What Strings Do You Use and Why?

[mmapags]

+1 on the Curt Mangan's. Best string I've ever bought over 45 years of playing!

[Bruce E]

Martin bluegrass, Martin SP light, Martin silk and steel on the dreads.

But right now, some DRs on the Larry parlor because I got them free.

...and sometimes a few no name singles which I bought to round out the partial sets I have lying around from years of taking just the Gs and high Es out of them to replace broken strings.

Life rule #1.
A man should find one good woman and stick with her for life.

Life rule #2.
Guitar strings are not women.

[Ken C]

Originally Posted by yardism

I have the same set of Black Diamonds that my grandfather put on when he bought it...

And with an unwrapped 3rd. Right?

Ken C. <g>

[Ken C]

And it was asked -- "So what do you use on what guitars?"

I used to use Martin Bronze Mediums on all flat tops but then John Pearse did me a very nice personal favor; since then I have been using his Medium Bronze strings on all full-size flat tops. I use his slack-key strings on the 3/4-size guitar -- because he said to.

I did business with Martin for score years and they never did me any favors...John did.

On electric/accoustic arch tops, I use T-I round, nickel-wrapped Jazz Bebops because they are a good compromise between plugged in and not plugged in.

Oh, yeah...I use John Pearse Silk and Steel Mediums on the G40 Maccaferri because John told me to.

On the 12-string, I use individual sized Ernie Ball. That gives me the sound I like on a 12-string guitar.

And "What kind of sounds are you going for?"

General "guitar sounds" on all but the G40, where I want a very mellow, full chord to accompany voice -- thick, flat pick only. Same for electric/acoustic arch tops. By changing picks and keys, on the others, I can get the sounds I want.

But with the 12-string, I want a jingle-jangle sound...lots of ringing. I even tune my 12-string differently than others...and to help with the sounds in the way I play, I have doubled 3rds, as well as the 1st and 2nd.

And "Are you an aggressive picker or a mellow strummer?"

Never aggressive anything...except for novelty.

And last "What have you tried and rejected? What gives you the best tone? What gives you the best playability? What lasts the longest?"

I like what I got and I think changing string sources (and sometimes even gauges) make subtle changes that are more fun to talk about than actually hear.

Ken C. (Of course, I could be wrong about all this.)

[RustyAxe]

I use D'Addario ... inexpensive, sound great, and last several weeks before going dull. A set costs me less than a gallon of premium gasoline, so changing I change often. Depending on the guitar, I use:

EJ16 Light
EJ17 Medium
EJ26 Custom Light

[jkillips]

Originally Posted by Bruce E

Life rule #1.
A man should find one good woman and stick with her for life.

Life rule #2.
Guitar strings are not women.

That's excellent!

On my Taylor 414CE, I'm looking for a warm, chimey sound that is good for fingerpicking. So, it has to be clear and balanced. I also do some strumming - nothing aggressive, so I want it to sound pretty balanced for this, too. Finally, because I play fingerstyle with the flesh of my fingers, and no nails or picks, I can get a lot of tonal varieties just by changing my attack. So, I want a sound that is responsive to those changes, too.

My current preference for that guitar is Elixir PH .012s, with the Polyweb coating (I like that I get less string squeak than with Nanos).

On my Walden, I want a warm, gentle sound appropriate for a Celtic ballad, which is pretty much what I'll use it for. It'll live in CGDGAD, occasionally moving to DADGAD for a piece or two. I doubt I will ever use a pick on this guitar. I've ordered a custom set of D'Aaddario Phosphor Bronze EXPs so that the tension is "standard" even in the lower tuning. I will let you know how they sound.

[TokyoNeko]

For coated strings, I've been using the Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 anti-rust. I find coated PB strings to be too muddy, and 80/20 is a good compromise for coated strings.

For uncoated, I've recently been trying out the Martin FX PB, mainly because I've raised the action slightly on my guitars to minimize buzzing. It's certainly easier on your fingers, but surprisingly I don't hear too much of a tonal loss due to the "flexible core."

The gauge is custom light (11-52).

[Jeff M]

Guitar.
Violin strings just don't work as well.

[woodruff]

Originally Posted by Tarnisher

I always used these:on my Larrivee Parlor. I pick pretty hard, and pluck a lot of bass notes, and always liked the rich full sound I got out of these strings.

However, I just got a Stroup archtop, and it's a completely different animal- longer scale, maple back/sides, rosewood fingerboard, a much brighter tone. I want to try different strings on it to find something that sounds and feels best. I think I'll start with 13's since it will allow me to keep the action lower, but then I might not need to keep it so low if I switch to 12's....

So what do you use on what guitars? What kind of sounds are you going for? Are you an aggressive picker or a mellow strummer? What have you tried and rejected? What gives you the best tone? What gives you the best playability? What lasts the longest? Go ahead, sound off!

i use your brands lighter brother, EJ16....the meds are too heavy for me. but i love the d'addario pb. you just cant beat their consistency and tone. and they last nearly 3 weeks for me....not shabby at all for uncoated string!

[AndrewG]

Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 bronze 12-53. Why? Because my caustic skin chemistry reduces uncoated strings to a rusty, toneless mess in a couple of hours-if I'm lucky.
It's fortunate that I really like the sound I get from them.

__________


Yamaha LL26
Yamaha LL6
Takamine NV460S

[james55]

Dean Markley Alchemy Gold Bronze on my Taylor 814CE and Cornerstone and Elixir Phosphor Bronze Light Medium on my Epiphone EF500M.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Tarnisher

I always used these:

That's the ticket for my Martin HD-28. I've tried lights, medium, coated, non-coated, different alloy, differnt cores and different brands and EJs give me the right combo of treble, bass, growl and volume.

I also like EJs on other guitars but I sometimes use round core and PB DR brand.

DR nickel wound round core are my main Telecaster strings and their Tite Fit are what I use on my Stratocaster.

FWIW: I picked up a bunch of Martin Marquis light PB and they are very nice on my 00.

[Mandarb]

Martin - D'Addario EJ17
Washburn - D'Addario EJ26

[bluende]

Martin SP+ 80/20
medium gauge 13-56

[rgregg48]

Originally Posted by Michael T

DR Sunbeams, fantastic feel (round core) great tone, decent life & affordable. Downside, hard to find in stock, seems like the rares are everywhere but the I guess Sunbeams sell out quick.
Get mine here:

http://www.stringsandbeyond.com/drsuphbracgu.html

Mike & Carol are great folks.

Any way you could describe the subtle diffeances
between DR rare and Dr sunbeam?

rick