Best Martin Strings

[Rob]

Hi gang - I know string selection is a personal preference. Since I am due for a new set of strings, I have read that Addario strings seem to be high on Martin pickers list of favorites. Not sure what brand model seems to be the top choice of strings sold. If anyone has a guitar store and can tell me what brand Martin pickers walk out the door with the most I will thank you. It may surprize me even if you tell me a total different company name for the #1 seller of Martin strings. All ears listening! -Rob

[mike carne]

Martin-made in Mexico-Darco ditto-exact same gauges!Go figure!

[Mike Kolb]

Hey Rob.... first off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! My "little" brother Bob also turned 60 on Sunday, so 8/8/50 seems to have been a popular day 'round these parts.

OK, for a belated birthday present...go buy yourself 10 (ten!) sets of strings... oh heck, maybe even 15... that fit your guitar. If you can't find them locally, try juststrings.com or any of the other online retailers. Arrange them in some order in a drawer and let the fun begin. Grab a set (any set) and restring the guitar. Take notes (tone, attack, tightness, etc.) and play 'em til they wear out or you're otherwise "done" with 'em. Then grab the next set and repeat the process, notes and all. You'll find "your" strings, or rather... they'll find you. If you go through strings quickly, maybe some of the wrapped Elixers would be more to your liking. In any event, experimentation is the only way to hook-up with a string you like.

To the entire other end of the scale, my favorite strings (on an old P-bass) are 15 years old. They're flatwounds that I take off and boil once a year, whether they need it or not! Dead as a doornail, but they suit me just fine. And that's the whole thing... nobody can tell you what's "best" for you. You'll find 'em. ... and hope your birthday was a good one!

[Ned Knepp]

Mike,
I tried boiling strings for my guitar but found the unwound strings got too brittle. They sounded great again.but didn't last too well anyway. I imagine that the base strings tolerate this much better than guitar strings. Hey, I love the sound of new strings but I wouldn't change them either if I didn't have to.

Ned

[Kerry Krishna]

Rob, maybe you should be asking what the Bluegrass players use, instead of what the Martin players use. Bluegrass players tend to be interested in tone, and med strings are all those folks ever seem to use. Whatever gauge of string you usually use, the D'Addarioo Phospher Bronze strings seem to be used by probably close to three quarters of the Bruegrassers. I buy mine by the box , as it works out to be quite a bit cheeper, and the gauges are .013-.056. They are EJ17s. And also a Happy Birthday to you from Northern Canada my friend!

[mike carne]

Martin,D'ad & John Pearse do Bluegrass gauge-half a set medium half light.56-12.If you play any intros or leads
you can bend 'em!
I completely agree -use what YOU like & what suits your guitar.

[Rob]

Thanks for the birthday wish to this old coot and string advice as looks like those will be my next choice. Always prefer light guage I guess because for my tin ears Iseem to hear a sharper ring to the high -E end of the strings. Used the Ernie Ball strings by the way as read that Terry Clements ( Lightfoots) lead picker used those on his two D - 18 Martins if the artical in a guitar magazine interview was correct and always liked the sound coming out of the radio.As for my Guild also used John Pierce strings often just because when my beloved Nanci Griffith wasn't under strict Taylor contract in her early years she would switch often to her Guild and her cds would say she used John Pierce strings and still often say that! If Ibought a different brand always seems compelled to switch back to the John Pierce strings out of a funny kind of loyalty to Nanci being her #1 Canadian fan and monitor on the official web site. It was nice to have won the contest of the design for the fan club logo.Nice to see another Canadian drop into the forum. Rob from southern Ontario

[Chris Oliver]

+1 on Kerry's suggestion for Bluegrass mediums, D'Addario EJ17's. I've tried several of the Martin mediums and the Elixir's and always go back to the EJ17. It is the most 'walked out the door' at my business so to speak... of course they are the only guitar string I carry in stock other than generics for broken string replacement and new guitar setup strings. :)

Give them a test drive and compare. Like you wrote in your initial post, "...string selection is a personal preference...".

good luck,
chris

[mike carne]

Rob,if you like light gauge,have you ever tried medium-lights.Ernie Ball does 'em!
Slightly heavier than Martin lights.54,44 etc. The difference from 52 42 is enough to make them
better for Bluegrass or any music where you want good bass.

[Rob]

Wow - Thanks for all the tips. I was thinking there a one or two brand/guage answer when the real one seems to be what your ears good or bad apear to hear. No swimming but have a summer with numerous twin ear infections and under water feeling with moisture by the ear drums the cause of all since early June. What I am hearing right now is a little off. Talked the doc into refering me to a specalist who Ichose. This young doctor fixed lad at works mother who had next to no hearing in one ear. He used some new type of tubes and after a week her hearig came fully bacK with NO HEARING AID. If I can get 3/4 back Iwill be a happy picker again.
Rob

[Ned Knepp]

Both of my kids had tubes in their eardrums when they were small. They worked well. The tube usually falls out after a couple of years and the hole heals up.

Is Bluegrass your music of choice? I play some bluegrass but I also play a lot of other styles. Personally, I like light gauge strings. I understand why bluegrass players like medium strings but I prefer something lighter and good bass can depend on the guitar too. My main player has plenty of bass without the added stress of heaver strings.

Ned

[Rob]

In real fact guess you can say my style is somewhere between John Prine and Willie Nelson. Just love the the sound on the low -E strings and A strings Willie gets from his old Trigger N-20 Martin with the nylon strings as it sounds so clear and deep tone to my poor ears.-Rob