Acoustic Guitar String..

[Brian Chan]

hey folks

I have just bought myself a Martin D-28. What brand of string do you use on your acoustic guitar?

For electric guitar, I am now using Elixir string (My hand will make the string turn to rust quickly). Does it sounds good on a Martin guitar or i should get a pack of martin guitar string indeed?

Any suggestions are welcome.

[r9player]

Hey there, there are various strings I like to use on my acoustics.
Top of the line for me are the Martin SP (phosphor bronze)
if I need a little extra brightness or want to leave them on for a LONG time (or if someone new is playing) I use elixer strings, but make sure you break them in a bit (before they will sound good)
If the guitar is overly bright, I will find a nice set of steel wound silk strings (usually Martin brand) to put on the guitar.

[forestryguy]

I usually use Elixir Nanoweb on my D-28. If you like the feel of them, the sound is a good match and they last longer than uncoated strings. Otherwise, the SP recommended above are good.

[Ogre]

If good tone is important to you, stick with Phospor-Bronze, and AVOID Elixers and their like. They kill the mids.(frequencies)

[Bruce]

Ditto on the Martin SP Phosphor Bronze Strings. I use the extra light set and plug in to an amp to save my hands. I change the wound G to a .17 plain so that I can play pedal steel licks on my acoustic. Works quite well and sounds really good amplified.

[Mike R.]

I like the Elixir medium/light phos/br nano set on my Taylor 410.

[Brian Chan]

Thanks guy

I may put a set of Martin Phospor-Bronze on my D-28 first!~

[yeh731]

What string gauges do you guys put on your d-28s? my understanding is the factory setups are .13s but I am thinking to put .12 elixirs and hopefully to gain more high-end brightness (the guitar is very bassy! ) Any comments?

[r9player]

I'm a 12 and 11 guy for more brightness I recommend Elixers.

[royd]

Brian,

for some reason, some acoustics are very sensitive to string changes while others are less so. Your guitar could be either way. So try a variety. My Lowden is very sensitive. Some strings sound terrible (Thomastic Infeld) while others sound amazing (see below).

Personally, I don't care for elixers on my guitar although I haven't tried the nanos or the new phosphor bronze. The regular elixers just sound dead to me from the start. It doesn't matter that they don't change because they stink from the beginning on my guitar. ;)

When I'm changing tunings a lot, I use webstrings phosphor bronze in a bluegrass gauge. They sound very good and last as long as any other non-coated string I've tried and are inexpensive. www.webstrings.com (http://www.webstrings.com). Coatings don't help with the problems that come from changing tunings so they don't last any longer than non-coated strings. One project I did, I played in 7 different tunings during a two set gig. Strings lasted one gig.

For other non-coated strings, I really like DR Rares.

When I'm not changing tunings a lot, I like to use coated strings. Again, I use a bluegrass gauge (12's on top, mediums on the bottom) so that limits my choices. I've liked the cleartones a lot. The D'Addario's were OK. I've ordered a few sets of Wyres to try, so I'll see how they work.

[r9player]

I guess I should add that it takes elixer strings about a day or two to a week to get played in.
When you first put on elixers they WILL sound 'terrible'
they are the brightest strings I've had so far on any guitar to date, and they keep that brightness fairly long.

[clothwiring]

Elixers on my Taylor 714 CE. They work fine and last long...which I like, I don't like new acoustic strings. :)

[Meghan]

If your Martin is particularily "bassy", try GHS contact core bright bronze. I had very good luck with those on a D-35.

[royd]

I guess I should add that it takes elixer strings about a day or two to a week to get played in.
When you first put on elixers they WILL sound 'terrible'
they are the brightest strings I've had so far on any guitar to date, and they keep that brightness fairly long.

I guess that is an indicator of how different strings sound different on different guitars. As I said, on my Lowden, Elixers sound dead as doornails and there is no brightness and no life to them at all... the only strings that sounded worse that I've tried were the Thomastic Infeld Plectrums which sounded like rubber bands on my Lowden. They stayed on less than an hour. :( I did leave the Elixers on for a few days.

[r9player]

That is funny I also tried Thomastic's once because they had such a great following and boy did they sound terrible on my guitars!

[gh1]

As mentioned, each guitar relates to string sets differently. I think you should try out some of the recommendations and let your ears decide.

Besides which brand you need to also decide coated/uncoated and gauge. I personally don't like coated strings but others love them.

Gauge is a bit more straight forward. If you're going to be flat picking or rhythm i would suggest you start out with medium gauge .013). If you're going to be mainly playing finger style start out with light gauge (.012)

Dreads really tend to come alive with mediums under a pick.

_____
gh1

[MikeB_18]

I use John Pearse .012's on my Advanced Jumbo. I used to love Martin strings but someone told me to try a set of JP's and I haven't looked back since. They have great clarity and seem to last for quite some time.

[procos]

John Pearse strings are my favorites. I personally hate the Martin strings, to me they sound tinny and wear out extremely quick.

Chuck

[starfish]

I recommend you find out what strings (brand/gauge) the manufacturer used as stock on the guitar. This can be a point of reference and in many cases the best string for the guitar.

I have a Collings D2HSB which was strung with D'Addario EJ17's (13-56) as stock. I don't think this was an arbitrary decision by the builder. The EJ17's balance the slightly strident quality of the guitar with warmth and bass. When I put Pearse strings on my Collings, I thought the strings were defective. The bass disappeared, the attack of the notes smeared in an unpleasant way, and the strident qualities became ear piercing. Many others report success with Pearse strings, so most definitely the guitar is a very important consideration in the choice of string.

[uncletele]

Coated strings sound coated! EJ17's or EJ16's work great, and are dirt cheap in the 3-pack. I just change them frequently because my chemistry also wears strings out. I'd rather have the tone than the convenience of coated strings IMHO.

[bluende]

When I had my D-28, it sounded best with Martin SP+ 80/20s in medium gauge. The SP+ is Martin's coated variety, but the coating is extremely thin. They felt more like uncoated to me, especially compared to regular Elixirs. I also like John Pearse and Newtone strings, but they didn't last long enough for me.

Some people think 80/20s are much brighter than phos bronze, others think the opposite. I think a lot depends on the individual guitar. Mostly, I use 80/20s on my acoustics...after the initial "zing" wears in, they have a nice sparkly quality and are especially nice on balanced guitars. (I find most phos bronze strings to be sort of too effervescent/fizzy sounding in the upper end.)

[exhaust_49]

My favourite strings are D'Addario flat tops in medium gauge. I have a bright guitar made mostly of maple and these strings are a bit darker sounding, so the tone balances out. With these strings my guitar sounds great, I get the perfect blues tone, not to bright up top and not to boomy in the lower registers.

If you have a bright guitar give these strings a try.

[r9player]

FWIW For bright guitars I love using Steel wound silk. YMMV

[sears]

Do you like the sound of brand new strings? If not, you need to find ones that last a long time since most strings lose their intonation soon after they lose the new string brightness.

Pyramid phosphor bronzes are great and last forever. Snake Oil make phosphor bronze which are supposed to last a while; I'm trying them out soon. Pyramid "round core" 80/20s are intriguing.

[leofenderbender]

Dean Markley Alchemy Gold Bronze or Gold Phosphor do everything I need.

[HeeHaw]

I just made the jump from D'addarios to Elixir Nanowebs on my J-45 rosewood. So far I'm really liking them. Yes they did sound kind of weird untill they were broken in, but now they sound really nice. I have an old ovation that I keep for my outdoors/beater guitar and I even put the Elixirs on it. They do last longer for me.:)

[HeeHaw]

When I got home from work today and put a set of DR's on my J-45, amd man do they sound nice! They are supposed to last a bit longer than the bronze phosphor strings. We'll see.