Guild guitars and DR brand strings

mclkar54

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was wondering about guild guitars coming from guild and outlet warehouses.
As to why guild guitars dont come strung up with DR brand strings.I was under the impression that there is a strong relationship between guild and DR, so why doesnt guild put DR strings on guitars shipped? ive bought 3 new guilds in the past few months, and all 3 came with DaDarrio strings. i dont know what anyone else thinks, but the guilds i have actually sound more alive after installing either DR sunbeams , or DR rares . Any thoughts?
 

Westerly Wood

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I know Mark Dronge started DR strings. I believe the acronym name is taken from Django Reinhardt story....and not the first 2 letters of the Dronge last name. I found that interesting....But I digress...

Guild has WAY more of a longer, historical relationship with D'Addario than DR. Guild was the guitar company that first tested D'As watershed alloy, Phosphor Bronze before it hit the market in '74. D'Addario manufactured Guild brand strings for decades. The EJ16 connection alone would be enough of a reason for the continued rapport.
 

hansmoust

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I know Mark Dronge started DR strings. I believe the acronym name is taken from Django Reinhardt story....and not the first 2 letters of the Dronge last name. I found that interesting....But I digress...
Hello Wood,

The DR name comes from the last names of the two persons who founded the company: Mark Dronge and Benzion Rapoport.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

Westerly Wood

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Hello Wood,

The DR name comes from the last names of the two persons who founded the company: Mark Dronge and Benzion Rapoport.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
Hans, did you ever find out or know why Guild did not start to use DR strings? due to the family connection etc?
and thanks for the correction...

would not want another erroneous story get out like when CF Martin Sr was super jealous of Guild's all hog dreadnaught, as being far superior to his own...that one was quite a doozy. you should a seen the email i got from CF IV, dude was pissed.
 

donnylang

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I would think the answer is that the current Guild company doesn’t have anything to do with the Guild of the Mark Dronge eras.

I personally prefer DR strings for ‘60s Guilds- they sound the most “right” and magical to me. I do wonder if acoustic DR strings were voiced with old Guilds in mind.
 

donnylang

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I’ve found DR Hi-Beams to be the best for several ‘60s Guilds I’ve owned- this is after trying several other string types on them.

I personally dislike D’Addario strings. Aside from the color coded aspect being annoying to someone like me who is color blind, I think they sound plain. DRs are way more lively, I agree.
 

fronobulax

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Over the decades it seems to me that the D'Addario connection to Guild was stronger than the DR connection. In addition to D'Addario being a supplier of strings I'm pretty sure they made the strings that were sold under the Guild brand. Remember that Mark Dronge never owned Guild.

I suspect if it were important to either company they could come to an agreement, so I am willing to see the absence of an agreement as saying it's not important.

My sample is meaningless but I recall more complaints about using DRs than D'Addario's so if that is true using DRs could be a risk for the Guild brand.
 

walrus

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Hans, did you ever find out or know why Guild did not start to use DR strings? due to the family connection etc?
and thanks for the correction...

would not want another erroneous story get out like when CF Martin Sr was super jealous of Guild's all hog dreadnaught, as being far superior to his own...that one was quite a doozy. you should a seen the email i got from CF IV, dude was pissed.

Woody, remember it's an honor to get Hans'd!

So tell us that Martin story, or share a link - I have no idea what you are talking about!

walrus
 

Westerly Wood

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Woody, remember it's an honor to get Hans'd!

So tell us that Martin story, or share a link - I have no idea what you are talking about!

walrus
lol, oh I had this signature once on LTG about how jealous CF Martin I was regarding Guild's flatback D25 when it first came out, like 1968, as Guild's sounded way better than the Martin D-17. Course I was just kidding Jeff.

but it was hilarious!
 

Westerly Wood

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I’ve found DR Hi-Beams to be the best for several ‘60s Guilds I’ve owned- this is after trying several other string types on them.

I personally dislike D’Addario strings. Aside from the color coded aspect being annoying to someone like me who is color blind, I think they sound plain. DRs are way more lively, I agree.
What about the DR Rare's Donny? You like those at all? They are pretty affordable, I always consider getting a set, giving them a whirl...

I do admit, while I been pleasantly surprised with D'A medium 80/20s and D'A EJ17s, I do get bored of D'Addarios after a while. But I always return to them...
 

donnylang

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What about the DR Rare's Donny? You like those at all? They are pretty affordable, I always consider getting a set, giving them a whirl...

I do admit, while I been pleasantly surprised with D'A medium 80/20s and D'A EJ17s, I do get bored of D'Addarios after a while. But I always return to them...

I use Daddarios as my “control” string when I’m comparing because they are sort of like the plain standard ha.

I like Rares and Sunbeams as far as Phosphor Bronze goes yes … but I prefer 80/20, particularly since PB didn’t exist when most of the guitars I play were made. I also feel like PB has greater tension and they don’t sound quite as deep to me.
 

wileypickett

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The DRs do sound good -- I learned about 'em here on LTG.

I mainly fall back on my favorite for a couple decades -- namely D'Addario EJ17s -- but I enjoy swapping 'em out for DRs (yep, mainly Rares and Sunbeams) every now and then just for a slightly different sound. Not necessarily better, just different.
 

mclkar54

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Hello Wood,

The DR name comes from the last names of the two persons who founded the company: Mark Dronge and Benzion Rapoport.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
Thanks for the clarification.It is most appreciated.As for strings, ive had daddarios , elixirs, ghs, and dr and martin retro monels ,all on my 4 guilds.Honestly ,To me ,The DR sunbeam lights or mediums get the best out of my guilds.With the exception of my f412, which seems better atuned with Martin retro monel 10-47,s.Just my opinion.And thanks again for the dr string history.
 

adorshki

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Over the decades it seems to me that the D'Addario connection to Guild was stronger than the DR connection. In addition to D'Addario being a supplier of strings I'm pretty sure they made the strings that were sold under the Guild brand. Remember that Mark Dronge never owned Guild.

I suspect if it were important to either company they could come to an agreement, so I am willing to see the absence of an agreement as saying it's not important.

My sample is meaningless but I recall more complaints about using DRs than D'Addario's so if that is true using DRs could be a risk for the Guild brand.
Guild was first company to ship guitars with D'A's phosphor bronze alloy as factory installed. Somebody there thought it was a "best match".

Also given DR's price premium (maybe due to the "hand wound" labor expense?) it wouldn't surprise me at all if a cost point simply couldn't be met by them, even at volume when they were even able to supply.

Let's face it, Guild was a business and cost is usually very high on the list of reasons for using a given component over another.

And yes I also recall several reports of DR sets with "dud" strings a few years back, but not recently or from guys like Donny who might be using a lot of 'em, so possibly it was a limited time issue?
 

Westerly Wood

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Woody, remember it's an honor to get Hans'd!
walrus
Jeff, if you’ve never been Hans’d, you’ve never really lived.

Of course I also been Ralf’d, Frono’d and Al’d often over time too, and been the better for it.

Oh, and Gad’d but that just doesn’t read well. 😂
 

Westerly Wood

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Well, gonna get a couple sets of DRs then after all that. .12-.54 for Br and .13-.56 for the 30, Rares. I tried sunbeams a while back and didn’t like them. Good to hear about Hi-beams too, will keep them in the scope. (Stringhunter, the movie reference here).
 

Tom O

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I have medium DR Dragon skins on my GAD-50pce. Sound great alternate tunings and seem to last a while.
 

donnylang

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RE: duds- I actually did get a pack recently that had some kind of rust or discoloration right out of the box … however the strings still sound great. I also bought from a shop in New Orleans, so could have been stored poorly in humidity? or old (they were something like $6 a set, so I assumed they were old but who knows).

There may be some inconsistency due to the human element. But one thing they are consistent with to me is their more lively and musical sound.

I tried just about every string on my old ‘67 D44, and that guitar was so picky about strings. When I put on DR Hi-Beams, I was like YES FINALLY! It was very noticeably better.
 

adorshki

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Well, gonna get a couple sets of DRs then after all that. .12-.54 for Br and .13-.56 for the 30, Rares. I tried sunbeams a while back and didn’t like them. Good to hear about Hi-beams too, will keep them in the scope. (Stringhunter, the movie reference here).
Actually been thinkin' about giving 80/20 a try on again on the '25, maybe the Martins just aren't as good as some others.

BTW, "If you've never been Hans'd you're not trying hard enough". Can't decide whether to add that to my sig or not. :D
 

Westerly Wood

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Actually been thinkin' about giving 80/20 a try on again on the '25, maybe the Martins just aren't as good as some others.

BTW, "If you've never been Hans'd you're not trying hard enough". Can't decide whether to add that to my sig or not. :D
D’A EJ11s are terrible strings. I suggest steering clear of those. John Pearse 80/20s are good, very bright and do mellow out eventually. I think I will try hi beams (DR 80/20). Martins are ok, they just go dead fast. But I bet you find your way back to EJ16s. 😀
 
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