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Post by epaul on Apr 2, 2023 22:29:46 GMT -5
... As Todd's IdiotJam guitar tech, I can attest that his all-mahogany Larrivee likes Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 bronze strings... Down in Iowa, Todd hurriedly grabs a pencil and a somewhat-clean sheet of paper and on it writes "Elixir Nancyweb 80/20" and then stuffs the paper inside his guitar.
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Post by Marty on Apr 2, 2023 22:38:57 GMT -5
At some point, I happened to try a set of D’Aquisto nickel strings that were to Tony Rice’s specification. I wasn’t going through strings as quickly anymore and no longer cared about the price. I used those for a while even though their intonation was a little weird. I’d be surprised if D’Aquisto actually had a string foundry and I don’t know who actually made them. D'Addario makes both of those. In the day Black Diamond were the cheap brand that could be had almost anywhere. Doug liked them. These days they are not so cheap and were originally made by LaBella, may still be. Darco strings came about in the 70s as a Venture between D'Addario and CF Martin but the deal never worked out so CF Martin bought the company and they make all the Martin and Darco strings and probably a few other brands as well. Very possibly SIT. Which is bs because if you install the strings the way SIT tells you to they will stay in tune better, so will any other brand. Bob Taylor told me that Elixir strings are made to spec by 4 different companies and Elixir only coats the strings. They sell so many strings that no one company will supply all their needs. If you like that "broken in" sound of your strings try D'Addario Flat Tops. Semi-flatwound bronze with a warm broken in tone and a semi smooth no squeak surface. But they are NOT cheap. It might be Optima that sells "gold" strings. Nice idea because gold does not tarnish. But to put enough gold on the string to actually make that work they would have to charge a arm & leg for 1 set. GHS also has some interesting sets. My go to set for electric are their Burnished Nickel Rockers. No matter the brand if you are an electric non string bender try any set with a wound 3rd. Much fatter tone and no dominate 3rd string chords. But you will have to adjust the intonation on the 3rd string and the pickup settings. After so many years of doing setup work I've learned a few things about using the right string and that's why I say use what works. Many times I've gotten a customer to try something different than what they "usually use" and solved the problem. I forgotten one thing. When I said never use a plain 3rd on a acoustic there is a exception, Nashville tuning. Because the G string is a octave higher it may intonate better than the regular wound 3rd. Good night.
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Dub
Administrator
I'm gettin' so the past is the only thing I can remember.
Posts: 19,915
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Post by Dub on Apr 2, 2023 23:27:26 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure the reason I can't play guitar is because I haven't found the right strings. That and you haven’t watched one of the YouTube vids that share THE secret that THEY don’t want you to know. The ONE SECRET that will open up the fretboard and TRANSFORM you’re playing.
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Post by jdd2 on Apr 3, 2023 1:34:50 GMT -5
Strings are actually spaghettified karma, which is why some kinds sound better than others.
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Post by aquaduct on Apr 3, 2023 5:07:33 GMT -5
Interesting, John & Mike. I really like the sound of fresh strings. They do change a bit after a day or two but, to me, hitting that first big chord with new strings sounds great. The crazy guy I used to play with never changed strings. His guitar always sounded dull, thuddy(is this a word?) and dead to me. He thought it sounded wonderful. Of course, he was crazy. I do find that the D’Addarrio XS strings will sound great to me for 6-7 months which is amazing. Those suckers last and last. Now, one thing I have to confess is that I have high frequency deafness in one ear. It’s up in the pretty high frequencies, but maybe new strings don’t sound as bright to me because of that and maybe older strings sound more dull to me. The guy I used to play with was crazy whether I heard his guitar accurately or not, though. You can count me in with John and Mike too. Don't like the unpredictability of new strings as they settle in. So I actually stretch them all by hand (put my pick under them and pull up on the length of the string, they'll usually go about a quarter tone flat requiring another round of tuning them to pitch) which will knock out some of the shininess but keep them in tune for a few months. I don't really change them again until tuning problems start to resurface.
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Post by John B on Apr 3, 2023 7:04:25 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure the reason I can't play guitar is because I haven't found the right strings. That and you haven’t watched one of the YouTube vids that share THE secret that THEY don’t want you to know. The ONE SECRET that will open up the fretboard and TRANSFORM your playing. acoustictalk.proboards.com/post/984690/thread
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Post by drlj on Apr 3, 2023 7:09:53 GMT -5
You may recall a commercial for Clairol (or some other women's hair product) from the 1960s "Only her hairdresser knows for sure" As Todd's IdiotJam guitar tech, I can attest that his all-mahogany Larrivee likes Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 bronze strings. (I don't particularly like 80/20 bronze strings on spruce-topped guitars, they sound kinda tinny to my ears. But on a mahogany or cedar topped guitar, they add some needed brightness and some color to the overtones) Don’t tell him. I have been selling him those very strings in my own computer printed packaging (I call them Todd’s Special Magic Strings)at a 400% markup for years. Keep quiet and I will cut you in for 30%. Aqua, I stretch my strings out in a similar fashion. I usually stretch them, tune, then stretch them at least one more time going the entire length. After that, they stay in tune nicely.
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Post by Marshall on Apr 3, 2023 7:24:04 GMT -5
Here's a Kostal with Elixirs. Same tune, different sonic colours. OK. What's with the funky nut on that guitar? Why is it carved out between the strings? Is that supposed to do something ? Just for looks?
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Post by drlj on Apr 3, 2023 7:37:50 GMT -5
Here's a Kostal with Elixirs. Same tune, different sonic colours. OK. What's with the funky nut on that guitar? Why is it carved out between the strings? Is that supposed to do something ? Just for looks? kostalguitars.com/His guitars have a scalloped and compensated bone nut. If you check out the pictures, some look quite different than the one in the video but he has them on all his guitars. Yes, they are supposed to do something. I don’t know if they actually do. His guitars have a base price of $20,000.
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Post by Marshall on Apr 3, 2023 7:52:58 GMT -5
His guitars have a base price of $20,000. In that case I'll order 2.
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Post by John B on Apr 3, 2023 7:54:03 GMT -5
You may recall a commercial for Clairol (or some other women's hair product) from the 1960s "Only her hairdresser knows for sure" As Todd's IdiotJam guitar tech, I can attest that his all-mahogany Larrivee likes Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 bronze strings. (I don't particularly like 80/20 bronze strings on spruce-topped guitars, they sound kinda tinny to my ears. But on a mahogany or cedar topped guitar, they add some needed brightness and some color to the overtones) Don’t tell him. I have been selling him those very strings in my own computer printed packaging (I call them Todd’s Special Magic Strings)at a 400% markup for years. Keep quiet and I will cut you in for 30%. Aqua, I stretch my strings out in a similar fashion. I usually stretch them, tune, then stretch them at least one more time going the entire length. After that, they stay in tune nicely. When changing strings, I tune, stretch, tune, stretch, tune, stretch, etc., until the string stays in tune after a stretch. If the strings bind at all in the nut this will get them seated pretty well. This I learned from my days changing strings on 5-10+ guitars a day at the big box. I must admit I like the zing of new strings. But I also like the dull thuddiness that can come from really old strings. Old strings on an old archtop - that's a great sound.
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Post by drlj on Apr 3, 2023 7:54:42 GMT -5
His guitars have a base price of $20,000. In that case I'll order 2. You can save a few bucks if you sunburst it yourself.
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Post by Marty on Apr 3, 2023 8:07:13 GMT -5
I have no problem with that on hex core strings but don't do it on round core strings as it is too easy to make the windings slip and ruin the string.
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Post by John B on Apr 3, 2023 8:19:56 GMT -5
When I was at guitar school Jason K was moving back to Phoenix and getting ready to set up his shop there. I think he was just finishing up his time with Somogyi after graduating from the school and teaching there for a while. I recall that after his time with Somogyi he was pretty unimpressed by the school's relative sloppiness in its build approach.
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Post by John B on Apr 3, 2023 8:21:17 GMT -5
I have no problem with that on hex core strings but don't do it on round core strings as it is too easy to make the windings slip and ruin the string. Oops. In the big box we probably didn't sell ANY round core strings. I just did that on the set of round core strings I just put on my guitar. Nothing's unwound. YET.
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Post by drlj on Apr 3, 2023 8:54:59 GMT -5
I have gotten round core strings from Curt Magnan and he enclosed a printed warning about what not to do with round core strings.
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Post by Rob Hanesworth on Apr 3, 2023 10:26:33 GMT -5
That and you haven’t watched one of the YouTube vids that share THE secret that THEY don’t want you to know. The ONE SECRET that will open up the fretboard and TRANSFORM your playing. acoustictalk.proboards.com/post/984690/threadI've heard Tommy say you have to change string type because your guitar gets tired of the same strings after a while.
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Post by drlj on Apr 3, 2023 11:02:57 GMT -5
I've heard Tommy say you have to change string type because your guitar gets tired of the same strings after a while. Guitar players say a lot of sketchy things. James Taylor said guitars wear out over time and no longer sound good. That should kill the vintage guitar market!
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Dub
Administrator
I'm gettin' so the past is the only thing I can remember.
Posts: 19,915
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Post by Dub on Apr 3, 2023 11:44:30 GMT -5
Thom Bresh used to tell Merle Travis’s story about being asked by a young boy what kind of strings he used. Travis’s comment was “Well GIT-tar strings of course. What kind of strings did he think I would use?”
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Dub
Administrator
I'm gettin' so the past is the only thing I can remember.
Posts: 19,915
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Post by Dub on Apr 3, 2023 12:45:12 GMT -5
I neglected to mention, in my earlier post, that I'm currently using D'Addario XL Chromes (ECG25, 12-52) on both my Kennedy archtop and my Telecaster. My choice for these guitars varies; they don't always have the same setup. Sometimes the archtop gets D'Addario Half Rounds (EHR360, 13-56) and I've gone as heavy as Newtone Archtop (AM-H, 14-58). The Newtones are double wrap round nickel over a round core. I've also used Pyramid Gold Vintage Flatwounds of varying weights from time to time.
Sometimes the Tele gets .010s or .011s.
I'm always messing around with both archtop and Tele.
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