I'm trying Martin Luxe Kovar strings

[chazmo]

Thanks for the update, dwasifar. Sounds interesting for sure.

 

[SFIV1967]

I replied, "You sure did," and included a link to this document:

https://xec.net/share/restring_guitar.pdf

They had to acknowledge it, but said it was sort of a maverick move on the part of their then-manager of customer service, and they subsequently decided it wasn't necessary.

Wow, 1994! That's some time ago for sure!

Ralf

 

[davidbeinct]

Interesting writeup. I almost exclusively fingerpick with bare flesh so I’m intrigued by your comments so far.

 

[dwasifar]

Follow-up after ~2 weeks.

I'm feeling a bit less enamored with these now that they're starting to break in. They're no longer as bright, yet somehow they are sounding more metallic, or maybe I'm just sensitizing to it. They still have great dynamics and tone range, but the metallic edginess is becoming more objectionable to me.

For what it's worth, my wife doesn't hear anything wrong with them, and in a comment that will be good news to readers here, she says the tone balance makes the Taylor sound more like the Guild.

I will continue my evaluation.

 

[General Dreedle]

I just put the mediums of these on my JF30 we'll see how it goes

 

[dwasifar]

I just put the mediums of these on my JF30 we'll see how it goes

I'm very interested to hear if your impressions coincide with mine.

 

[mwiederspiel]

Hello, all. Caught this thread when I searched Google for reviews of these strings, and figured my own experience might be helpful. I recently tried the Kovar Luxe 12-54s on my Martin 000-18, and the tryout lasted just two weeks before I changed back to my trusty Martin Flexcore 12-54 PBs (the ones with Tommy Emmanuel's name on them, although that's not why I favor them). I had a very similar experience with the Kovars. When I first installed them I thought they had an excellent tone and focus, but that "metallic" thing kicked in after a couple days or so and it kind of threw me. Not to mention - the D string sounded quacky from the getgo, just "off" tonally. The increased bass response - in terms of volume and resonance - on the two bottom strings was notable, but on my guitar, the A string was actually louder and more resonant than the low E, so go figure. After changing back to the Flexcore PBs, the issues I encountered disappeared, and the guitar sounded right and in balance again. While one set may not be enough for a final word, I strongly doubt I'll try these again when the cost exceeds any benefits (a 3-pack of the Martin Flexcores cost me the same $20 at Sweetwater), and the issues I encountered make my trying them again even less likely.

 

[dwasifar]

Hello, all. Caught this thread when I searched Google for reviews of these strings, and figured my own experience might be helpful. I recently tried the Kovar Luxe 12-54s on my Martin 000-18, and the tryout lasted just two weeks before I changed back to my trusty Martin Flexcore 12-54 PBs (the ones with Tommy Emmanuel's name on them, although that's not why I favor them). I had a very similar experience with the Kovars. When I first installed them I thought they had an excellent tone and focus, but that "metallic" thing kicked in after a couple days or so and it kind of threw me. Not to mention - the D string sounded quacky from the getgo, just "off" tonally. The increased bass response - in terms of volume and resonance - on the two bottom strings was notable, but on my guitar, the A string was actually louder and more resonant than the low E, so go figure. After changing back to the Flexcore PBs, the issues I encountered disappeared, and the guitar sounded right and in balance again. While one set may not be enough for a final word, I strongly doubt I'll try these again when the cost exceeds any benefits (a 3-pack of the Martin Flexcores cost me the same $20 at Sweetwater), and the issues I encountered make my trying them again even less likely.

Yes, this is coinciding with my experience. The string-to-string balance remains consistent on my guitar, as it was at first, so I'm not experiencing the loud A and quacky D that you did. Perhaps that's because you used 12s and I'm using 13s. And they have plenty of volume and dynamics. But the metallic tone continues to annoy, and may be increasing (not sure if it's that, or if I'm just more annoyed). I've been tempted to take them off and claim my money back (or my Monday) from Martin, and I'll probably do that tomorrow. They've been on for three weeks; how long for you?

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

 

[mwiederspiel]

Like I wrote, I kept them on for just two weeks. The treble strings sounded a bit quacky as well - and seemed to feel a bit stiff to me, but I couldn't figure out why, since they're just plain steel strings of the same gauges I'm used to - so I began questioning if my setup needed adjustment, and decided to push the issue to find out. I chose to remove the Kovars, carefully clean the nut slots and restring with a set I know works for this guitar, and the result is I do NOT need a setup. The sound (and even playability, to some extent) of particular string formulations, even of the same gauges, is remarkably inconsistent from guitar to guitar. Not to mention, there's a degree of subjectivity that can change day to day - it seems to be the nature of the beast. I had the Kovars on long enough, however, to know that I won't use them at least on this guitar again for all the reasons I've mentioned, particularly at that WAY too high price (although the titaniums, which come installed on new high-end Martins like the D-45, are I believe $50/set, which is just plain silly).

 

[dwasifar]

Like I wrote, I kept them on for just two weeks.

So you did. Don't know how I missed that.

 

[dwasifar]

Well, I took the Luxe Kovar strings off yesterday and put on a set of DR Sunbeam. I miss the volume and punch I got from the Kovar, but I'm a lot happier with the Sunbeam tone.

I applied for the Martin money-back offer and they couldn't have been nicer about it. Sent me a prepaid return shipping label and everything.

 

[General Dreedle]

I still have them on my JF 30, into the second week, they are nice for finger picking, not a warm tone but nice for blues picking. I still think I prefer DR Rares bluegrass gauge best on this guitar but I'm giving it more time

 

[dwasifar]

I had the Kovars on long enough, however, to know that I won't use them at least on this guitar again

Off topic, but I'm curious about your username. In German, "wiederspiel" means "play again." Is that what you were going for?

 

[mwiederspiel]

Off topic, but I'm curious about your username. In German, "wiederspiel" means "play again." Is that what you were going for?

Can't say I'm going for anything, but I do have a son with that surname. Who knows, it might be mine, too.

 

[General Dreedle]

Ok, I took them off my JF 30 after a couple of weeks and put on Martin Authentic 80/20 bluegrass gauge that sound a lot better. I think these Kovar strings would be great on guitars that are almost too boomy, the metallic or whatever you want to call the sound would tame it. The JF 30 (at least mine) is not that type of guitar, nor are the other guitars I have. Maybe a Martin HD 28 V, which when I tried out a few years ago was very very very boomy,

 

[dwasifar]

Follow-up to this. Martin sent me a return label to send the Kovar strings back, and I returned them using that label. Tracking says it was delivered to them on October 6, but I still have not received my promised refund.

I called them a few weeks ago looking for it, and talked to someone who promised to get to the bottom of it. But since then, crickets. So I called again today, and again got a promise to look into it and get it taken care of. It's been more than two months now, so I am skeptical, but we shall see.

 

[howardjeffreymusic]

I got an email from Martin touting their new Luxe strings, wound with Kovar. Kovar is an alloy mostly of iron and cobalt, which was originally developed to have the same thermal expansion properties as borosilicate glass, to use in bonding metal fittings or electrodes to lab glass or electronic tubes. I don't know what possessed Martin to think of it for strings, but they did have to license the patent rights from Ernie Ball because of Ball's cobalt string line.

But I digress. The email promised my Monday back if I were not satisfied. So I figure I can't lose; either it's a typo and I get my money back, or it isn't and I get a three day weekend. I ordered a set in 13-56, pricey at $20. They arrived a week and a half ago, and I waited as long to put them on as my curiosity would allow because I had just restrung recently. But finally I could not bear the wait anymore, and removed a still-perfectly-good set of DR Sunbeams from my Taylor 710 to restring with Luxe. Why the Taylor and not the Guild, I hear you ask? Because I have thousands of hours playing the Taylor and I'm most familiar with it.

So here are my first impressions, pro and con. Usually I start with Pro but this time for no particular reason I'll start with Con.

Cons:

• They are ugly. This is subjective, I know, and they're not the only gray strings on the market; Martin has Monel and D'Addario has NB and they look the same as these. And appearance should not matter. I'm trying very hard not to let myself care about that.
• Their tuning stability seems a little fussy, and they bind in the nut more than I'm used to - more "ping" when tuning.
• Martin promised lower tension and easier fretting, and I'm not seeing that. In fact the string feel might be a tad bit more coarse than I'm used to, but it's so slight, it could be my imagination.
• Tone is a little brasher than I would like, but they're new, so I'll revisit that in a week and report how they've settled in.

Pros:

• They have great dynamics. Some comparison is useful here. I've used a lot of different strings on this guitar, but the ones I've spent the most time with are DR Sunbeam, D'Addario EJ, and Martin SP, all phosphor bronze. Sunbeams are soft but sweet; D'Addarios are loud and jangly; Martin SP is between them. It's hard to play the Sunbeams loud without bottoming them out, but they're great for soft and gentle stuff. It's hard not to play the D'Addarios loud; they are just a loud, forward string, and a Taylor dread is a loud, forward guitar. These Luxe strings are giving me the best of both worlds in this regard. If you back off on them, they sound nice and react well, but you don't have to wham on them to get volume. It's actually quite cool to have that range available so easily.
• They have excellent tone balance on this guitar. In fact, I have never heard the bass so strong on this instrument, with any string. They might not work for every instrument but they work really well for this one. My particular style has me frequently hitting a single bass note on the E or A string between chords for accent, and as you might imagine, with a Taylor's tone balance that single hit note is often not very prominent. With these strings, it stands out as it should.
• Resistance to sliding is slightly less than PBs. I find I hit my target more consistently when sliding a chord up the neck.
• In most other regards they play and feel like PBs.

I think the pros mostly outweigh the cons here. These are first impressions, but let's see how they settle in.

Overall I like them quite a bit -- especially when they are new. They do not work on all guitars. I put them on a 60's Epi Texan and they puked. On my one and only Taylor (710), they were fantastic as well as on my '67 Martin D18.
I find that -- for me -- they are softer to the touch.
My "con" is that when they die they are downright awful. They don't "mellow in" like a Martin or D'Addarrio string.