What guitars do you string with Monels?

[Steve DeRosa]

• Rainsong JM1000/JM3000 6- and 12-string jumbos
• Godin 5th Avenue acoustic archtop
• Avalon cedar/EIR 16" small jumbo
• Martin CEO-5
• Anything with a mahogany top

[banjopickingman]

I have a recording king parlor that I never liked too much until I tried nickel strings. Now it's my most played guitar. Really suits bues, ragtime styles.

[dtpolk]

I used Martin FX lights until about a year ago when the only thing my local shop had was monel. Grudgingly, I bought them and put them on. Now, they are all I use. I think Martin calls them Retro's??

[hairpuller]

Originally Posted by emuhunter

I've only tried them on (and LOVE them) on my 2007 000-18 GE. As I believe others have said, they took a few days to settle in and stop being so darned bright but now I'd describe them as sounding like everything I want out of a guitar to accompany vocals. It may be worth noting that I really like the sound of worn strings on all of my guitars.

Ha! I also have a ‘07 000-18 GE and love them on it too!
Scott

[GuitarFundi]

I put the D'Addario Nickel Bronze on a Taylor 314CE and in open tunings it is like nothing I have ever heard before! Right now it is in Open C# (DADADD down 1/2)

[JayBee1404]

”What guitars do you string with Monels?”

None.

Tried them on all four (five if you include the OM-28 Marquis I sold), killed all four (five) stone dead, straight out of the packet. Lifeless, dull-sounding, horrible. Gave them a week, no improvement, so off they came.

Fortunately, PB is the Elixir of Life to a guitar - all successfully resuscitated by the re-installation of PBs of their preferred brands and gauges.

The usual disclaimers apply......TME, IMHO, YMMV etc.

[catfish]

Today I took off the Retro Monels Lights from my Martin 000-15M, they stayed on this guitar for 3 years and 3 months, I did not play it every day, sometimes once a week, sometimes twice a week, sometimes once per two weeks.

They still sounded excellent except for intonation was slightly off, but I got warm rich velvety sound -- I took them off just to try 80/20 bronze on this guitar, I only used PB and Monels before.

I cleaned the fretboard with 'lemon oil', it took about 10 minutes to clean, the rags after cleaning were black from Monels oxidation. I cleaned and cleaned until the rags were at least grey.

[musicman1951]

They sound great on both my 000 sized guitars, but I tend to shy away from bright/plinky/thin/trebley sounding strings.

If you prefer a lot of highs/treble in your sound you might have a totally different opinion.

[bho]

I bought Monels specifically for my Collings, to see if I could keep the vintage tone with a little less brightness. And it worked. Those strings sound great on Collings guitars.

[BoneDigger]

Generally, I like Monels on my mahogany topped guitars but not on spruce topped guitars. Not really sure why.

[IndyHD28]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

A lot of people say they sound best on all mahogany guitars (they sound great on mine)..

I second this. I have them on my custom Adi/Sinker Dread. I’ve moved from Standard mediums to LJs which are called medium lights but only lighten the A,D,G strings.

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by bufflehead

I find them to be well-suited for folk styles, especially in accompaniment to singing. A good string whenever you don't want the guitar masking the vocals.

Okay, bufflehead, now you have gone and done it. We can now look forward to a thread and maybe even a poll on: Which guitar strings are best to use for playing while singing?

I really do not think that we have covered that before here on the forum but I have to confess that I did not do a proper search.

Best,
Jayne

[catfish]

Originally Posted by BoneDigger

Generally, I like Monels on my mahogany topped guitars but not on spruce topped guitars. Not really sure why.

I have somewhat similar experience. I have Monels Laurence Juber signature set on Spruce topped mahogany laminated Seagull dread, and while the tone is very good (structured detailed bass, not bloomy), it is to my ears too much 'neutral', almost sterile, and I miss the color of PB and 80/20 bronze on this guitar. Or, maybe I miss something else, I don't know.

It does not happen on 000-15M, I love the Monels on it.

[Hobo_King]

All of my resonators and archtops both pure acoustic and electric.

[DesertTwang]

I tried Monels once, and based on that experience, I would put these strings in pretty much any guitar, as long as it's a guitar I don't own...