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Anyone use Nickel wound strings on their Acoustic Guitar???


onewilyfool

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I put some on a Huss&Dalton slope shoulder dread, and they sound pretty good. I was trying to tame some of the highs and it helped!! Anyone else try them? I understand in the "old days" that nickel wound were the standard. Nickel wounds on my electrics last a LOOOOONG time.....

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Yup - I have been using nickel wound strings for a while now and at present string with D'Aquisto or John Pearce nickel round wounds. I actually started using them because I slap DeArmond pickups on my acoustics and they read the nickel strings better than bronze. Then I found myself just liking the sound of the nickel strings unplugged.

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About 10 years ago I was in Weezer Idaho for the National Fiddle Contest. There were nothing but GIbson Guitars there. Every backup player had an original Advanced Jumbo-J-45 or Southener Jumbo. They all played nickel strings. They were amazing players and they all had that wonderful sound you's expect from a Gibson. Gibson quit making the strings and they were hard to find. The guys would play them 'til they broke. Well there was a guy from Music Machine in Kenewick Wa. there. He was a dealer and he called Gibson in Elgin and had them make a gross of the nickel sets. The Texas guys were buying them by the box. Well Gibson shut down the String Division and the strings are history. I still have several sets and I have one J-45 that I use as a rhythm guitar and nothing else compares to it.

 

I haven't tried any of the other brands but I do know once you get over the sound of all the other choices you will be amazed at how good Nickel strings can sound on a J-45.

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About 10 years ago I was in Weezer Idaho for the National Fiddle Contest. There were nothing but GIbson Guitars there. Every backup player had an original Advanced Jumbo-J-45 or Southener Jumbo. They all played nickel strings. They were amazing players and they all had that wonderful sound you's expect from a Gibson. Gibson quit making the strings and they were hard to find. The guys would play them 'til they broke. Well there was a guy from Music Machine in Kenewick Wa. there. He was a dealer and he called Gibson in Elgin and had them make a gross of the nickel sets. The Texas guys were buying them by the box. Well Gibson shut down the String Division and the strings are history. I still have several sets and I have one J-45 that I use as a rhythm guitar and nothing else compares to it.

 

I haven't tried any of the other brands but I do know once you get over the sound of all the other choices you will be amazed at how good Nickel strings can sound on a J-45.

I wish you hadn't said that. Now I'll have to try them on mine and open the dang wallet up again. Hopefully, there will be some good recommendations and endorsements for brands hereon. Hope I have to come back here to thank you.

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About 10 years ago I was in Weezer Idaho for the National Fiddle Contest. There were nothing but GIbson Guitars there. Every backup player had an original Advanced Jumbo-J-45 or Southener Jumbo. They all played nickel strings. They were amazing players and they all had that wonderful sound you's expect from a Gibson. Gibson quit making the strings and they were hard to find. The guys would play them 'til they broke. Well there was a guy from Music Machine in Kenewick Wa. there. He was a dealer and he called Gibson in Elgin and had them make a gross of the nickel sets. The Texas guys were buying them by the box. Well Gibson shut down the String Division and the strings are history. I still have several sets and I have one J-45 that I use as a rhythm guitar and nothing else compares to it.

 

I haven't tried any of the other brands but I do know once you get over the sound of all the other choices you will be amazed at how good Nickel strings can sound on a J-45.

 

But are nickels for acoustics different from nickels for electrics?

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I'm just using D'Addario's 12's which i had for my L-7 and tried them on this guitar...they are electrics I think..I would also be interested in which brands are best acoustically!!

Do you like them? Whaddya think?

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Try a set of the Newtone Archtop Series - Double Wraps Nickel... been using the 56 -13's on a 2005 SJ for quite awhile, like the feel, great sound a little laid back. Round core so I'm told that they are a little lower in tension.

 

M.

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Try a set of the Newtone Archtop Series - Double Wraps Nickel... been using the 56 -13's on a 2005 SJ for quite awhile, like the feel, great sound a little laid back. Round core so I'm told that they are a little lower in tension.

 

M.

What kind of longevity have you been getting with these???

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Was it the way i was raised ?

 

I don't think I've SEEN or even could identify what a nickel wound string would look like ?

 

Come to think of it though, I must have seen a pack or two here or there since I have strung up my Gibson Firebrand electric from time to time, though that thing hasn't come out of its shell now for over 25 years [crying]

 

Being used to Phosphor Bronze for years and years and years, I could only imagine how quicly the nickel strings would come off as soon as I had slapped them on.

 

Though probably should just give 'em a gentleman's try just for posterity sake [confused]

 

..........NAH [flapper]

 

Harmonics101

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Onewilyfool - the Newtones seem to last quite a long time... I don't gig any longer but I'm still managing a couple hrs. a day. The double wrap is a bit finer than the regular single wrap string... might help? I was initially using these on my Eastman Archtop... liked the overall feel and decided to slap a set on my SJ. I'll add that I wasn't all that happy with the sound I was getting out of the SJ... these things really changed the whole personality of that guitar. As i mentioned, the sound is a little more laid back so you need to lean into them a bit till you get used to it

 

Worth a try IMHO.

 

M.

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I have been using John Pearse #960L Pure Nickel Wound on my 2007 Blues King for the last 4 years. I usually get about 6 months out of them, but I only play about 3-4 hours a week on this guitar.I love the sound over 80/20's or phosphur bronze for this guitar.I took out all the USP components and boy that made a difference in it's sustain. I'm gonna try a mix of mediums and lights on my Fullers J-35 to get me a bluegrass set and see how they work on this guitar. How's yours sounding with nickels?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I put some on a Huss&Dalton slope shoulder dread, and they sound pretty good. I was trying to tame some of the highs and it helped!! Anyone else try them? I understand in the "old days" that nickel wound were the standard. Nickel wounds on my electrics last a LOOOOONG time.....

 

well I believe bronze strings didn't come till the seventies?

so all those old gibson and martin players were using nickel strings

and sounding really good, Thom bresh uses nickel on his dad's

guitar, and recon's it has never sounded better.

 

Dave t.

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Dave t, Phosphor bronze are a relatively late development, but bronze strings were used well before the 70s. I used them personally from about 64 on. I think they were what we now call 80/20s to distinguish them from phosphor bronze. But in those pre-internet days, we mostly played on "guitar strings" without much thought as to what they were, although we might have brand favorites. Of course professional guitarists probably were much more aware of differences in string types.

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But are nickels for acoustics different from nickels for electrics?

They are much the same but you have to be careful as the windings around the ball end my be to long on electric strings. Gibson electric monosteels have windings that are so long that the winding for the ball goes over the saddlle. To counter this many of the old guys would just slip several clipped off ball ends over the string. This would shorten the length of the winding being dealt with. The new acoustic strings don't have that problem.

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A very kind forum member (and fellow AJ player) sent me a set of John Pearse Pure Nickel acoustic strings (12-54) to try on my AJ. I love the way the AJ sounds with old strings, so have only just changed from the worn-out Martin 80/20 12s that were on it for the last few months, and put the Pearse strings on last week.

 

I'm extremely fussy about strings, but I REALLY like the nickels. They're a bit less "furry" sounding than Phosphor Bronze and aren't too dissimilar to a set of 80/20s that have been played in for a couple of weeks. Not too overtone-heavy, strong emphasis on the fundamental and a nice tone which, as has been said before in this thread, is a bit more "laid back" than bronze or phosphor.

 

They'll stay on a good while-they're not distributed at all by the people who import JP strings into the UK, so I'd better not get too attached!

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Found an old pack of EBall Super Slinky 9's in the back of my string drawer which never made it to my old Guild electric after I discovered Dean Markley Helix Star 10/49's, so I decided to put them on my Oahu lap steel. What a terrific voice on those sucka's. Think I'll try a nickel string on one of my flat tops.

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I was around 14 when I gave my girlfriend an ID bracelet on the school trip bus going to Palisades Park circa 1965. By the time we came out of the Tunnel of Love her wrist had turned green. Is that what we're talking about? My big sister just said one word when I got home and told her; 'NICKEL', but she was thinking 'LOSER'.

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