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  #16  
Old 12-02-2020, 04:27 PM
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Earl;

Instead of buying multiple sets of strings could you learn what you needed from a single string? It would be a lot cheaper.................
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  #17  
Old 12-02-2020, 06:07 PM
Irishrep Irishrep is offline
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Another vote for Monel retros. I have them on my Emerald X7 and Rainsong Parlor. When the settle in ( about 2-3 days), they give a balanced mellow tone on the higher strings. They still provide a balanced definition to the lower strings without sounding dead. I discovered these on my Martin 00-15S as I could not find strings that could give a blend without being muddy. Tried them on my a couple of my carbons as an experiment. Great sustain with out brightness. Just my humble opinion. Not for every guitar - but worth a shot.
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  #18  
Old 12-03-2020, 06:59 AM
Jim in TC Jim in TC is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishrep View Post
Another vote for Monel retros. I have them on my Emerald X7 and Rainsong Parlor. .
May have to try these (and DR) on my X7. Though the D' EXP's that it shipped with were fine, always looking for something new and different.

First change earlier this week was with D' Nickle Bronze, which are great on my Cargo, not so much on the X7. Who would have thought?
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  #19  
Old 12-03-2020, 11:05 AM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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I have a S&B order coming in a couple of days which includes Monels in both light and medium gauge, plus the other types listed in my prior post. Time to experiment over the coming weeks.....

The reason prompting this thread was my new custom X20, which has a distinctly brighter voice than any of my other Emeralds (older X20, X20-12, X30, X7 woody version 2). I have described the older X20 as having a rich Martin-esque voice, and the new guitar as more like a koa or maple Taylor in character. So I am trying to tame that brightness with other strings that are normally part of my arsenal. Details and reviews to follow.
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  #20  
Old 12-03-2020, 11:47 AM
jdinco jdinco is offline
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I think we all had figured out that it was the Emerald. LOL That's a hard one, hopefully you get it figured out, but my experience has been that if it's too extreme, there's really no fixing it.
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  #21  
Old 12-04-2020, 01:59 AM
mountainmaster mountainmaster is offline
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D'Addario XT. Maybe I had a bad set but they lost their brightness within minutes! No exaggeration.

So if you really want "dead" you could try these. Not recommended though.
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  #22  
Old 12-04-2020, 06:55 AM
kizz kizz is offline
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Martin lifespans 2.0 is also a mellow sounding string IMO. Play them good for a week+ and they will settle to a darker sound and stay that way for a long time...
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  #23  
Old 12-05-2020, 10:40 AM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdinaz View Post
....my experience has been that if it's too extreme, there's really no fixing it....
That is my fear as well. Based on prior experience, I had such confidence with going custom - same model, same mold, same builder. Now I'm trying to salvage the situation.
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  #24  
Old 12-06-2020, 09:06 AM
al_az al_az is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl49 View Post
That is my fear as well. Based on prior experience, I had such confidence with going custom - same model, same mold, same builder. Now I'm trying to salvage the situation.
Earl,
I added some observations regarding tone/brightness that I found with my x-20 on your x-20 review post.

Hope you find what works for you

Al
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  #25  
Old 12-06-2020, 09:34 AM
Aspiring Aspiring is offline
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Earl you probably already went through this but i found my stock x7 did not have the saddle sitting properly in the slot and came with the lr baggs vtc undersaddle transducer.

I was very surprised at how much change the saddle made to both plugged and unplugged tone. I also changed from the tusq stock material to bone although my guess would be that most of the change came from saddle fit.
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  #26  
Old 12-06-2020, 10:12 AM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Interesting idea, and one of the variables that I mentioned. The old X20 has the Anthem pickup with a UST. The new guitar has no pickup (the only Emerald we have that does not) and the saddle fits the slot better, IMO.
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  #27  
Old 12-07-2020, 07:45 AM
Jim in TC Jim in TC is offline
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As another experiment...

You suggested paper under the nut for my nut-to-tuner angle issue on another thread, and one unintended consequence (maybe) is toning down the over-bright nickel bronze strings I was trying.

It may also be that they "settled down" on their own: it was their third day. Or loosening and tightening a couple times may have influenced their break-in. But still, a pretty easy experiment.
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  #28  
Old 12-07-2020, 08:46 AM
mot mot is offline
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It depends on which string you are having issues with. All of them? Only the wound ones? If it's just the wound strings, one option that's a little more expensive is to get some flat wound strings. There's a lot of varieties out there, but all of them tend to dampen the harshness of a string some. Electric ones might even dampen them more.

Like you, I generally don't follow string preference posts. I just need good enough strings to play the guitar. Recently, I was swapping out strings and decided to see if I could quiet my Lucky 13 since I had an extra set of medium flat wounds I had gotten for my Kestrel. That did the trick nicely, though I liked the brighter strings on the Lucky 13 too.

On my X20 I find that the E and B strings are a little quiet compared to the rest, so I recently put some medium half rounds on it. Verdict is still out on that.

A few months ago I tried a flat wound B string on my X20 too (yes flat wound Bs exist). That didn't change the sound of the B that much, but the string fell apart after just a month or so of use. Not sure it was my harsh environment or a faulty string. Probably won't do that again because the change in sound wasn't discernible enough to bother.
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  #29  
Old 12-07-2020, 10:46 AM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim in TC View Post
...You suggested paper under the nut for my nut-to-tuner angle issue on another thread, and one unintended consequence (maybe) is toning down the over-bright nickel bronze strings I was trying.
I will give that a try. I put new medium gauge strings on it on Saturday and I'm still waiting for them to settle a bit before making any judgments. It is louder, but not necessarily better. As you say, a paper shim is easy enough to try. I will also experiment with tuning up and down a half step a couple of times. That tends to remove the "zing" from fresh strings pretty quickly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mot View Post
It depends on which string you are having issues with. All of them? ..... one option that's a little more expensive is to get some flat wound strings....
I had not considered flat wound strings, Tom. Interesting..... Yes, it is all of the strings, not just the wound ones. My string order is at the PO box waiting for pickup, but I may need to get a set of flat-wounds to test fly.
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  #30  
Old 12-07-2020, 01:04 PM
Aspiring Aspiring is offline
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Earl I have also personally liked taming some brightness on a few of my shorter scale guitars by using bluegrass gauge mixed sets. Favorite for this being the Dr Rares and d'addario exp 19
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