Hello folks. I get asked more than I expected that I would for recommendations for a variety of items for guitarists, bassists, home recordists and other things music related. When I cannot provide an answer that I feel has legs, I decline, but when I do, I make recommendations. So this is the first of a new type of post called Recommended. As always, my recommendations are based on my experience and my use cases, and may or may not apply to you. That’s as it should be. I’m not trying to tell you what to do, just offering my own perspective.

Curt Mangan Strings

Back in 2204, Curt Mangan opened his string factory in Cortez Colorado. Before “boutique” was a thing, he and his team were making boutique strings and today they deliver to customers over 300 different packaged string sets. They have sets for electric guitars, bass guitars, mandolin and banjo. As a guitarist and bassist, I have come to standardize on Curt Mangan Strings, and while I remain merely an alleged mandolin and banjo player, more a hack really, good strings make a phenomenal difference.

What drew me to Curt’s products was the ability to find sets of strings that were already built to be balanced tension. While this may sound like yet another buzzword, balanced tension sets feel more consistent under the fingers. I got really excited when I discovered that I could also create my own “Signature” sets of strings, using the precise gauge that I wanted for each string. Certainly there are plenty of string sets in different gauges, but with Curt Mangan Strings, I build sets with the specific gauges that I want and can also ensure that the sets have balanced tension. As BB King once said of heavier gauge strings, “why are you working so hard?” I get to take this a step further because I can now also ensure that the sets that I build are balanced. The minimum order for your own signature set is six packs, hardly troublesome to any moderately serious player.

In the early days of guitar strings, the composition was different from the common nickel over steel strings that we find today. I loved the sound of Monel strings, Monel being the name of that early composition, but the strings that I had tried sounded great but to my ear went rather dead quite quickly. Since I started getting Monel sets from Curt Mangan Strings, that early deadening is gone. Moreover, Monel strings work on both electric and acoustic guitars. They sound different, and as I have gifted some sets of Curt’s Monel strings to players, the response has been fabulous. They never want to play anything else. I wrote an article about Monels, saying I loved the tone but complained about the rapid deadening. A few good folks wrote in to suggest that I was nuts, because they did not experience the same deadening. Now that all my Monel strings come from Curt Mangan Strings, I do not either.

Those early strings used a round core. More modern strings use a hex core. Round core and hex core sound different acoustically. Hex core are very popular because that core resists the winds from slipping better than round core. This is easily solvable by putting a hard kink in the round core before you wind it on. You have a choice with many of the string sets to allow you to pick hex or round core. For me, this is a significant benefit.

As I am fortunate to have acquired many guitars over the last half century, I have found an advantage to me of using coated strings. I am aware that some folks find coated strings can lack the zing and spark of uncoated strings, or have experienced the buildup of strange fluff on some coated strings. If you have, you know what I am talking about. About six months ago, I ordered some custom sets of both acoustic and electric coated strings using my own gauge specs and after playing them regularly will affirm that I hear no loss in zing, and no unpleasant feel and no detritus. They also cost LESS than more common commercial coated strings.

Let’s say you are an acoustic player. Want Phosphor Bronze? How about 80/20? Or Monel? What about for High Strung Nashville tuning? How about for your resonator guitar? They have all of these covered. If you play a classical guitar they make tie on strings in normal and high tension and ball end strings in normal tension. I have a set in my cart for my Godin Multiac.

Play electric? Want regular nickel over steel? How about Monel? Or Pure Nickel? How about Flatwound? All are available. And on the subject of flatwounds, a lot of flatwounds sound a bit dead as a result of the flattening process. I have used a set of Curt’s flats on a MIJ Rosewood Telecaster with Andy Wood’s Suhr Woodshed pickups and it sounds amazing, providing a pleasing twang for what would be chicken picking if I could do it, to a really nice warm jazzy sound with the loss of the appropriate brightness.

When it comes to bass strings, there are sets for 4, 5, 6 and 12 string basses. They are available in nickelwound, pure stainless steel, flatwound stainless steel, and in Monel. Regular length, short length and extra long lengths are available. There are sets of coated bass strings. Acoustic bass strings are available in 4 and 5 string sets made from Phosphor Bronze. Have a classic Bass IV or a Piccolo Bass? Sets are available for both.

I own baritone guitars. I use Curt Mangan Strings baritone strings on my instruments. I mentioned resonators earlier and I use the Curt Manage Strings Monel 16-56 Resonator strings on my instrument.

I have a 5 string banjo. There are Curt Mangan Strings for it. Also for 4 and six string banjos as well as mandolins, Bajo Sexto/Quinto, ukeleles, lap steels and pedal steels.

I’ve been playing a long time and have tried out all kinds of different brands. Many labels don’t actually make the strings at all, they buy from somewhere else in job lots. There are really big labels like Ernie Ball and D’Addario, both of whom make excellent products. However for me, I can get what I need for all my guitars except perhaps the drone strings for my harp guitar from one place, run by a great team, and where you can actually chat with the owner. That’s Curt Mangan strings, and I am really excited to have this company as my first Recommended article.

In fact, I will reach out to Curt about those drone strings.