sitka_spruce
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This is a review of the John Pearse Phosphor Bronze Light (henceforth abrieviated as JP) and the Dean Markley BlueSteel Light (cryogenic phosphor bronze) (abrieviated as DMS).
Testbed for carrying out this review upon was my Willy Porter Signature. I will try and maintain objectivity through-out the test and any personal preference will be clearly stated.
I choose these two strings for this review of two different reasons; the JP for its status as more or less a 'reference string' with a versatile and neutral sound with a broad response, the off-beat DMS for its clean and dynamic properties - that by the way don't go well with most makes of guitars in my experience. For instance take my word and never string a Gibson with these as you'll find they won't drive the top in frequencies below the higher mids.
John Pearse Phosphor Bronze Light:
The JP PB Lt could be said to be a reference string in many ways. It's detailed without being excessively bright or dark, but rather linear and with a slightly delicate top end. It has a broad response, much like JP himself describes it, and has a great deal of character. It has a nice zing in the upper mids, though not overpowering like the 80/20 variety might do on maple.
It will pretty much produce the tone the instrument manufacturer/ maker had in mind when the instrument was designed, without colouring the tone much or over-pronouncing or under-pronouncing any particular frequency band. This of course said with the natural limitations of any string in mind. "Limitations" may sound as a negative to you, but why else do we like vinyl records and alnico magnets in pickups and speakers so much?
Listening more closely one could say the mids are reproduced as a bit of a plateu on the Guild and the drop in the high end occurs rather abruptly which makes me wish for a smidget more to happen there. Although providing me with lots of detail and character the woody flavour of the JP can take on a slightly fuzzy attitude - but then the Guild Contemporaries does have an indistinct tonality about them (could be the UST adding to this too)
Dean Markley BlueSteel Light:
It's with some hesitation I string this instrument with these strings. I remember what they did to my Gibson J-100 Xtra, that luckily now is history, a one inch wider instrument of essentially the same tonewoods. All definition and absolutely no body what so ever was what I got. With one string replaced I knew my worries were unfounded, though, and I thank my lucky star Guild appears to have amongst the highest resonant tops out there.
The DMS sound big, powerfull, 3D and a touch dark - this played at moderate levels. They're also quite touch-sensitive and may start to sympathetically resonate if not dampened manually. Digging into the strings (just beware you don't break them!) you unbridle the true nature of these strings. The body grows into a very complex affair and the trebles assume a more crystaline thing, without sounding piercing. It's like they were made to play loud.
Somebody on this forum once compared Guild to a grand piano. I wasn't ready to go quite that far but these strings certainly make my mind ramble in the direction of a Steinway and Sons with the sustain pedal down. They're like an invite to playing acoustic blues and rock but their soulfullness lends itself to ballads and more emotionally envolving pieces too.
Where the JP had a plateu in the mids the DMS has more of a rounded hump, but then the DMS extends further into the highs and a grain more bass. The EQ signature has a smooth glassyness about it, whilst still having more character than e.g. the JP. I can't make this work out for me as the two ough to be eachother's opposites.
Conclusion:
The JP is a middle-of-the-road string EQ-wise that will do most styles and genres and will put out what you expect of it under any circumstance. It's therefore a safe choice most days of the week. The sound of it is as vintage as phosphor bronze can be and I'm not surprised about the raving popularity this string has got.
The DMS comparatively is a soulfull, far louder and more expressive string that's gagging to be played hard - as long as it's on a Guild or a Larrivee or similar. With other brands it can sound as if you were playing an unamplified electric. Not so here, infact I'm sure a Guild with these can overvoice more well known and fancier brands in terms of volume easily, so keep your hearing-protection handy.
Testbed for carrying out this review upon was my Willy Porter Signature. I will try and maintain objectivity through-out the test and any personal preference will be clearly stated.
I choose these two strings for this review of two different reasons; the JP for its status as more or less a 'reference string' with a versatile and neutral sound with a broad response, the off-beat DMS for its clean and dynamic properties - that by the way don't go well with most makes of guitars in my experience. For instance take my word and never string a Gibson with these as you'll find they won't drive the top in frequencies below the higher mids.
John Pearse Phosphor Bronze Light:
The JP PB Lt could be said to be a reference string in many ways. It's detailed without being excessively bright or dark, but rather linear and with a slightly delicate top end. It has a broad response, much like JP himself describes it, and has a great deal of character. It has a nice zing in the upper mids, though not overpowering like the 80/20 variety might do on maple.
It will pretty much produce the tone the instrument manufacturer/ maker had in mind when the instrument was designed, without colouring the tone much or over-pronouncing or under-pronouncing any particular frequency band. This of course said with the natural limitations of any string in mind. "Limitations" may sound as a negative to you, but why else do we like vinyl records and alnico magnets in pickups and speakers so much?
Listening more closely one could say the mids are reproduced as a bit of a plateu on the Guild and the drop in the high end occurs rather abruptly which makes me wish for a smidget more to happen there. Although providing me with lots of detail and character the woody flavour of the JP can take on a slightly fuzzy attitude - but then the Guild Contemporaries does have an indistinct tonality about them (could be the UST adding to this too)
Dean Markley BlueSteel Light:
It's with some hesitation I string this instrument with these strings. I remember what they did to my Gibson J-100 Xtra, that luckily now is history, a one inch wider instrument of essentially the same tonewoods. All definition and absolutely no body what so ever was what I got. With one string replaced I knew my worries were unfounded, though, and I thank my lucky star Guild appears to have amongst the highest resonant tops out there.
The DMS sound big, powerfull, 3D and a touch dark - this played at moderate levels. They're also quite touch-sensitive and may start to sympathetically resonate if not dampened manually. Digging into the strings (just beware you don't break them!) you unbridle the true nature of these strings. The body grows into a very complex affair and the trebles assume a more crystaline thing, without sounding piercing. It's like they were made to play loud.
Somebody on this forum once compared Guild to a grand piano. I wasn't ready to go quite that far but these strings certainly make my mind ramble in the direction of a Steinway and Sons with the sustain pedal down. They're like an invite to playing acoustic blues and rock but their soulfullness lends itself to ballads and more emotionally envolving pieces too.
Where the JP had a plateu in the mids the DMS has more of a rounded hump, but then the DMS extends further into the highs and a grain more bass. The EQ signature has a smooth glassyness about it, whilst still having more character than e.g. the JP. I can't make this work out for me as the two ough to be eachother's opposites.
Conclusion:
The JP is a middle-of-the-road string EQ-wise that will do most styles and genres and will put out what you expect of it under any circumstance. It's therefore a safe choice most days of the week. The sound of it is as vintage as phosphor bronze can be and I'm not surprised about the raving popularity this string has got.
The DMS comparatively is a soulfull, far louder and more expressive string that's gagging to be played hard - as long as it's on a Guild or a Larrivee or similar. With other brands it can sound as if you were playing an unamplified electric. Not so here, infact I'm sure a Guild with these can overvoice more well known and fancier brands in terms of volume easily, so keep your hearing-protection handy.