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Post by surfguy13 on Mar 10, 2018 13:03:56 GMT
Thought I must mention these strings that I have just installed onto a 12 fret D. I'd been looking for a set of 12-55 strings and found these Martin MSP4150 SP 92/8 strings which are 12.5-55 (not sure what the 92/8 means?). Haven't used Martin strings for decades so I thought I'd give them a try and........they are astoundingly good!! Boringly I have tended to just go with Daddario EJs but they only do a 12-53 which didn't give me a heavy enough bottom end. I was going to try a set of bluegrass strings (13-56) but Patrick Eggle recommended I don't go over a 55 and it wasn't easy finding a 55 low E.
Apart from the fact that installing them onto a slotted headstock was a nightmare, particularly the E and A, they are really well made strings and I just couldn't believe my ears when I started using them. Right across the board there was a huge improvement in the sound, and not just because I was using a slightly heavier gauge. Very warm bottom end and a crisp but warm top end too. I just had no idea that a set of strings could change the sound as much as they have.
The SPs are also fairly inexpensive too. I ended up buying the set I've just installed from Amazon at £6.70 a set delivered and I have just bought another two sets from GAK at around £5.60 which is the bargain of the century.
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Post by oustudent on Mar 10, 2018 14:33:11 GMT
They don't appear to be available as current on the Martin website, this could indicate that they are an end of line item. It happened to me before with Martin strings, found one I liked and then they discontinued them.
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Post by oustudent on Mar 10, 2018 14:35:30 GMT
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Post by surfguy13 on Mar 10, 2018 16:17:27 GMT
Yes, these are the ones I bought and I'm sincerely hoping that they are the current version or I'll have to buy a shed load before they all go!
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Post by jubbo on Mar 10, 2018 19:25:37 GMT
Thought I must mention these strings that I have just installed onto a 12 fret D. I'd been looking for a set of 12-55 strings and found these Martin MSP4150 SP 92/8 strings which are 12.5-55 (not sure what the 92/8 means?). 92/8 means 92% copper and 8% tin phosphide (7% tin, 1% phosphor)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2018 10:55:24 GMT
I've tried these but am not a fan of PB. I wish they still did this between gauge in 80/20.
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Post by surfguy13 on Mar 11, 2018 11:38:55 GMT
Thought I must mention these strings that I have just installed onto a 12 fret D. I'd been looking for a set of 12-55 strings and found these Martin MSP4150 SP 92/8 strings which are 12.5-55 (not sure what the 92/8 means?). 92/8 means 92% copper and 8% tin phosphide (7% tin, 1% phosphor) That's really interesting. I'm used to 80/20 in PB bronze strings and I wonder if the difference in materials is the thing I really like about them? On guitars with mahogany back and sides I tend to use bronze strings and PB with rosewood. There is something quite dramatically different with the 92/8 strings though, they really sound quite unique to my ears. A perfect match for this D.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2018 11:50:35 GMT
80/20 (80% Copper, 20% Zinc) isn't Phosphor Bronze, it's just "Bronze" AFAIK (although "Brass" would be a far better descriptor).
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Post by surfguy13 on Mar 11, 2018 17:56:09 GMT
80/20 (80% Copper, 20% Zinc) isn't Phosphor Bronze, it's just "Bronze" AFAIK (although "Brass" would be a far better descriptor). Ah, I misunderstood! Thanks for clearing that up. Interestingly the top E and B are gold on these SP strings whereas I'm used to Dads with steel E+B. I assume they are steel?
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Post by oustudent on Mar 13, 2018 7:39:14 GMT
Looking at the table on the Martin website the 80/20's have a slightly lower tension than the PB's , it's not much but something I hadn't noticed before.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 10:57:12 GMT
Yep, it's another reason I prefer the 80/20s.
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