Nickel Bronze Fan’s Least Favorite Day

[davidbeinct]

String change day, that is! Dang these things are zingy until they settle in. I had the last set on for about four months but finally had to give in and change them. I love them once they settle in but my are the bright right now.
I find it to be the same for all the various nickel types I’ve tried, but I do love them for fingerpicking.

[SingingSparrow]

Ha. what guitar do you have them on? I just put a set on yesterday on cedar topped OM body. I remember putting a set on my Waterloo last year and it was probably the most dissatisfying string experience I've ever had - I ripped them off in a few days.

This cedar top, though, so far seems to do very well with any set of strings I've tried on it. I had a set of GHS Contact Core Bright Bronzes on - that actually sounded very sweet; I certainly did not want to take them off. But, this is a new guitar to me and I have a few sets of string I want to try on it, so I reluctantly slapped on a new set of the nickel bronzes.

The Nickel Bronze (D'Addario) strings were very bright to start with but I played the guitar hard for a couple of hours with a thumb and finger picks and it mellowed substantially. It's still pretty bright, but they are sounding pretty nice and sweet; I prefer them with bare fingers than with metal fingerpicks (fingertones) as they lose a lot of that sweetness then and sound quite harsh. I think they'll keep settling in for a few more days. A much better experience than when I tried them on the Waterloo, but I doubt I'll settle on these as the string of choice for this guitar.

I am impressed that you are able to wait out the strident zinging; I was not able when that I had that experience

I am a bit amazed though that these have the reputation of being a mellow string. I find them to be one of the brightest strings I've tried

[Matts67]

For me, they sound nearly unmatched, in the best way possible, from about day 2 to day 7. After that, they sound completely dull and thuddy (which I guess some people can consider “mellow”).

[jdinco]

I just put a set on my SCGC D12 and it appears so far to be a mistake. Very "zingy" and a bright high end. I'll leave them on for a week or two to see if there's any change, but them back to the SCGC low tensions.

[MBee]

I tried some NB on my Avalon yellow cedar/walnut. I really quite liked them, but what a different sound. Zingy is a good descriptor, bright, but lots of harp like overtones. I recently switched to GHS vintage bronze. Definitely mellower, but there's still this clear, sweet tone that comes through. Must be related to the yellow cedar soundboard.

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by SingingSparrow

Ha. what guitar do you have them on? I just put a set on yesterday on cedar topped OM body. I remember putting a set on my Waterloo last year and it was probably the most dissatisfying string experience I've ever had - I ripped them off in a few days.

This cedar top, though, so far seems to do very well with any set of strings I've tried on it. I had a set of GHS Contact Core Bright Bronzes on - that actually sounded very sweet; I certainly did not want to take them off. But, this is a new guitar to me and I have a few sets of string I want to try on it, so I reluctantly slapped on a new set of the nickel bronzes.

The Nickel Bronze (D'Addario) strings were very bright to start with but I played the guitar hard for a couple of hours with a thumb and finger picks and it mellowed substantially. It's still pretty bright, but they are sounding pretty nice and sweet; I prefer them with bare fingers than with metal fingerpicks (fingertones) as they lose a lot of that sweetness then and sound quite harsh. I think they'll keep settling in for a few more days. A much better experience than when I tried them on the Waterloo, but I doubt I'll settle on these as the string of choice for this guitar.

I am impressed that you are able to wait out the strident zinging; I was not able when that I had that experience

I am a bit amazed though that these have the reputation of being a mellow string. I find them to be one of the brightest strings I've tried

Which Waterloo? I have them on my WL-K. It’s basically the only guitar I play. The Alvarez is supposed to be my leave out couch guitar but we got a kitten soooo...

[SingingSparrow]

David: the wl-12

They are mellowing out on the other guitar, and they sound sweet with bare fingers. Pretty bright over all, still - but it does not sound bad on this guitar. I do not like the sound with (fingertone) fingerpicks.

By the way, congratulations on getting a kitten! they are fun. Cheers.

[UncleJesse]

Originally Posted by Matts67

For me, they sound nearly unmatched, in the best way possible, from about day 2 to day 7. After that, they sound completely dull and thuddy (which I guess some people can consider “mellow”).

I'm with Matt here, they sound incredible at first but decline in a way I do not like. Usually, I can get 10-14 days out of a set but those days from 2-7 are just incredible on a mahogany dreadnought. After that, they sound like retros do right out of the package which I don't care for.

[Brucebubs]

I tried some GHS Bright Bronze on my SJ-200 recently but took them off after 1 week, just too bright and not showing any signs of warming up as they wore in.

Went to D'Addario Nickel Bronze straight after them, almost identical brightness straight out of the pack but they began to mellow as they wore in and sound excellent after a week or so, I really like them on this guitar.

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by SingingSparrow

David: the wl-12

They are mellowing out on the other guitar, and they sound sweet with bare fingers. Pretty bright over all, still - but it does not sound bad on this guitar. I do not like the sound with (fingertone) fingerpicks.

By the way, congratulations on getting a kitten! they are fun. Cheers.

The kitty is very fun and absolutely adores our dog.
I only play with bare fingers which probably makes a difference to my appreciation of these strings.

[James May]

I've been trying out the D'Addario nickel bronze. My experience echos what's been said here: great for a short while then dull, dull, dull after that.

Does anyone know if anyone makes a coated nickel bronze string?

[SingingSparrow]

Turns out these strings go very well with this guitar. Whoa. So nice.

I have been using fingerpicks a fair amount, lately - these now sound great (but, of course, different) with or without. Strong, deep; very pleasing.

[Ken Carr]

My experience with the D'addario NB strings is the first couple of days they do sound artificially bright and "zingy" as others have already said but after they wear in, they have a very nice, pleasing tone that lasts for months. I really like them on my rosewood and spruce om. I thought I was going to keep using the nickel bronze strings exclusively, but a couple of months ago, I tried a set of Ernie Ball aluminum bronze strings on my rosewood and cedar grand concert. These sound artificially zingy too for about a week. But if you give them a chance, you will be well rewarded. When they wear in, they sound beautiful and lush for a long time. They are brighter than the nickel bronze. I love both sets of strings even though they sound very different. I am torn on which ones I like the best. I will probably be alternating between aluminum bronze and nickel bronze for subsequent string changes for a while before I figure out which set I like the best.

[Ten]

My complaints in the tone department with D’addario NB are outweighed by the way I feel they even out the transition from the wounds to the unwound strings. I like the tone of PB wounds a bit more, but I feel I can play more fluidly across the board with the tone I get from NB. 1.4 flat pick on Mahogany dread, they’ve been my only strings the year or so.

[jdinco]

I have to change my last post here a bit, I did not like these strings the first week at all ! But they have settled in VERY nice after about a week on a hog dread. Sounding pretty nice now ! We'll see how long they last.