The Collings Forum

For many years, I have used d;addario EJ17s on my dreads, and J16s on anything smaller.

I understood on the previous forum that many Collings players prefer John Pearse, which I have thought to be warmer than D'addarios,
which is understandable as Collings can sometimes be rather "bright" with new strings.

Talk elsewhere about Martin SP PB strings being discontinued determined me to try them out.

I like em! Even brighter than D'addarios , but clean and dynamic ... whatever that means.

Firstly would anyone agree with my impression, and as after many years of dedication to D'adds, is there anoyher make that you prefer ... and if so, why?

or should I be "strung up" ?

I like the curt mangan strings. They actually make the guitars I have come alive. I have a set on my 1954 Martin d28, collings d2h and om1ajl. I like this brand of string quite a bit

I've always had a soft spot for Pyramid & Newtone strings.....but the 80/20s are becoming hard to get in North America. I'm with George, I've now used at least a dozen sets of Curt Mangan strings. My personal favourites are the round core 80/20 All the strings are well made, smooth. I've used them on Collings, Waterloo & my old Martins. They are my go-to for the last year or so. Great sounding & consistent

Elixir Nano fan myself.

Georgelange wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:31 am I like the curt mangan strings. They actually make the guitars I have come alive. I have a set on my 1954 Martin d28, collings d2h and om1ajl. I like this brand of string quite a bit

Hi George,
Thanks for that.
These Curt Mangan strings (which seem to be twice the cost of D'addarios here), - Can you tell me where you think they would be tonally compared with the Jps, D'adds and Martins ?
Should I assume that you are referring to PB hex cores?

Round cores don't give me sufficient tension for my style and I don't care for coated strings.

The strings sound fuller or richer to my ears. I can actually hear my guitar better when playing with others. Watch videos of how the strings are made and read reviews of what others think. It is always nice to try other brands of strings. I have to buy my Mangans in Florida because they are not available in Canada

Love D'addarios on most of my guitars, but I have been using Martin SP PB 12s on my C10 for quite a while. They also sounded good on my Avalon D300A. Next string change I'm going to be trying the 12 string set on my Guild F512 too.

This may sound like heresy, but I recently tried an old set of GHS pure nickel roller wound electric strings I had lying around spare, on a small vintage 12 fret guitar & much to my surprise they worked beautifully, gauge 12-54.
Have been using John Pearse nickels for many years now so I suppose there really isn't a lot of difference when it comes down to it. The GHS have a lovely clear tone & are very easy on the fingers.
I remember reading Doc Watson say he used to use Gretsch electric strings on his acoustic guitar years ago so it would seem to be nothing new.
Years ago a guest from Canada kindly sent me a big parcel of no name strings all in plain paper packets when he got home, they were all nickel or steel, never quite knew, but they were all excellent, we lost touch so I never did discover who made them. Living 3000 feet up in the Swiss Alps in a tiny village, any new strings are good when the nearest guitar shop is 50 miles away.

Martin SPs have always been too bright for guitars which already have articulate trebles (like many Collings). JP for me. And even the single guitar on which I used Pyramids (a '43 D-18) now has a set of JPs and it sounds pretty derned good. Not giving away the Pyramids, but it's a no-lose game between them.

I recently put a set of Thomasik-Infeld Plectrum AC111's on my Collings Baby, and I feel they are the best sounding strings I've used in a long time. I'm going tottery them on my GS Mini next go around.
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