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I used Newtones for a while and had a custom set 12, 17, and rest of the strings from the next lighter guage set, with and a round wound instead of plain 3rd string. Sounded very nice, but I had some intonation trouble that my luthier said was coming from the strings! He didn't trust any handmade strings and steered me to d'addario round wound jazz light gauge (EJ21 12- 52). I grumbled a bit, but now I like these.
I do have to keep polishing my picks though to keep the smooth sound I want, but I think I did that almost as much with the other sets (also used thomastics before the Newtones). I wonder if part of the intonation problem on the handmade mixed sets also came from using single strings that were possibly sitting around longer in the warehouse? Just a thought. My luthier thinks it is just too difficult to get the really consistent results from the methods used by most "boutique" string manufacturers. Anyone have any experience, similar or contrary to this? Could also be that we are extra picky about intonation. ;-)
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02-14-2010 03:31 PM
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I've not noticed any intonation issues, so I'll keep using them for now! Although maybe if your lutheir has used some handmades in the past that did not intonate well, I can see that would put him off. Quite galling to build a beautiful guitar, then have the strings spoil things! Or maybe you are too picky!
Originally Posted by gkorm
It's how you find it I guess though. 
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Mine arrived this week but since my 25$ Thomastiks arent dead yet I will hold off.
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Can't blame you for that! This string testing business can be somewhat time-consuming! Originally Posted by SamBooka
Mine arrived this week but since my 25$ Thomastiks arent dead yet I will hold off.
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That particular set didn't intonate well. I'm just guessing in that case that my custom set, made of single strings ordered online from an American distributor, resulted in my getting older strings (though unused of course), than I would have gotten if I ordered a prepackaged set. I also went back to ordering prepackaged sets. The custom gauges were fun while they lasted! Lighter bottoms -- heavier tops. Originally Posted by Meggy
I've not noticed any intonation issues, so I'll keep using them for now! Although maybe if your lutheir has used some handmades in the past that did not intonate well, I can see that would put him off. Quite galling to build a beautiful guitar, then have the strings spoil things! Or maybe you are too picky! It's how you find it I guess though.
I played around with bending the low notes more
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I believe Newtone will make custom sets to order.
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I have them on my Epi EmpReg. It has been a couple of week now. Originally Posted by Meggy
They are MUCH squeakier new than other roundwounds I have tried. This went away after a few days. Also turned my fingers black! That went away after a few days.
I dont HATE them on my Epi. My 165 is due for a string change soon so I might put another set on it.
As far as tone goes they are much brighter than flats (of course). I like them. Will I give up my TI GB114s? Dunno
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Even squeakier than other roundwounds! I did find there was a bit of a squeak also, but it did seem to fade fairly quickly. They didn't turn my fingers black either, although I have very dry hands. I do agree they are brighter than flats, although I find they have rounded down in tone now. Cheers for sharing your impressions though, interesting to compare thoughts. I still have the same set on my guitar, so that must say something in their favour I think. I do want to try out my set of D'Addario half-rounds also, but am reluctant to put these on while the Newtones are still working so well. For me they are definitely a solid good choice, so it seems likely I will be buying more in the future. Also I find the 13-56 set is about right for me. Originally Posted by SamBooka
I have them on my Epi EmpReg. It has been a couple of week now.
They are MUCH squeakier new than other roundwounds I have tried. This went away after a few days. Also turned my fingers black! That went away after a few days.
I dont HATE them on my Epi. My 165 is due for a string change soon so I might put another set on it.
As far as tone goes they are much brighter than flats (of course). I like them. Will I give up my TI GB114s? Dunno
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I have a problem.. dont know what it is. I use TI GB 114s. I love them but, for example, I have had them on my 165 for 6 weeks now. They are dead.. gone.. finished. I play about 10 hours a week.
I hear of guys who get 6 months out of flats and I get the impression the are pretty hardcore players. If it werent for them I would have no problem changing strings every 2 months. It is giving me a complex.
This weekend I will try the Newtones on my 165. I also ordered one set each TI and newtones from juststrings. Still deciding.
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The Newtones are my favorite strings on my big archtop. They really bring out the acoustic tone but also sound good amplified. I didn't notice any particular problem with squeaking, and certainly no discoloration of my fingers. I'm tempted to try a set on my ER-1, just to see how they sound on a smaller guitar.
Yes, they will. They told me they'll customize any way you like, up to adjusting the tension for each string. There's no upcharge, but they do require a minimum order of (iirc) six sets.I believe Newtone will make custom sets to order.
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I put the on tonight.. too tired to do anything else tho.
My fingers arent black so I dont know what that was about.
I also forgot to mention that the stretch in faster than any other string I have tried. Also, although the first string is a .014 the other guages are heavier than what you typically see especially the A D and G strings (.028,038 and .048) soo if your guitars are well set up you might have to tweak the nut slots (especially being roundwound they are more likely to bind in a tight nut slot)
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I just fitted Thomastik Infeld Jazz Swing flatwounds (0.010 - low tension) to my new Tanglewood JZ 503 (with a pro setup & minor fret dress) and WOW !! Butter, plain and simple - with a nice bright sound as far as 'Flatties' go also Originally Posted by Eddie Lang
I use Newtone Archtop (0.011) on a vintage small 15" wide acoustic archtop and I love them. I don't know why it took so long for you, on my guitar, they seem to settle really quickly and they last forever (well, not really forever but you know what I mean).
On another acoustic archtop, I use Thomastik Infeld Jazz Swing flatwounds (0.013 - low tension). Great mellow tone. You might want to try them sometime.
I'm gonna try the Newtone Heritage low tension rounds on my acoustic after reading some stuff about Gordon Giltrap using them - does anyone have experience of these? (acoustic I mean)
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Just a follow up. Newtone strings have been on my 165 two weeks now. Still surprisingly bright (actually too bright, lots of crazy overtones still, even with the ebony bridge). I have them on my EmpReg and they are very happy there (it has been a month now) I play both guitars equally so in another couple of weeks we will know for the 165. On the EmpReg they settled in much faster and I think they just might be the strings for THAT guitar. TIs (which I love) lose their charm after about 10 days on the EmpReg.
I will write more in a couple of weeks.
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If it's any encouragement, I too found that they took quite a while to lose that initial brightness, but after a few weeks they were really pretty nice with a rounded tone, but still with a little more edge/cut than a set of flatwounds. They definitely are strings that last and last in my experience. I've have just today taken my set off my guitar - they were still going strong (and I may put them back on again soon!) but I wanted to try out the set of D'Addario half rounds I also have. Originally Posted by SamBooka
Initial impression of the D'Addarios are:
The tone is overall quite similar to the Newtones, maybe a little brighter with slightly less depth, but it's very hard to judge as these are new strings, so sound different anyway. Both strings are in the "mellower than the average roundwound, but brighter/edgier than flats" category.
They somehow feel a little "stickier" under the fingers than the Newtones - there is a bit more friction when changing position for example, although this is a subtle thing, and I will probably get used to it.
The D'Addarios have very little string squeak - somewhat better than the Newtones in this regard at least, not that I thought the Newtones were very bad in this respect though, and I had kind of got to the point where I did not really notice the noise using the Newtones anyway (especially when playing amplified).
At the moment I am kind of missing the Newtones, they just had a certain something, and I had really grown to like those strings on my archtop, but I must admit the D'Addarios also seem pretty nice, and I may find myself really liking these too after a fair trial and when they have settled in. All this is just my own subjective opinion of course, and others may find things differently for themselves! Both the Newtones and the D'Addarios I have tried are 13-56 sets.
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I put the halfrounds on my Tele. I was a 20+ year fan of D'A strings. REALLY didnt like the half rounds so I put the guitar in the closet
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What was it you didn't like about the halfrounds SamBooka?I'm just interested to know as I have been playing my guitar with them a bit more, and I still have this nagging feeling that they are somehow "not quite right". Maybe it is a subtle tonal thing, I don't know, but I'm just not at all convinced at the moment. I suspect I will be buying more Newtones shortly (they are quite a bit cheaper in the UK also). Originally Posted by SamBooka
I put the halfrounds on my Tele. I was a 20+ year fan of D'A strings. REALLY didnt like the half rounds so I put the guitar in the closet
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They were dead out of the box.. that said by brother in law put them on his PRS hollowbody and he loved them. I said to him they were everything I dont like about roundwounds and everything I dont like about flats lol.
Who knows how long they had been on a shelf tho.. so take my comments with as much salt as your BP will allow.
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Thanks Sam, in my case I wouldn't say they were dead exactly, more just that there is a little too much top end, without quite enough substance lower down the frequency range, if that makes any sense. I still don't like the "sticky" feel either (ooh er...). Funny comment regarding the worst points of both types of string by the way. I still don't think they are necessarily bad strings though, as you point out earlier, matching the right guitar to the right strings is also a big factor, and maybe my guitar is just not right for these strings... Originally Posted by SamBooka
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The Newtones seem like they could be a much cheaper version of TI Jazz BeBop strings which I have used and loved on my Godin Kingpin (although am currently preferring the flatwound TI George Benson 14s).
Will have to give them a go next time I get bored of flatwounds.
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Well the price is certainly right compared to the TIs and they seem to last a long time. They are loosing their luster on my EmpReg and they have been on there for a month now !!!
I love TIs new but after a week or two .. not so much. So the Newtones for the EmpReg seems to be a good combination for now.
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Yes, I think they are both a double round-wound design, so must be similar. The TI's seem to use lighter guages on the middle strings, which I'm not sure about, but I have yet to try these, so it might well be fine. The price of the Newtones has to be a factor in their favour though, and my own opinion is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with their quality. Originally Posted by timski
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Yeah.. they seem top notch.
I would remind people that their gauges deviate a bit from the norm (at least on 14s) They are thicker and might need a nut tweak. I have no qualms recommending them however.
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Anyone using 14's is deviating from the norm anyway Sam! Originally Posted by SamBooka
Just kidding, but I will stick to my "slinky" 13's for the time being...
At least for the 13 set, the Newtones are what I would call standard, i.e. 13 17 26 36 46 56 which is the same as most 13 sets by D'Addario and a few others I think. By the time you get on to 14's though, I guess you may well need a nut tweak, especially if you have been on 12's or 13's before, which seems to be the standard assumption for factories setting up a jazz guitar. (Assuming they do actually bother to set it up that is...
).
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Another thing, I am starting to feel OK about the D'Addario half-rounds, so I will keep them on for a while. I was being a bit unfair judging them so quickly. I still don't personally like them as much as the Newtones, but they are very quiet on the finger noise side, and overall are not a bad string at all to be honest. Others might like them more than the Newtones, you just have to try these things to find out.
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Yeah.. I totally bashed the half rounds.. right?
Well that doesnt mean I wont put them on my 165.
Each guitar sounds different so why should they all have the same strings.
Halfrounds might be perfect for that guitar. I will know in a few months because the archtones wont die!!
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