Martin Retro Monel Acoustic Strings

[Blueser100]

Sesop it sounds like you like your Guild dressed in nickel over PB too. Try the Martin Monels next time. I got mine at a good discount through Stings and Beyond.

[peshikthe]

vintage d18 and 88 yairi dy45 both have tony rice monels on them,75 kay kdg70 has the retro lights...thought of trying custom light retros but the standard lights sound really nice......great tone..............

[rrgguitarman]

After a little over 2 weeks on my AJ500M...they are beginning to get mellower. Not too bad.

[Rmz76]

Originally Posted by rrgguitarman

Anyone tried these yet?



"vintage tone that brings out the natural, woody sounds in your acoustic"

http://www.stringsandbeyond.com/mareacgust.html

What's the scoop of these? Are they recreations of the strings that would have been stock on a D28 purchased new in the 40's?

[Cone Head]

Originally Posted by Rmz76

Are they recreations of the strings that would have been stock on a D28 purchased new in the 40's?

Believe it or not...this is from a Martin catalog from ...1935.
The Monel strings of the day appear to have been wound on round cores ("piano steel wire" as per Martin's catalog).
Would not have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes - hex-core bronze strings were available MUCH earlier than I had previously believed:
http://www.acousticmusic.org/userfil...%20Catalog.pdf

[cspencer]

Originally Posted by Rmz76

What's the scoop of these? Are they recreations of the strings that would have been stock on a D28 purchased new in the 40's?

Does anyone know what the gauges were back then string for string?

[joegator81]

I tried the Martin Retro Lights for about 2 weeks or so. Keep in mind that my hands kill strings. They still sounded nice and i felt that i could have kept playing them for a while longer but i am in a "try different strings phase" with my D-18. The next string i tried was the Ernie Ball Everlast PB. What a joke those "coated" strings were compared to the Retro's. The Everlasts started to corrode the same day i installed them. They went from very bright to dead within a couple of days. The Retro's really are a great value for the little bit of money they cost. Just really depends if you like the tone or not.

[Jupiter Tarts]

Just threw some Tony Rice signature meds on my MMV. Coming from the Thomastik Plectrums that have been on them for the past month, I must say that the guitar has lost most of its sweetness in the trebles in favor of what feels like a "woodier" tone. Can't say if I like them or hate them yet since I've only had the strings on for half an hour. Of course coming from mediums to lights, the volume is awesome and full again but now I get a few muted sounding notes on barre chords if I don't press down harder. Bah!

[cspencer]

The Retros arrived today and I immediately put them on. First impressions were disappointing. Firstly, my guitar lost volume and the tone sounds as if there's a towel over the guitar. Secondly, the strings felt sloppy. Therefore I can't understand what the hype was about. I've used nickels on acoustics years ago but they're nothing like Martin's PB's. When I first heard the PS's I went wow! This was after years of nickels and 80/20's. I still have a thing for 80/20's but I'm sorry to say the monels will go tomorrow.

[Blueser100]

Originally Posted by cspencer

The Retros arrived today and I immediately put them on. First impressions were disappointing. Firstly, my guitar lost volume and the tone sounds as if there's a towel over the guitar. Secondly, the strings felt sloppy. Therefore I can't understand what the hype was about. I've used nickels on acoustics years ago but they're nothing like Martin's PB's. When I first heard the PS's I went wow! This was after years of nickels and 80/20's. I still have a thing for 80/20's but I'm sorry to say the monels will go tomorrow.

What make/model guitar did you put them on?

[Ikeepem]

It's funny how it took me 4 packs of Tony Rice Monel's on my 2 R/W and 2 Mahog Dreads to appreciate just about every other string brand out there, they didn't work for me at all...back to my TI Spectrums, Martin SP Lifespans and JP's...they make good bird feeder hangers though

[cspencer]

Originally Posted by Blueser100

What make/model guitar did you put them on?

Martin DCPA4 Rosewood.

[PointBlank]

Originally Posted by PointBlank

True that. I put the Tony Rice Monel strings on a Yamaha A3R acoustic/electric guitar for an upcoming duet at church. After a tuff week of practice with them I took them off and put on Elixir Nano-webs instead. Glad I did, the Monel's did not amplify nicely.

Wow I'm gonna quote myself and talk again, that has issue's!

Update:

I took the Martin TR Monels that where laying around from the not so greatest amplified tone on the Yamaha A3R and just put them on my newer Yamaha FG740SFM (Spruce/laminated Flame Maple) budget straight acoustic guitar.

The flame maple is brighter of course but I was looking for a guitar to play fingerstyle primary. Since I don't use my finger nails I use the fleshy part for a more mellow tone. Well the Yamaha was fairly bright and I tried:

Martin Marquis, 80/20 bronze .012-.054 slightly muffled hollow tone and bad finger squeals highlighted by the maple. Cool vintage colored strings though.

Elixir nanoweb, phosphor bronze .012-.056 better but not quite there. I like these strings on other guitar's, not maple apparently.

John Pearse Pure Nickel wound #980M, these I only had on for about an half hour. Never gave them a chance! Just sound too different on that guitar for me to wait. So I can't commit on these strings, it was also the first time I ever tried them. Waiting to go on a different guitar.

Now I'm really liking the .013-.056 Tony Rice sig. MONEL'S tone on the FG740SFM!! A lot less finger noise than the Marquis, and a nice shimmering "woody" tone. Talk about a balanced string tonewise, sweet! I'm even enjoying that balance with the little bit of pick strumming I do. Balance, balance, balance that's what strings should be about. Try these winners on an overly bright guitar and have some sonic peace in the world.

[Mtn Man]

We’ve been using Elixir PB’s for a while now but my son keeps breaking them. Recently we went on a quest to find a string that we liked as much as the Elixirs, that didn’t break so much. Tried a bunch but nothing measured up. Finally tried the Monels. Liked them at first, then after two weeks, my son broke one. Oh well. Went back to Elixirs. Broke one almost immediately. Went back to Monels. Hmm….starting to grow on us. Still using them. Here’s what we like about the Monels:

1. Price. They’re literally a third of the price of Elixirs.
2. They don’t break…as much. We’ve found that the Monels start breaking after about two weeks. The Elixirs break anytime, sometimes in the first few minutes. And don’t bother asking me if I’ve checked the saddle, break angle, yadda yadda. We’ve done all that and we think we have it licked, but he still occasionally breaks a string because he plays hard. Monels seem to be able to withstand his right hand for longer than Elixirs can.
3. Fewer overtones. The Monels don’t have the “growl” of Elixir PB’s, which equates to better cut and easier mic’ing. I think they’re slightly less powerful due to the decreased tension, but the lack of overtones makes up for this.
4. Feel. These are the only uncoated roundwound strings that have a slick feel like Elixirs, which we like. Nice if you do a lot of sliding up and down the neck.
5. Did I mention price?

[Tadpole]

Just tried Martin Monels on my Simon & Patrick Woodland Pro Folk....I love them!
They are just what I was hoping they would be; mellow, warm, woody. I've felt that this guitar was sometimes harsh-sounding with certain chords, didn't matter how easy I strummed. Now I don't hear that over-the-top sound that often bothered me. There is some loss of volume, which doesn't concern me (mostly I use a pick and get all the volume I want for my porch and campfire) but the tone is sweet. I think I've finally settled on the string of choice for this guitar.