering about current guild and DR still has that kind of relationship.
i m curious at it.

Seiki Yoshida said:

hi everybody

i usually use DR RARE light.
does anybody know if DR strings are tested with guilds guitars?? because the original CEO of DR were Alfred Dronges relatives.
i m wondering about current guild and DR still has that kind of relationship.
i m curious at it.

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That definitely was part of their thing for a long while (although I'm too lazy to google for citations). DR founder Mark Dronge, was Al's son.

That's more or less how I ended up trying and using DR Rare strings.

plaidseason said:

That definitely was part of their thing for a long while (although I'm too lazy to google for citations). DR founder Mark Dronge, was Al's son.

That's more or less how I ended up trying and using DR Rare strings.

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But I don’t think Guild was the test guitar for DR. It was totally separate. Guild was the acoustic that tested D’Addario phosphor bronze. Back in 1973 before PBs first launched in 1974. And D’A manufactured the base string for Guild strings. So if you are going to go with a string that Guild most partnered with, it’s D’Addario. And for a truest, for historical significance, the D'Addario EJ17 is what most dreads would have left Westerly with in the 70s. Not the EXP of course and not light gauge yet. That build era was heavier so I conclude dreads were leaving factories with medium gauge strings on them. Unless someone can convince me otherwise...

On the subject of playable perameters, there were two big life changers for me. The first was when my refretted guitar had about fifteen years on it. I took it to a luthier and had the frets leveled and crowned. The ease of play was mind blowing. This guy really won't do a setup without leveling frets. I later had him do the neck reset on my D 35, and the results of fresh leveled frets was also dramatic. Eight years later I noticed a degradation of tone. I almost had to twist his arm to level the frets, but he did. Same really good result.

Fast forward and I bought my Martin D 35 from Bryan Kimsey. It came with .013s on it but they played like .012s. It came with a typical bluegrass setup, so not low. I measured .04 relief. Once again flat leveled frets. Roughly these setups were done equal to a plek machine job. If ease of play is your primary goal, I'd recommend doing this. You should be able to go a gauge higher if you want, or just have an easier playing guitar. Taylor has gone this route, and I played some SC series Martins like this too. Both use plek machines now.

I'm not a low action fan, but eventually we will all need to be as we age. You will never, IMHO, have the same effect with different strings as far as ease of play. Tone,yes.

Westerly Wood said:

But I don’t think Guild was the test guitar for DR. It was totally separate. Guild was the acoustic that tested D’Addario phosphor bronze. Back in 1973 before PBs first launched in 1974. And D’A manufactured the base string for Guild strings. So if you are going to go with a string that Guild most partnered with, it’s D’Addario. And for a truest, for historical significance, the D'Addario EJ17 is what most dreads would have left Westerly with in the 70s. Not the EXP of course and not light gauge yet. That build era was heavier so I conclude dreads were leaving factories with medium gauge strings on them. Unless someone can convince me otherwise...

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I just meant that my understanding was that DR/Mark had a selection of Guilds in their collection of guitars used for testing. I'm still too busy/lazy to research this.

DR Sunbeams or Rares will definitely have lower tension than most strings of the same gauge and material/category. They have become my go to on most of my acoustics.

The Rares are great for adding some girth to your tone too. Love ‘em on maple body guitars. I don’t have an all ‘hog flattop, but my D40 is strung with Sunbeams right now.

plaidseason said:

I just meant that my understanding was that DR/Mark had a selection of Guilds in their collection of guitars used for testing. I'm still too busy/lazy to research this.

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My understanding was that DR had a fine collection of Guilds and DR would sometimes test out strings and string ideas on the Guilds.

My understanding is that Guild never shipped an instrument from the factory with DRs and we have no idea if, or how much, DR strings were involved in Guild R&D efforts.

Given that Mark Dronge, founder of DR had worked for Guild and Al Dronge, founder of Guild, was his father you might hope to find the companies working more closely together than they did. Some sources suggest that Mark was not happy with Guild when he left the company but most sources are vague or silent. "sources" in this case mean what I could find on the internet and what LTG members who met Mark at LMG IV have said.