Martin Retros and my J45 not getting along

[kriso77]

I’ll start by saying that I’m a big fan of Martin Retro strings and have tried them on a few guitars with really great results. They have added some warmth and brought out the natural tone of the guitar. That being said I had high hopes for a great match with my J45. I swapped out a set of Earthwood Medium Light PBs for a set of light Retros and it felt like the tone was sucked out of the Gibson. It was really stringent and ice picky. Curious if others have had similar results and if the Retros sounded better once broken in.

[pickitPaul]

Give it some time, a few weeks to settle in. Do you have a ToneRite? Use it for a few days instead. They do mellow out after a while, and stay that way for ever.

In the future try GHS Vintage Bronze and the Pearse Pure Nickels, DR Sunbeams round core are very good for a J45 too.

[gmel555]

I have also found monels don't work well on some guitars, though I don't have a Gibson to report on. I've had better luck w Pearse Pure Nickel and D'Add Nickel Bronze. In general the break-in period for nickel strings takes too long me, but I know many others love them.

[hairpuller]

I'm usually a mahogany guy and absolutely love GHS vintage bronze. I'd give them a try if the Retros don't settle in soon.

scott

[nitram]

I have a J-45 and I think it sounds great with D'Addario PB 12's and Pearse Bluegrass strings. I've not tried any strings that sounded horrible but I keep going back to D'Adds.

[Rogerblair]

My J45 and I love Monel Retros. May not be your cuppa on that guitar. They do need a few days to stop sizzlin’, but you probably know that already.

Rb

[Brucebubs]

Guitars can be fickle beasts.

DR Sunbeams did amazing things on an ordinary guitar but sounded ordinary on an amazing guitar.

[Zissou Intern]

I like Monel Retros and GHS VB's. I have a set of VB's on my dreadnought and a set of Monels on one of my slopes. You might want to try the VB's next. They are very woody and warm. They don't last as long as Monels, but what does?!

[FoxHound4690]

Originally Posted by kriso77

I’ll start by saying that I’m a big fan of Martin Retro strings and have tried them on a few guitars with really great results. They have added some warmth and brought out the natural tone of the guitar. That being said I had high hopes for a great match with my J45. I swapped out a set of Earthwood Medium Light PBs for a set of light Retros and it felt like the tone was sucked out of the Gibson. It was really stringent and ice picky. Curious if others have had similar results and if the Retros sounded better once broken in.

Yep, sure have had this experience. put a set of D'Addario EJ16's on my Maton 808 and the entire instrument went completely tone dead. Worst strings for that guitar i've ever tried. was so disappointed in them.

The strings i'm in love with at the moment are Martin Eric Clapton Signatures. 12-54 gauge. Got them on my Martin D-16 and my Maton 808 and they sound absolutely fantastic on both guitars. They're a complex sounding string, they're kind of bright but warm at the same time it's hard to explain... and they mellow beautifully after a week. for such cheap strings they really are a great "go-to" string. I love them.

[catfish]

I have a Gibson J-45 Standard made in 2015. Martin Retro Monels sound great to my ears after 2-3 weeks, as was already mentioned. Of course, their tone is different from PB and 80/20. I use Monels and 80/20 on this guitar, tried PB Martin Authentic SP but did not like the tone.
Probably it is just your personal preference, but wait for a while, maybe you'll start to like it.

[robroy]

I tried the Martin Retro’s on my recently purchased 2018 J-45 just to see what they were like. I tried to give them time to mellow but after two days I lost my patience. First I tried replacing just the high E and B strings, reverting to the EJ16 PBs that had been on the guitar to get rid of that strident treble sound and that improved things for another day or so until I just replaced the remaining Retro’s.

I am much more comfortable with the EJ16s on the J-45. I did find a use for my other set of Retro’s though, on my ‘47 Gibson Es-125. That guitar seems to benefit from the brighter Retros. Cheers.

[PajamasMusic]

That's disappointing. I've had good success with them on my K-35, which is a reasonable facsimile. Put me down for also suggesting you give them a few days or a week to settle in.

[Proclaimer888]

Originally Posted by kriso77

I’ll start by saying that I’m a big fan of Martin Retro strings and have tried them on a few guitars with really great results. They have added some warmth and brought out the natural tone of the guitar. That being said I had high hopes for a great match with my J45. I swapped out a set of Earthwood Medium Light PBs for a set of light Retros and it felt like the tone was sucked out of the Gibson. It was really stringent and ice picky. Curious if others have had similar results and if the Retros sounded better once broken in.

Ya might need a few weeks and also put M's on the J45

[bobster7]

As a former string junkie I tried the Monel strings a few years back and they created quite a harsh, thin nasal tone which I though was perfect for blues but not much else. I only use Thomastik on my guitars these days after so many years of trying strings and won’t swop ever again but if Thomastik were suddenly no longer available and I had to settle then I thought the following were a good match for the J-45:

GHS Vintage Bronze
DR Sunbeams
Gibson Masterbuilt

All the above created a warm and very full sound. Bare in mind my J-45 is very different from the standard model so if you have a J-45 with a Sitka top then it will likely respond differently.

[Silly Moustache]

On recommendation from someone here,I bought two sets of Martin Retros for use on my Waterloo.
First set lasted a week before I cod bear them no longer, and the second set is lying around unopened ... somewhere.

Not for me thanks.