Hypothetical string question???

[onewilyfool]

You have two guitars, one is too bright to your ears, and one is too "dark" to your ears.....Now...WHICH string set would you use to tone down the bright guitar, and which strings to brighten up the dark guitar???? Have at it, men!!

[vacamartin]

I increase the gauge and go to pb's for too brite, and just the opposite for dark gits.

[merseybeat1963]

Put the Bright strings (Elixir PB Nano) on Eng.Maple J200..and it sings. Put a capo & it s almost Mandolin like. Good Strings for these guitars people,condom or not.

Put Elix on Martin D42..sounds dull..with EXP Ph Br better but metallic.

Put Elix on Lowden F...loud & bright..with EXP oh no..

Newtone Master Class PB on Lowden..some call it warm, I call it dull.

 

 

Muffled guitar..Elixir PB Nano..no good? Im gonna try the DR Sunbeam if I can find them in a shoppe finally..suposedly bright.

Good Luck

[mountainpicker]

I am going through this very problem right now with my J-45 that I consider too dark sounding. Since I got it I put EJ-16's on it to baseline the sound and because they are relativley cheap and I wanted to ToneRite it (which kills strings). While I was doing all that someone('s) here started going on about DR SunBeams but when I looked into them they are round wounds and PB's and I knew that wasn't going to address what I wanted to achieve. But then I read about DR Hibeams and thought that if those guys liked DR's so much I'd go 80/20's in the HiBeams. When I first put them on they were so bright it was almost too much brightness. But after five days they have settled down and I like them. It's all about the bass response for me and that's how I judge whether I like the tone... that way. If they last as long as Pearse 80/20's I might even hang with them for awhile. But part of the fun is experimenting with strings, which I do a lot.

As for making a bright guitar a little less bright I go right to Pearse nickel wounds and give them about five days too. After doing that, any PB or 80/20 is going up the brigtness scale. All of this is relative to a J-50 and a J-45 and, as usual, your mileage may vary.

[Don Dawson]

Gents - don from D'Addario here - just for a point of reference:

 

80/20 is the brightest string; it's 80% copper and 20% tin. There are some variances on this depending on the manufacturer but that's largely the case.

80/15 is a tad warmer however only a few manufacturers make this variation. It's 85% copper - 15% tin. We sell a version of this but only into international markets.

Phosphor Bronze has a warm and punchy tone. It's 90% copper and 8% tin along with a whole host of other ingredients, so to speak 0.8% Phosphorus, some tin and zinc.

 

Lots of players have used Electric strings on their acoustics in an attempt to mellow out a super bright instrument. Michael Hedges used Nickel on his acoustics all the time. Not sure if that helps or not but FYI! ;)

[onewilyfool]

Thanks Guys...Thanks Don....I will have to just keep trying different batches...it usually takes me 5 sets of strings to find the right sound...lol