Metalic overtones on Martin unwound strings

[ballynally]

I was playing a friend's 000 the other day which had Martin strings. The high E and B strings had these overtones i strongly dislike. An extra annoying zing to my ears. On close inspection they are a darker colour. Brass, copper?

[Robin, Wales]

I would think that it is more likely to be the bridge setup on that particular guitar giving that timbre rather than the string plating on the plain strings.

[sinistral]

If the unwound strings are a darker color, that sounds (no pun intended) like they’re old and/or oxidized, which will affect their tone.

[Italuke]

Yes either very old strings or the saddle and/or frets need attention.

[Mr. Bill]

If this occurs mostly when the strings are played open(unfretted),it can be a nut that is cut too low. I just experienced this in a brand new guitar.

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by sinistral

If the unwound strings are a darker color, that sounds (no pun intended) like they’re old and/or oxidized, which will affect their tone.

Originally Posted by Italuke

Yes either very old strings or the saddle and/or frets need attention.

Or they are an older set of Martin strings which had gold-coloured unwound strings - I forget the name of that line of strings but it was the predecessor of the ‘Authentic’ range.

I would suspect a rough spot at the nut or saddle, or perhaps the nut-slots for those two strings are cut a little low and the strings are fretting-out on the low frets.

[cliff_the_stiff]

Originally Posted by Italuke

Yes either very old strings or the saddle and/or frets need attention.

…or the nut.
My bet is that it’s not the strings, could be a an ill fitting nut groove. Could be just about anything related to a setup.
Fret grooves will cause this too.
So, does it make the noise when playing open strings and does it go away when you fret? That could be an indication that it’s the nut groove.
If you hear it only when fretting certain notes, look at the frets for grooves.
How is the action etc.

personally, there are a few things that i don’t touch on my guitars yet, and the nut is one of those.
unfortunately, i little bit of all the problems could be contributing so fixing one, might not fix the sound

[Osage]

Martin strings use Mapes wire, like pretty much everyone else in the industry. There really shouldn't be any difference in tone between a Martin plain string and most other manufacturers plain strings. It's possible that the strings are old or are Chinese knock-offs but more likely it's the guitar.

[lotis]

The older martin strings...MSP 4100 lights (12,s) have brass looking unwound strings. I love them. Have never noticed the condition the op mentions. Been using them for years and stockpiled a ton of them when they were discontinued.

[TBman]

I had that tone with a set of GHS Thin core on my Furch, but I've used them on my Avalon without the same thing happening. I think sometimes you just get a string or two that are "off."

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by ballynally

I was playing a friend's 000 the other day which had Martin strings. The high E and B strings had these overtones i strongly dislike. An extra annoying zing to my ears. On close inspection they are a darker colour. Brass, copper?

Hi ballynally…

Could be where you were picking/plucking (directly over the soundhole or closer to the bridge), weight of a pick, the height of the action, the room you were playing in, or the weight of the strings.

Too many variables to diagnose in a thread like this.