Review : Martin RETRO Monel Strings

While I await the delivery of the Curt Mangan strings I wrote about recently, I was in my local guitar store The Arts Music Store, which is a very dangerous practice in my case and saw on sale a Martin D-35. I know this guitar reasonably well. It has been in the acoustic room for some time and as consequence, suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous test players. Meaning, she has a few life marks on her. Does this affect the tone? Not to me, but the strings on it, D'Addario somethings had reached the level of dead. As happens there was a bit of corrosion on the frets, and the guitar has been handled a lot. I have always wanted a D-35, but not so much as to pay full pop for one. I am also not so disciplined as to put all my guitar dollars away until Black Friday sales events. 

I told the Manager, that I was interested in the guitar and he agreed to let me try it out for a couple of days and if I was not happy could return it. I thanked him and they put it in a loaner case and also told me that they could have it restrung. Since I am rather picky, I asked to do that myself, since I knew I wanted to check the neck, and do a basic setup as well as polish the frets as well as clean and oil the fingerboard. I enjoy this kind of work, so with some Tony Rice playing in the background, got out my maintenance table and kit and went to work.

The strings that I selected were the Martin Retro Acoustic Monel series 12-54. They stretched in nicely and tuned up quickly and have held tune very well. As these are Monel wrapped steel (Nickel/Copper alloy) they are silver coloured instead of bronze coloured. As I mentioned in another post, Monel strings sound different than regular 80/2 or Phosphor Bronze strings. They are also naturally corrosion resistant, which is an important thing for me.

I have to admit, that initially I was not enthused. The D35 didn't have that powerful bottom end or upper midrange punch that I was used to with rosewood bodied, spruce topped bodies. The grain on the top is very widely spaced, suggesting Adirondack versus the documented Sitka spruce and there is plenty of top movement ability. As I sat and played however, I started to notice tones that I had never really heard before. The Monel strings reduce the impact of pick attack (I only fingerpick or use thick V-Picks) and are very neutral sounding. As a consequence, I hear a wider tonal palette, with more delicacy than I have in more traditional string choices. After several hours, I am looking forward to getting the Mangan strings that I ordered for my Gibson L4C arch top.

I am told that Monel strings handle amplification well. The D35 has no built in pickup, although if I buy it, I will install one at some point. The L4C has a Kent Armstrong pickup mounted to the end of the neck that I installed some years ago and once restrung, I will try that out through my acoustic amp rig.

The Monel strings feel different to the traditional strings as well. The high E and B are plain steel, but the rest are Monel wound strings. The guitar is not as loud as with the strings that were on it, but there is more clarity in the quieter tones. It took a bit of getting used to, but I am very impressed by these strings. I am not habitually a fan of Martin strings, but these are different. I do notice that my other acoustics, strung more traditionally, are louder and boomier. We will see what transpires, but I may end up transitioning my larger body acoustics to this different string structure. You might consider trying a set yourself.

Have a great day and keep on playing.

Acoustic String Considerations

I'm looking at what has been posted and I see that it is all related to electric guitars. Fair enough, but I also play acoustic and most of my peers do as well, some more than others of course.

As I have been studying and experimenting with electric guitar strings, I have also been doing so with strings for my acoustic guitars. This may be a larger area for discussion than even electric.

I had typically looked at acoustic strings as just being an enabler for the sound of the guitar, influenced by the woods used and the construction type. Most of the acoustic strings in the market are either Phosphor Bronze or 80/20 Bronze. Folks seeking a brighter acoustic tone would choose 80/20 and folks seeking a more mellow tone would choose Phosphor Bronze, presuming that they or the seller knew the difference. I have not completed any course of study when it comes to nylon strings so I'm leaving them out for the moment.

The major string makers typically offer many (too many?) choices in this regard, and then there is the choice over buying coated or uncoated strings. Like the tonal delivery, this is very much a personal decision. I prefer coated strings because they last longer with my skin oils in most cases. All my Taylor guitars came equipped with Elixir strings, a popular brand of coated strings, and while they are very popular, they do not work for me. Elixir has done a great job of education on the value proposition of coated strings and I appreciate this. In my experience, I get a fuzzy something on the strings. I am honestly not sure whether the strings use the Polyweb or Nanoweb coating so I have been looking elsewhere. Coatings have an impact on tone an on string feel.

In addition to the blend of phosphor and bronze, some strings incorporate materials other than steel in their construction. For example, the D'Addario Silk and Steel strings use a silver plated copper wind, interwound with silk that produces a very mellow tone because of the damping effect of the silk.

For a bit brighter sound while staying mellow, we encounter silver plated copper wraps without silk such as the D'Addario Gypsy Jazz sets. Still very mellow and like Silk and Steel, well suited to finger style players.

If you like playing slide on your acoustic guitar, you might consider flat top strings where the Phosphor Bronze wrap is polished to be smooth so you don't get those extraneous noises when using a slide. I wish that I had realized this years ago, because I am not accomplished at slide and I find the sound of the slide on regular wound strings to be ear-jarring. Slide is a whole other learning opportunity with all kinds of different slide materials available. Regardless of the slide construction, in my opinion, a smoother string sounds better to my ears.

The traditional Phosphor Bronze blend tends to fall in the middle between mellow and bright. This is likely why this blend is so popular and a good choice for guitarists who have not yet come to a specific string type for their use cases. They are available coated and uncoated from a variety of vendors.

Makers like Ernie Ball offer an Aluminum Bronze option which uses a special blend of Aluminum and Bronze that gives more bottom and top end. I have never tried them but if you find your acoustic sounds too midrange punchy, this may be a viable option for you.

D'Addario calls their Nickel Bronze their premium uncoated string. They fit between Phosphor Bronze and 80/20 Bronze on the brightness scale. Again, I have never tried them as I tend to stick to coated strings given my amazing ability to kill uncoated strings in no time at all.

Could these be Monel?

80/20 strings use an 80% copper and 20% zinc wrap and deliver a very bright tone. Some makers, Ernie Ball for instance, offer wound strings where the steel core is brass coated before the wrap is applied. Only you can determine whether this makes a difference for your desired tone, but know that if you want bright tones, 80/20 is the way to go.

Interestingly the popular 80/20 was only developed in the 1930s, by John D'Addario Sr and famed luthier John D'Angelico. Prior to that there was another construction type, one that is exhibiting a resurgence. This construction is called Monel.

As I started looking into Monel, I discovered that construction was not completely clear, with some vendors invoking the "secret sauce" story. Fortunately custom string maker Curt Mangan is very clear. Monel is a blend of materials, 67% nickel, 30% copper with the remainder made up of iron, manganese, carbon and silicon. Monel is not new. The data tells us that Monel existed earlier than the more common 80/20 and Phosphor Bronze string but was replaced because it was more expensive to build Monel strings. Martin Guitars offer Monel strings in their Retro line as do Curt Mangan and Rotosound. Curt Mangan also notes that Monel is sometimes known as Nickel Bronze, so those premium D'Addario strings mentioned earlier may actually be Monel.

On a side note, if you have not heard of Curt Mangan, you might want to go online and try his strings. His set for the Rickenbacker electric 12 string is the best that I have ever played.

Mangan's Monel strings are available on either a hex core or round core. I have not played either yet and could not tell you what a difference that makes. I have however, placed an order with the company and will know more once I get the strings. In addition to the acoustic strings, I also ordered a couple of sets of electric strings because I enjoy trying things out.

You may be wondering why I would go to an uncoated string like Monel's when I have already said that I can kill uncoated strings really quickly. Well the composition of the strings are naturally corrosion resistant. More expensive to make, but may last longer. 

The other reason that I want to try Monel strings is that as you have gleaned so far, all strings we have discussed so far impart some colour to your guitar. Some minor research will reveal that different tone woods respond very differently as do different body styles. The story behind Monel is that they are the most colourless strings available, neutral rather than particularly warm or bright. I have guitars made with a variety of different tone woods and even with traditional strings, they sound different, and I am really super curious about what I will hear differently, if anything, by going with neutral strings that add no colour. Some folks have said that they do not like the sound of these strings while others love them. I will find out for myself and so can you.

Thanks for reading and play on.