80/20 strings for a J-45?

[Goat Mick]

My J-45 absolutely loves John Pearse 600L Phosphor Bronze lights. Very full and rich tone.

[hubcapsc]

I used to get ej16s (pb) because... well... habit...

When I started playing with a pick I went to Elixirs (pb) because
that's what the guys down at the guitar store used.

I've had some 80/20 (don't know what brand) on my 57 Country
Western recently and hated the jangly brightness of them so
much I took them off right away.

I look forward to reading what you think ...

-Mike

[davidd]

I switched to Martin Monel strings on both my J45's. Way better for my taste than any 80/20 strings I've tried. They have that dry thump that I was missing with 80/20 strings.

[nitram]

I too have a J-45 and it sounds good with a variety of strings - notably, Pearse PB's and D'Add. EJ16's.
For the last 4 months I've had on D'Add XS PB light, coated strings and they are a very good option (though pricey). They have held intonation and avoided tarnishing and still sound as good as any other strings I've tried.
I have no affiliation with D'Addario, for what it's worth.
At the rate they are holding up, they may well be less expensive than I had thought initially, so I'm hopeful.
BTW - I used to change strings about every 2 months.
Just saying.

[emuhunter]

So I feel more than a little silly about this especially since I have multiple packs of the $&^% things lying around, they were my go-to acoustic string for a number of years, and I didn’t just TRY THEM FIRST EVEN THOUGH I KNOW THEY SETTLE INTO A WARM TONE I LIKE AND ARE REALLY EASY TO SOURCE IN EVERY GUITAR STORE NEAR ME LOCALLY!!

I had some time this morning before work and put a set of EJ16s (phosphor bronze D’Addario 12s) on. First strum I thought ‘well duh, once these break in/lose that new string zeal this will TOTALLY work.’ That’s something I hadn’t felt with the other strings so that feels like a problem solved!!

I have a recording session coming up in about 2 weeks so I’m going to leave these on for now until I get through that but I’m really excited to go through these suggestions and keep trying these suggestions out over time.

I really appreciate all your help!! Thank you!!

[blindboyjimi]

Originally Posted by emuhunter

Hi all,

Am I thinking of all this correctly?

If so, which 80/20s should I try first?

Any other types of strings I should look into?

Thank you in advance!!

Absolutely!
I have Elixir 80/20s on my Kopp K-35. I use lights as the short scale and the light build don’t need mediums. Elixirs aren’t for everyone, but I love the slippery feel and they last for months which allows only 4 string changes/year (in rotation with other guitars).

To go really vintagey try Martin Monel LJs which are medium-lights. The usual precautions apply: use only if it’s mahogany and play them a week-10 days and then listen. They sizzle a bit for that time but then literally last a year of fundamentalism beauty and have a traditional non-coated feel. I use them on my vintage mahogany guitars.

[gibpicker]

The Ej16's sound great (the next day) on my Gibson J-30 which has the sound of the "Birds" of the 70's, (some, not all), although I have EB Lights on now which also sound great.

If you can, keep notes on the room humidity each string change as that can through things off greatly in judging the sound of new strings, especially my Gibson.

[catfish]

Originally Posted by davidd

I switched to Martin Monel strings on both my J45's. Way better for my taste than any 80/20 strings I've tried. They have that dry thump that I was missing with 80/20 strings.

That's what I have on my 2016 J-45 Standard right now. But I do use 80/20 Bronze on it, too, for a change.
I tried PB on J-45 only once, Martin 80/20 SP Authentic, and did not like the tone at all. Might try other PB brands some day, but now I am quite happy with Martin Retro Monels in 12.