Monel strings

[DesertTwang]

Martin announced they'd be making these again. I had never heard about those strings. What's special about them?

[taylor96]

Never heard of them either...??

[Misty44]

From the Martin NAMM Press Release:

Also on display at NAMM will be the company's brand new line of Tony Rice Signature Strings made with Monel. The sound engineers at Martin Guitar worked hand-in-hand with Legendary Bluegrass artist, Tony Rice, to bring back to life his favorite sound - Martin Monel Strings. Tony played Martin Monels loyally on Clarence White's 1935 D28 until they became unavailable and he has been missing them ever since. When the new formula was perfected, Tony said his old D28 sounded just like it did in the sixties - just like it should. Tony's favorite thing about Martin Monels is that they don't change the timbre of the instrument. The compound, nickel-based alloy mellows very quickly to allow the natural, woody sounds of the guitar to pour from the sound hole, unaltered, from the very first strum.

Tony used to use the nickel-plated D’Aquisto Tony Rice Signature Series strings - now discontinued - because he preferred them to the “bright ringy sound” of bronze or brass strings. Sam Bush has a signature Monel set for mandolin, and the alloy has been used by bass players for decades.

[Nomadic One]

I believe Monel is an alloy of copper and nickel.

[kydave]

Old Gibson string. Still in use on the Sam Bush mando strings, which I use.





I had never associated them with Martin before, however.

[kydave]

From Wiki:

Monel is a trademark of Special Metals Corporation for a series of nickel alloys, primarily composed of nickel (up to 67%) and copper, with some iron and other trace elements. Monel was created by David H. Browne, chief metallurgist for International Nickel Co. Monel alloy 400 is binary alloy of the same proportions of nickel and copper as is found naturally in the nickel ore from the Sudbury (Ontario) mines. Monel was named after company president Ambrose Monell, and patented in 1906.[2] One L was dropped, because family names were not allowed as trademarks at that time.

...

Musical instruments
Monel is used as the material for valve pistons in some higher quality musical instruments such as trumpets, tubas and French horn rotors. RotoSound introduced the use of Monel for electric bass strings in 1962, and these strings have been used by numerous artists, including Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, The Who, Sting, John Deacon, and John Paul Jones. Monel was in use in the early 1930s by other musical string manufacturers, such as Gibson Guitar Corporation, who continue to offer them for mandolin as the Sam Bush signature set.

[zabdart]

Basically, it's a nickel wrap-wire instead of your usual brass or bronze. It results in a more mellow tone, especially in the bass frequencies. Brass and bronze strings started appearing on the market in the mid-60's and early 70's respectively. Their primary advantage was they gave you an extra week's wear over their "monel" or "mona-steel" equivalents. They also gave off a brighter sound.
It's all up to you. It's worth trying for a set of strings or two. Then see what you like.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Misty44

From the Martin NAMM Press Release:

... Tony's favorite thing about Martin Monels is that they don't change the timbre of the instrument...

[DesertTwang]

Originally Posted by mc1

haha, that was exactly my reaction! as if the strings weren't part of the instrument!

[PTC Bernie]

Monel is a very popular alloy for use in valves, piping and instrumentation in very corrosive liquids. Similar to Hastelloy.

It's also very hard and difficult to machine. As far as its suitability for use in strings, it seems an odd choice.

[kdn]

i remember when i was first learning to play, the music shop i was taking
lessons at had advertising posters about gibsons monel strings.
i remember asking about them & pretty much decided that they were too
expensive for me...i couldent have been quite 10 at the time
the monel name just brought up a memory or 2

[Wade Hampton]

When I first started playing the guitar in the mid-1970's, there were a lot of old coots (guys the age I am now) who used Gibson Monel strings on their guitars. Martin may well have made Monel strings back then, too, but I never saw any in music stores or heard anyone state a preference for them, whereas the guys who favored Gibson Monel strings definitely made it known.

At some point Gibson stopped making Monel strings for guitar, but there's always been a steady demand for mandolin strings in that alloy - those are what Bill Monroe used, and there are a great many bluegrassers who use them as a result.

The friends of mine who use Monel strings on their mandolins feel that they give their instruments a more balanced sound.

I'm not a fan of Monel strings on any of the instruments I play, but more power to those who like them. Having tried them once on one of my guitars back during the Gerald Ford administration, for a good twenty or thirty minutes before taking them off and hurling them into the kitchen trash can with vehement declarations of disgust and dismay, I think it's pretty safe to assume that I am NOT a Monel guitar string guy, nor am I ever likely to become one.

But different strokes for different folks, and it's nice to see that Martin is making them commercially available once again.

Try them - maybe you'll like them.


Wade Hampton Miller

[kydave]

Yeah, I tried the D’Aquisto TR strings on a couple guitars just to see... Not my cup of tea.

[fatt-dad]

funny, I was just wondering if you could get monel strings for a guitar. I just got the Bush set for my mandolin today in the mail. Haven't used them in about 4 or 5 years.

Something different (and good, if I recall correctly).

f-d

[Bern]

Originally Posted by Nomadic One

I believe Monel is an alloy of copper and nickel.

...and it's a ***** to work with.