Strings for Olson SJ
Jay Caras
from other owners regarding their experience with different strings on this
TPOS. Feedback regarding gauge, material, and brand would be most helpful.
Thanks.
Kent Curole
day I'm just going to order it and then I'll find a way to pay for it. Sounds
like a good way to motivate a little overtime.
Kent
rcne...@earthling.net
Others I have tried:
Addamas - too bright
Elixir - they were OK
John Pearse - they were OK
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misc...@juno.com
i've found that strings are of no real benefit. they're only going to
deteriorate, so you might leave well enough alone and appreciate the
sheer visual and tactile beauty of your instrument.
if that doesn't work...
phil keaggy, who, i would imagine, knows his way around an olson as well
as any of us, has endorsed dr and ghs strings. i'd be inclined to start
with these two if i were looking for that sound. however, i think
you'll find it to be a somewhat more involved process than emulating
another's preferences. your string diameter/weight will depend largely
on your playing comfort. i'd think long and hard though before
putting 13s on a cedar-topped instrument (making an assumption here).
as for particular brands or alloys, that decision will ride on two
factors: 1. the strings' interaction with your unique biochemistry and
2. the sound attained from that manufacturer's use of that alloy. to
illustrate, i'm personally not terribly fond of the sound of
d'addario's, but if i were... i still wouldn't use them. they age on me
almost instantaneously. something about their strings and my sweat ph
simply does not coincide. so that choice is alleviated without question
by economic reality; i couldn't afford to keep my guitar in strings if i
wanted to. in this respect, *everyone* is different, unique. the
second point you'll find is purely a subjective matter. companies x,y,
and z can all produce 80/20 bronze strings in gauges from 12 to 54 and
not a one will sound much like the other two. it just happens. and
your favorite of the three won't likely be my favorite, or phil
keaggy's, or david wilcox's (well, i suppose with four of us choosing,
there's bound to be some overlap, but that's beside the point).
so... feel free to take the dr and ghs recommendations at face value;
they've served one of the premier players of your particular instrument
very well. john pearse strings have garnered considerable respect in
these parts and would be well worth your consideration. i'll throw in
for my current favorite (and a worthy price/performance set) adamas.
but it remains to you to find a few sets and have a wonderful time
seeing what works well. for you.
best of luck
michael "envious of your dilemma" schultz
Hojo2X
putting medium gauge strings on a handbuilt cedar top is not something that I
could recommend.
On factory-made cedar top instruments, like the Takamine Santa Fe, the guitars
are braced pretty well. But if a cedar top has been sized and braced as though
it was spruce, you're really asking for trouble to use anythng heavier than
lights.
I found this out the hard way with a 12 fret Triple O Wayne Henderson built for
me out of koa, with a cedar top. I used mediums on it, like I generally do,
and within two years basically ruined the top.
It wasn't like I was inattentive or ignoring danger signals, either - it was
just as though it decided to let go one day. The top failed, and so I had a
new Sitka spruce top put on in its place.
Very expensive solution, I must say.
So listen your kindly Uncle Michael - he knows what he's talking about.
Wade Hampton "If Only I'd Had The SENSE To Listen To Michael, Then..." Miller
RandPinc
O model Lowden, Koa w/ cedar top. But this is a big guitar, and I hope well
braced enough to handle it. It certainly sounds better with mediums (JPearse
80/20s)...
Am I courting disaster?
Josh
Tom Loredo
Jim does recommend *light* gauge strings for the SJ. Last time I
discussed strings with him, he personally was favoring Pearse and
shipped his instruments with Pearse phosphor bronze.
As already noted, Keaggy used to endorse DR phosphor bronze (the
"Rares" I believe), and now endorses GHS phosphor bronze, which
I believe he was turned on to by Laurence Juber. For a long time
he also used Guilds.
I've been through all of these brands (and a couple others, including
D'Addario and T-I Spectrum and Plectrum) on my SJ, and what can I
tell you? It's a great guitar, and it sounds great with all of
them, though slightly different with each brand. Some brands I
ended up drifting away from because I felt there were consistency
problems---one set sounded differently than the next.
For the last year or two I've been using Elixirs almost exclusively.
For the most part I've been using their light phosphor bronze strings,
but my current set is their light-medium mix (light highs gradually
increasing to medium lows), and I really like them and will probably
stick with them for the forseeable future. I am often in low tunings,
and when in standard tuning I'm usually tuned down 1/2 step, so I
don't anticipate any tension problems from the thicker low strings.
You might want to discuss it with Jim Olson if you are considering
these long term at normal tension.
One benefit of the Elixirs is that 2-week-old Elixirs absolutely
sound better than 2-week-old strings of any other brand in my opinion.
So if you don't change strings often, even if you slightly prefer the
tone of another brand initially, Elixirs are worth considering.
Peace,
Tom Loredo
Larry Pattis
<lor...@spacenet.tn.cornell.edu> wrote:
Tom,
Once again, you are full of it.
Full of good info, that is, but I do have to make one small correction....
I know that it annoys you when I find a small mistake (it doesn't bother
you with other folks, so maybe it's just that *I* annoy you!) in your
always accurate information.
Elixir only makes one type of string in regards to alloy/composition. In
their beta-testing process they found that coated 80/20 bronze wound
strings ended up sounding more like an uncoated phosphor bronze string
(which was the sound they were shooting for) than a coated phosphor bronze
string did! No foolin'.
So all of Elixir's different sets (different gauges, that is) are 80/20's.
Don't ask for Phosphor Bronze Elixirs, 'cause they don't make'em. Just ask
for Elixirs. No one paid me to say that. Alright, I lied. Elixir just
paid me one million dollars to say that. In my dreams....
Larry "always bugging my friend Tom" Pattis
Lpattis "at" xmission "dot" com
Liberal Palette Records
http://liberalpalette.com
"Music Without Borders"
Tom Loredo
Well, you are even more full of it! (Speaking again of the accurate
info!) Thanks for the clarification. I thought at one point I had
to specify the alloy; maybe I'm remembering the beta test period,
or more likely I'm prematurely senile.
8-)
Tom
Larry Pattis
<lor...@spacenet.tn.cornell.edu> wrote:
The latter for the both of us, I'm sure....
Larry Pattis
DMadden596
>
I agree with Tom here, and I used the Elixers on my Olson when I first got it,
even though it came with John Pearse strings which I thought sounded devine. I
just didn't like having to change strings and really liked how long the Elixers
kept their tone.
That said, I switched to the GHS phospher bronze, also after a recommendation
from Laurence Juber to do so about a year ago, and I love them. To me there is
a difference in tone initially that makes the use of the GHS' worthwhile, at
least on my Olson. I use Elixers on my other guitars because of their length
of viability, and I recommend them to my students and think it is wise of
manufacturers to ship their guitars with them, so I am not dissing Elixers!
But for my Olson, I really love the tone of the GHS', so much so that I don't
mind changing strings - I even enjoy it... :) I have since tried the John
Pearse again and Martin SP's but have settled on the GHS.
Donna