Anyone use Martin Monel (Retro) wound strings w. regular trebles?

[PTL]

Does anyone know if the Retro unwound strings (the two highest B & E) are also Monel?

I tried my first Retro yesterday and changed them one by one to hear the tonal comparison. THe wound was as strong or stronger than the D'Addario Phosphor Bronzes of similar gauge. But the trebles are clearly more anemic in both volume and overtones. Anyone else find this about the treble?

And anyone use just the treble of other brands to match the monel wounds? Curious.

Thanks.

[der Geist]

You are not mistaken. I have noticed the same. It is much worse on my 714 than my 000 but very obvious on both. I think the monels are ok with a pick but not so good with bare flesh.

[M Hayden]

I think the B and E are plain steel. Monel is the wrap wire. It’s no different than any other steel string set - the top two strings are plain, and the rest have wrap wire of whatever compound the string set is.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by M Hayden

I think the B and E are plain steel. Monel is the wrap wire. It’s no different than any other steel string set - the top two strings are plain, and the rest have wrap wire of whatever compound the string set is.

That's correct. That's the industry standard: the wound strings have wraps of whatever alloy that is used with that particular set, but the plain steel string B and high E are just plain steel.


whm

[Joe Beamish]

Hmm. Interesting! What then accounts for this phenomenon, described by the OP?

[Osage]

Originally Posted by Joe Beamish

Hmm. Interesting! What then accounts for this phenomenon, described by the OP?

Perception bias. We often hear what we want to hear or at least what we are hoping/expecting to hear.

[beatcomber]

Originally Posted by PTL

I tried my first Retro yesterday and changed them one by one to hear the tonal comparison. THe wound was as strong or stronger than the D'Addario Phosphor Bronzes of similar gauge.

Interesting! I just tried Retros on my 000-15SM, and found them to be significantly quieter and 'softer' than Martin PB strings.

Originally Posted by der Geist

I think the monels are ok with a pick but not so good with bare flesh.

Funny, my takeaway was the exact opposite. The Retros had a nice intimate character when played fingerstyle, but sounded too soft when picked.

[Joe Beamish]

In a couple of days I'll get my guitar back from the shop, where it's being set up. I asked them to put some Retros on it. Now I'm afraid they'll suck!

[M Hayden]

Originally Posted by Osage

Perception bias. We often hear what we want to hear or at least what we are hoping/expecting to hear.

+1
Most plain steel strings sound about the same. It’s only the wrapped strings that vary....

[lowrider]

Originally Posted by Osage

Perception bias. We often hear what we want to hear or at least what we are hoping/expecting to hear.

So you’re saying here that the OP was hoping that the new strings he just went to the trouble of putting on, would sound anemic in the trebles?

“Wishful thinking” can only explain so much.

[Joe Beamish]

Originally Posted by lowrider

So you’re saying here that the OP was hoping that the new strings he just went to the trouble of putting on, would sound anemic in the trebles?

“Wishful thinking” can only explain so much.

No, I think the wound strings, listening to them one by one, had the effect of changing what the OP was hearing in the unwound strings that came after.

Not so much "wishful thinking", but context. The context was new and different.

That's my guess....

[Osage]

Originally Posted by lowrider

So you’re saying here that the OP was hoping that the new strings he just went to the trouble of putting on, would sound anemic in the trebles?

“Wishful thinking” can only explain so much.

Not really. What I'm saying is that the OP was expecting them to sound different, not better, and so they did. We're all guilty of it.

Back when I worked as a recording engineer there was a trick that was used when an artist asked for something like more reverb or compression when there was already too much. You would just turn a knob and say "how's that"? 99% of the time the answer was "great" despite nothing changing.

I used to have a tube bass DI that was great for recording. I also liked to run the bass through it with it's 1/4 output in front an amp playing live. It sounded better to me and I did it for about a year. At a gig, a friend pointed out that what I was doing was just running it through the true bypass, not the actual tube DI circuit. In reality there was no difference in the sound doing what I was doing vs. plugging straight into the amp yet I had been hearing it as better.

[slooky]

Originally Posted by Joe Beamish

In a couple of days I'll get my guitar back from the shop, where it's being set up. I asked them to put some Retros on it. Now I'm afraid they'll suck!

I have retros on one of my guitars, thats what was on it when I purchased it. I kinda like them. They are about 2 months old and still sound fresh.

[Joe Beamish]

Originally Posted by slooky

I have retros on one of my guitars, thats what was on it when I purchased it. I kinda like them. They are about 2 months old and still sound fresh.

Word around the forum is that you have to wait forever before they sound good. Guess I'll find out.

[davidd]

Originally Posted by Joe Beamish

Word around the forum is that you have to wait forever before they sound good. Guess I'll find out.

Don't listen to that hogwash. They sound great right out of the bag and settle in nicely after a few days.