I'm not loving Martin Retro (monel) strings

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by fazool

I was excited by people's comments and bought a set of Martin Retro (monel) strings for my mahogany Martin 000-15.

I'll keep them on a bit longer but I don't like them. I had Elixir Nanoweb PB's but these Retro's sound strange. To me, they seem too bright compared to PB's. The PB's had a very lush sound. These sound very thin like I lost all my mahogany goodness.

Retros will sound harsh immediately after putting them, but as you play it, the harshness will be gone and you'll have a lovely great tone out of them

[thesjkexperienc]

With a mahogany guitar I was expecting you to say they they were not bright enough! But, after Elixers everything will sound bright, sustaining and in tune.

[pandaroo]

I have been experimenting strings on my Collings and I just put these on a week ago. I have a few more to try out including the new Martin Authentic Strings, but so far, this is currently the best strings for my Collings.

[GeneralDreedle]

I have them on my Gibson Southern Jumbo and so far I like them,

[jazzguy]

I do understand strings needing a day or two to settle in, but I typically stretch my strings when installing before they are fully up to pitch. But I wonder about any string needing a week or two to settle in. I wonder if it is more about our ears settling in to the string vs the other way around?

[beatcomber]

I put a set of the Retro lights on my '64 Gibson F25 Folksinger on Monday, and today is Thursday, so I guess they are only starting to come into their own now, based on what folks say.

They definitely have a more uncolored tone vs. the D'Addario PB I had on before. At this stage, I would describe them as "crisp" and "chime-y," not unlike an electric guitar. I am not hearing "woody" or "warm," but perhaps those qualities haven't revealed themselves yet, I'm not sure. We'll see what happens next week. Sustain is very good.

I very much like the feel of these strings, the slightly lower tension vs. PB makes it more comfortable and easier to play, and barre chords in particular come out cleaner, with less rattle.

I am missing the lush overtones that PB produces, but the flipside of that is, in my hands, PB tends to become dark and lose its bloom fairly quickly, within a couple of weeks. My guitar is not particularly lush-sounding anyway, so the Retros kind of emphasize its inherent strengths, which makes sense considering it probably was voiced by Gibson with Monels in mind back in '64.

With the D'Addario PB, I was getting a bit of an unpleasant boom from the D and G strings if my pick attack was too hard, but I am not getting this with the Retros. They sound much cleaner overall, without the overtones that PB produce. These strings are more dynamic and punchy than the PB, so they kind of encourage a softer attack anyway, since they don't need help in that area.

Both PB and Monels have their relative strengths and compromises, but in the long run I may well find that the Monels are my preferred strings for the F25. We'll see in a week or two how they are holding up before I draw any final conclusions.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by fazool

I was excited by people's comments and bought a set of Martin Retro (monel) strings for my mahogany Martin 000-15.

I'll keep them on a bit longer but I don't like them. I had Elixir Nanoweb PB's but these Retro's sound strange. To me, they seem too bright compared to PB's. The PB's had a very lush sound. These sound very thin like I lost all my mahogany goodness.

Interesting. I don't like Monels either but my experience is they sound very dull.

[zephystar]

I just installed my first set on my on my 000-15M. At first indeed they were a little jangly but I played it for a few hours tonight and they are already starting to mellow. I was quite happy with the stock set but I could see liking these more if they continue to mellow.

[gfa]

It's playing time, not clock time, that matters.

[beatcomber]

Originally Posted by beatcomber

I put a set of the Retro lights on my '64 Gibson F25 Folksinger on Monday, and today is Thursday, so I guess they are only starting to come into their own now, based on what folks say.

They definitely have a more uncolored tone vs. the D'Addario PB I had on before. At this stage, I would describe them as "crisp" and "chime-y," not unlike an electric guitar. I am not hearing "woody" or "warm," but perhaps those qualities haven't revealed themselves yet, I'm not sure. We'll see what happens next week. Sustain is very good.

I very much like the feel of these strings, the slightly lower tension vs. PB makes it more comfortable and easier to play, and barre chords in particular come out cleaner, with less rattle.

I am missing the lush overtones that PB produces, but the flipside of that is, in my hands, PB tends to become dark and lose its bloom fairly quickly, within a couple of weeks. My guitar is not particularly lush-sounding anyway, so the Retros kind of emphasize its inherent strengths, which makes sense considering it probably was voiced by Gibson with Monels in mind back in '64.

With the D'Addario PB, I was getting a bit of an unpleasant boom from the D and G strings if my pick attack was too hard, but I am not getting this with the Retros. They sound much cleaner overall, without the overtones that PB produce. These strings are more dynamic and punchy than the PB, so they kind of encourage a softer attack anyway, since they don't need help in that area.

Both PB and Monels have their relative strengths and compromises, but in the long run I may well find that the Monels are my preferred strings for the F25. We'll see in a week or two how they are holding up before I draw any final conclusions.

Here's another plus for the Monels...

My capo is an ancient Hamilton like the one below, and it just wouldn't work with D'Addario PB lights on my F25. Strings would choked or rattle, and the intonation got all whacked, which kind of surprised me because I figured it would pair well with the Gibson's ruler-flat fretboard.

Yesterday I tried the Hamilton with the Retro-strung F25 and it worked perfectly, all of the strings rang out clearly and in perfect pitch. I'm guessing that the lower tension of the Retros made the difference.

[mawmow]

Well, as I got an archtop last year (see my The Loar LH-700VS in the archtop section) I tried these and found they sounded jazz while D'Addarios gave a country sound (say Maybelle Carter's Wildwood Flower).

Now, I got a fantastic Martin OODB Jeff Tweedy, an all Mahogany OO Deep Body and was puzzled since it wears Martin Retro strings : The guitar sings as much as my 2014 Martin OOO-18 (Spruce/Mahogany) with MSP4100 strings on and my Taylor 322 (Mahogany/Blackwood) wearing D'Addario's EJ.

[Woolbury]

Another veto on Monels. I tried them on my Waterloo, so dull, lifeless. I know its a different sound, perhaps some folks playing style brings out different qualities, but to me they were the worst stings I've ever used. Moving on!

[guitargabor]

They sound the best on my Martin HD 28 12 string.AND, the tuning is more stable than other strings.That factor alone regarding 12 strings is a plus...

I like them a lot but the Daddario Nickel bronze competitor seem to have a bit more zing.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by fazool

I was excited by people's comments and bought a set of Martin Retro (monel) strings for my mahogany Martin 000-15.

I'll keep them on a bit longer but I don't like them. I had Elixir Nanoweb PB's but these Retro's sound strange. To me, they seem too bright compared to PB's. The PB's had a very lush sound. These sound very thin like I lost all my mahogany goodness.

They do tend to sound thin on some guitars. I tried Martin Retro and at first liked the sound, bought a half-dozen sets, and now they are still sitting in my drawer.

- Glenn

[Willie_D]

Originally Posted by thesjkexperienc

With a mahogany guitar I was expecting you to say they they were not bright enough! But, after Elixers everything will sound bright, sustaining and in tune.

The Acoustic Guitar Forum, home of Schrodinger's Elixirs: both too bright and too dull.

I tried a set of Retros. I wasn't crazy about them in my experiment.