String choice

[Stratboy]

Interested in opinions on Martin Retro strings, I used Elixirs for a long time, moved into Martin SP and recently changed to Martin Retro. To my ears they sound a lot different to the previous. On my 79 D25 they have substantially changed the sound,reducing the bass, raising the upper mids, and sweetening the highs. They also seem to much more evenly balanced. In short it has changed a good sounding guitar to a great one.

In contrast I put a set on a 92 Lowden 010 which changed an already bright guitar to an overbright one. Is this typical of Retros? I appreciate that certain strings will suit some guitars better than others, but glad to hear any opinions, especially advice on warming up a bright guitar.

Tom

 

[Westerly Wood]

Retros need a good 3 days to settle. Then they start to sound better, imho.

and from my experience with them, the mediums sound far better than lights.

I still find broken in 80/20 alloy to be a great sounding string. But retros are a good string, however not on every guitar.

remember, “bringing out the true sound of your acoustic “ is mostly marketing.

 

[geoguy]

No experience with the Martin Retro strings, but I would probably try phosphor bronze or silk & steel strings, depending upon how much I wanted to "warm up" the sound.

 

[Br1ck]

My problem is almost any new string sounds better than the far beyond life strings they replace.

 

[GGJaguar]

Retros sound great on my mahogany dreads. I don't like the way they sound with rosewood.

 

[Stratboy]

Retros sound great on my mahogany dreads. I don't like the way they sound with rosewood.

Funny you should say that, I put a set of Retros on a Breedlove rosewood dread, and thought it sounded a bit dull

 

[donnylang]

Overall, my general opinion is the Retros sound a bit like a cross between electric and acoustic strings. Whether that is good or bad depends on the guitar and your perception.

After a trying a number of different strings on a variety of vintage Guilds, my overall favorites are DR Hi-Beams and Sunbeams. To me, these strings have the most vibe and magic and sound “right”.

 

[wileypickett]

I'm mainly a D'Addario guy, but thanks to someone here recommending the DR Hi-Beams and Sunbeams a couple years ago (was it you, Donny?!), I purchased a few sets.

I quite like them! They haven't replaced my D'Addarios, but I enjoy switching back and forth.

 

[Coop47]

Retros need a good 3 days to settle. Then they start to sound better, imho.

Retros sound great on my mahogany dreads. I don't like the way they sound with rosewood.

That's been my experience as well.

 

[curbucci]

I seem to always go back to the tried and true EJ16's. I've tried the monel alloy on my current guitar and others I've owned and did not like them. Longest I kept them on was around a month and half and still nothing for me. Last alloy I had on before switching back to EJ16's was the nickel bronze which were good but I did miss the strong mids and more bass I got out of the pb's.

 

[dreadnut]

These are my go-to strings now: EJ19's. Great for fingerpicking, which is what I do most.

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[donnylang]

Main reason I hate D’Addario is I’m color blind, and they wrap the strings all together with the color-coded ends. Was a nightmare in my 12-string days!

 

[Stratboy]

No experience with the Martin Retro strings, but I would probably try phosphor bronze or silk & steel strings, depending upon how much I wanted to "warm up" the sound.

Just bought a couple of sets of Martin Silk and phosphor, I will try those. Thanks for the info.

 

[Stratboy]

Anyone tried Tetris on an F50 (maple)?

 

[Stratboy]

I meant Retro's, damned predictive text!

 

[Coop47]

Anyone tried Tetris on an F50 (maple)?

I meant Retro's, damned predictive text!

I did on a JF-30 (which I think is similar enough to a maple F50). I wasn't crazy about them. I had better results with EJ19s to get a little more bass.