80/20 bronze vs PB String question.

[blindboyjimi]

Originally Posted by Atalkingsausage

Do 80/20 Bronze strings go dead and/or corrode faster than Phosphor Bronze strings do?

No....I need 10 characters to post., but "NO".

[dmoss74]

me, personally? i've never liked 80/20 strings. i have maybe strung them up five times since 1973. i will go to my grave being a pb guy.

too bright at the onset, and too quick to go dead. and i can live with old pb strings for a while (but it takes me a long time to deaden strings), even after what i would consider dead. pb strings can develop some character when they are old. at least until they aren't tune-able anymore. there was never any "sweet spot" for me with 80/20s.

not to mention that i never liked the way 80/20s look. the pale yellow of the wound strings was not aesthetically pleasing, compared to the nice amber hues of the pbs.

obviously, ymmv. i'm just chiming in.

[slopeshoulder]

In my experience, 80/20s don't last as long as the PBs. I really like the John Pearse PBs.

[pfflyer55]

Yes they do corrode faster than PB's. The copper content is higher so more patina and more rust. I just went to Daddario EXP13's 80/20 treated and they are lasting well longer than standard 80/20's.

[JWBishop]

I think when talking about how long a string lasts, it is more meaningful to know the number of hours played on a set rather than how many weeks they lasted. Some people play a lot of hours in a day, while others get just a few minutes a day.

I know people don't keep a record of how many hours they played a set, but since I am doing the elixir test right now; I have been doing that and it has made me more aware of playing time.

[redir]

I have always liked 80/20 better then PB except for the fact that they go dead sooner. That's why I was thrilled when the coated EXP's in 80/20 came out.

[Clifdawg]

I've been using PB's almost exclusively for a couple of years. I tried a set of Martin 80/20 Marquis lights on a dread I had a while back, and they sounded glorious for two days. Third day, dying. Week later, dead. Back to PB's, which didn't sound as good initially, but lasted much, much longer.

I find PB's to be much richer in tone on smaller-bodied guitars, though.

[zabdart]

Everybody's different. How much do your hands sweat when you play? How much do you play in terms of hours each day? How "hard" do you play? What sounds "good" to you? How does the combination of woods in your guitar respond to the kind of strings you're using? This is all very subjective stuff, and all you're going to get from any of us are opinions based on our own individual experiences. Other than that, generalizations do not necessarily apply in every case. Like they used to say in the 60s, "You've got to go for yourself."

[Sonics]

Originally Posted by Atalkingsausage

Do 80/20 Bronze strings go dead and/or corrode faster than Phosphor Bronze strings do? I Don't think I've ever gone through strings this fast before.

Wasn't tin phosphide added to copper (Phosphor Bronze) precisely for the reason of extending string life?

[Looburst]

Many of the 80/20s just don't sound good to me personally. I much prefer the PB sound. Seems more rounded in tone overall. I guess they might work better for bluegrass players but not my cup of tea. I've never used them but have heard them on guitars. For instance, on my Waterloo the PBs by D'Addario, in light gauge sound incredible. Same goes on my 032 bigger jumbo Lowden but on the Gibson Advanced Jumbo the PB John Pearse' sound better. Corrosion is based solely on your personal skin chemistry, as was mentioned. Mine last for a good while but my friend can play a new set of any strings and within a couple of hours they're baked!

[Pete'67]

I think it really depends on the specific guitar and your own taste.

Reading a lot of postings it would make perfect sense to string my J-45 with PB. But to me it always sounds muddy and not punchy enough. Maybe the guitar resonates that much. John Pearse PB was ok, all other PB's I couldn't stand.

With 80/20 it has all I want. John Pearse 80/20s are great on that guitar. Also Gibson Masterbuilt 80/20s are fine, which were the ones originally the guitar was shipped with from the factory.

So my conclusion is: you have to trust your ears instead of doing too much theoretical research.

[Silly Moustache]

Preferences are personal and subjective - otherwise, I suppose, we wouldn't have the choice of the two types.

As far as string life goes, I believe that is also an impossible question to answer as it depends on so many variables - including relative humidity, heat variables, amount of usage, and the players style, personal hygiene, sweatiness, acids, etc., and, of course,the effect of changing temperatures in traveling etc.

I can get a good three months or more out of a set of PBs, but I have friends that can kill a set of uncoated strings in an hour.

There is also a personal judgement as to when a set of strings is past it best - some performing pros like a new set every performance, and I know their are some who only consider changing strings when they are so degraded that they break!

Each of us has to go the long route of trying out what is on the market until one finds the make, gauge, and material that suits one's purpose.

For me despite many experiments, I have long settled on D'addario PBs for everything but Dobro and mandolin, because I tend to favour the Jim Dunlop PB offerings for them.

Gauge is a simple decision for me:

For dreads, National wood body, Weissenborn, and acoustic archtops :- EJ17s (on dreads I swap out the 1st and 2nd with Elixir anti-rust 12 & 16).

On 12 string - EJ37s (tuned down a tone).

On 000, 00, and smaller - EJ16s.

Keeps things pretty simple.

[Fatstrat]

Not much to add here. Except that I agree that 80/20 strings don't last as long as Phosphor Bronze. But that's a secondary concern to getting the right tone. On some guitars IMO the 80/20's are a must.