Lars68 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 I just put D'Addario EJ22 Nickel Jazz medium (0.013) strings on my Martin D-18. The sound is very different from my regular bronze strings. The sound is less zingy, more fundamental, with slightly less emphasis on bass. The string pressure is also not as strong, giving a little less volume. I recommend these strings if you want to: 1 Emphasize the characteristics of a mahogany guitar more and make it even woodier and more fundamental. I like this because I want my guitars to be as different as possible. So you could put EJ22's on mahogany and bronze on rosewood guitars to distance the tone from one another. 2 Make a boomy guitar have slightly less bass, perhaps to make it easier to record or cut better. 3 If you have a delicate guitar and want to protect it from string pressure or make it easier on your chording hand. 4 If you want to strum hard, but keep the volume down a little. Just my personal findings. I would not use the strings if a mahogany guitar was my one and only, but since I have both rosewood and mahogany, I like it a lot, since it creates more variation. Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustystrings Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Consider John Pearse 960L .012-.054 nickel acoustic gauge strings. I've been using them for a while now on my '05 J-45 and have been delighted by their sound. It seems to me they sound more consistent over their life than PB or 80/20 sorts of strings, with a slightly reduced tension. I really don't experience any diminishment in tone or volume, but I play with bare fingertips. I highly recommend them; I think you get to hear more of how the guitar actually sounds and less influence from the age or "flavor" of the string. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 You might also try some silk & steel strings. Less string tension, a little quieter than bronze, but still plenty of volume and very gentle on your fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainpicker Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 I've tried all of the above mentioned strings on my J-50 and experienced all the pros and cons listed. But, you guys are gonna love these upcoming N6 D'Addario strings If you are even remotely infatuated with nickel or the silks. I've written about them on another recent post. I think D'Addario will be announcing the availability date at this next NAMM show starting soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phelonious Ponk Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I've tried all of the above mentioned strings on my J-50 and experienced all the pros and cons listed. But, you guys are gonna love these upcoming N6 D'Addario strings If you are even remotely infatuated with nickel or the silks. I've written about them on another recent post. I think D'Addario will be announcing the availability date at this next NAMM show starting soon. So what are they? Gage? Composition? P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Interesting I may have to try something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el capitan Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I tried Darco jazz 12's & then Martin Retro 12's on my J160E.Both good acoustic & amped. Retro slightly better/heavier. I've put Dunlop PB 12's on it & to me it sounds better acoustically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 This is something I've never done. Not even considered... Not condoning it by any means , but am baffled as to why anyone would even consider putting electric strings on an acoustic.. Dont you like the sound the guitar makes with acoustic strings ? Id like to hear what it sounds like with 'the wrong strings' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 This is something I've never done. Not even considered... Not condoning it by any means , but am baffled as to why anyone would even consider putting electric strings on an acoustic.. Dont you like the sound the guitar makes with acoustic strings ? Id like to hear what it sounds like with 'the wrong strings' Well, I just like to tinker, that's all. Using these nickel strings, marketed for electrics, is something I picked up from the Martin forum, UMGF. Supposedly, these are the kind of strings used in the old days, of the 30’s and 40’s. So calling them electric strings is more marketing than anything else. They are also the same gauge as what I normally use, mediums. The guitar sounds different in the way I described above. Not better or worse, just different. I like my guitars to all offer different flavors of great acoustic tones, these strings accomplish just that and gives a very vintage vibe to the tone. I know there are other brands with this type of strings, that market them for acoustics, John Pearse comes to mind. So me calling them electric strings, is not entirely true, and more a matter of definition, I guess. I will put up a recording later and compare this guitar with a D-28 with bronze strings. Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 Here is a recording of these strings on my D-18. Excuse the sloppy playing and please don't tell Neil Young. I also should have checked the tuning a bit before. I also strummed a bit too hard for the mic setting here and there, but you get the idea. I like the tone a lot! https://soundcloud.com/lars1968/ta-st-av-stra-ngar As a comparison, the first part of the snippet above on a D-28 with bronze strings, EJ22s: https://soundcloud.com/lars1968/where-the-wheat-grows-to-the-1 Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainpicker Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Phelonius, in answer to your question about the N6 strings, I don't know for sure what they are but I suspect some alloy of monel (which is itself a naturally occurring combination of nickel and copper) and phosphor bronze. I think D'Addario was seeing market share lost to Martin Retro strings and wanted to create a competitor. Monel has high corrosion resistance, especially to saltwater, which is why it's used in marine applications, so there may be benefits of a coated string without the coating. I've had them on my J-50 since October 20 and like them a lot. They don't strike me as muted as straight nickel string, a sight crisper, but there is a woodier fundamental. As for electric strings on an acoustic see page 46 of Gibson's Fabulous Flat-Top Guitars and read what Doc Watson says about putting Gretsch electric strings on a J-35. He probably did it so they didn't go to waste/save money at that time in his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainpicker Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Just got a notification from D'Addario that the strings I mentioned here earlier are now listed. They are called Nickel Bronze: http://daddario.com/DADProductFamily.Page?ActiveID=3768&familyid=150 I didn't research beyond their site to see if any of the major online guys are stocking them yet but they are starting to hit the market. Just some followup for those interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted January 19, 2016 Author Share Posted January 19, 2016 Just got a notification from D'Addario that the strings I mentioned here earlier are now listed. They are called Nickel Bronze: http://daddario.com/DADProductFamily.Page?ActiveID=3768&familyid=150 I didn't research beyond their site to see if any of the major online guys are stocking them yet but they are starting to hit the market. Just some followup for those interested. Interesting! Thanks for the link. Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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