Aquila Alchemia strings: nylugut & sugar polymer blend

[sirwhale]

I installed the Alchemia strings yesterday (superior tension), taking off a set of Knobloch CX actives. Here are my initial impressions:

• They are somewhat bright strings
• They are loud
• They are sharper than carbon strings, sharp in the sense of a quick attack with an edge to the sound.
• They appear punchier than carbon strings.
• They are more focused that carbon strings but not as much as rubino strings
• They have a more pleasant percussiveness to them compared to carbon strings
• The G string in my packet does not intonate well. It is playable if you are not fussy, but is annoying. It strangely seems ok around the 7th fret, but goes sharp thereafter, and a bit flat before. The 11th and 12th fret are too far from the proper note however.
• I have hardly noticed the squeak that people mention, but on occasion I get this strange 'traction' between my finger and the string, which could make a sound but isn't noticeable if I am playing loudly.
• The trebles perform well so far tuning down a tone.
• They bend well, like Rubinos, they change pitch quicker when bending than do carbon strings, or the pure sugar strings I have tried. Which might be because of the nylgut. If you play with bends this is useful.

In general I like them and will keep using them, but I'm disappointed by the intonation of the G string, which has happened to me with the last two Rubino sets. As you can't buy single strings for replacements it makes intonation issues a worry.

I'm hoping to make a comparison video soon.

[sirwhale]

Here's a comparison video. I've recorded this song on a few sets of strings now:



Compare with:

Knobloch CX Actives https://youtu.be/xWG2-qu2nGY
Hannabach Goldin https://youtu.be/8QZmnrZdkMQ
Aquila 'experimental sugar' Granato: https://youtu.be/XPlaozkvkV0

[Bax Burgess]

Punchier is a good description. Hearing that the last couple of Rubinos were off in regard to the G string is a little disconcerting - I am a fan of those. Most importantly, congratulations on the baby, may it live a long and healthy life.

[sirwhale]

Thank you Bax!

The Rubinos are such nice strings and I will come back to them but yes I was disappointed. They were two packets from a batch from 2017. I will buy some more soon but ask for a newer batch. I quite like the new basses that come with them, the red ones. So it'll be nice to get some new packets. But for now, I'll play with these Alchemia strings for a while.

By the way, I did find that the Rubino strings sounded well when I took off the faulty G string and substituted it for an interim Knobloch CX G string.

[Carey]

Originally Posted by sirwhale

Thank you Bax!

The Rubinos are such nice strings and I will come back to them but yes I was disappointed. They were two packets from a batch from 2017. I will buy some more soon but ask for a newer batch. I quite like the new basses that come with them, the red ones. So it'll be nice to get some new packets. But for now, I'll play with these Alchemia strings for a while.

By the way, I did find that the Rubino strings sounded well when I took off the g string ans substituted it for an interim Knobloch CX G string.

From your description I'd like to try the Rubinos, and will probably sub a
Knobloch carbon third, as well. I got some Alchemia trebles recently,
liked some things about them, but when I went back to my J45s, which are
far from perfect, it was with relief. One beef I have with all the Aquila strings
I've tried is that, to my mind, the tension is always so high, and thus the overtones can't come out the way I'd like to hear them (think piano v harpsichord).

One opinion; YMMV.

[sirwhale]

Originally Posted by Carey

From your description I'd like to try the Rubinos, and will probably sub a
Knobloch carbon third, as well. I got some Alchemia trebles recently,
liked some things about them, but when I went back to my J45s, which are
far from perfect, it was with relief. One beef I have with all the Aquila strings
I've tried is that, to my mind, the tension is always so high, and thus the overtones can't come out the way I'd like to hear them (think piano v harpsichord).

One opinion; YMMV.

Yes Aquila tend to have higher tension strings. At least with Alchemia you can buy two different tensions. Personally I like the higher tension varieties because I have a rough technique.

[Carey]

Originally Posted by sirwhale

Yes Aquila tend to have higher tension strings. At least with Alchemia you can buy two different tensions. Personally I like the higher tension varieties because I have a rough technique.

Yes, I understand that. I'm thinking that the Alchemia trebles would work
well on a slightly shorter-scale guitar, and I hope to try that soon.
They have some nice qualities that I haven't heard in other strings.

[sirwhale]

I've just been thinking about it and my fingers are hurting a bit today. I think next time I'll try the normal tension Alchemia strings.

I've checked on the Aquila website and, of the trebles, the superior tension Alchemia strings have higher tension on the first string

[Villamarzia]

Just switched to Alchemia normal tension trebles yesterday and they indeed feel more like med/high tension. For basses, I order the red basses of the rubino series and boy they are good. Even if it is early to come to a conclusion, I really like this combo. Mimmo (owner of Aquila) is indeed thinking about offering red basses with Alchemia as a standard.

[sirwhale]

There's another video of these strings in the show and tell, now with the basses on also:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...45#post6150745
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=556366

[lar]

sugar polymer blend?

I'm thinking one of the benefits of these strings is that after you remove them, you can have them for dessert.