DeArmond Guitar Mike - What type of strings to use?

[floatingpickup]

I have a 1940’s L7 that I leave out on a stand at home for daily practice. I like to use phosphor bronze strings on it, because they bring out the acoustic tone of the guitar really nicely. I also have a vintage De’Armond Guitar Mike that I use on the L7 periodically, but I normally change to nickel strings when I use the pickup. The problem is, changing the strings back and forth is a bit of a pain and can get expensive. Today I tried the Guitar Mike with the phosphor bronze strings. Just playing through a small amp at home, it seemed to sound fine with this set up. I am thinking of taking it out on my next gig, but I am wondering if I should change to nickel strings first. I know some people on this forum have a better understanding of the relationship between magnetic pickups and different types of strings than I do, and I wondered if anyone can tell me how much difference this makes.
Keith

[Stringswinger]

Keith,

I have found that some vintage Dearmonds sound better with nickel strings and some sound better with 80/20 strings. The 1100 can be dialed into either. With the guitar Mike or the 1000, I think one has to try both kinds of strings and see which is more balanced with a particular pickup. Those vintage Dearmonds vary a lot.

Of course PB strings did not exist way back and might not work with any guitar Mike's. You need to experiment. HTH.

[lorenkii]

They definitely vary quite a bit, so you need to experiment with your particular pickup. I’ve had good success with monel strings as a hybrid acoustic/electric and sometimes 80/20 depending on the particular pickup. Never cared for the zing-iness of phosphor bronze, so no experience there. One thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes what sounds balanced enough when you are at home really does not work as well if you are playing with any other instruments—the bronze strings can sometimes get lost easily even if they sounded good at home.

[floatingpickup]

They definitely vary quite a bit, so you need to experiment with your particular pickup. I’ve had good success with monel strings as a hybrid acoustic/electric and sometimes 80/20 depending on the particular pickup. Never cared for the zing-iness of phosphor bronze, so no experience there. One thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes what sounds balanced enough when you are at home really does not work as well if you are playing with any other instruments—the bronze strings can sometimes get lost easily even if they sounded good at home.

I agree that things sound very different on the bandstand, compared to playing by yourself at home. I think I’ll stay with my regular routine, using strings that are designed for an electric guitar when I use the De’Armond.
Keith

[floatingpickup]

Keith,

I have found that some vintage Dearmonds sound better with nickel strings and some sound better with 80/20 strings. The 1100 can be dialed into either. With the guitar Mike or the 1000, I think one has to try both kinds of strings and see which is more balanced with a particular pickup. Those vintage Dearmonds vary a lot.

Of course PB strings did not exist way back and might not work with any guitar Mike's. You need to experiment. HTH.

I have four vintage De’Armonds, an 1100, a 1000, and two Guitar Mikes. They all sound a little different. I really like the tone control on the 1000 and 1100, but I use the Guitar Mikes on this guitar so I don’t have to cut the pickguard. I generally use my older Guitar Mike and I do think it might sound a little better to my ears than the newer one. Today’s experiment was interesting, but I think the string balance might be slightly better with nickel strings than phosphor bronze.
Keith

[RJVB]

Maybe try these?

3 sets DR Strings ZEBRA Acoustic/Electric Guitar | Reverb France

if you can find a set because apparently DR stopped making them.

Newtone (in the UK) will also be able to make you double-wounds where one of the layers is nickel.

FWIW, there is no such thing as magnetic shielding as far as I know. PB winding won't make the steel core wire invisible to the PU, it just makes the total amount of ferromagnetic material smaller. In other words, there should be no reason why a given PU works better with, say, PB than with brass or copper wound strings as long as they have the same core wire diameter (and alloy). Unless diamagnetic metals are picked up by the PU? (Zinc, corresponding to the 20 in 80/20 brass is; tin can be but makes up much less of bronze.)

[floatingpickup]

Maybe try these?

3 sets DR Strings ZEBRA Acoustic/Electric Guitar | Reverb France

if you can find a set because apparently DR stopped making them.

Newtone (in the UK) will also be able to make you double-wounds where one of the layers is nickel.

FWIW, there is no such thing as magnetic shielding as far as I know. PB winding won't make the steel core wire invisible to the PU, it just makes the total amount of ferromagnetic material smaller. In other words, there should be no reason why a given PU works better with, say, PB than with brass or copper wound strings as long as they have the same core wire diameter (and alloy). Unless diamagnetic metals are picked up by the PU? (Zinc, corresponding to the 20 in 80/20 brass is; tin can be but makes up much less of bronze.)

Wow, that’s a really interesting concept. I would like to try them if I can find a set.
Thanks.
Keith

[pingu]

I have four vintage De’Armonds, an 1100, a 1000, and two Guitar Mikes. They all sound a little different. I really like the tone control on the 1000 and 1100, but I use the Guitar Mikes on this guitar so I don’t have to cut the pickguard. I generally use my older Guitar Mike and I do think it might sound a little better to my ears than the newer one. Today’s experiment was interesting, but I think the string balance might be slightly better with nickel strings than phosphor bronze.
Keith

may I ask Keith ?

what do you think of the new repro
1100 and 1000

compared to the originals

[sgosnell]

You might look at the D'Addario Nickel Bronze strings. Nickel coating over PB. I find them rather bright, closer to bronze or brass than nickel, but it's a matter of taste. The nickel coating does let them work a bit better with magnetic pickups. AFAIK the original Guitar Mike was designed to work with the 80/20 strings available back then, so it should work with non-magnetic windings. The core underneath the windings is steel just like plain strings, so it will certainly work with a magnetic pickup, just slightly weaker because the core is rather thin compared to the windings. But if you look at a brass wound string, the core of the bigger strings is pretty comparable to the plain B or bigger.

[floatingpickup]

may I ask Keith ?

what do you think of the new repro
1100 and 1000

compared to the originals

I don’t have any repro De’Armonds, so I can’t comment on how they compare to the originals. Other forum members have said good things about them though. Perhaps someone here has actually compared them and could give us their thoughts.
Keith

[floatingpickup]

You might look at the D'Addario Nickel Bronze strings. Nickel coating over PB. I find them rather bright, closer to bronze or brass than nickel, but it's a matter of taste. The nickel coating does let them work a bit better with magnetic pickups. AFAIK the original Guitar Mike was designed to work with the 80/20 strings available back then, so it should work with non-magnetic windings. The core underneath the windings is steel just like plain strings, so it will certainly work with a magnetic pickup, just slightly weaker because the core is rather thin compared to the windings. But if you look at a brass wound string, the core of the bigger strings is pretty comparable to the plain B or bigger.

Thanks for this information. I have never tried the nickel bronze strings. It seems like it could be a good all purpose string.
Keith

[pcjazz]

Thanks for this information. I have never tried the nickel bronze strings. It seems like it could be a good all purpose string.
Keith

Hi Keith,

I have been using the D’A nickel bronze on my Stromberg G1 with a repro DeArmond and have been very happy with the sound for big band rhythm and soloing. Certainly worth trying a set.

PC

[omphalopsychos]

Keith, I have been using 80/20 with my guitar mikes for several years and have made a few observations from experimenting with different strings:

Different brands/sets of 80/20 actually do have different degrees of ferromagnetism.
I believe this has to do with the core-to-wrap ratio, was well as the overall gauge of the individual wound strings. Some 80/20 strings have thicker steel cores than others, which means that the pickup will receive more signal from them.
The acoustic strings that I have found to have the strongest ferromagnetism are the Philippe Bosset Soft Brass and GHS Vintage Bronze. One of the reasons the Bosset strings work is that they have a .025w G string in their 12s, compared to lower gauge G strings in other brands for the same overall gauge sets.
The Bosset and GHS strings I mentioned work better with a pickup than even the daddario Nickel Bronze and Martin monel. I tried them back to back to confirm this. Again I think this has to do with the core diameters. While it's true that Monel and Nickel Plated steel have more nickel in the wrapping material, I don't think that makes a substantial difference in overall output compared to the difference of having larger steel cores.
The purpose of having a floating pickup is to have a nice acoustic and electric sound. I do not believe it’s necessary to compromise on the acoustic sound in order to use an FHC. In other words, I don’t believe using less pleasant sounding strings like the Zebras is warranted.

I recommend trying the Bosset or the GHS strings. I’ve been using the Bossets for years on multiple guitars with FHCs. They happen also to have a remarkable acoustic tone.


Last note: the new dearmonds sound pretty cool, but I'm not impressed with them compared to the originals.

[floatingpickup]

Keith, I have been using 80/20 with my guitar mikes for several years and have made a few observations from experimenting with different strings:

Different brands/sets of 80/20 actually do have different degrees of ferromagnetism.
I believe this has to do with the core-to-wrap ratio, was well as the overall gauge of the individual wound strings. Some 80/20 strings have thicker steel cores than others, which means that the pickup will receive more signal from them.
The acoustic strings that I have found to have the strongest ferromagnetism are the Philippe Bosset Soft Brass and GHS Vintage Bronze. One of the reasons the Bosset strings work is that they have a .025w G string in their 12s, compared to lower gauge G strings in other brands for the same overall gauge sets.
The Bosset and GHS strings I mentioned work better with a pickup than even the daddario Nickel Bronze and Martin monel. I tried them back to back to confirm this. Again I think this has to do with the core diameters. While it's true that Monel and Nickel Plated steel have more core in the wrapping material, I don't think that makes a substantial difference in overall output compared to the difference of having larger steel cores.
The purpose of having a floating pickup is to have a nice acoustic and electric sound. I do not believe it’s necessary to compromise on the acoustic sound in order to use an FHC. In other words, I don’t believe using less pleasant sounding strings like the Zebras is warranted.

I recommend trying the Bosset or the GHS strings. I’ve been using the Bossets for years on multiple guitars with FHCs. They happen also to have a remarkable acoustic tone.


Last note: the new dearmonds sound pretty cool, but I'm not impressed with them compared to the originals.

Thank you for the very detailed response. This is valuable information. I will look into the strings you have recommended.
Keith