80/20’s....meh or yea?

[Glennwillow]

I use Martin 80/20 light strings on my Olson SJ and on my Martin 000-28VS. Both of these guitars benefit from the slightly brighter trebles of the 80/20 formulation compared to phosphor bronze. Most of my guitars, however, use PB light strings.

- Glenn

[LemonCats]

I've always found 80/20s to be much brighter than pbs
so on my 12 string which already is bright due to the extra octaves i string it with pb's exclusively

I think 80/20s would be good on a really dark/mellow sounding guitar if you're trying to brighten it up

[vindibona1]

Not a fan on 80/20's. I did try a set or two recently. They came off within days.

[jcpharm]

i also vote PB over 80/20. tried it once and made the tone feel too thin for my taste. will not go back to them ever again.

[Mr Bojangles]

I usually use 80/20's on my Mahogany guitars and PB's on my Rosewoods.

[Standicz]

Use the strings your guitar likes (to quote Tommy Emmanuel)

I use 80/20 on my hog-ceddar Om, which I usually run through PA... But I wouldn't use it on my spruce-rosewood Dreadnought.

Glad they exist though for my Om!

Btw I came to this forum today for a bit of wisdom on these strings, because a clerk in local shop tried to convince me that " 80/20? No sir, never heard of it . They never produced anything like that. What is it supposed to mean, anyhow?)

I know the wire, chosen by D'Addario in the 30's, is supposed be brass but is called bronze for some reason and I was sure I'm gona find out here and I can lecture the clerk next time... and the first topic on the main page was "80/20..meh or yea" If I believed in divine signs, this would count. Now off I go to the search bar, the noble history of steel strings awaits!


Update: I didn't find anything reasonable. Can anyone confirm that the guitar industry simpy calls "brass" the wrong name "bronze" ouat of tradition and that's that? I mean these people would know the correct name of an alloy they are selling worldwide for allmost a century.

I also read on wikipedia that archaelogists ceased to use these terms and simply use "Copper alloys" instead because there are too many different types.

[Scolaguitar]

Just put a set of Earthwoods Med light,(12-54,) on my Eastman E1ss-cla-ltd. Not so sure. It was a very growly sounding guitar when I got it, think it comes stocked with d'addarios pb lights. Missing the growl at the moment but hoping it comes back after the new string sizzle wears off.

I guess I have to wait a bit more for the 80/20s to settle in but I must say PBs are my comfort zone.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Scolaguitar

Just put a set of Earthwoods Med light,(12-54,) on my Eastman E1ss-cla-ltd. Not so sure. It was a very growly sounding guitar when I got it, think it comes stocked with d'addarios pb lights. Missing the growl at the moment but hoping it comes back after the new string sizzle wears off.

I guess I have to wait a bit more for the 80/20s to settle in but I must say PBs are my comfort zone.

The sizzle will wear off. At that point, you may like them a lot.
They will sound warm and growly for about ten hours or so and then they get to sounding dull.
I like the way they sound on my J45 after a couple of hours playing time and then for the next ten hours or so. Then on to a new set.

[ChuckS]

I'm currently using 80/20s on my three guitars. When I get a new guitar I start with 80/20s, and try a few brands (using John Pearse on 2 guitars and Newtone on 1 guitar). If I don't get what I want in tone I'll try PBs but I haven't done that in quite a while.

[12barBill]

Originally Posted by Standicz

Use the strings your guitar likes (to quote Tommy Emmanuel)

I use 80/20 on my hog-ceddar Om, which I usually run through PA... But I wouldn't use it on my spruce-rosewood Dreadnought.

Glad they exist though for my Om!

Btw I came to this forum today for a bit of wisdom on these strings, because a clerk in local shop tried to convince me that " 80/20? No sir, never heard of it . They never produced anything like that. What is it supposed to mean, anyhow?)

I know the wire, chosen by D'Addario in the 30's, is supposed be brass but is called bronze for some reason and I was sure I'm gona find out here and I can lecture the clerk next time... and the first topic on the main page was "80/20..meh or yea" If I believed in divine signs, this would count. Now off I go to the search bar, the noble history of steel strings awaits!


Update: I didn't find anything reasonable. Can anyone confirm that the guitar industry simpy calls "brass" the wrong name "bronze" ouat of tradition and that's that? I mean these people would know the correct name of an alloy they are selling worldwide for allmost a century.

I also read on wikipedia that archaelogists ceased to use these terms and simply use "Copper alloys" instead because there are too many different types.

The composition of the wrap wire on the wound strings is:

For 80/20 strings - 80% copper and 20% zinc.

For phosphor bronze strings - 92% copper, about 8% tin, and trace amounts of phosphorous.

[mr. beaumont]

Really depends on the guitar.

My experience with 80/20's is that they start out brighter than PB, but after some hours of play, they mellow out nicely in a way PB never does. I like them on an archtop.

[Perchman]

I just put a set of Mangan Round Core 80/20’s on my J35 and I’m really liking them so far. The Pearse and Gibson Masterbuilt 80/20’s were both great too. The Pearse were better once they settled in a bit. The guitar came with 80/20’s and from my experiences, that’s what it needs to sound “right”.

[Jim Owen]

Depends a lot on the guitar. On my Gurian Size 3 R, I’ve used Pearse 80/20s for at least a couple of decades.

They don’t do much on my 000 18s or my J 50.

[Christian Reno]

Interesting… I’ve never experienced an immediate mellowing effect with 80/20s over PBs, but your ears are the ones that count. They can sound pretty bright right off the bat, but that isn’t for long if they are played often. That initial brightness turns to a great tonal balance (for my ears) but the mids are not as strong as PBs. I’ve heard descriptions of 80/20s as a “scooped” frequency response.

I will say that in my case, 80/20s have to be played-in for a couple of hours or so before I start to hear that brightness mellow a bit, hitting their sweet spot. As with most players with multiple guitars of varied wood combinations and age differences, I use the string alloy that fits my preference in sound for each individual guitar, but I tend to have guitars that benefit from a little brightening.

[Standicz]

Originally Posted by Bill Sims

For 80/20 strings - 80% copper and 20% zinc

Which is brass. So why do they call it bronze? Which is an alloy of copper and tin, according to my 6th grade history teacher. Are they simply wrong and OK with that?