String musings

[patchmcg]

A thread on the Ovation Fan Club about Elixirs prompted this response from me. It made me wonder about others' thoughts regarding string preferences and the reasons behind the preference. Here's why I use what I use, and I'd be curious about your rationales of choice.

My turn to be different.

• A. I prefer the polywebs to the nanos.
  B. I also like D'Ads.
  C. I like to use different guages.

After playing my instruments for a while now , I've discovered that I prefer the sound of different strings on different guitars. It can actually get obsessively complicated, but I like what I hear. For example:

• 1. I put Medium Polywebs on my 97 Collector's. It adds volume to a guitar I primarily finger-pick in open tunings. They have a very mellow tone that seems to "fit" the aesthetics of a guitar that reminds me of instruments built in the 1800s. Even so, I have a set of silk-and-steel Martins waiting for the next string change courtesy of some previous comments on this forum.
  2. I put light polywebs on my 2001 Collector's. They give the guitar an almost baritone-like resonance when finger-picked or strummed. They also serve to further differentiate its tone from the rest of my collection. This guitar is a real standout from my others soundwise, and sometimes I just want to here that particular sound.
  3. It's medium phosphour-bronzes for the Ute. maybe it's the textured top, but the brassiness of this combination and the resulting sustain (It's nearless endless!) put this one in a category by itself. And again, at times, it's exactly what I feel like listening to.
  4. Light D'Ads go on the 87 Collector's and the 1537. For those times when you need to blow a sonic whole through the mix (or the wall).
  5. Light polywebs for the 2002 Collector's. I really like the subdued, yet confident tone evoked by this combo.
  6. I keep one 12-string strung with light polywebs to keep it from getting too bright.
  7. I put Martin light silk-and-steels on the other 12 for a very warm, folksy tone that really suits certain songs.

I haven't exactly settled on strings for my others yet. But I'm working on it, if you get my drift.

All in all, I consider strings another way of broadening my tonal pallet. I feel you can really zero in on the exact quality your looking for from one piece of music to another.

So how's that for "too much information"?

[guitarget]

After years of Elixirs, I'm going to try a set of my old favorites, Earthwood, the next time my Rainsong JM1000 needs a string change. Just to see how it sounds without the string coating - and how long they last, being ten miles from the Atlantic Ocean.