OM owners

Started by tbman, July 07, 2007, 02:57:15 PM

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What strings do you prefer on your OM and why?  I'm searching for the holy grail of strings for each of my guitars.
Barry

https://soundcloud.com/barry329

2004 Larrivee OM-05
2016 Gibson J-45
1978 Guild D-55
2006 Martin D-16GT
2015 Alvarez ap66sb
2007 Seagull Coastline Folk
2004 Washburn D-10S

Elixir PB's


Because they sound good to me and they last a long time.

10 Larrivee 00-03R 
09 CA Cargo
09 Taylor GA SS
06 Taylor 714CE
05 Santa Cruz OM S
04 Baby Taylor

QuoteI'm searching for the holy grail of strings for each of my guitars.

Is there such a thing?
I've tried a whole bunch of different strings and I always seem to come back to Martin SP lights P/B, they seem to have a nice jangly sound that I love.
Ruben

 :+1: on the SP lights p/b - the 80/20s aren't bad if that's all you can find - the SPs just don't last very long.  So what's more important to you, sound or durability?  Personally, I don't care for coated strings, but that's just me.  SO...

On the "Holy Grail" search, and this may muddy up the water a bit...each box seems to have one brand that just sounds right and you have to experiment.  My parlor (and I) like the EJ17s, but they sound dull to me on most longer scaled guitars.  Of course, YMMV  :tongue:

Justin
OM-03 MT Custom (Cree Studios "Fish Guitar")

When I bought my OMV-50, I wanted to experiment with a variety of strings (gauges and brands).   Here is what I tried and what I selected.  Keep in mind that the OMV-50 is setup for mediums and that the sound that I'm looking for may not be the sound that you're looking for.

Cleartone Medium
Cleartone Bluegrass
GHS Vintage Bronze Bluegrass
GHS LJ Signature True Medium
D'addario Phosphor Bronze Bluegrass
Martin SP Phosphor Bronze Light/Medium

Cleartone Medium:   These are the strings that the guitar comes with from the factory.   I found the mediums very stiff however the benefit of medium strings is the great bounce that you get off a flat pick.   The tone of these strings was very neutral in my opinion.  Nice but unremarkable.
Cleartone Bluegrass:   I tried the Cleartones in a bluegrass gauge, hoping to get a little more looseness in the upper end.   I found these very similar to the mediums.   
GHS Vintage Bronze Bluegrass:  These stringswere very pleasant on the ear.   My wife commented how these really made the Larry sound like a Martin.   I noticed greater flex in these than the Cleartones particulalry in the top 3 strings.  Probably my runner-up.
GHS LJ Signature True Medium:   Great sounding strings.   Bright and loud with what I would call a contemporary sound (for lack of a better adjective).   Of all the strings I tried, this set had the best low E.    I had trouble getting used to the true medium gauges (i.e. mediums on the low and high strings and lighter in the middle).   I might try these again in a different gauge.
D'addario Phosphor Bronze Bluegrass:  I still swear by D'addarios on my wife's Taylor 314k but for some reason I didn't like them on my Larry.  Go figure?   They just sounded thin.
Martin SP Phosphor Bronze Light/Medium:  These are the strings that I'm sticking with for the time being.   These are the strings of the "middle path".   Not too bright, but plenty of presence.   My favorite feature of these strings in the light/medium gauge.   This is the only string that i've found in this configuration (.0125,.0165,.0255,.0335,.0435,.055).   I feel that this is a great all-around string that allows me to use both a heavy pick as well as bare fingers.   The biggest problem with these is that they must be mail ordered.   But that's true for most of what I tried.

Finding the right strings for your model guitar makes all the difference.   Take the time to experiement.

Charlie

Im doing the strings thing right now on my OMv60 , I didnt like the Cleartone Mediums - thou they had the right volume i just didnt like the feel on my guitar. So I went to the far left, by trying Ex light webstrings , going to try Custom light PB Dadarrio strings in a few days - i love the ex lights it plays like a jazz electric , but the sound doesnt have the fullness or volume i need - I love this guitar and i think Im on the right track - Im not going back to mediums i love the electric guitar feel my guitar has ( if you can get into the jazz feel of it ) so im hoping the custom lights are closer to a compromise - by the way the Webstrings are decent strings and cheap and their life is almost to par of the dadarrios -I want the strings to die before i make a change - i want to remember the full spectrum of sound each type of string has ---

Quote from: LookingForLarri on July 07, 2007, 06:29:37 PM
Elixir PB's


Because they sound good to me and they last a long time.

+1
Neil K


2013 DIY Medium Jumbo (western red cedar/S. American Mahogany)
2013 McKnight Ukulele
2009 Martin D-16GT
2006 Larrivée OM-03R
1998 Fender American Standard Stratocaster, Ash Body, Natural finish
1989 Kramer Striker 610

Dean Markley GoldPhos Custom Lights (sort of a med/light) ended the search for me.

Deb

Quote from: LookingForLarri on July 07, 2007, 06:29:37 PM
Elixir PB's


Because they sound good to me and they last a long time.

+2   (Custom Lights)
Larrivee OM-03R-12 string + IMix external
Martin 000-15S + IMix internal
Martin OM-16GTE + Fishman Matrix
Gretch 5120
Fender Squires - Tele & Strat

whiskeyjack:  Perisoreus canadensis.  aka, gray jay, whiskey jay, whiskeyjack or timber jay.   A small, friendly bird of the northern coniferous forest.

Quote from: tbman on July 07, 2007, 02:57:15 PMI'm searching for the holy grail of strings for each of my guitars.

I have had D'Addario EJ, webstrings.com and DR Sunbeams on my OMV-03RE, and have tried others including Elixirs, Cleartone and EXPs on my D-03. Elixirs have been on my D-03, Martin HD-28 and Little Martin. Little Martin is the only place I liked the Elixirs.

For feel I love the round core DR strings. They are not bright, but they are no way dead, and they have a woody sound with long systain. I love the DR round cores on my Tele, and on the little OM, so I just bought DR Rares, but have not yet tried them.

What I did not like about the Elixirs was a lack of hammer on, legato slide and low end growl I get with EJs and EXPs. I think Elixirs last longer than EXPs, but they also cost more.

I'm not sure you'll find the holy grail and it also depends on your style. I like punch and growl that I think the Elixirs lacked, but they did have a blended jingle jangle strumming sound that I'm sure some like.


Quote from: jwb on July 07, 2007, 07:15:42 PM
   ...

On the "Holy Grail" search, and this may muddy up the water a bit...each box seems to have one brand that just sounds right and you have to experiment.  My parlor (and I) like the EJ17s, but they sound dull to me on most longer scaled guitars.  Of course, YMMV  :tongue:

Justin

I wouldn't want to be accused of being close-minded so today when I bought a couple of sets of strings I bought EJ-17's instead of my long-favored EJ-16s.............Figured if I didn't like them on my OM-03R I'd try them on my L-10 or give a set to a buddy.   Well all I can say is I wish I'd tried this long ago.  I was totally amazed at the difference in tone on thiis OM guitar with that simple change of string gauge.  I didn't know this guitar had that booming sweet voice inside it waiting to come out.  I'll probably stay with these from here on out.   I guess I'll try some of these on the L-10 too.....what the heck.   
I don't know if these D'addario EJ-17's are the "holy grail" of guitar strings for the OM guitar but they're hard to beat.  I don't know about longevity of them yet since I just put them on.  I'm hoping for about 6 weeks which is what I normally get out of the EJ-16s

Quote from: LookingForLarri on July 07, 2007, 06:29:37 PM
Elixir PB's


Because they sound good to me and they last a long time.


+3     IMHO,  These strings sound best 4 days after you put them on.  They're quite bright at first but will settle in to a nice warm tone with just a bit of "crisp" to them.    I just bought some today to replace the 5 month old Elixirs PB's on my C-09.   

Medium John Pearse phosphor bronze if I have the bone bridge pins installed.
Light JP phosphor bronze if I have the ebony bridge pins installed.

These are on my OM-03R.

Dan
"Time flies like an arrow..Fruit flies like a banana"
Townes Van Zandt

my OM19 has either Ej19's -OR- JP's "slack key" set.. the guitar stays in DADGAD tho

I the nut has been replaced with compensated corian, the saddle is bone, but compensated for DADGAD instead of standard tuning.

The JP's don't last long, but sound wonderful, the Ej's are longer lived, don't snap quite as sharp... but you can find them everywhere 'cuse bluegrassers love em tho.


Ta,

d.






I sorta think of my OMs as being blues/old time guitars, so I use strings that I think fits that sound. I use Eric Shcoenberg Solist strings on the OM/PW and Martin 80/20s or JP 80/20s on the Larrivee. When I had the L-03 I used ej-16s on it.

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