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I have a beautiful D'Aquisto NYE which I've been playing as an acoustic, with bronze acoustic strings, either phosphor bronze or 80/20 bronze. I never amped it, as I never had a good jazz amp. However, a Henriksen 12 is on its way from a kind member of this august forum, probably arriving Monday, and now my thoughts are turning to getting the best of the guitar to the amp.
The stock pickup had been swapped with a Bartolini 5J by its previous owner. Now, that's a floating humbucker, and I don't think that will work with bronze strings - is that correct? So, shall I go for TI roundwounds instead? I fear the pickup and strings will take me further away from the acoustic sound I like. What say you? Would a more acoustic-sounding pickup be a better option, enabling me to keep playing bronze strings? If so, which one? I might try it with roundwounds before doing anything drastic. Looking forward to being able to amplify this guitar a little.
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03-03-2017 01:23 PM
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I think you are on the right track with the roundwounds. I did use bronze on on my ES 125 with a magnetic and got a decent sound with the steel cores but eventually switched over when I added a bridge floater to handle other styles. This guitar runs internal transducers as well for acoustic amplification.
On a acoustic archtop I do use bronze strings and have installed the internal transducers with the intention of adding a magnetic but it is working out well so I probably won't bother with the floater.
If your primary use is for a acoustic sound, strings and pickups should match.
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Bronze wound strings do work with magnetic pickups because they have steel cores. The issue is that the plain strings (especially the B) can be too loud compared to the wound strings because they're heavier gauge than the steel cores of the wound strings. But with some gauge and pup combinations it's not a problem. Try it as is first. I use a magnetic soundhole pup with bronze wounds on my flat top, and it works well.
Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
John
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Okay. Obvious, really: try it and see.
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I recently tried exactly this with a Heritage Sweet 16 with a Benedetto-labelled Kent Armstrong floater. I have usually used nickel round-wound strings (D'Addario EJ21, 0.012"-0.052" with a wound G), but on a whim tried phosphor bronze round-wound EJ16 (0.012"-0.053" with a wound G). To my surprise, through a guitar amp the two string sets sounded about the same and I didn't get the imbalance between the wound and plain strings that I had expected. Acoustically the phosphor bronze strings sounded warmer than the nickel-wound, but not dramatically so.
Last edited by dconeill; 03-03-2017 at 03:07 PM.
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Good to know, dc.
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Rob,
The Benedetto S6 was designed to use with bronze strings. I never heard that the Bartolini was though.
I played a Vintage L7 that had very light bronze strings it with the S6 and I thought it sounded good. I just couldn't deal with the squeaks so much.
If you want, try D'Addario Chromes with the Bartolini. They are brighter than Ti's and they stay brighter longer.
Joe DeNisco
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There are also the DR Zebra strings:
DR Strings | The Handmade String - Guitar and Bass
I've tried them and they are OK. I believe some other manufactures have similar strings now but the DR's were among the first.
I gig amped through my Evans JE200 with my Benedetto Cremona 99.9% of the time, it also has a Bartolini floater. I've never tried the Zebra's on it as I'm not looking for max acoustic tone out of her. For that-I use my Dupont. The perfect strings on the BC for ME are the TI Jazz Swing Flatwound 13's. I'm used to 'em I like 'em I use 'em.
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I've read (no personal experience) some say that white bronze strings will provide better balance. Does the Bartolini have adjustable pole pieces, that will solve any issues.
Have you no interest in trying plain old flatwounds while plugged into the Henriksen?
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You might look into D'Addario nickel bronze strings. I put a set on my Eastman T145 and they sound good, even with the set humbucker. I did adjust the pickup slightly, but much less than expected. The nickel coating helps, ISTM. Flatwounds aren't going to sound very good acoustically.
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Thanks for the thoughts, guys. Those Zebras sound interesting: "Full size archtop jazz guitars also respond to “Zebras” with “Richer tones” according to players. ANY amplified acoustic comes ALIVE when you put on the Zebra strings." Well, the proof is in the playing. I might give them a try. No flats for me on this guitar. I like a strong, ringing acoustic sound.
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going back to the op-
magnetic pickups work with the magnetic field created by the magnets in the pickup and the magnetic content of the string...bronze phosphor and bronze 80/20 acoustic strings have less magnetic output than nickel and stainless steel strings...so the perfect acoustic tone and the perfect electric tone seldom jive...
what you then have to do is decide how you want to treat your instrument..as an acoustic or an electric...
for me, that guitar is an electric...i'd string it with a good set of round core roundwound pure nickel strings (ala thomastik bebops, pyramid rounds or dr pure blues)..this will get you a balance between the two
the other choice being vintage style (ala gibson mona-steel strings) monel strings (a nickel derivative)..which martin and rotosound make..they will give you a little midrange boost..so they sound a bit like acoustic (bronze) strings but still be useable with magnetic pickups
cheers
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Many thanks, again, to Neatomic. It's not the first time you have mention Monels around here. I'll check them out.
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ps- rob, martin currently markets them for acoustics..yet they were used for years by gibson and rotosound for electrics!...so a precedent for either has been set! haha
cheers
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This is a good opportunity to mention something that I've only recently discovered.
It seems Pyramid strings have been making Monel roundwounds, (since 2014, AFAIK),
PYRAMID maximum performance strings - Electric, Monel Steel, PYRAMID Monel Classics, Drop C, Drop D, Tuning
easily available in the UK, and reasonably priced.
http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strin...s-11-48-p11188
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I recently got round to putting Martin Monels on my old Hofner Committee. I was never really happy with the tone of that guitar with bronze acoustic strings, had a hint of a clashing overtone that my ears didn't like. Others couldn't really hear it .. but I could ... became an obsession! I tried many variations of bronze acoustic strings including Thomastic, but all yielded the same overall result.
The Monels on this guitar are fantastic, they feel just as loud, but that harsh top has gone, sweeter sound now. I'm having a pickguard with a floating pickup made for it just now, looking forward to seeing how it amplifies.
I'll also put a vote in for the Pyramid Monels, tried them recently on a 335 and telecaster. Good quality strings, settled down very quickly, good intonation and tuning stability. Both guitars sound great. I didn't perceive any lower output from them, versus my usual D'Addario's, no need to adjust pickup heights, etc.Last edited by old tube; 03-04-2017 at 05:51 AM.
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When it comes to guitar strings, I never think of Pyramid. I know them from my lute-playing activities, where they make very expensive but not good lute strings. That experience kind of put me off the brand. But that would be silly. I'll line them up to give them a try. Thanks for the info.
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Hmm... I see that Pyramid Monels only come in 10s or 11s, which might not be heavy enough for this guitar...while the Martin Tony Rice are 13s. 12s would be ideal
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Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
Hmm... I see that Pyramid Monels only come in 10s or 11s, which might not be heavy enough for this guitar...while the Martin Tony Rice are 13s. 12s would be ideal
Rotosound Top Tapes are Monel 12s. I have them on my tele and I'm very happy with the sound and feel.
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Rob, you need to go for the Martin Retro's. Same monel strings, I believe, as the "named set" which is just custom gauges. They do a variety of gauges badged as Retro's. Here's the 12's at Strings Direct. These are what I use now.
Martin MM12 Retro Monel Vintage Tone 12-54 Light Acoustic StringsLast edited by old tube; 03-04-2017 at 06:26 AM.
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Dan, are Top Tapes tape-wound? I wouldn't want them for this guitar.
old tube - they look just the ticket. Thanks. I'll give them a go.
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It may be worth checking out Newtone archtop and nickel strings as you're in the UK. Strings Direct carry their range. I use Newtone nowadays on acoustic, acoustic/electric guitars.
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Well, the Henriksen 12ER arrived today, two days earlier than expected. I plugged in using the DR Rare phosphor-bronze strings. It's sounds very good, but the third string is very quiet in comparison to all the others. Unfortunately I cannot adjust the pole pieces on the Bartolini. Hopefully one of the other sets on order will give a balanced sound.
Well, there's no excuses anymore. I have a decent guitar and an amp to match. What now, I wonder?
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Make more videos, sir! Enjoy your videos immensely. Please. Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
How about songs from that Barry Galbraith 42 Chord Melodiy Pieces Songbook?
The Tony Rice Monel set is pretty heavy. There is the Laurence Juber Monel set which is a New Medium set, heavy top and bottom, light middles.Last edited by Jabberwocky; 03-04-2017 at 01:59 PM.
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Thanks, Jabber. I have the two Mel Bay editions, but you must mean something else?
I recorded Nuages today, and started a thread about it here. But that was an hour before the amp arrived.
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