Thomastik-Infeld Spectrum strings

[Jinder]

Hi all,

            Has anyone else tried these wires? Normally way more expensive than I can justify, but I bagged a set last year when they were heavily reduced, stashed them in my studio filing cabinet and forgot about them...I plucked them out yesterday and put them on my SJ200 after finally losing patience with the Optimas that haven’t ever worked for me on that guitar.

First thoughts on the Spectrums are that they sound and feel utterly unique. No “new” string metallic zing, VERY smooth under the fingers and unusually high tension across the D and G strings, tapering off to lower tension relatively on the A and E down below and the B and E up top.

Initially, sound wise I felt they were a bit dull. However, with a day of adapting to them, I think I was mistaking an understated complexity for dullness. Each individual string has an identity and doesn’t just sound like a lower or higher pitched version of the one next door. The bottom E and A sound a little woolly taken out of context, but in a chord or a fingerstyle passage with bass movement, they just sit there and fill up the bottom end beautifully with a spreading, full warmth. 
 

The midrange is focused and tight and the top end rich and articulate. These aren’t average workaday strings by any means-they took some getting used to as a player as they sounded played in as soon as they were fitted. Being round core strings, I had to do the usual dance of fitting them, tuning and stretching them and playing them in before cutting the ends, but that wasn’t a major issue. They are silk wrapped at both ends, so protect both bridgeplate and machineheads from wear, which is a nice touch.

My only concern is whether they will fade quickly...being warm strings, if they fade off by 25% it will likely be game over, but I have absolutely no roadmap for these strings as they are quite untypical of anything I have used before.

I perhaps wouldn’t use these on an already overly warm guitar or anything lacking definition. My SJ200 is very balanced and has an immense character (think big, bold, loud and articulate with big but focused bass) which generally comes through whatever strings are on it, so makes for an excellent testbed for different wires. 
 

I’d love to know if anyone else has tried them and, if so, what you think.

[jedzep]

I use them consistently on guitars I like to soften up and quiet down. Right now, my project L00, which 'barks', and the OM21, to smooth out the RW blends.

I found a place where I can get the 13-57's at 20 bucks a set, and have to shave off the silking on the ball end of the 6th to accommodate the bridge pin hole. You might find them cheaper being a helluva lot closer to Austria.

Lucky to get a month out of them, flat-picking exclusively.

Edited April 15, 2021 by jedzep

[Brucebubs]

Nice review but I'm taking your advice on board regarding unsuitability for an already warm guitar. My '57 SJ-200 is extremely warm out of the box. I'm trying a set of GHS Bright Bronze at the moment but they might be just a little too bright. The GHS Signature Bronze are rated in between their Bright Bronze and PB's on their Bright/Mellow spectrum. I'll give them a try next. I've got J Pearse 80/20's to fall back on, they sound superb on this guitar.

Edited April 16, 2021 by Brucebubs

[Sgt. Pepper]

I have a set in waiting that are the gauge I put on my Dreads. Not sure if I want to put them on my 18, 28V or 35. I'm thinking the 28V.

[jedzep]

I hate to throw this in, but they are more prone to breakage at installation than any string I've ever used. My T-I guy, Jason at Gimme Some Strings, tells me that the company offers free single string replacements for this. All well and good if you can let your guitar sit with five until that last one gets to you. I keep a dead set around to plug in a temp if I get a weak new one.
This tells me T-I knows about the vulnerability.

Edited April 16, 2021 by jedzep

[Sgt. Pepper]

15 minutes ago, jedzep said:

I hate to throw this in, but they are more prone to breakage at installation than any string I've ever used. My T-I guy, Jason at Gimme Some Strings, tells me that the company offers free single string replacements for this. All well and good if you can let your guitar sit with five until that last one gets to you. I keep a dead set around to plug in a temp if I get a weak new one.
This tells me T-I knows about the vulnerability.

That is ridiculous. Strings that expensive should not be prone to breakage. I now buy strings at Gimme Some Strings. I am really digging the Cleartone EQ's.

[Lars68]

I have tried them and loved them. More mellow than anything I've tried before. I'd love to use them more, but due to price I only buy them now and then as a treat.  Wonderful stuff!

Lars

Edited April 16, 2021 by Lars68

[BoSoxBiker]

Jinder, how do you like these compared to the Newtones  that you liked before the Pandemic shut them down for a while? 

 

[Jinder]

53 minutes ago, BoSoxBiker said:

Jinder, how do you like these compared to the Newtones  that you liked before the Pandemic shut them down for a while? 

 

The Newtones are a brighter string and are lovely in their own way...the Spectrums are a different beast, though. I’ve just had a set of 11-52 Spectrums delivered to try on my little Sigma CF-100 copy, with its short scale neck and 11s it’s my go-to for when I’m feeling lazy and don’t want a challenge for my left hand...I think the Spectrums will suit it very well, being a fairly bright guitar by nature.

[BoSoxBiker]

On 4/18/2021 at 10:05 AM, Jinder said:

The Newtones are a brighter string and are lovely in their own way...the Spectrums are a different beast, though. I’ve just had a set of 11-52 Spectrums delivered to try on my little Sigma CF-100 copy, with its short scale neck and 11s it’s my go-to for when I’m feeling lazy and don’t want a challenge for my left hand...I think the Spectrums will suit it very well, being a fairly bright guitar by nature.

I've been curious to try the Newtones, but I hear they are still unavailable in the states. Tons left to experiment. Strings By Mail has a suggestion on their site to try Dogal V71D 80/20. I'm recording with my RW SJ-200 this week, so I chose something familiar instead. A hybrid gauge set of John Pearse 80/20 "New Mediums". (13-17-24-32-42-55)  I've got a set of these Thomastiks and a couple different sets of Labellas coming. Fun to explore. Combine this with an unhealthy pick collection....  😀

 

[BoSoxBiker]

On 4/16/2021 at 7:39 AM, Sgt. Pepper said:

That is ridiculous. Strings that expensive should not be prone to breakage. I now buy strings at Gimme Some Strings. I am really digging the Cleartone EQ's.

Are these Cleartone EQs the Cleartones you've talked about a lot? 

[Jinder]

Played my first gig back after close to a year’s layoff last Friday...took the SJ200 with the Spectrums on it. Sounded very nice and balanced plugged in, but by the end of the show the windings on the G string were falling apart and the whole thing sounded quite woolly.

I tend to think they’re more a studio string than an all rounder, based on this...I’ll likely return to Newtones for gig duty on the SJ200 as it responds well to round core strings and they have tended to last for two or three shows before needing to be swapped out.

[Sgt. Pepper]

8 hours ago, BoSoxBiker said:

Are these Cleartone EQs the Cleartones you've talked about a lot? 

Yes. Cleartone makes 3 flavors, PB, 80/20 and EQ's. EQ's are a few bucks cheaper(at least on Gimme Some Strings), and they are a hybrid set with the wound strings of different material to EQ the strings to all project the same.

https://cleartonestrings.com/product/eq-hybrid-metal-acoustic-strings-53-light-12-53/

Edited April 26, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper

[BoSoxBiker]

1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Yes. Cleartone makes 3 flavors, PB, 80/20 and EQ's. EQ's are a few bucks cheaper(at least on Gimme Some Strings), and they are a hybrid set with the wound strings of different material to EQ the strings to all project the same.

https://cleartonestrings.com/product/eq-hybrid-metal-acoustic-strings-53-light-12-53/

Ayuh! I tried these on my HBird last year before filing the nut, leveling the frets, etc, etc. The E-A strings were a bear to fret for me on this set, so off they came. They did have some big tone and volume to them, though. I bought another set to try out now that the 'Bird is set up well, but simply have yet to do so.  I was all over the place with my earlier assessment of these last year.

So, are the the EQs taken directly from the other two sets? I never understood if that was the case or not. Nothing specifically says one way or the other.

The thing I wondered to myself when I read Jinder's initial review of the Thomastiks was if these and the EQs both achieve low-end clarity by removing some phasing cancellation. 

[BoSoxBiker]

3 hours ago, Jinder said:

Played my first gig back after close to a year’s layoff last Friday...took the SJ200 with the Spectrums on it. Sounded very nice and balanced plugged in, but by the end of the show the windings on the G string were falling apart and the whole thing sounded quite woolly.

I tend to think they’re more a studio string than an all rounder, based on this...I’ll likely return to Newtones for gig duty on the SJ200 as it responds well to round core strings and they have tended to last for two or three shows before needing to be swapped out.

Ouch! that's unfortunate. I've had that happen a time or two, but not on $25 strings.

Very cool you got to do a gig! That's a million miles away from where you were 5 months ago. I'm happy for you. Congratulations. You earned it.

[Sgt. Pepper]

22 minutes ago, BoSoxBiker said:

Ayuh! I tried these on my HBird last year before filing the nut, leveling the frets, etc, etc. The E-A strings were a bear to fret for me on this set, so off they came. They did have some big tone and volume to them, though. I bought another set to try out now that the 'Bird is set up well, but simply have yet to do so.  I was all over the place with my earlier assessment of these last year.

So, are the the EQs taken directly from the other two sets? I never understood if that was the case or not. Nothing specifically says one way or the other.

The thing I wondered to myself when I read Jinder's initial review of the Thomastiks was if these and the EQs both achieve low-end clarity by removing some phasing cancellation. 

I have a set on my HD-28V and 000-28. I have a bunch different packs lying around to try. I have a few regular Cleartone in I think 80/20, a few Cleartone EQ's, a set of Optima Vintage Flex, a set of Thomastick Spectrums and for the 12er I have Martin Monel and DR, I think the Rare's. When I had electrics I used only Dean Markley, but I can't stand their acoustic strings. I'm not a fan of Martin strings anymore and D'addario never did it for me. The 12er right now has Thomastik Plectrums on them. They are really nice strings, but not at a nice price.

I got around to rocking the frets on the 00-18 and the 28V. I lowered the action on both, but I need to go a little lower. I'm at about 6/64 Low E and 5/64 High E. No buzz anywhere.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper

[BoSoxBiker]

6 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

I have a set on my HD-28V and 000-28. I have a bunch different packs lying around to try. I have a few regular Cleartone in I think 80/20, a few Cleartone EQ's, a set of Optima Vintage Flex, a set of Thomastick Spectrums and for the 12er I have Martin Monel and DR, I think the Rare's. When I had electrics I used only Dean Markley, but I can't stand their acoustic strings. I'm not a fan of Martin strings anymore and D'addario never did it for me. The 12er right now has Thomastik Plectrums on them. They are really nice strings, but not at a nice price.

I got around to rocking the frets on the 00-18 and the 28V. I lowered the action on both, but I need to go a little lower. I'm at about 6/64 Low E and 5/64 High E. No buzz anywhere.

I'm fast becoming a fan of the Martin Marquis PBs. The last time I used the regular Cleartone was quite some time ago when I first got the HB or maybe even before then on a Taylor 314 that I had for a while before waving the plastic wand at it and turning it into a HB. I do remember them being "tinky" on the attack. I got this latest iteration with the 2nd pack of EQs, but have not used either since buying them.

Did you have much to do on the frets on your newer Martins? Mine was mostly good. A fret or two at the most, IIRC. My memory is stinking ATM. The two most recent Gibsons were just as good on the frets as the D-41. Especially the Dove. 

The DR Rares, if you have not tried them, might be good option for the guitar you have that is the brightest and you might want to otherwise tame. I remember them being a little low-end centric, but my notes on bich about them being "cluttered" and yanking after 12 days. I think I do want to try them again out of fairness. I did end up replacing the nut last month because it was too low now. (no more buying cheap nuts from Amamazon - Or I filed poorly - or both)

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 hour ago, BoSoxBiker said:

I'm fast becoming a fan of the Martin Marquis PBs. The last time I used the regular Cleartone was quite some time ago when I first got the HB or maybe even before then on a Taylor 314 that I had for a while before waving the plastic wand at it and turning it into a HB. I do remember them being "tinky" on the attack. I got this latest iteration with the 2nd pack of EQs, but have not used either since buying them.

Did you have much to do on the frets on your newer Martins? Mine was mostly good. A fret or two at the most, IIRC. My memory is stinking ATM. The two most recent Gibsons were just as good on the frets as the D-41. Especially the Dove. 

The DR Rares, if you have not tried them, might be good option for the guitar you have that is the brightest and you might want to otherwise tame. I remember them being a little low-end centric, but my notes on bich about them being "cluttered" and yanking after 12 days. I think I do want to try them again out of fairness. I did end up replacing the nut last month because it was too low now. (no more buying cheap nuts from Amamazon - Or I filed poorly - or both)

The 00-18 I had to do one fret( I think the 4th or 5th) and the HD-28V a fret or two above the 9th and about half below the 14th. I need to lower the action a but more. I took a smig out of both saddles (going 10 times one way them 180ing the saddle and going 10 times the other way. I did that about 5 times). I can go lower. I also just hit each not slot with about 5 stokes. I put a fresh, and the last set I had of Martin Marquis on the 00-18. Martin strings are good and inexpensive, but I find them a bit to squeaky.

[BoSoxBiker]

19 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

The 00-18 I had to do one fret( I think the 4th or 5th) and the HD-28V a fret or two above the 9th and about half below the 14th. I need to lower the action a but more. I took a smig out of both saddles (going 10 times one way them 180ing the saddle and going 10 times the other way. I did that about 5 times). I can go lower. I also just hit each not slot with about 5 stokes. I put a fresh, and the last set I had of Martin Marquis on the 00-18. Martin strings are good and inexpensive, but I find them a bit to squeaky.

We're about to go through the big Summer-air change. Getting a dose of it this week. Already feeling it. O wish I had tried the "New Mediums" a few weeks ago. I'm going to order a couple of Colosi's uncompensated saddles to match for the 2020's and sand them down to make some "Summer" saddles in about a month. I've got them for the other 3. 

[seamonkey]

On 4/15/2021 at 5:42 PM, Jinder said:

Hi all,

            Has anyone else tried these wires? Normally way more expensive than I can justify, but I bagged a set last year when they were heavily reduced, stashed them in my studio filing cabinet and forgot about them...I plucked them out yesterday and put them on my SJ200 after finally losing patience with the Optimas that haven’t ever worked for me on that guitar.

First thoughts on the Spectrums are that they sound and feel utterly unique. No “new” string metallic zing, VERY smooth under the fingers and unusually high tension across the D and G strings, tapering off to lower tension relatively on the A and E down below and the B and E up top.

Initially, sound wise I felt they were a bit dull. However, with a day of adapting to them, I think I was mistaking an understated complexity for dullness. Each individual string has an identity and doesn’t just sound like a lower or higher pitched version of the one next door. The bottom E and A sound a little woolly taken out of context, but in a chord or a fingerstyle passage with bass movement, they just sit there and fill up the bottom end beautifully with a spreading, full warmth. 
 

The midrange is focused and tight and the top end rich and articulate. These aren’t average workaday strings by any means-they took some getting used to as a player as they sounded played in as soon as they were fitted. Being round core strings, I had to do the usual dance of fitting them, tuning and stretching them and playing them in before cutting the ends, but that wasn’t a major issue. They are silk wrapped at both ends, so protect both bridgeplate and machineheads from wear, which is a nice touch.

My only concern is whether they will fade quickly...being warm strings, if they fade off by 25% it will likely be game over, but I have absolutely no roadmap for these strings as they are quite untypical of anything I have used before.

I perhaps wouldn’t use these on an already overly warm guitar or anything lacking definition. My SJ200 is very balanced and has an immense character (think big, bold, loud and articulate with big but focused bass) which generally comes through whatever strings are on it, so makes for an excellent testbed for different wires. 
 

I’d love to know if anyone else has tried them and, if so, what you think.

Hi, Jinder (also known as one of the reasons i bought my J45 Early) i use Spectrums a lot. amazing strings, and beautiful as well. i've been on a round core kick for a while, Newtones on the Early right now, the Spectrums, 12s and 13s are probably the best sounding best quality strings i've used, although as you said they are not for every guitar, but i've found that the tension is less than others i use, and to me, a 12 sounds like a 12 but feels like an 11, which may be true of most round cores, but particularly true of these. maybe it's the real silk they use. i use their BeBop strings on 4 different hollow body electrics and will probably never change! hope you're doing well. Rick 

[Jinder]

On 5/9/2021 at 6:30 PM, seamonkey said:

Hi, Jinder (also known as one of the reasons i bought my J45 Early) i use Spectrums a lot. amazing strings, and beautiful as well. i've been on a round core kick for a while, Newtones on the Early right now, the Spectrums, 12s and 13s are probably the best sounding best quality strings i've used, although as you said they are not for every guitar, but i've found that the tension is less than others i use, and to me, a 12 sounds like a 12 but feels like an 11, which may be true of most round cores, but particularly true of these. maybe it's the real silk they use. i use their BeBop strings on 4 different hollow body electrics and will probably never change! hope you're doing well. Rick 

Hey Rick! Glad to hear you’re still enjoying the Early. Such great guitars!!

I love Newtones too. I’ve used their Masterclass strings on my SJ200 for quite a while and find them very pleasing to both hands and ears, and long lasting too.

The Spectrums are fabulous strings, I absolutely agree. Even though the windings on the G string took a beating over a long gig playing rhythm and frayed somewhat, I took the guitar out this afternoon and even now it sounds superb. I will keep them on my studio guitars for sure, and maybe go to something more affordably replaceable for gig duty.

[Big G]

I keep thinking about buying the 13's for my SJ-200.  I have been a long time user of the D'Adarrio EXP Coated Mediums...they have good tone, don't break on me and last a long time.  Lately, I have been playing with the LaBella Silk and Steel Medium 12's and have really like the way they sound.  The LaBella's aren't lasting like the D'Addarios but have a nice tone.

I may break down and grab a pack of the Spectrum 13's before too long...maybe after I get my $100 tax refund.

[jedzep]

Try anything, I guess.  I use the T-I's to soften and calm down my brashy sounding guitars.  Maybe they'll work for your big J, suspecting they'll be akin to the Silk and Steel.  They should be noticeably quieter than the D'Addarios from my experience.

[Jinder]

I have a set of the T-I 11s on my Sigma CF-100 copy. They’ve been on there for six months or so and sound and feel fantastic, still. Lovely strings 

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 hour ago, Jinder said:

I have a set of the T-I 11s on my Sigma CF-100 copy. They’ve been on there for six months or so and sound and feel fantastic, still. Lovely strings 

When you charge almost $30 for a pack of strings they better last more than 3 weeks. That is what I expect form a set of Martin strings.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper