your favourite strings on a spruce and maple (mini) jumbo

[RJVB]

After trying all kinds of strings for about a month now I'm beginning to get an idea what strings I like on my new Seagull Performer mini jumbo (spruce & maple). I'm still waiting for my order from Newtone but the current hitparade looks something like

Tonally:
1) Martin Retro
2) GHS Silk & Bronze with an 80/20 silk-and-steel low E (from Ernie Ball)
3) Martin MEC12 "Clapton signature"
4) Martin MA540FX "Tommy's choice"
5) GHS Phosphor-Bronze thin-core

Playability:
I) GHS Thin-Core
II) the silk-and-metal strings from 2) above
III) the rest (I notice no difference between Martin's flex-core and regular-core strings in this department).

NB: since the plain wire strings are in principle all (nearly) identical I stopped changing them at some point; the B (15 gauge) I have on must be from the Martin Retro set, the high E (12 gauge) from the MA540FX set (who knows, maybe that one *is* different).

I had thought I would be drawn to brass-wounds on this guitar but in fact find it too "braissterous", even the 85/15 strings I tried. The Martin PB strings above all give a sound that's too wooly to my taste. In fact, if the GHS Thin Cores (5) were less metallic-sounding they'd have ended up in 3rd position - I did have a lot of fun with them.

The Newtone strings I'm waiting for include PB, brass and monel-wound Masterclass strings that are all identical instead for the winding allow, which should allow some further (side-by-side) experimentation, and the Masterclass double-wounds. I'm very curious about those, and managed to order a custom brass wound version of the low E. Sadly they don't stock the monel wire to make a full monel double-wound set.
There should also be an 11.5 gauge high E which I hope will combine a fuller tone like the 12 with a better playability like the 11 gauge.

Other strings I might sample at some point are d'Addario's nickel-bronze, and the GHS aluminium-bronze and white-bronze sets, but I've read nor heard anything about/from them that made me curious enough to shell out some more cash for them.

There are numberous positive posts about the guitar on this forum (one reason I chose it) so I guess the must be a few other owners who might want to say something about the strings they prefer on it? Idem for those owning a jumbo in the same woods from one of the other brands that make them?

[JERZEY]

Dont forget to check out the John Pearse strings and the Santa Cruz Parabolic mediums.

[RJVB]

Which JP strings (from the brand, or do you mean the JP-branded strings made by THomastik?)

As to Santa Cruz - I've never understood what makes them so supposedly special. "Parabolic medium" sounds like something I won't believe in ... and parabolic the form of the ballistic curve I might send them on

Anyway, I'm hoping to get some "I'm using these, because" kind of feedback. Not necessarily to win me over, but out of curiosity. That's why I'm asking only now.

[RJVB]

Ultimately I went to the Earthwood Silk & Steel (brass) in the 11-52 variety (I think they call that "soft"), but with an 11.5 or 12 E1 to make it a bit less jangly. They have a very nice sound when I manage to get a proper recording of myself and listen to that, or when I strum the guitar. Listening to myself while fingerpicking I still prefer them over any other strings I've tried but the guitar sounds very quiet compared to my nylon-stringer (see my sig), and she'll buzz (too) easily when I dig in to get more sound. That's either an action issue (which is already quite high), or simply the string buzzing under my LH finger.

I've been playing less during summer holidays, and mostly that nylon stringer, plus a bit on a smallish old German acoustic archtop strung with the softest Martin Silk & Steel I could find. ... When I picked up the jumbo for a change I really felt I was fighting the string tension but in the RH to get a decent volume and in the LH to keep the string stopped without it buzzing under my fingers. Or to get bends.
The Earthwoods are up to 50% more expensive here than in the US but I saw that Martin also sells Silk & Brass strings which are cheaper, so I ordered a set of those in extra-light. Against better judgement I'm hoping for a revelation ...

[Bushleague]

I have a S&P "Naural elements" MJ, its got a brash voice that can get a bit jangly if I dont show some restraint with my strumming hand. Sounds kind of like what you are describing.

Personally, I've found the strings dont really seem to affect its voice a whole ton compared to other guitars I own. To me it also doesnt seem to lose a huge amount of tone when the strings get a bit aged either, so my preffered strings have come to be regular PB Earny Ball Earthwood .011's, let them break in and go dark a bit and it tames the jangle nicely. To me it does seem like the .11's sound a bit more mellow that heavyer strings on that guitar.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by RJVB

Which JP strings (from the brand, or do you mean the JP-branded strings made by THomastik?)

RJVB, I can’t speak for Jerzey, but the John Pearse strings that I used on my maple Guild jumbo were the Pearse Pure Nickel. I started out with Pearse phosphor bronze on that guitar, but once I tried the Pure Nickel that was it: they were a better fit all around.

The Thomastik-made Folksinger strings you alluded to are much less appropriate in this application. Those are nylon strings with a single steel high E string and won’t generate enough tension to properly drive the top of your Seagull.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[RJVB]

When I say jangly I'm thinking in particular about the sound you can get from the open plain strings for instance when playing them as a kind of drone. The sharp sound of a thin metal wire; a 12" E1 does this a lot less than a 10" for instance. When fingerpicking with flesh; I don't doubt that with a pick you can still get it if you strum strongly enough (where lower gauge strings wouldn't follow anymore?).

Wade: I haven't tried the entire Thomastik JP set but I have tried other wound nylon strings on the MJ, of a more traditional design, and the B and E1 also used in that JP set (metal wire core wound with nylon tape). You lose some power indeed, but surprisingly little - someone playing through an amp would just increase the gain a little bit. In fact, I've just strung another acoustic guitar (an old German-built archtop from the 1st half of the 20th C with what looks like a rather thin pressed laminate top) with those same wound strings, and it gives me the same impression I had when they were on the MJ: it's as if the guitar sounds louder when I'm playing it.

(I'm talking about the bass strings of the d'Addario Folk EJ33 set, which is definitely intended for use on acoustic guitars; pretty good strings!)

Edit: re: nickel: haven't tried yet, unless you count Monel (IIRC the main component is nickel). I tried both the Martin Retros and the Newtone Masterclass Monels and in the end I was disappointed enough in the sound that playability became an issue. They sound different, nicely warm but ultimately they lack depth for me. I'll try them again if someone decides to make a Silk & Monel set.

[Jerry D]

"Mini Jumbo." Isn't that an oxymoron?

[donlyn]

Originally Posted by Jerry D

"Mini Jumbo." Isn't that an oxymoron?

Nah, just giving the guitar some self-doubt.

The guitar speaks:

"Am I a mini sized jumbo?

Rant rant rant.

NOOOOOHHH. I must be a jumbo sized mini!!!!!!!

Rant rant rant.

Anybody got a chain saw to put me out of my misery?????"

*

And a tip of the hat to all misguided marketing departments out there who turned 'jumbo' into a shape and not a size.
5 of my 6 jumboes and the 2 Grand Orchestras have 17" (or quite nearly 17") wide lower bouts.
The Alvarez is a shade under 16.5" wide. Nice guitar even if it is the 'runt' of the aural litter.

Don
.