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  #16  
Old 04-19-2021, 03:35 PM
beatcomber beatcomber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 815C View Post
I use Thomastik Jazz Swing strings 13-53 on my L-5. I love the feel, sound, and longevity of these strings.
TI flats are the finest available, and they last about a year or more, making them a better value than the price tag indicates.

I just put a set of TI .012's on my newly acquired '59 Gibson L-50. Fantastic.

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  #17  
Old 05-21-2021, 09:50 AM
dc. dc. is offline
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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont View Post
I do .012s but replace the E and B with those from a set of .013s.

I find heavier strings on the bottom doesn't have as much tonal benefit and just makes the guitar harder to play, but up top, it's a big positive difference.
I agree 100% with this; I do the same thing on my Eastman! I have gone as heavy as 14 and 18 on the high E & B as an experiment, but I returned to 13 & 17 as my standard size; I think this is the ideal size for tone and playability.

I find that the low E & A strings tend to get "tubby" faster than the other strings, so I keep singles around and sometimes change the bottom two strings before changing the rest. Also, lighter strings in the bass register last longer and are more articulate, IMO.

Some of you might then ask if this makes the string tension disproportionate. I was concerned about this, so I wrote out a chart with the individual string tensions of my preferred strings. Thomastik Infeld Bebop are probably my favourite archtop strings, and are very well balanced in terms of tension (look at the inside of the string pack label for tensions). I find that replacing the high E & B on sets from other companies with one size heavier string usually makes sense if using the TI sets as a guide for tension. In general, most sets will not be imbalanced in terms of tension if the high E & B are replaced with one size heavier gauge, and I replace these two strings on pretty much all sets except the Thomastik Infelds, which seem ideal to me. Plus the Thomastiks have those brass coated top strings which feel a little bit nicer. Incidentally, the plain steel Thomastiks are slightly lower tension than the equivalent strings from most other companies.

I also like Monels for my Eastman, but I'm not crazy about the Martin "Retros" because they are hex core and quite stiff (although they sound great!). I'm planning on trying the Curt Mangan Monels or Newtone Monels next. I was surprised to find that Newtone makes Monels and am looking forward to trying them.

Last edited by dc.; 05-21-2021 at 10:00 AM.
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  #18  
Old 05-21-2021, 11:48 PM
Dadzmad Dadzmad is offline
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I've settled on Retro Monel 13/s for my Kingpin seems like the small amount of extra mass helps get the most from the plywood body
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  #19  
Old 05-22-2021, 10:52 AM
Ray175 Ray175 is offline
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From my 1961 ES-175D I want pure “thunk”. Never less than 13s and currently strung with Pyramid Gold flatwound 14s that must be 18 months old. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but suits me fine
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  #20  
Old 05-25-2021, 02:21 PM
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ArchtopLover ArchtopLover is offline
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I just put a new set of D'Addario PB .012's on my recently acquired '47 Gibson L-7, acoustic only, no electronics. They sound amazing. I've tried 80/20 bronze and like the extra brightness, but I bought a 10 pc. box of the PB's, so gota use these up first. She had some old nickel flatwounds on her when I unboxed, yuk, very dull sounding.

Interestingly, I have a 1946 Gibson L-50 that really likes lighter gauge strings. When I got it, it had a set of 0.010's (spider webs), and it really played well with these super light strings, very resonant and responsive. Since I am not comfortable playing with such light strings, I put a set of D'Addario EJ13 bronze 80/20 custom lights, 0.011's - 0.052. Surprisingly, this did not improve the tone, just the contrary, the slight increase in tension seemed to quiet the guitar somewhat, kinda difficult to explain, but generally my other archtops tend respond better to slightly heavier strings, but not in this case.
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  #21  
Old 05-26-2021, 09:56 AM
kayakman kayakman is offline
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Default String Guage

Here`s on for Mr De Rosa,what gauge strings do you think Django used?
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  #22  
Old 05-26-2021, 10:36 AM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kayakman View Post
Here`s on for Mr De Rosa,what gauge strings do you think Django used?
Most likely .010's or .011's.

Those guitars use very light strings.
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  #23  
Old 05-26-2021, 10:41 AM
kayakman kayakman is offline
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Default string gauge

Currently I have 13`s on my 38 L5, would 12`s be an acceptable option?
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  #24  
Old 05-26-2021, 03:16 PM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kayakman View Post
Currently I have 13`s on my 38 L5, would 12`s be an acceptable option?
I'd at least give it a go. I had a 30's style L5 copy for a while (Loar 600) and it sounded better with .012s than it did with .013s.
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  #25  
Old 05-27-2021, 07:54 AM
kayakman kayakman is offline
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Default string gauge

I will give it a try.thanks sir.
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  #26  
Old 05-31-2021, 07:44 PM
Loren Tilley Loren Tilley is offline
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Keeping with most of the responses, I use the Pearse New Mediums, which are basically the slightly heavier E and B strings and like a set of light string otherwise: https://www.juststrings.com/jps-310n...a&kw=jps-310nm

I really hate phosphor bronze on an archtop for some reason. Monel or 80/20 sound more right to me.
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  #27  
Old 06-21-2021, 09:17 AM
kayakman kayakman is offline
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Default string gauge

Put the Martin Reto 12s on my L5, nice strings,nice sound,thanks for your help,.
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