In praise of Martin Tommy Emmanuel signature flexible core PB strings on my Maple AJ

[Jinder]

I just wanted to share my experience with these strings...I ordered a set on a whim last Summer, 12-54s, and slung them on my beloved Maple AJ. 

They were a little bright to start with, and I wasn't overly impressed out of the gate. I played a show with them (the last gig I played to date, last October, in the brief window here in the UK when live music was permitted between lockdowns), and two days later was admitted to hospital, where I was stuck for a month as an inpatient and a further month as an outpatient.

Since being discharged, I spent most of my time playing my little Sigma CF-100 copy with 11s on it to build my hands back up...recently, though, I've been building strength in my hands and have been picking up my big guitars with 12s again, particularly my AJ which is perhaps my favourite guitar of all. 

Now, after being on the guitar for six months, the Tommy signature strings are absolutely incendiary. So expressive and toneful, very quick response (the AJ is quick anyway, but still...), the perfect blend of definition and warmth, no dead spots, just glorious tone up and down the neck everywhere. Soft feel too, they handle more like 11s under the fretting hand.

I could play this guitar with these strings ALL DAY. Will definitely be getting some more sets in, I'm keen to try them on my SJ200 after my experiment with the bizarre gold-plated Ultimas that are currently incumbent is mercifully over. 

I'd recommend the TEs to anyone. So impressed!

[zombywoof]

Thanks for the heads up.  I assume the TE strings  are wound along the lines of the Martin Flex strings in that they combine a thinner core and a heavier wrap.  Are there different materials involved or perhaps a unique wrap to core ratio?.  But they do sound intriguing so  I may just go ahead and the next time I order strings have a few sets included.  But they will have to wait their turn in line as I just ordered some Straight Up Strings as they are now back in production.  I also finally went and ordered a set of Antique Acoustic bridge pins.

[Brucebubs]

I look forward to reading how you find them on your SJ-200  even though I've given up buying Martin strings anymore after finding corroded strings in freshly opened packs - I think their packaging sucks - either there's moisture being sealed in during packing or the seal is letting moisture in.

[E-minor7]

I been playing Flexible Cores long before Emmanuel got connected and primarily used them on guitars that felt either 'tight' (some long-scales) or my rio-rose 12-fret, which benefits from the softer both sonic and feelwise nature of these strings. However it's been a while since they been picked from the string-box now. I always tune half down and that sooner or later makes most brands appear mellower anyway. But now you mention them it may be about time to give the flexes a re-ride. I recall them melting into some pretty amazing symbiosis with the guitars when they fade.

Just put the old workhorse - D'Addario EJ16 - on my 2000 Mart. HD-28V, which also got the action seriously lowered both by tr, saddle-sanding and nut-slot-filing.                                                                    They sound great, but, , , a bit altered, I feel. As if some sort of secret improvement has taken place - maybe an ultra thin coating. And as I thought just after stringing up : Well, why not - of course D'Ad. wanna move forward too - yet without telling too much.

! These last lines are mine and mine alone. There is no whatsoever proof that something like this should be real. 

[E-minor7]

Ooops, , , just checked the 12-fret. It received Flexcore lights as late as October 11th last year. 12 - 16 - 25 - 32 - 42 - 54.

[Sgt. Pepper]

12 hours ago, Jinder said:

I just wanted to share my experience with these strings...I ordered a set on a whim last Summer, 12-54s, and slung them on my beloved Maple AJ. 

They were a little bright to start with, and I wasn't overly impressed out of the gate. I played a show with them (the last gig I played to date, last October, in the brief window here in the UK when live music was permitted between lockdowns), and two days later was admitted to hospital, where I was stuck for a month as an inpatient and a further month as an outpatient.

Since being discharged, I spent most of my time playing my little Sigma CF-100 copy with 11s on it to build my hands back up...recently, though, I've been building strength in my hands and have been picking up my big guitars with 12s again, particularly my AJ which is perhaps my favourite guitar of all. 

Now, after being on the guitar for six months, the Tommy signature strings are absolutely incendiary. So expressive and toneful, very quick response (the AJ is quick anyway, but still...), the perfect blend of definition and warmth, no dead spots, just glorious tone up and down the neck everywhere. Soft feel too, they handle more like 11s under the fretting hand.

I could play this guitar with these strings ALL DAY. Will definitely be getting some more sets in, I'm keen to try them on my SJ200 after my experiment with the bizarre gold-plated Ultimas that are currently incumbent is mercifully over. 

I'd recommend the TEs to anyone. So impressed!

I tried some Tommy E, Martin strings, I  really liked them.  Tommy is not gonna put his name on garbage. His a real musician and not a clown. Most people who have signature anything I have to look up their names to see who they are and why their name is on it. Not him. He's a pro.

[BoSoxBiker]

Are you guys getting several months from the Flexcores with consistent playing, or playing occasionally over that stretch of time?

I tried the TE sigs last year before the Pandemic. My notes were few, but consistently mentioned "bright and loud" at first. I had them on my Hummingbird, Martin D41(13's) and my old Taylor 614. All three had three weeks out on the stand over 2 months' time before rapidly becoming garbled and muddied.  

18 hours ago, Jinder said:

I'm keen to try them on my SJ200 after my experiment with the bizarre gold-plated Ultimas that are currently incumbent is mercifully over. 

What are those "Ultimas" strings that you speak of? Are they the Veritas with the gold colored optional B&E strings that come with them? I see something called "Optimas", too.

[Sgt. Pepper]

How do you guy get stings to last 6 months. I wash my hands before I play and after a month or so no matter what they look nasty and sound dead. After about day 2  of new strings when they have stretched and don't need to be tuned every 30 seconds that is when strings sound the best to me.

[BoSoxBiker]

11 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

How do you guy get stings to last 6 months. I wash my hands before I play and after a month or so no matter what they look nasty and sound dead. After about day 2  of new strings when they have stretched and don't need to be tuned every 30 seconds that is when strings sound the best to me.

That's where I am. Longer for coated.

[j45nick]

28 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

How do you guy get stings to last 6 months. I wash my hands before I play and after a month or so no matter what they look nasty and sound dead. After about day 2  of new strings when they have stretched and don't need to be tuned every 30 seconds that is when strings sound the best to me.

I leave strings on until they get so many overtones you can barely tune them with an electronic tuner. The strings on my primary 1950 J-45 (Sunbeams) are now over a year old.

You seem to be able to get away with this more on Gibsons than Martins. The older strings on my 000-28 EC just sound dead.  Old strings on most of my Gibsons just sound different, old and funky. 

Of course, a lot depends on what style you are playing.

I'm working up for a string-changing day. It's a lot of work, since guitars get a clean-up at the same time unless I am extremely lazy, which I am rapidly becoming.

[Sgt. Pepper]

Once strings lose their zing I replace 'em.

[Sgt. Pepper]

I use Cleartone strings and the last longer, but not 6 month. At least I can't get 6 months out of strings.

[Jinder]

11 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

How do you guy get stings to last 6 months. I wash my hands before I play and after a month or so no matter what they look nasty and sound dead. After about day 2  of new strings when they have stretched and don't need to be tuned every 30 seconds that is when strings sound the best to me.

I don't normally get six months out of a set by any means...normally I get two or three gigs from them, or six weeks if it's not one of my live guitars. 

The timeline was skewed by the fact that after putting these on and doing one show with them, I was in hospital for a month then musically sidelined for another couple of months-I've only started playing my AJ again recently as my illness buggered up the connective tissue in my joints, so 12s and a long scale neck were "you shall not pass" territory for me until recently...accordingly, the strings essentially did one gig, then spent four months in the case!

[Jinder]

11 hours ago, BoSoxBiker said:

Are you guys getting several months from the Flexcores with consistent playing, or playing occasionally over that stretch of time?

I tried the TE sigs last year before the Pandemic. My notes were few, but consistently mentioned "bright and loud" at first. I had them on my Hummingbird, Martin D41(13's) and my old Taylor 614. All three had three weeks out on the stand over 2 months' time before rapidly becoming garbled and muddied.  

What are those "Ultimas" strings that you speak of? Are they the Veritas with the gold colored optional B&E strings that come with them? I see something called "Optimas", too.

Optimas! That's it, not Ultimas...apologies, my memory isn't quite what it was 🤦‍♂️

The Optimas are weird strings...12-52 gauge, gold plated. I don't like the feel of them at all, and they sound decidedly odd on my SJ200. Very little sustain, which is strange as my 200 usually rings for days. I bought them on a whim as they were heavily discounted, but they're normally astonishingly expensive and, in my opinion, not worth the journey.

The DR Veritas with the Xenon B and E are magic strings...the 11-52s sound beautiful on my Sigma CF-100 copy and my Dove. Very highly recommend those!

[E-minor7]

11 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

How do you guy get stings to last 6 months. 

 

24 minutes ago, Jinder said:

I don't normally get six months out of a set by any means...

Sometimes a set stays on for several years - I have a pretty wide herd and change frequently. That way I have all kinds of stages represented.                                                                                                                                        4 of the guitars - 2 pairs - get new strings in synch. Identical brands per pair too : the 2 2012 Birds and the 2 maple squares. 

              This whole menagerie requires a log-book so I keep a big black one, where different moves are written down as well. Adjusted action, new nuts, switched tuners etcetera. 

                                                   Without this overvue everything would blop up in a blur and leave me without any real experience. 

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 minute ago, E-minor7 said:

 

Sometimes a set stays on for several years - I have a pretty wide herd and change frequently. That way I have all kinds of stages represented.                                                                                                                                        4 of the guitars - 2 pairs - get new strings in synch. Identical brands per pair too : the 2 2012 Birds and the 2 maple squares. 

              This whole menagerie requires a log-book so I keep a big black one, where different moves are written down as well. Adjusted action, new nuts, switched tuners etcetera. 

                                                   Without this overvue everything would blop up in a blur and leave me without any real experience. 

You guys and your strings on for years really need to share what your taking. I don't have stuff that good.  And the stuff from Cali is damn good.

[BoSoxBiker]

Maybe it's our humid climate? Add salt water air to yours.

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 minute ago, BoSoxBiker said:

Maybe it's our humid climate? Add salt water air to yours.

I live next to the Atlantic Ocean and its humid as hell in  Newport News, VA. So I'm not buying that line.

[BoSoxBiker]

38 minutes ago, Jinder said:

Optimas! That's it, not Ultimas...apologies, my memory isn't quite what it was 🤦‍♂️

The Optimas are weird strings...12-52 gauge, gold plated. I don't like the feel of them at all, and they sound decidedly odd on my SJ200. Very little sustain, which is strange as my 200 usually rings for days. I bought them on a whim as they were heavily discounted, but they're normally astonishingly expensive and, in my opinion, not worth the journey.

The DR Veritas with the Xenon B and E are magic strings...the 11-52s sound beautiful on my Sigma CF-100 copy and my Dove. Very highly recommend those!

I'll have to try out the Xenon pair the next time a set of Veritas goes on something. I've used the standard strings exclusively so far and am a big fan.

[BoSoxBiker]

12 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

I live next to the Atlantic Ocean and its humid as hell in  Newport News, VA. So I'm not buying that line.

I mean as the reason we cannot get longevity as some folks do.

[BoSoxBiker]

12 hours ago, Jinder said:

Optimas! That's it, not Ultimas...apologies, my memory isn't quite what it was 🤦‍♂️

The Optimas are weird strings...12-52 gauge, gold plated. I don't like the feel of them at all, and they sound decidedly odd on my SJ200. Very little sustain, which is strange as my 200 usually rings for days. I bought them on a whim as they were heavily discounted, but they're normally astonishingly expensive and, in my opinion, not worth the journey.

The DR Veritas with the Xenon B and E are magic strings...the 11-52s sound beautiful on my Sigma CF-100 copy and my Dove. Very highly recommend those!

I meant to ask you if you've ever tried the DR Strings' Hi-Beam 80/20's? I don't see much chatter on these, but they are supposed to be brighter than I guess my normal warm 80/20s I've been getting for my Maple SJ-200. (I keep the Maple on the warm side of the spectrum while I try to keep brighter strings on my RW SJ-200.)

[fortyearspickn]

Jinder -  thanks for starting this thread.  It's really great to hear you are back, able to play.  Do you think the time away from playing helped, or hurt?   Not from a standpoint of motor skills, etc, but just motivation and creativity?  Re-charged batteries?   Was the song writing side of your skill set affected?   Very inspiring to hear of your quick return to playing.  

[Brucebubs]

10 hours ago, BoSoxBiker said:

I meant to ask you if you've ever tried the DR Strings' Hi-Beam 80/20's? I don't see much chatter on these, but they are supposed to be brighter than I guess my normal warm 80/20s I've been getting for my Maple SJ-200. (I keep the Maple on the warm side of the spectrum while I try to keep brighter strings on my RW SJ-200.)

Interesting - I just placed an order for a set of DR Hi Beam lights to try on my SJ-200.

I also ordered some Curt Mangan round-core 80/20's, Ernie Ball Earthwood 80/20's, Rotosound Tru-Bronze and another 2 sets of the John Pearse 80/20's I have on the guitar now.

[Paul14]

On 3/15/2021 at 4:38 AM, Sgt. Pepper said:

How do you guy get stings to last 6 months. I wash my hands before I play and after a month or so no matter what they look nasty and sound dead. After about day 2  of new strings when they have stretched and don't need to be tuned every 30 seconds that is when strings sound the best to me.

For me it’s laziness.

[Dave F]

1 hour ago, Paul14 said:

For me it’s laziness.

It's more like two years for me ;|