Nickel vs Monel

[Wellington]

I've finally not only come to tolerate monels but really enjoy them on my Guild. I still have a couple other sets of strings before I need to order again, but I'm going to give John Pearse Nickel a try in the next order. It's there a significant difference on tone between the nickel and monel?

[Brucebubs]

I've used both but not on the same guitar.

You might find the Monels more neutral, more of the guitars natural tone comes through where the Nickels add a little warmth to the guitar's natural tone.

Both are great on the right guitar.

[penname]

I’ve used Martin Retro Monel, Newtone Masterclass Monels, and Newtone Masterclass Nickel on both my Martin CEO-7 and Guild M20. To my ear there was a noticeable difference between the nickel strings and either of the two Monel strings on both guitars. I prefer the natural sound of the Monels on both, but like the Newtones better on the CEO-7 (by a small margin) and the Retros on the M20.

I say it is worth giving the nickel strings a try and see if you like them.

[Rev Roy]

Might want to give D’Addario Nickel Bronze strings a try too. Liking them on my Collings Traditional. To my ears, warm but crisp.

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by Rev Roy

Might want to give D’Addario Nickel Bronze strings a try too. Liking them on my Collings Traditional. To my ears, warm but crisp.

Once again Rev Roy and I are on the same page.

I have D'Addario Nickel Bronze on my SJ-200 - great volume, warm but clear tone. Don't seem to muddy up as wear in like PB's do on this guitar.

[nitram]

I'll chime in with agreement re. the D'Add NB. They seem to work quite nicely on a J-45.

[Gitaman]

I have been enjoying Monel light on my Journey OF660 for a couple of years until a week ago, I put DeDario NB light. I am in agreement with the rest plus the low E seems a little more balanced with the rest. If you have an OF660, you may welcome this shimmery version of Monel. Nevertheless, Martin Monel will always be one of my favorites. It is a classic.

[Robin, Wales]

Monel (a nickel alloy) is slightly harder than a pure nickel wrap. I have recently tested both on my acoustic archtop. Most noticeable was that pure nickel was warmer and bought out more richness from the 5th and 6th bass strings. I have stuck with using pure nickel rather than monel on that guitar.

[bradeasley]

Originally Posted by Rev Roy

Might want to give D’Addario Nickel Bronze strings a try too. Liking them on my Collings Traditional. To my ears, warm but crisp.

Another vote here for the D'addario Nickel Bronze. Having tried the usual suspects on my dread (PB, 80/20, Monel, NB), I prefer the NB 13-56 set for a traditional style of flatpicking due to their focused, fundamental-dominant tone. Wouldn't necessarily work for all styles and guitars, but they're certainly worth a try.

[mawmow]

Hummm. Interesting in that I would never have thought to compare Monel and Nickel...

I once tried Monel vs D'Addario EJ on an archtop :
Monel sounded jazzy while EJ sounded more country like Mother Mabel.

My Martin OODB came in with Monel and I love that sound with no intention to try anything else.

I have D'Addario Ni/Br on some acoustics I never tought to replace with Monel.

Yeah ! Interesting...

[B....]

Good timing for me on this.
Just recently went thru comparing D'Addario nickel /bronze with the Martin retro monel Tony Rice bluegrass set on my Preston Thompson sinker mahogany / adi dreadnought. I had been stringing it with the 12-53 nickel bronze & went to 13's to get a thicker sound. The tone is the same with both but it's a bit chunkier / less lean with the extra tension of larger gauge. I needed that with low action to avoid fretting out on a couple strings. I have always liked the nickel bronze tone with hog. Drier & more fundamental than the boom & bloom of phosphor bronze. Nickel tames overtone bloom.( rather than create it)

Then I tried the monel & now I understand the full traditional dreadnought sound! I have a H&D T-0014 rosewood for fingerstyle. But for a flat picking dreadnought it has to be mahogany / adi for me, & the monels just enhance that flavor by letting the distinct D sound come through without all the overtone bloom to mask the wood's tone. The n.b. do the same but they seem to be a bit "livelier". Both have brightness & sustain but the monel E6 (.056) for example, gets more playing attention for me. It has kind of a compressed sound which clarifies the fundamental with a heavier pick tone without loss of output. Many cross pickers would benefit from a good audition of these strings IMO.

The tension of the TR bluegrass set of monels (slight lower adjust in gauge of a few of the strings) is exactly the same as the medium D'Addario n.b. The medium gauge monels have a bit more tension than the other two but all the same gauges as the n.b. medium 13s.

[dnf777]

If I remember, there was a reasonable consensus here that Monels needed a good week or so to break in and settle on their sound. IME, they sound horribly “tinny” and shallow on first strum, but really warm up in a week. They seem to work well on my Dred-jr and taylor 322 12-fret.

[Wellington]

Thanks for the comments and insights everyone. To be honest I'm wondering if I should even bother with nickels right now, at least the straight nickel, Warner isn't what I'm looking for, with monels and Sunbeams I feel I've found the ideal balance on my particular guitar with warmth, clarity, crispness. If nickel is softer/warmer sounding yet I'm not convinced I'll like them. We'll see, I still might try a set. I think ill have to add Daddario's nickel bronze to the list to try too.

[B....]

Originally Posted by dnf777

If I remember, there was a reasonable consensus here that Monels needed a good week or so to break in and settle on their sound. IME, they sound horribly “tinny” and shallow on first strum, but really warm up in a week. They seem to work well on my Dred-jr and taylor 322 12-fret.

I don't know where that consensus is sourced but I found the monel tone is stable right off the line, & remains so for a very long time. It's their inherent nature by way of not being nickel plated but nickel alloy. It's the D'Addario nickel bronze that mellow out & warm up after a week or 2. It's THEN that they develop a true retro sound similar to the monels.

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by B....

I don't know where that consensus is sourced but I found the monel tone is stable right off the line, & remains so for a very long time. It's their inherent nature by way of not being nickel plated but nickel alloy. It's the D'Addario nickel bronze that mellow out & warm up after a week or 2. It's THEN that they develop a true retro sound similar to the monels.

Maybe Im mistaken, but I thought a good number of us thought Monels were good on Hog tops and needed a break-in period. Im getting old and confuse easier these days…