String Type

[West R Lee]

sjs,

Try this suggestion one time, and if you don't like them, forget it. But I think you'll be blown away. I had a D30 that I loved, but never gave me the sound that blew me away. I took a shot and spent a bunch of money on 3 sets of Thomastick Plectrums just trying new strings. The D30 was the only maple guitar I owned at the time, with all the others being rosewood and mahogany. The D30 came to life, and just like that, became one of my favorites, So I took the Plectrums and put them on a couple of rosewood guitars, and YUK! I couldn't stand the sound of the rosewood with the Plectrums. But on the maple? Just absolutely beautiful, and like no other string I'd played on the D30.

Buy a set just for the heck of it, and let me know what you think. I think they are miraculous on maple.

West

 

[GGJaguar]

Thomastick Plectrums

I've used this on mahogany body guitars and they have a rich, warm sound. They have a smooth, soft feel and last a long time. I'll definitely have to try them on my DCE-3 next.

Note: the tuner end of the strings are chenilled, but shouldn't create a problem unless the chenilled portion either 1) goes over the nut (uncommon) or 2) won't go through the tuner post hole (very unlikely).

 

[fronobulax]

Note: the tuner end of the strings are chenilled, but shouldn't create a problem unless the chenilled portion either 1) goes over the nut (uncommon) or 2) won't go through the tuner post hole (very unlikely).

Learned something. Restating it in case what I thought I learned was wrong.

Chenille is a type of yarn, or the fabric made from it. It has a fuzzy appearance and if you ever smoked a pipe or did craft projects with children of a certain age you might want to think of a "pipe cleaner" as a piece of chenille yarn with a bendable metal rod inside.

The picture of Plectrum Acoustic strings shows something besides the usual silk wrapping at the tuner end of the string. If the visual cue for chenille is "fuzzy" then the wrapping could be called "chenille" as an alternative to silk wrapped.

THOMASTIK-INFELD does not specifically speak to the treatment of the tuner end any place that I could find but they do say "silk inlays (for precise overtone balance)".

I think, instead of wrapping a finished string with silk, TI is embedding silk fibers in the strings with windings which could explain the visual difference and why strings with this process might have different vibrational properties compared to a silk wrapped string.

How'd I do?

 

[Westerly Wood]

I've used this on mahogany body guitars and they have a rich, warm sound. They have a smooth, soft feel and last a long time…

Dang, I hoped I would not have to try out yet another string brand. But maybe this will be the one!

 

[West R Lee]

Dang, I hoped I would not have to try out yet another string brand. But maybe this will be the one!

The only drawback is the price Wood. But as mentioned, they last a very long time.

Thomastik-Infeld Acoustic Guitar Plectrum Bronze Flat Wound/Bronze Round Wound Medium Light, .012 - .059, AC112

<FONT FACE="Arial"><P> </P></FONT> <TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 BORDERCOLOR="#000000" CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=443> <TR><TD WIDTH="14%" VALIGN="TOP"> <P><B><FONT FACE="Arial">NOTE</B></FONT></TD> <TD WIDTH="43%" VALIGN="TOP"> <B><FONT FACE="Arial"><P>DESCRIPTION</B></FONT></TD> <TD WIDTH="23%"...

www.juststrings.com

West

 

[Brucebubs]

Let your ears guide you not the build timber.
For years I wanted warmer sounding strings on all my guitars and I absolutely hated 80/20 strings ... until I bought a Gibson Custom Shop Historic 1957 SJ-200 .. and yes. it's a maple jumbo.
The warmest sounding guitar I've ever owned - sent me looking for brighter, clearer strings.
I rotate between 80/20's and Nickel Bronze.
Curt Mangan do round core 80/20's that have an uncanny trick of lifting the mids almost like a mahogany guitar - fun for a change!

 

[chazmo]

Learned something. Restating it in case what I thought I learned was wrong.

Chenille is a type of yarn, or the fabric made from it. It has a fuzzy appearance and if you ever smoked a pipe or did craft projects with children of a certain age you might want to think of a "pipe cleaner" as a piece of chenille yarn with a bendable metal rod inside.

The picture of Plectrum Acoustic strings shows something besides the usual silk wrapping at the tuner end of the string. If the visual cue for chenille is "fuzzy" then the wrapping could be called "chenille" as an alternative to silk wrapped.

THOMASTIK-INFELD does not specifically speak to the treatment of the tuner end any place that I could find but they do say "silk inlays (for precise overtone balance)".

I think, instead of wrapping a finished string with silk, TI is embedding silk fibers in the strings with windings which could explain the visual difference and why strings with this process might have different vibrational properties compared to a silk wrapped string.

How'd I do?

Hey, @fronobulax ...

The Thomastik Plectrum and Spectrum guitar strings are indeed cloth (chenille) wrapped on the outside for about an inch starting at the ball end of the string. It affects the contact between the string and the bridge/saddle. But, the silk that they're talking about is a layer of "silk" (nylon??) sandwiched between the core steel and the bronze coil-wrapping of the string. That's typically called "silk and steel".

You can also buy their string sets with either tin-plating or brass-plating for the unwound strings.

Anyway, Thomastik's strings are really unique. Our friend @Frosty really liked Spectrums on the F-50R, but I always liked a brighter sound. I should note that they make a 12-string set which I've never tried. I imagine the contrast between my usual John Pearse 12-string PB sets and the Thomastiks would be astounding.

Oh, and finally, I don't think they make bass strings, but I don't know why.

 

[GGJaguar]

I don't think they make bass strings

T-I makes excellent strings for bass guitar. I use them.

 

[chazmo]

Thanks for setting that straight, GG. Are they silk&steel?

 

[plaidseason]

sjs,

Try this suggestion one time, and if you don't like them, forget it. But I think you'll be blown away. I had a D30 that I loved, but never gave me the sound that blew me away. I took a shot and spent a bunch of money on 3 sets of Thomastick Plectrums just trying new strings. The D30 was the only maple guitar I owned at the time, with all the others being rosewood and mahogany. The D30 came to life, and just like that, became one of my favorites, So I took the Plectrums and put them on a couple of rosewood guitars, and YUK! I couldn't stand the sound of the rosewood with the Plectrums. But on the maple? Just absolutely beautiful, and like no other string I'd played on the D30.

Buy a set just for the heck of it, and let me know what you think. I think they are miraculous on maple.

West

Now you're selling me on them. Part of what I do like about the Everly Sessions is that they bring out more mids on my F44.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I'd use what I use on all my other guitars. No reason not do the same thing.

 

[fronobulax]

Hey, @fronobulax ...

The Thomastik Plectrum and Spectrum guitar strings are indeed cloth (chenille) wrapped on the outside for about an inch starting at the ball end of the string. It affects the contact between the string and the bridge/saddle. But, the silk that they're talking about is a layer of "silk" (nylon??) sandwiched between the core steel and the bronze coil-wrapping of the string. That's typically called "silk and steel".

You can also buy their string sets with either tin-plating or brass-plating for the unwound strings.

Anyway, Thomastik's strings are really unique. Our friend @Frosty really liked Spectrums on the F-50R, but I always liked a brighter sound. I should note that they make a 12-string set which I've never tried. I imagine the contrast between my usual John Pearse 12-string PB sets and the Thomastiks would be astounding.

Oh, and finally, I don't think they make bass strings, but I don't know why.

OK. So what I got wrongest was that the wrapping was cloth and not strands of silk. Got it.

TI bass strings are well know. Since my newest strings are about 5 years old I don't always remember other people's preferences and why but I think players gravitate towards TI bass stings because of the low tension. If you want that you love them, otherwise you complain about the price

Definitely never understood "silk and steel" but can't recall anyone doing that for bass. Bass players seem to spend more time debating flat vs. round or how to match the physical length of a string set to a particular bass.

 

[SJS]

Got the guitar back from the doctor. Haven't put it down in 2 hours. Sounds bloody amazing. Went with 80-20 and... WOW

 

[Westerly Wood]

Got the guitar back from the doctor. Haven't put it down in 2 hours. Sounds bloody amazing. Went with 80-20 and... WOW

And after all that PB talk, I got John Pearse medium 80/20s on the F30R, I let them settle a bit, I like them. Well, 2 of the strings are D’Addario EJ17, but it’s been a good test. Yet, I have no real idea what medium gauge string brand I will go with next. Ever surprising. Or not really at all. After all the string madness, I think I am further away from my goal.

 

[Maguchi]

The monels aren't quite as loud but have a really nice woody tone. So, equally good just different.

Tony Rice Monels (Martin) would be great too,

^^^+1 for the Monels. That's the sound! If it's good enough for Tony Rice, they're good enough for me. Plus the string to string balance with Monel is better than PB or 80/20 with magnetic pickups.

 

[adorshki]

And after all that PB talk, I got John Pearse medium 80/20s on the F30R, I let them settle a bit, I like them. Well, 2 of the strings are D’Addario EJ17, but it’s been a good test. Yet, I have no real idea what medium gauge string brand I will go with next. Ever surprising. Or not really at all. After all the string madness, I think I am further away from my goal.

Time to try silk, baby.