Question to all Thomastik-Infeld Plectrum users

[Jim in TC]

I tried the Plectrums on my Emerald X7 and liked them first thing and in fact found them to be the most "different" (in a very good way) than any other string I have tried. I worried, too, about how they would hold up given their price, and found them to be, for me, about the same as most sets I have used (less than Elixir, which I don't like much but don't get any worse for a long time, more or similar to some "conventional" strings of various types), failing to satisfy at about 3 months of modest play.

I have LaBella's on now, and they are OK but not close, for me, to Plectrums so back to them next change.

[nomey]

I just got 3 new packs of plectrum 12s and changed my very old ones on my WWII gibson l50, the strings were so old that the green wraps were disintegrating.

Honestly I dont know how I kept them on so long a new pair sounds amazing right out of the gate. I dont get any of that annoying jangly bright mess of a sound that I find with regular phos or 80/20 strings. To me that's a huge bonus.

It means before a big gig or tour you can slap a new pair on and trust it to sound good straight away. I tend to leave strings on a long time and part of that is trying to avoid the new string sound so this is a huge win.

[Dlw19]

I have found both TI plectrum and spectrum strings to have a long life. I like both very much. Plectrum were my number one for awhile until spectrum and then DR Rare took the top spot. I plan on trying another set of the Plectrum sometime in the near future to see if my preference has changed yet again. The whole process is a lot of fun.

[rmoretti49]

While several of my guitars wear one or another of the low tension brands, the TI Plectrums are on my couch guitar. I reach for that guitar when I am working on something new, or just exploring, and don't want string tension to be a distraction. That couch guitar is a relatively inexpensive Recording King, and the strings improve its tone as well as being easy to play. And yes, my experience is that they last a long time, which mitigates the initial cost concerns.

[dadio917]

i use plectrums on my carbon fiber. Mellows it out really well. I've found them too mellow for my taste on my wood guitars. Having said that i might try them on my newly acquired SJ. Although its sound pretty good with GHS PBs at the moment.

[nomey]

Just reporting back after trying some newtone heritage 13-55's as a replacement to plectrum 12-59's.

Quite a different feel and sound on my 24.75 L-50. The heritage strings are much springier but have quite a pleasant bounce back when cross picking which make them quite a bit easier to play for me.

The sound on the heritage strings was definitely a downgrade upon first impression. Plectrums tend to sound good right out of the box to my ear but after a bit of mellowing out I really like the heritage strings on this old gibson. Maybe it's the light WW2 build in the body or something else but there's a lot of air back in the sound with the heritage strings on that was missing with plectrums.

So to sum it all up:

Plectrums 12-59's:

PROS

- Very good bottom end makes an archtop sound bigger than it is and makes up for the mid dominance

- Lovely mellow full sound with not a whole lot of string noise. The brass winding is very soft.

- Sounds good right out of the box

CONS

- The sound is a bit "compressed" out of my archtop with the plectrums. Maybe they are too heavy in the low end for this instrument, im not sure, but there's a definite feeling of compression in the ears when I'm listening to it. It's not a bad sound at all, very full and warm but definitely lacks some dynamics and can start to create a bit of ear fatigue after a while.

- The 12-59's can be quite hard on the fingers. The strings (especially the G) feel very tight. They don't bounce back consistently enough string to string to feel comfortable all the time cross picking.

Newtone Heritage

PROS

- Lovely airy dynamic sound with an incredibly even volume across all strings. A lot of dynamics possible in volume depending on how you play. This is probably due to the even tension. By comparison plectrums go from 30 -> 22 ish lbs. Quite a big range there.

- Very easy on the fingers and the strings have a consistent and pleasant bounce back against pick strokes. The consistency is notable and probably also due to the even string tension. My picking speed on the heritage strings is much faster and more reliable.


CONS

- Lacks a little in the low end.
- Lacks a little in overall volume compared to the plectrums.
- Lacks some body/fullness
- Doesn't sound great right out of the box. Takes a few days to settle in.

Huge thank you to the person in this thread who tipped me onto Newtone Heritage strings and especially ordering them from their site. Shipping took a while but the experiment was worth it in the end!

[Brucebubs]

You might want to put some low tension round-core GHS Thin Core Mediums on your list.

[nomey]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

You might want to put some low tension round-core GHS Thin Core Mediums on your list.

I was just looking at some of those tonight! I have been browsing strings by mail and they looked interesting. I wanted to find some medium low tensions but I think the heritage 14-60's might be a bit much for me. Will put the GHS ones on the list.

Do you know of any similar strings that come in 80/20 or nickel? Seems like almost all the low tension ones I find are PB.

[colins]

Glad you liked the Heritage and I think your summary of the relative strengths of each string is great. I do prefer the price of the Newtones though!

I agree with Bruce too, the GHS Thin Cores are very interesting low tension strings too, and well worth an “experiment” at some stage.

[bobster7]

Try the double wound they are superb strings significantly better than the heritage IMO and comparable quality to Thomastik.

[rmoretti49]

The TI Plectrums last a very long time for me. Several months, at least.

[nomey]

Originally Posted by bobster7

Try the double wound they are superb strings significantly better than the heritage IMO and comparable quality to Thomastik.

Is that the newtone archtop nickel strings? Or the PB Masterclass double wounds?

[Brucebubs]

Here's the GHS String Tension guide - http://www.ghsrep.net/uploads/2/2/2/...ar-tension.pdf

Really interesting to see the Thin Core round-core low tension .013 Medium PB's are rated at 166.6

Compared to their regular hex-core .013 Medium PB's at 194.0

[nomey]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Here's the GHS String Tension guide - http://www.ghsrep.net/uploads/2/2/2/...ar-tension.pdf

Really interesting to see the Thin Core round-core low tension .013 Medium PB's are rated at 166.6

Compared to their regular hex-core .013 Medium PB's at 194.0

Yeah, definitely going to try some of those at some point. I'm also contacting newtone to see if they have any similar tension/gauge strings in nickel

[colins]

Originally Posted by nomey

Is that the newtone archtop nickel strings? Or the PB Masterclass double wounds?

I agree with bobster7, the PB Masterclass double wound are fantastic strings. They seem to add an extra dimension to the guitar I use them on. Referencing the context of this thread, they are not low tension like TI Plectrums, Newtone Heritage or GHS Thin Core. But definitely worth a try.