John Pearse "Bluegrass" strings for me. Out of all that I have tried, especially on my favorite guitar, I believe that the combination of these particular strings, a nice tortoise shell pick, and my Adirondack/EIR Collings dread give me the best sound I have personally ever been able to produce on a guitar. YMMV.
I hear --- a complex resonance when playing with the fingers, along with a relaxed feel of balanced resistance against either hand -- bending is comfortable, and occasionally, restraint is necessary to keep notes from becoming sharp, but that is almost entirely due to operator error. Keeping the touch light in the fretting hand creates the best tonality, regardless of how lightly (or sharply) the fingers (or pick) may strike.
With a moderately thick pick and a favored bevel, the level of depth and projection in the sound has to be heard to be truly experienced. Or experienced to be truly heard; pick your poison.
There are
lots of dynamic levels available with these strings, and the reason for this, (I like to speculate, even at the risk of being exposed as being mistaken on the 'Net
) is because the level of tension against the bridge and the top, at what is basically the factory action level, I "feel" to be pert near optimal.
Other strings, in comparison, mostly leave me wanting. I have used different brands/alloys that held my attention in the past, such as nickel strings for a few weeks in the winter every year, and there are some that I consider very acceptable for occasional use; to diverge from the norm just for the heck of it (D'addario strings come to mind as being pretty darned good, and Newtone Double-Wound are very interesting) -- but the JP strings have a wonderful take on the different colors I can find in the trebles; a shadow of rock and roll electrical grit in the solidly defined mids, and a woody bottom end, with definite echos of the reverb you might encounter in a D-42 with a few years on it - say, 50-60 percent.
You can get richly lyrical (even in higher registers) and then have a change of heart, and start rockin' out, with a few chicken-pickin', country thumpin', bluegrass runs. (If you can picture that, we might be kin.) Course, you may not want any of that, and if not, I respect your decision, but take my word for it; it makes people jump around while eating burgers at the truck stop. I saw it myself.
Finally, the strings are no slouch when strumming, give it a thumb nail or a pick, and you get note definition with no discernible mud, with plenty of power in the punch. Turn the pick for extra bottom end, or angle back for rock-a-billy, and you know you're home. Lay in deep with a complex finger pattern, dig in with the slight edge of buzz for sizzle, and watch heads turn at the surprising sweetness and warm, round clarity of the voice, like a baritone singer with a richly expressive higher range.
Okay, I'm done slopping it on.
Give 'em a go, you might be pleasantly surprised ... it'll be educational, at the least.
... JT