STRINGS, Strings, and more strings
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 3:53 pm
I don't know if this is the proper place in the forum, but I thought I'd review some strings, as I try them, on my OM. My frustration, is finding strings that I'm happy with on a small bodied guitar. I thought others may benefit from my experiences.
I start by saying I play fingerstyle, with some strumming. I don't play with a pick.
The first strings on my OM were Medium Martin bulk strings; I thought this best since I had to intonate and adjust the instrument. Since I'm a newby, I will confess that I went through 5 sets. LOL I kept tweaking the guitar, including redoing the bone nut and saddle, until I was satisfied with the tone. For obvious reasons, these were a good choice and hopefully, in the future, I will only use 1 set. They were good for this purpose, but they go dead pretty quickly.
ERNIE BALL EARTHWOOD 80/20 BRONZE LIGHTS. These are the first non-bulk set that I put on the guitar.
The good and bads:
Good:
1. Much Warmer sound, with deeper bass and trebles that weren't twangy; next time I will use medium lights though.
2. Economical
3. Broke in easily with minimal retuning by day 2
Bad:
1. I hate dirty fingers and I ended up with dirty fingers. I always wipe my strings after playing, but ended up wiping before as well. Next time I'll make sure they're phosphor bronze.
2. Unsure about lifetime; to be fair, I was still tweaking the intonation, so this contributed to
premature string breakage.
3. Could be richer sounding, but I attribute that to the light strings; I prefer medium lights for this guitar.
In the end, I think Ernie Ball Strings are a contender and I'm willing to give them another try with, what I think is, the appropriate gauge and composition.
ELIXIR HD Phosphor Bronze STRINGS:
I had high hope for these strings, since they were developed with Taylor for their smaller bodied guitars.
The goods and bads:
Good:
1. The strings are medium lights, which I think are perfect for a smaller bodied instrument. Medium bass strings can sound a bit heavy on these instruments. The richness in the bass strings are lost, instead of combining with the balance that these guitars are known for; they are not dreads.
2. Minimum squeak for fingerstyle playing
3. Longevity. They took the abuse of my further "tweaking" of the guitar, very well.
4. Sound. They brought out the beautiful balance of tone, that the OM guitar is known.
5. Clean fingers!
Bad:
1. Cost, if you compare them to the bulk or Earthwood strings. However, for strings that will maximize my build, I'm willing to pay (to a certain extent).
2. Sound. While they brought out the balance between bass, mids and trebles, the sound was "muffled" compared to the Earthwoods and bulk strings. I'm not sure if it's the nanoweb coating or not. But, they just didn't ring...
This was a huge disappointment for me, especially since I use Elixir mediums on my dread; I won't buy them again for the OM.
I start by saying I play fingerstyle, with some strumming. I don't play with a pick.
The first strings on my OM were Medium Martin bulk strings; I thought this best since I had to intonate and adjust the instrument. Since I'm a newby, I will confess that I went through 5 sets. LOL I kept tweaking the guitar, including redoing the bone nut and saddle, until I was satisfied with the tone. For obvious reasons, these were a good choice and hopefully, in the future, I will only use 1 set. They were good for this purpose, but they go dead pretty quickly.
ERNIE BALL EARTHWOOD 80/20 BRONZE LIGHTS. These are the first non-bulk set that I put on the guitar.
The good and bads:
Good:
1. Much Warmer sound, with deeper bass and trebles that weren't twangy; next time I will use medium lights though.
2. Economical
3. Broke in easily with minimal retuning by day 2
Bad:
1. I hate dirty fingers and I ended up with dirty fingers. I always wipe my strings after playing, but ended up wiping before as well. Next time I'll make sure they're phosphor bronze.
2. Unsure about lifetime; to be fair, I was still tweaking the intonation, so this contributed to
premature string breakage.
3. Could be richer sounding, but I attribute that to the light strings; I prefer medium lights for this guitar.
In the end, I think Ernie Ball Strings are a contender and I'm willing to give them another try with, what I think is, the appropriate gauge and composition.
ELIXIR HD Phosphor Bronze STRINGS:
I had high hope for these strings, since they were developed with Taylor for their smaller bodied guitars.
The goods and bads:
Good:
1. The strings are medium lights, which I think are perfect for a smaller bodied instrument. Medium bass strings can sound a bit heavy on these instruments. The richness in the bass strings are lost, instead of combining with the balance that these guitars are known for; they are not dreads.
2. Minimum squeak for fingerstyle playing
3. Longevity. They took the abuse of my further "tweaking" of the guitar, very well.
4. Sound. They brought out the beautiful balance of tone, that the OM guitar is known.
5. Clean fingers!
Bad:
1. Cost, if you compare them to the bulk or Earthwood strings. However, for strings that will maximize my build, I'm willing to pay (to a certain extent).
2. Sound. While they brought out the balance between bass, mids and trebles, the sound was "muffled" compared to the Earthwoods and bulk strings. I'm not sure if it's the nanoweb coating or not. But, they just didn't ring...
This was a huge disappointment for me, especially since I use Elixir mediums on my dread; I won't buy them again for the OM.